What religion did the Olmecs believe in?
- Analysis of relics including sculpture, buildings and ancient texts when available
- Early Spanish reports of religious and cultural practices
- Ethnographic studies of modern-day traditional religious practices in certain communities
What religious practices do the Olmecs have?
The Olmec centered their religious practices around nature and the influences it has on animals and people. The Priests were shamans (people believed to have influence on good and evil spirits within the world) that could communicate with animals, and some were even considered deities themselves.
What religion did the Olmec have?
What do you think?
- What do the colossal heads of the Olmec tell us about how their society was organized?
- Given that the Olmec worshiped anthropomorphic deities, do you think they believed their rulers were human beings?
- What kind of ecological disaster would have to take place in order to make your home unlivable?
What are the Olmecs religion?
- Typological analysis of Olmec iconography and art.
- Comparison to later, better documented pre-Columbian cultures.
- Comparison to modern-day cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Did the Olmecs have a religion and gods?
The Olmec apparently had gods, or at least powerful supernatural beings, which were worshiped or respected in some way. Their names and functions—other than in the most general sense—have been lost over the ages. Olmec deities are represented in surviving stone carvings, cave paintings, and pottery.
Who was the main god of the Olmecs?
The most commonly depicted pair are the Olmec Dragon (God I) and the Olmec Bird Monster (God III). The Olmec Dragon, believed to be a crocodilian with eagle, jaguar, human, and serpent attributes, appears to signify earth, water, fire, and agricultural fertility, and may have served as the patron deity of the elite.
What are the Olmecs best known for?
The Olmec created massive monuments, including colossal stone heads, thrones, stela (upright slabs), and statues. They may have been the originators of the Mesoamerican ball game, a ceremonial team sport played throughout the region for centuries.
Do Olmecs still exist?
The End of the Olmec Civilization Around 400 B.C. La Venta went into decline and was eventually abandoned altogether. With the fall of La Venta came the end of classic Olmec culture. Although the descendants of the Olmecs still lived in the region, the culture itself vanished.
What is the Olmec belief system?
The fundamental pattern of Olmec belief seems to have centered on the worship of numerous high gods or supernatural forces that controlled the universe and sanctioned the human sociopolitical structure . Human interaction with them required complex rituals in temples and other sanctified places, and could be achieved only by religious specialists whose personal qualifications or social position qualified them for the task. The belief system they served included a pantheon, a cosmology that explained and structured the universe, and a set of ritual activities that expressed the cosmology.
Why is Olmec so confusing?
The reason for the confusion is that researchers have difficulty comprehending the subject matter of Olmec art. The beings portrayed are frequently "creatures that are biologically impossible," things that "exist in the mind of man, not in the world of nature" (Joralemon, 1976, p. 33).
What is the Olmec bird monster?
The Olmec Bird Monster is a raptorial bird, tentatively identified as a harpy eagle, with mammalian and reptilian features. Joralemon associates it with maize, agricultural fertility, the heavens, and mind-altering psychotrophic substances.
What is the name of the god in Olmec art?
The most commonly depicted pair are the Olmec Dragon (God I) and the Olmec Bird Monster (God III).
Where did the Olmec live?
The Olmec occupied southern Mexico's tropical lowlands in southeastern Veracruz and western Tabasco between 1200 and 600 bce. Like other Mesoamerican peoples of the period, they lived in villages, practiced agriculture based on maize cultivation, and produced pottery. However, they differed from their contemporaries in their more complex social ...
Where are the Olmec texts based?
If they had a writing system, none of their texts has survived; everything known about the Olmec is based upon archaeological excavations at San Lorenzo, La Venta, Laguna de los Cerros, Tres Zapotes, and other major centers.
Who was the Olmec Dragon?
Joralemon suggests that the Olmec Dragon was a predecessor of numerous later deities, specifically the Aztec gods Cipactli, Xiuhtecuhtli, Huehueteotl, Tonacatecuhtli, and Quetzalcoatl and the Maya god Itzamn á.
How did the religion of the Olmec influence Mesoamerica?
The religion of the Olmec people significantly influenced the social development and mythological world view of Mesoamerica. Scholars have seen echoes of Olmec supernatural in the subsequent religions and mythologies of nearly all later pre-Columbian era cultures. The first Mesoamerican civilization, the Olmecs, ...
