The religion of the

Olmec The Olmecs () were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that t ...

people significantly influenced the social development and mythological world view of

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...

. Scholars have seen echoes of Olmec supernatural in the subsequent religions and mythologies of nearly all later

pre-Columbian era In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the Migration to the New World, original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization of the Americas, European colonization, w ...

cultures. The first Mesoamerican civilization, the Olmecs, developed on present-day Mexico southern Gulf Coast in the centuries before 1200

BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

. The culture lasted until roughly 400 BCE, at which time their center of

La Venta La Venta is a pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Olmec civilization located in the present-day Mexican state of Tabasco. Some of the artifacts have been moved to the museum "Parque - Museo de La Venta", which is in nearby Villahermosa, ...

lay abandoned. 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 Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

Popol Vuh ''Popol Vuh'' (also ''Popol Wuj'' or ''Popul Vuh'' or ''Pop Vuj'') is a text recounting the mythology and history of the Kʼicheʼ people, one of the Maya peoples, who inhabit Guatemala and the Mexican states of Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Q ...

'', or the Aztecs with their many

codices The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

and

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...

accounts. Archaeologists, therefore, have had to rely on other techniques to reconstruct Olmec beliefs, most prominently: *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 The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...

. The latter two techniques assume that there is a continuity extending from Olmec times through later Mesoamerican cultures to the present day. This assumption is called the Continuity Hypothesis. Using these techniques, researchers have discerned several separate deities or supernaturals embodying the characteristics of various animals.

Rulers, priests, and shamans

Olmec religious activities were performed by a combination of rulers, full-time priests, and

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

s. 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 figures". Las Limas left shoulder

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 exposition of the Olmec pantheon. The study of Olmec religion, however, is still in its infancy and any list of Olmec supernaturals or deities can be neither definitive nor comprehensive. The names and identities of these supernaturals are only provisional and the details concerning many of them remain poorly known. The confusion stems in part because the supernaturals are defined as a cluster of iconographic mafias. Any given motif may appear in multiple supernaturals. For example, "flame eyebrows" are seen at times within representations of both the Olmec Dragon and the Bird Monster, and the cleft head is seen on all five supernaturals that appear on

Las Limas Monument 1 Las Limas Monument 1, also known as the Las Limas figure or the Señor de las Limas, is a greenstone figure of a youth holding a limp were-jaguar baby. Found in the State of Veracruz, Mexico, in the Olmec heartland, the statue is famous for its ...

. To add to the confusion, Joralemon suggested that many of these gods had multiple aspects – for example, Joralemon had identified a God I-A through a God I-F. Despite the use of the term "god", none of these deities and supernaturals show any sexual characteristics which would indicate gender.

Olmec Dragon (God I)

Also known as the Earth Monster, the Olmec Dragon has flame eyebrows, a bulbous nose, and bifurcated tongue. When viewed from the front, the Olmec Dragon has trough-shaped eyes; when viewed in profile, the eyes are L-shaped. Fangs are prominent, often rendered as an upside-down U-shaped bracket. With the Bird Monster, the Olmec Dragon is one of the most commonly depicted supernaturals. Miller & Taube differentiate a Personified Earth Cave, equating it with Joralmon's God I-B. Seated Olmec Jaguar from San Lorenzo, Veracruz

Seated Olmec Jaguar from San Lorenzo, Veracruz

Maize deity (God II)

Another probable supernatural is identified by the plants sprouting from its cleft head. A carved

celt The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

from Veracruz shows a representation of God II, or the Maize Gosh, growing corn from his cleft, and also shows this god with the snarling face associated with the jaguar. This deity is rarely shown with a full body.

Rain Spirit and Were-jaguar (God III)

There is considerable disagreement between researchers whether the Rain Spirit and were-jaguar are one distinct or two separate supernaturals. Christopher Pool, Anatole Pohorilenko, and Miller & Taube each equate the were-jaguar with the Rain Deity, while Joralemon finds them to be two separate supernaturals. Joralemon states that the Olmec rain spirit "is based on were-jaguar features", but is not the were-jaguar per se. More recent scholarship by Carolyn Tate questions the existence of "were-jaguar" (a fantastical concept coined soon after the release of the ''WereWolf in London'') imagery and instead argues for the centrality of embryo-corn kernel iconography within Olmec iconography. In a later paper, Taube proposed that the Rain Spirit was instead the seed phase version of the Maize God.

