In the history of Central America, the Olmecs were one of the most enigmatic peoples. Nothing can be concluded about their origins, we do not know their language or how they called themselves. The name “Olmecs” was given to them by the Aztecs, who held them in legend and respected them as a highly civilized culture from the Gulf Coast. In the Nahuatl language, their name simply means “those who live in the land of rubber.”
For a long time, they were considered the oldest, ancestral culture in the area of Central America. This was contributed by their approximate age of around two thousand years before Christ, as well as the fact that Olmec characteristics are present everywhere in Central America, giving this culture a universal significance. However, due to the fact that the most important Olmec areas in the regions of Tabasco and Veracruz have not yet been sufficiently explored due to their location in swampy and inhospitable terrain, and some archaeological sites are also in industrial zones, this assumption about the Olmecs as the original civilization is still uncertain. The findings should be approached with caution. Nowadays, certain researchers generally push the age boundaries of all Mesoamerican cultures and in that context, some Maya cultural sites, such as El Mirador, would come from an even deeper past. However, regardless of that, the same common root of these two cultures is evident considering the striking similarities and they undoubtedly influenced each other for centuries.
The Olmecs became famous after the discovery of the first colossal basalt head in 1862, but for a long time, they were neglected in archaeology. Research continued only from 1925 when another similar head was discovered.
According to current knowledge, they developed from a tribal community to a highly organized state in a very short time, and their entire legacy suggests an impressive level that showed no signs of decline. It is estimated that around 350 thousand inhabitants lived in the Olmec homeland, organized into a complex society with different layers, and it is suggested that existence of two different races. The ruler was the supreme priest-sage and lived together with hierarchies of priests, artists, craftsmen, and builders in ceremonial centers of cities. The common people engaged in agriculture and hunting and lived in the vicinity and periodically made pilgrimages to the cities. The cities were planned with one or more squares surrounded by pyramids, ball game courts, and so-called palaces, which in their purpose would be more in line with today’s concept of universities than royal residences.
The main characteristic of the culture is jaguar-like features, mostly human figures with prominent jaguar traits such as wide and snubbed noses, lips twisted in a snarling grimace, sometimes visibly toothless gums, and at times with pronounced fangs and claws. The depictions are highly androgynous, with disproportionately larger heads than the rest of the body. Statues of “jaguar babies” are very common, and they are often also depicted in the form of ritual axes, where we can find. jaguars-human faces with “flaming” eyebrows and hands crossed in ritual positions.
The presence of depictions with Negroid and Asian features is unusual, and besides certain technical data, there is little else we can say about them. Negroid features are primarily found in the giant basalt heads, which weigh between 20 and 25 tons, and vary in height from 1.47 m to 3.4 m. So far, a total of 17 heads have been found in a wide area, and it remains a question of how they were transported to their final destination. The closest basalt mines are about 90 km away from the swampy San Lorenzo sites, where the largest number of these mysterious heads were found. It is assumed that they represent divine beings or heroes who brought all knowledge and skills to the Olmecs. The statues of people often have Asian features and exude a greater sense of realism. They resemble middle-aged people in their prime, with refined facial expressions and well-shaped bodies. Their eyes are narrow, they have eagle-like noses and pointed chins. ca. Jaguar je bio povezan s moći i zaštitom te je bio često prikazivan na umjetničkim predmetima kao što su kipovi, posude i amuleti. Osim kulta jaguara, Olmečani su također imali i druge religijske običaje, kao što su žrtvovanja i rituali povezani s prirodom i kozmosom.
Olmečka arhitektura karakterizirala se monumentalnošću i preciznošću. Njihova najpoznatija građevina je Piramida sunca, koja je bila središnji dio mnogih olmečkih gradova. Osim piramida, gradovi su imali i terase, palače i trgove. Zidovi građevina bili su ukrašeni reljefima i simbolima koji su prenosili priče i mitove.
Olmečka kultura je imala velik utjecaj na kasnije Mesoameričke civilizacije, kao što su Maja, Zapoteći i Asteči. Njihova umjetnost, arhitektura i religijski običaji ostavili su trajni pečat na regiju i doprinijeli razvoju Mesoameričke civilizacije kao cjeline. The jaguar is the ruler of the rainforest labyrinth and an unbeatable nocturnal hunter. It is a symbol of the midnight sun that passes through invisible and mysterious realms, relentlessly breaking through the deepest darkness. The center of the cult is represented by the man-jaguar, and occasionally one can find jaguar masks adorned with feathers of birds or cats with snake-like tongues. This means that important religious symbols are usually hybrids that combine the four most important symbols of Central America – the symbol of man, jaguar (or some other similar feline), bird, and snake – which are also often present in other cultures.
Many massive “altars” with niches have been found in front of which a man is depicted in a specific meditative position, sitting crossed-legged, sometimes holding a child-student with jaguar-like characteristics. Around the niches, which symbolize the entrance to the underworld, reliefs depicting a terrestrial monster are visible, which every person must overcome in order to find a way out of their own cave darkness.
Today, these symbols are still present believed to have had two characteristic ceremonies. One was related to the burial of ritual objects, immediately after they were made, so that the majority, as some experts suggest, were never seen by the public eye. For example, in La Venta, 258 perfectly shaped ceremonial axe blades in the form of stylized human-jaguars were found, as well as a beautiful stone mosaic at a depth of over 8 meters. The other unusual ceremony, which is also hinted at in some other important Mesoamerican cultures, was related to the intentional, careful, and systematic destruction of cult objects that were later ceremonially buried or further used by being arranged along certain fixed lines and grooves of structures.
Just as we cannot provide a full explanation for their sudden appearance in full cultural splendor, we also do not know why such a civilization simply disappeared before the beginning of the new era. Since there are no signs of invasion, it is assumed that it was assimilated by younger cultures. In any case, the Olmecs were In the time that is now considered the dawn of Central American cultures, a significant impulse was given which was strongly felt for over one and a half millennia and continued to endure in various forms for centuries after their mysterious end.