What is the Olmec culture?
The Olmec culture is often considered a "mother culture" to later Mesoamerican cultures. There is no surviving direct account of the Olmec's religious beliefs, unlike the Mayan Popol Vuh, or the Aztecs with their many codices and conquistador accounts.
Who challenged the Olmec pantheon?
This view was challenged in the 1970s by Peter David Joralemon, whose Ph. D. paper and subsequent article posited what are now considered to be 8 different supernaturals. Over time Joralemon's viewpoint has become the predominant exposition of the Olmec pantheon.
What is the Maize God?
Maize deity (God II) Another probable supernatural is identified by the plants sprouting from its cleft head. A carved celt from Veracruz shows a representation of God II, or the Maize God, growing corn from his cleft, and also shows this god with the snarling face associated with the jaguar.
How many different deities were worshipped by the Olmecs?
It is also believed that there were up to ten different deities worshipped or believed in by the Olmecs, based on sculptures and art work found. Rituals took place in huge centres, especially built by the Olmec community for these ceremonies.
What is a shaman?
The shaman himself was a healing man who would conduct religious rituals and sometimes practise bloodleiting. He was often too called upon as a medicine man to heal the sick. In Olmec religion, it was believed that the Jaguar was the shaman’s equivalent in the animal world and many rituals centred around the animal.
Why are Olmec gods important?
The Olmec Gods are very important from an anthropological or cultural point of view and understanding them is critical to understanding Olmec civilization. The Olmec civilization, in turn, was the first major Mesoamerican culture and all of the later ones, such as the Aztec and Maya, borrowed heavily from these forebears.
How many gods are there in the Olmec?
Archaeologist Peter Joralemon, who has studied the Olmec extensively, has come up with a tentative identification of eight gods. These gods show a complicated mixture of human, bird, reptile and feline attributes. They include. the Olmec Dragon. the Bird Monster.
What is the name of the animal in Olmec?
the Were-Jaguar. the Feathered Serpent. The Dragon, Bird Monster, and Fish Monster, when taken together, form the Olmec physical universe. The dragon represents the earth, the bird monster the skies and the fish monster the underworld.
What is the name of the god that has almond shaped eyes?
The Olmec were-jaguar is a most intriguing god. It appears as a human baby or infant with distinctly feline features, such as fangs, almond-shaped eyes and a cleft in his head.
What is the banded eye god?
A band or stripe passes behind or through the eye. The Banded-eye God appears more human than many of the other Olmec gods. It is found occasionally on pottery, but a good image appears on a famous Olmec statue, Las Limas Monument 1.
What does the Olmec dragon represent?
The Olmec Dragon represented the Earth or at least the plane upon which humans lived. As such, he represented agriculture, fertility, fire, and otherworldly things. The dragon may have been associated with the Olmec ruling classes or elite.
When did the Olmec civilization fade?
The Olmec civilization had faded by 400 BCE. No one is certain why. Later cultures, like the Aztec and the Maya, were heavily influenced by the Olmec. Today little survives of this grand civilization, but they left behind a rich artistic legacy including their majestic carved colossal heads.
What is the Olmec culture?
The Olmec culture was first defined as an art style , and this continues to be the hallmark of the culture. Wrought in a large number of media – jade, clay, basalt, and greenstone among others – much Olmec art, such as The Wrestler, is naturalistic. Other art expresses fantastic anthropomorphic creatures, often highly stylized, using an iconography reflective of a religious meaning. Common motifs include downturned mouths and a cleft head, both of which are seen in representations of werejaguars. In addition to making human and human-like subjects, Olmec artisans were adept at animal portrayals.
What did the Olmecs do?
Among other "firsts", the Olmec appeared to practice ritual bloodletting and played the Mesoamerican ballgame, hallmarks of nearly all subsequent Mesoamerican societies. The aspect of the Olmecs most familiar now is their artwork, particularly the aptly named " colossal heads ".
What are Olmec artists known for?
Olmec artists are known for both monumental and miniature portrayals of what are assumed to be persons of authority-from six-ton heads sculptures to figurines. The Olmecs ( / ˈɒlmɛks, ˈoʊl -/) were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization.
