Meso America * Map of Central America
A few themes to stress =art as a form of communication, the intersections betweenart and ritual, and thecontinuity of cultures.
- Pre-Colombian MesoAmerica
- Isthmus (thin strip of land connecting two larger ones usually with water on both sides) of Tehuantepec (in Mexico) is the dividing line between Mexico and Central America
- Pre Classic, Classic and Post Classic divisions made by scholars
- built symbolic architectural mountains- temples on top were “caves” to connect to the spirit world
- roads and buildings often aligned to points on the horizon, heavenly bodies – link of cities with heavens
- attempt to link this world with the other world through ritual, art, architecture, numerology and the calendar
- many peoples had a 260 day ritual calendar, 13 gods each ruled over 20 days- every day had a distinct spiritual character and meaning. They hoped to gain some control over the spiritual powers that dominated their existence.
The Olmecs 1200-400BCE
- The Olmecs lived in the low-lying Gulf Coast area of what is now Mexico in about 1200-400B.C.E. at sites such as San Lorenzo (the earliest), Tres Zapotes, Laguna de los Cerros and La Venta.
- seen as one of the founding culture of MesoAmerica (Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and pacific coast of El Salvador- home of pre-Colombian civilizations.) also contemporaneous cultures located in the Valley of Oaxaca.
- preliterate (some glyphs) therefore prehistoric
- first to make representational art on a large scale (maybe the first to make representational art at all!)
- Monumental sacred complexes, massive stone sculpture, ball games,chocolate drinking and animal gods were features of Olmec culture which would be passed on to all those who followed this first great Mesoamerican civilization- Aztec and Maya.
- The Olmec civilization presents something of a mystery, indeed, we do not even know what they called themselves, as ‘Olmec’ was theirAztecname and meant ‘rubber people’. Just archeology left!
*Olmec stone mask, c. 900-400BCE,Olmec, greenstone, (jade),13 x 11.3 x 5.7cm
- The Olmecs worked mainly in stone and particularly favored jade, or greenstone, which they believed had distinctive properties linked with fertility and procreation.
Olmec art is very distinctive and clearly reflects their religion.
Religion:
*Monument 52 from San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan, showing a classic were-jaguar figure.
- The Olmec apparently had gods, or at least powerful supernatural beings, which were worshipped or respected in some way. Their names and functions - other than in the most general sense have been lost over the ages.
- they often represented phenomena such as rain, the earth and especially maize
- gave special significance to the animals present in their environment, especially those at the top of the food chain such as jaguars, eagles, caimans, snakes and even sharks, identifying them with divine beings
- The Olmecs also liked to mix animals to create weird and wonderful creatures such as the were-jaguar, a cross between a human and a jaguar, which may have been their supreme deity.(Jaguar is largest of the big cats, goes in water, camouflaged, etc. )
- The were-jaguar figure is characterized by a distinctive down-turned mouth with fleshy lips, almond-shaped eyes, and a cleft head similar – it is said – to that of the male jaguar which has a cleft running vertically the length of its head.
- It is not known what the were-jaguar represented to the Olmec, and it may well have represented different things at different times.
- The jaguar also is important for shamans who often associate the jaguar as a spirit companion or nagual, which will protect the shamans from evil spirits and while they move between the earth and the spirit realm.
- The jaguar is said to possess the transient ability of moving between worlds because of its comfort both in the trees and the water, the ability to hunt as well in the nighttime as in the daytime, and the habit of sleeping in caves, places often associated with the deceased ancestors.
- they worshipped a sky-dragon (a sort of caiman creature with flaming eyebrows)
- they believed four dwarves held up the sky, possibly representing the four cardinal directions
- The feathered snake-god especially, would be transformed into the major gods Kukulcan for the Maya and Quetzalcoatl for the Aztecs.
- The Olmecs seem to have had a particular reverence for natural places which connected with the important junctions of sky, earth and the underworld. For example, caves could lead to the underworld and mountains which had both springs and caves could offer access to all three planes
- Olmec deities are represented in surviving stonecarvings, cave paintings and pottery. In most Mesoamerican art, gods are depicted as human-like, but are often more gruesome or imposing.
- Infants were a recurring theme in Olmec art.
*A life-size ceramic 'baby' figurine from the Olmec civilization of Mexico, Mesoamerica, 12th-9th century
- baby image- One of the gods most commonly rendered in small sculpture was God IV (names aren’t known so given numbers), sometimes called the Rain Baby, who is a toothless human baby with an open-mouth, cleft head (cranial deformation) and headband- unclear meaning
- Baby-face figurines often present a mixture of human and animal traits, with features such as a feline mouth with down-turned low corners, a flaring upper lip and 'flaming' eyebrows.
- Their bodies are naked and show no indication of gender.
- sometimes with the addition of strips of crinkled paper hanging at the side of his face (another feature seen in the gods of later cultures and representing the paper and rubber sap strips which were burnt during rites as the smoke was thought to propitiate rain).
- These "were-jaguar"infants are also carved on monumental altars and stone sculptures, lying on the lap or in the arms of a person.
*Olmec artwork showing a were-jaguar baby being held
8.16 * Kunz Axe. Olmec culture. c. 1000 BCE. , Jade, height 11” (28 cm).
(called Celts by Gardner’s)
- example of the smaller scale carvings also made (a ceremonial Axe head- not ever used as an axe)
- often buried under ceremonial courtyards or platforms
- a “were- jaguar”= almond-shaped eyes, small nostrils, prominent canine teeth, a large, flaring upper lip, and sometimes a central forehead cleft and a feature called “flame eyebrows.”
- example of a hybrid creature which represents a god
- spirits or shamans transformed into spirits. (part of a myth of a jaguar mating with a woman and having a baby= were jaguar. The baby is sometimes shown devouring the mom while breastfeeding.)
