The grandmotherThe kneeling woman holds a plate as an offering. She wears a unique headdress and a cape on her back. |
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An acrobat or contortionistNote his very small limbs. See also the acrobat at the National Museum of Anthropology. |
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The GovernorSymbolic elements are depicted on his chest and belt. |
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The GovernorHorizontal bands are designed on the back of his cape. |
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A jaguar |
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A mythological being with jaguar claws and flaming eyebrows |
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Monument of the cloven headFigures in Olmec art often have cleft heads, "perhaps representing some congenital abnormality, but certainly symbolizing the place where corn emerges" (Coe and Koontz 64). |
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Mosaic pavementsThree rectangular pavements (about 15 by 20 feet) were found at La Venta. Each has "about 485 blocks of serpentine, laid in the form of a highly abstract jaguar mask. Certain details were left open and emphasized by filling with colored clays. Strange as it may seem, these were offerings, as they were covered up with many feet of clay and adobe layers soon after construction" (Coe and Koontz 76). Tassels decorate the chin (center image) and a cleft marks the top of the head (right and left).
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Basalt tombA burial of two juveniles was found in this tomb, surrounded and roofed with basalt columns. |
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A pretty stoneIt is speculated that the Olmecs transported and erected pretty stones! |
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