Banded-eye God (God IV)

This enigmatic deity is named for the narrow band that runs along the side of its face through its almond-shaped eye with its round

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

. Like many other supernaturals, the Banded-eye God has a cleft head and a downturned mouth. Unlike others, the Banded-eye God is only known from its profile - these renditions are generally concentrated on bowls from the

Valley of Mexico The Valley of Mexico ( es, Valle de México) is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico wa ...

(as shown on left), although the Banded-eye God is one of the five supernaturals shown on

from the

Olmec heartland The Olmec heartland is the southern portion of Mexico's Gulf Coast region between the Tuxtla mountains and the Olmec archaeological site of La Venta, extending roughly 80 km (50 mi) inland from the Gulf of Mexico coastline at its deepest. It i ...

. Rather than a distinct supernatural in its own right, however, Taube finds God IV to be yet another aspect of the Maize God.

Feathered Serpent (God V)

The feathered (or plumed) serpent depicted throughout

first appears in Olmec times, although there is some disagreement concerning its importance to the Olmec. The Feathered Serpent appears on La Venta Stele 19 (above) and within a

Juxtlahuaca Juxtlahuaca is a cave and archaeological site in the Mexican state of Guerrero containing murals linked to the Olmec motifs and iconography. Along with the nearby Oxtotitlán cave, Juxtlahuaca walls contain the earliest sophisticated painted art ...

cave painting (see this Commons photo), locations hundreds of miles apart.

Fish or Shark Monster (God VI)

Most often recognized by its shark tooth, the head of the monster also features a crescent-shaped eye, and a small lower jaw. When depicted in its full-body form, such as on San Lorenzo Monument 58 or on the Young Lord figurine, the

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

Fish Monster also displays crossed bands, a dorsal fin, a split tail. This supernatural's profile is shown on the left leg of

(see Commons drawing).

Continuity hypothesis

Marshall Howard Saville Marshall Howard Saville (1867–1935) was an American archaeologist, born in Rockport, Massachusetts. He studied anthropology at Harvard (1889–1894), engaged in field work under F. W. Putnam, and made important discoveries among the mound build ...

first suggested in 1929 that the Olmec deities were forerunners of later Mesoamerican gods, linking were-jaguar votive axes with the Aztec god

Tezcatlipoca Tezcatlipoca (; nci, Tēzcatl ihpōca ) was a central deity in Aztec religion, and his main festival was the Toxcatl ceremony celebrated in the month of May. One of the four sons of Ōmeteōtl, Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, the God of providenc ...

. This proposal was amplified by

Miguel Covarrubias Miguel Covarrubias, also known as José Miguel Covarrubias Duclaud (22 November 1904 — 4 February 1957) was a Mexican painter, caricaturist, illustrator, ethnologist and art historian. Along with his American colleague Matthew W. Stirling, ...

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 has since been generally accepted by scholars,Miller & Taube (p. 126) say: ". . . some f these deitieswere to survive, albeit in a changed form, for 2500 years until the Spanish Conquest". although the extent of Olmec influence on later cultures is still debated.

Notes

References

* (2005)
The Shark-Monster in Olmec Iconography
, in ''Mesoamerican Voices'', 2005, v. 2. * (1990) '' The Mythology of Mexico and Central America'', William Morrow, . * (1972) "Olmec Jaguars and Olmec Kings" in E.P. Benson (ed), ''The Cult of the Feline''. Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, pp. 1–12. * (1989) "The Olmec heartland: evolution of ideology" in Robert J. Sharer and David C. Grove, (ed), ''Regional Perspectives on the Olmec''. Cambridge University Press, , pp. 68–82. * , pp. 64, 75-76. * (1957) ''Indian Art of Mexico and Central America'', New York: Alfred A. Knopf. * * (1996) "In Search of the Olmec Cosmos: Reconstructing the World View of Mexico's First Civilization". In E. P. Benson and B. de la Fuente (eds.), ''Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico''. Washington, D.C.:

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

: 51-60. . * (1976) ''Olmec Religion: A Key to Middle America and Beyond.'' University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma. . * * (1996) "Portable Carvings in the Olmec Style", in E. P. Benson and B. de la Fuente (eds.), ''Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico''. Washington, D.C.:

: 119-131. . * *