Why are Olmecs considered to be the first Mesoamerican civilization?
Partly because the Olmecs developed the first Mesoamerican civilization, and partly because little is known of them compared to, for example, the Maya or Aztec, a number of Olmec alternative origin speculations have been put forth. Although several of these speculations, particularly the theory that the Olmecs were of African origin popularized by Ivan Van Sertima's book They Came Before Columbus, have become well known within popular culture. They are not considered credible by the vast majority of Mesoamerican researchers and scientists, who discard it as pop-culture pseudo-science.
What caused the extinction of the Olmec culture?
Between 400 and 350 BCE, the population in the eastern half of the Olmec heartland dropped precipitously, and the area was sparsely inhabited until the 19th century. According to archaeologists, this depopulation was probably the result of "very serious environmental changes that rendered the region unsuited for large groups of farmers", in particular changes to the riverine environment that the Olmec depended upon for agriculture, hunting and gathering, and transportation. These changes may have been triggered by tectonic upheavals or subsidence, or the siltation of rivers due to agricultural practices.
What are the helmeted heads of the Olmec civilization?
The most recognized aspect of the Olmec civilization are the enormous helmeted heads. As no known pre-Columbian text explains them, these impressive monuments have been the subject of much speculation. Once theorized to be ballplayers, it is now generally accepted that these heads are portraits of rulers, perhaps dressed as ballplayers. Infused with individuality, no two heads are alike and the helmet-like headdresses are adorned with distinctive elements, suggesting personal or group symbols. Some have also speculated that Mesoamerican people believed that the soul, along with all of one's experiences and emotions, was contained inside the head.
When did the Olmecs start?
The Olmecs flourished during Mesoamerica 's formative period, dating roughly from as early as 1500 BCE to about 400 BCE. Pre-Olmec cultures had flourished since about 2500 BCE, but by 1600–1500 BCE, early Olmec culture had emerged, centered on the San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán site near the coast in southeast Veracruz.
What is Olmec people?
The Olmec people are believed to have occupied a large part of modern-day Southern Mexico. person who studies artifacts and lifestyles of ancient cultures. material remains of a culture, such as tools, clothing, or food. made of clay. scientific studies done outside of a lab, classroom, or office. corn.
What is the Olmec civilization?
The Olmec Civilization was one of the most influential ancient civilizations of the early Americas, and though its dominance of the region faded in the last centuries before the Common Era, the Olmec civilization is commonly thought to be the “mother culture” of many other cultures that appeared in the region in later years.
What are the most famous artifacts left behind by the Olmec civilization?
These cultures, such as the Maya, Zapotec, Totonac, and Teotihuacán civilizations have unique art, architecture, and cultures that separate them from each other, but many historians trace all of these cultures back to their shared Olmec heritage. The Olmec colossal heads are the most famous artifacts left behind by the Olmec civilization.
Where did the word "Olmec" come from?
Derived from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word “Olmecatl”, which means “inhabitant of the rubber country”, Olmec is a reference to the rubber production in the area where many of the artifacts have been found. There are several Olmec sites thought to be important centers of activity, of which San Lorenzo and La Venta are the most significant.
Where is the Olmec site?
There are several Olmec sites thought to be important centers of activity, of which San Lorenzo and La Venta are the most significant. San Lorenzo, about 56 kilometers (35 miles) south of the Gulf of Mexico in the modern Mexican state of Veracruz, was at its height around 1150 to 900 C.E. La Venta, east of San Lorenzo and closer to the Gulf Coast ...
