 |
| Olmec transforming figures |
WHERE IS MESOAMERICA? - Mesoamerica was a region and cultural area in the Americas that included central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. In those areas pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries
WHO MADE THE ARTWORK? The mysterious Olmec civilization was located around the southern Gulf Coast of Mexico area (today the states of Veracruz and Tabasco) - further south east than the heart of the Aztec empire. The Olmec culture developed in the centuries before 1200 BC (BCE), and declined around 400 BC. Their civilization was generally considered the forerunner of all subsequent Mesoamerican cultures such as the Maya and Aztecs.
WHAT DOES "OLMEC" MEAN? -The name "Olmec" means "rubber people" in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztec.
WHAT WERE OLMECS KNOWN FOR? Olmecs were best known today for their carved colossal heads. Most colossal heads were sculpted from spherical boulders but two from San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán were re-carved from massive stone thrones.
WHAT ARE TRANSFORMING FIGURES? These figures represent nahualism. That is, individuals who through the consumption of hallucinogenic drugs, had the ability to transform into their supernatural animal counterparts. In animal form they traveled in a spiritual world and could intercede for the well-being of their community.
NEXT: WHO IS THE GOD OF CORN?