- could be connected to the kings- A dangerous, powerful, intelligent animal with a distinctive personality that moves with ease on water and land. Why wouldn't you want that in a king?
- could also be examples of deformation in children- encephalitis or down syndrome- maybe due to inbreeding among the elite- see them as special?
- far from agreed upon meaning
- carved from translucent blue green jade (jade is seen as more valuable than gold! The Spanish conquistadors trade green beads for gold to take advantage!)
- used stone tipped drills and abrasive materials
- has the same stylistic feel as the huge heads but in small form
- often ritually buried their carvings…
- These "were-jaguar"infants are also carved on monumental altars and stone sculptures, lying on the lap or in the arms of a person.
VIDEO LINK
- 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
*jade perforator, 1200-400 B.C.E., Olmec, jadite, 38 x 3 cm, Mexico
- Perforators were used in self-sacrifice rites, which involved drawing blood from several parts of the body.
- Some representations of Olmec rulers show them holding bloodletters and/or scepters as part of their elaborate ritual costume.
- Bloodletting was performed by the ruler to ensure the fertility of the land and the well-being of the community.It was also a means of communication with the ancestors and was vital to sustain the gods and the world. These rituals were common throughout Mesoamerica.
- Bloodletting implements were also fashioned out of bone, flint, greenstones, stingray spines and shark teeth. They vary in form and symbolism. Handles can be plain, incised with a variety of symbols associated to certain deities, or carved into the shape of supernatural beings. The blades, ending in a sharp point, are sometimes shaped into the beaks of certain birds, such as the hummingbird, or into a stingray tail.
The three sites of San Lorenzo, La Venta and Laguna de los Cerros all had a bilateral symmetry in their planning and at La Venta the firstpyramidin Mesoamerica was constructed.
8.14 * Colossal head, from San Lorenzo. Olmec culture. c. 1200–900 BCE. , Basalt, height 9’ (2.75 m).
- The most striking legacy of the Olmec civilization must be the colossal stone heads they produced. These were carved in basalt and all display unique facial features so that they may be considered portraits of actual rulers.
- The heads are incredibly naturalistic, and possess an impressive individualism.
- All portray mature men with fleshy cheeks, flat noses- their physical characteristics correspond to a type that is still common among the inhabitants of Tabasco and Veracruz
- Some even feature crossed eyes, which some art historians interpret as signifying a trance-like state. This suggests that the individuals represented may have utilized hallucinogens as a means of transporting themselves to a supernatural realm.
- Combo of individual and stereotypical- mix of individualized features (like a ruler) and stereotypical (like a god) – maybe a special god that protected the throne?
- The ruler often wears a protective helmet (fromwaror the ballgame) and sometimes show the subject with jaguar paws hanging over the forehead, perhaps representing a jaguar pelt worn as a symbol of political and religious power.
- The fact that these giant sculptures depict only the head may be explained by the belief in Mesoamerican culture that it was the head alone which bore the soul.
- one of 10 heads found at the city of San Lorenzo, early important Olmec center
- carved from large basalt boulders that came from 80 miles away (probably floated down river)
- The heads can be up to nine feet high and weigh twenty-eight tons.
-The stone from which they were worked was, in some cases, transported 80 km or more, quarried from the nearby Tuxtla Mountains, presumably using huge balsa river rafts.
- great sense of authority! Somber face
- contours follow the shape of the boulder
- the heads span 300 years (1200-900 BCE) and could represent the 10 kings that each could have ruled 30 years!
- 2 of the heads were carved from a large rectangular stone perhaps to connect to the throne and seat of authority.
Slide * Monument 4 : Height 2.26m (7.41 ft). With discoverer Dr. Mathew Stirling in 1939. Current location, La Venta Park-Museum, Villahermosa.
- Shows scale
Slide * One more head from San Lorenzo
- Olmec heads were frequently re-carved or even defaced after their death. The act of ritually defacing the stone may have served as a means to physically “mark” the former ruler’s death. This practice also enabled Olmec artists to recycle the immensely heavy basalt boulders
La Venta- Olmec city that rises up after San Lorenzo was destroyed for unknown reasons (900-400BCE)
- As a ceremonial center, La Venta contains an elaborate series of buried offerings and tombs, as well as monumental sculptures. These stone monuments, stelae, and "altars" were carefully distributed amongst the mounds and platforms. The mounds and platforms were built largely from local sands and clays. It is assumed that many of these platforms were once topped with wooden structures, which have long since disappeared.
8.15 * Reconstruction drawings of La Venta, Tabasco. Olmec culture. c. 900–400 BCE:
(a) principal pyramid; (b) ball court; (c) quadrangle; (d) late burial mounds
- carefully planned city layout- pre-meditated architectural layout!!! precisely aligned ceremonial precincts
- open rectangular plaza
- platforms and monuments set on each of the 4 sides of the plaza
- central axis is 8 degrees west of North- link city/ritual center to otherworld of gods- external emphasis of the center towards cosmic features (probably for astronomical reasons)
- 110 foot high conical pyramid – no stairs, no temple topper
- perhaps a volcano replica (passageway to the underworld as a gateway to the otherworld???)
- may have been where they buried the ruler (whose huge carved head is near..)
- homage to mountains and the life giving water they produce?
- recent work by Rebecca Gonzalez-Lauck has shown that the pyramid was originally a rectangular pyramid with stepped sides and inset corners, and the current shape is most likely due to 2500 years of erosion.
- Much of the iconography at the site reflects its environmental diversity and stresses the importance of the ruler's role in mediating between the watery realms occupied by fish, alligators, and sharks, and the earthly realm of agricultural and animal fertility.