Evidence of Olmec expansion as far as Guatemala
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The 4th Offering of La Venta was found in 1955 [Credit: INAH] |
It’s the first time they have found physical evidence of the territorial expansion in an offering. “We found jade originating from the basin of the Motagua River in Guatemala, and serpentine (minerals) of Guerrero and Oaxaca. This makes us suppose that the artifacts represent a sumptuary good that originates from places distant to those known to have alliances with the Olmec site of La Venta.”
The analysis made on the artifacts was compiled in the book: “The 4th Offering of La Venta, a treasure reunited in the Museum of National Anthropology. Studies and a reasoned catalogue, coordinated by Diana Magaloni and Laura Filloy.
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The 4th Offering of La Venta is composed of 16 different figurines carved in in different green stones [Credit: INAH] |
The offering was carefully buried under diverse layers of multiple colored clay, possibly making a reference to different levels of the cosmos.
Creatures of the Underworld
The pieces represent beings that inhabited a space of death, the underworld. Diana Magaloni added that even though they have a human face, they are creatures in transformation, “they mouths are becoming jaws similar to those of a jaguar, this implies that the face may be similar to the maize god or an ancient jaguar”.
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The figures represent beings that inhabited the underworld [Credit: INAH] |
The studies allow the possibility that although La Venta was dominant in the region, those represented did not belong in this place, this theory was noted by the physical anthropologist Josefina Bautista, who established that they belonged to three different ethnic groups by their cranium deformities.
Source: INAH via ArtDaily [January 27, 2014]
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