The Olmec Culture
The Continuity Hypothesis
- Archaeologists have struggled to put together the few clues that remain today from the Olmec culture which vanished well over 2,000 years ago. Facts about the ancient Olmecare hard to come by. Modern researchers must use three sources for information on the religion of ancient Mesoamerican cultures: 1. Analysis of relics including sculpture, buildings and ancient textswhe…
The Five Aspects of Olmec Religion
- Archaeologist Richard Diehl has identified five elements associated with Olmec Religion. These include: 1. A cosmos which identifies the socio-cultural context within which Gods and man interacted 2. Divine beings and godswho controlled the universe and interacted with men 3. A shaman or priest class who acted as intermediaries between the common Olmec people and th…
Olmec Deities
- The Olmec had several deities whose images repeatedly appear in surviving sculptures, stonecarvings and other artistic forms. Their names have been lost to time, but archaeologists identify them by their characteristics. No fewer than eight regularly-appearing Olmec deities have been identified. These are the designations given to them by Joralemon: 1. The Olmec Dragon 2…
Olmec Sacred Places
- The Olmecs considered certain man-made and natural places sacred. Man-made places included temples, plazas and ball courts and natural places included springs, caves, mountaintops and rivers. No building easily identifiable as an Olmec temple has been discovered; nevertheless, there are many raised platforms which probably served as bases upon which temples were built of so…
Olmec Shamans
- There is strong evidence that the Olmec had a shaman class in their society. Later Mesoamerican cultures which derived from the Olmec had full-time priests who acted as intermediaries between the common people and the divine. There are sculptures of shamans apparently transforming from humans into were-jaguars. Bones of toads with hallucinogenic properties have been found …
Olmec Religious Rituals and Ceremonies
- Of Diehl's five foundations of Olmec religion, the rituals are the least known to modern researchers. The presence of ceremonial objects, such as stingray spines for bloodletting, indicate that there were, indeed, important rituals, but any details of said ceremonies have been lost to time. Human bones - particularly of infants - have been found at some sites, suggesting h…
Sources
- Coe, Michael D and Rex Koontz. Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs.6th Edition. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2008
- Cyphers, Ann. "Surgimiento y decadencia de San Lorenzo, Veracruz." Arqueología MexicanaVol XV - Num. 87 (Sept-Oct 2007). P. 36-42.
- Diehl, Richard A. The Olmecs: America's First Civilization.London: Thames and Hudson, 2004.
- Coe, Michael D and Rex Koontz. Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs.6th Edition. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2008
- Cyphers, Ann. "Surgimiento y decadencia de San Lorenzo, Veracruz." Arqueología MexicanaVol XV - Num. 87 (Sept-Oct 2007). P. 36-42.
- Diehl, Richard A. The Olmecs: America's First Civilization.London: Thames and Hudson, 2004.
- Gonzalez Lauck, Rebecca B. "El Complejo A, La Venta, Tabasco." Arqueología MexicanaVol XV - Num. 87 (Sept-Oct 2007). P. 49-54.
Overview
The religion of the Olmec people significantly influenced the social development and mythological world view of Mesoamerica. Scholars have seen echoes of Olmec supernatural in the subsequent religions and mythologies of nearly all later pre-Columbian era cultures.
The first Mesoamerican civilization, the Olmecs, developed on present-day Mexico southern Gulf Coast in the centuries before 1200 BCE. The culture lasted until roughly 400 BCE, at which time t…
Rulers, priests, and shamans
Olmec religious activities were performed by a combination of rulers, full-time priests, and shamans. The rulers seem to have been the most important religious figures, with their links to the Olmec deities or supernaturals providing legitimacy for their rule. There is also considerable evidence for shamans in the Olmec archaeological record, particularly in the so-called "transformation figur…
Olmec supernaturals
Specifics concerning Olmec religion are a matter of some conjecture. Early researchers found religious beliefs to be centered upon a jaguar god. This view was challenged in the 1970s by Peter David Joralemon, whose Ph. D. paper and subsequent article posited what are now considered to be 8 different supernaturals. Over time Joralemon's viewpoint has become the predominant …
Continuity Hypothesis
Marshall Howard Saville first suggested in 1929 that the Olmec deities were forerunners of later Mesoamerican gods, linking were-jaguar votive axes with the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca. This proposal was amplified by Miguel Covarrubias in his 1957 work Indian Art of Mexico and Central America where he famously drew a family tree showing 19 later Mesoamerican rain deities as descendants of a "jaguar masked" deity portrayed on a votive axe. The Continuity Hypothesis ha…
Further reading
• Joralemon, Peter David (1971) A study of Olmec iconography, Dumbarton Oaks.
• Joralemon, Peter David (1976) Olmec Dragon: a study in pre-Columbian iconography, UCLA Latin American Studies Series, v 31, pp. 27–71.