The basic assumption underlying this approach is summarized in the assertion that "… there is a basic religious system common to all Mesoamerican peoples.

Huge steep-sided pits were dug into the subsoil and immediately filled with thousands of serpentine blocks laid in clay and topped with a mosaic of finely worked blocks forming a gigantic mask of the Olmec Dragon.
Regional Perspectives on the Olmec.

Encyclopedia of Religion. Olmec prosperity was initially based on exploiting the fertile and well-watered coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico to grow such crops as corn and beans (often twice-yearly) which allowed for an agricultural surplus. The most influential were the rulers, which were considered relatives of supernatural beings and of the deities of the Olmecs. [13] With the Bird Monster, the Olmec Dragon is one of the most commonly depicted supernaturals. Here, man-made places considered sacred to the Olmec such as ball courts and temples can be found. /* General-Banner */ Archaeological, historical, and ethnographic information provides the basic data for reconstructing ancient Mesoamerican religions. Like other Mesoamerican peoples of the period, they lived in villages, practiced agriculture based on maize cultivation, and produced pottery.

Designated God VII by Joralemon, the feathered (or plumed) serpent depicted throughout Mesoamerica first appears in Olmec times, although there is some disagreement concerning its importance to the Olmec. The final Olmec dyad consists of Gods VI and VIII. Right now we don’t have a complete list of the deities of the Olmecs, as their study is still in the beginning. See Joralemon (1996) and Coe (1989), pp. The same supernatural can be defined by motifs that appears in others as well. [17], The Bird Monster is often identified with the harpy eagle, although it also has mammalian and reptilian features. Other Olmec artifacts include … What were the aspects of religion in the Chavin civilization? Gods II and IV form an agricultural-fertility complex. Maize and agriculture were extremely important to the lives of the Olmec. Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps. Sharer, Robert J., and David C. Grove, eds. This assumption is called the Continuity Hypothesis. Other ritual accoutrements include iron-ore mirrors, which are masterpieces of pre-Columbian lapidary work. Sculptured scenes of people seated in caves or emerging from cavelike niches suggest an early occurrence of the pan-Mesoamerican belief that ethnic groups and deities emerged on to the surface world through caves, which served as doorways to and from the supernatural realm inside the earth. For example, what in this article is called the Olmec Dragon has been variously identified as a were-jaguar combining human and feline traits, a caiman, a toad, or a manatee! If the answer is yes, this is the right place for you: an extensive guide to Latin America with all the basic info and most interesting weekend plans. The Olmec probably played a ritual ball game similar to those popular in later times, as evidenced by clay figurines depicting males dressed in ballplayer garb and who at times hold what appears to be a ball. Cambridge, U.K., 1989. Specifics concerning Olmec religion are a matter of some conjecture. google_ad_client = "ca-pub-3332956760529341"; google_ad_slot = "1938362811"; ." Researchers believe the Olmec people to have centered their religion around five key aspects: specific cosmology,   deities who controlled the natural world, shamans and rulers who were intermediaries between such deities and the common Olmec people, rituals centering around ideas of the cosmos led by this ruling class, and sacred sites. Typological analysis of Olmec iconography and art. For example, the motif that means flame eyebrows will show up both for the bird and dragon monsters, while all supernaturals from the monument of Las Limas contains the cleft head. Christopher Pool,[20] Anatole Pohorilenko, and Miller & Taube each equate the were-jaguar with the Rain Deity, while Joralemon finds them to be two separate supernaturals.

Elizabeth P. Benson's The Olmecs and Their Neighbors: Essays in Memory of Matthew W. Stirling (Washington, D.C., 1981) contains articles dealing with many aspects of Olmec culture, and a useful bibliography. Two potential uses have been suggested: One is that they served as ritual bathing stations for priests, the other that they were holding tanks for sacred animals such as caimans or manatees. Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions Doniger, Wendy (ed.) Like many other supernaturals, the Banded-eye God has a cleft head and a downturned mouth. A rectangular group of four mounds at San Lorenzo has been interpreted as a formal ball court; and although it lacks the rings and benches of later courts, residue of a rubber-like substance found at this site may be the remnants of a ball. Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions Bowker, John ; Penguin Dictionary of Religions Hinnells, John R.

1 (1997): 151–201. The religion of the Olmec empire was shamanism. Illustrated World's Religions Huston Smith ; Penguin Handbook of the World's Living Religions Hinnells, John R. Early researchers found religious beliefs to be centered upon a jaguar god.

Since its introductio…, Ollard, Richard 1923-2007 (Richard Laurence Ollard), Olmstead v. United States 277 U.S. 438 (1928), Olmsted, Frederick Law, Sr. (1822 – 1903) American Landscape Designer, Iconography, article on Mesoamerican Iconography, https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/olmec-religion, Mesoamerican Religions: Postclassic Cultures. . 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. . Tuscaloosa, Ala., 2002. Religion held a strong influence in the culture of the Chavin Cult, most easily observed from the name of their civilization itself. Little is known about the Banded-Eye God aside from it's appearance from which researchers have named it. A cult is a group of people who's lives revolve around following a religious leader who promotes doctrine and practices specific to their religion. Later, Joralemon Peter David said in some articles that the Olmec religion was actually placed around 8 supernatural beings. Using these techniques, researchers have discerned several separate deities or supernaturals embodying the characteristics of various animals. [16] This deity is rarely shown with a full body. Journal of World Prehistory 11, no. While we have direct proof of the religions of the Aztecs or the Maya, there are none when it comes to the Olmec religion. The Water God usually worked hand in hand with the Maize God, explained by their coexistence to provide for the people of Olmec civilization. The Olmecs are especially identified with 17 huge stone heads—ranging in height from 1.47 to 3.4 metres (4.82 to 11.15 feet)—with flat faces and full lips, wearing helmetlike headgear. | About Us | How to Cite | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Advertising Info. Researchers interpret these in terms of Spanish accounts of Aztec and Maya religions dating from the sixteenth century ce and of contemporary ethnographic studies of religious practices among modern Mesoamerican Indians and tropical forest groups living elsewhere in Latin America. Some scholars have called Olmec society a theocracy, but there is no evidence to warrant such a conclusion, although priests were undoubtedly members of the elite.

Cosmology is defined as the science of the universe's origin and development. The twenty or so deep depressions in the surface of San Lorenzo probably originated as sources of soil for mound construction but were later converted into sacred water reservoirs by lining them with special materials. Two sculptured monuments from the San Lorenzo area form the basis of the so-called Stirling hypothesis, named after its formulator, Matthew W. Stirling. If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked. Share your newfound knowledge to your friends! "Crocodilians and Olmecs." There is no evidence in Olmec society of an elaborate religious bureaucracy comparable to that reported for the Aztec. //-->. The last techniques mentioned here were used under the assumption that the religion of the Olmecs had continuity through the ages, to the present Mesoamerican religions. The problems here are based on the motifs of iconography that are used to define a supernatural. Miller, Mary Ellen. Natural features of earth and the four cardinal points of direction are what bound the three tiers of existence together. Source for information on Olmec Religion: Encyclopedia of Religion dictionary. The Olmec occupied southern Mexico's tropical lowlands in southeastern Veracruz and western Tabasco between 1200 and 600 bce. Many gods represented in art, including the Olmec Dragon, Maize Deity, Bird Monster, and Were-Jaguar. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. [6], The names and identities of these supernaturals are only provisional and the details concerning many of them remain poorly known.

The fundamental pattern of Olmec belief seems to have centered on the worship of numerous high gods or supernatural forces that controlled the universe and sanctioned the human sociopolitical structure. Museums and private collections contain hundreds of exotic objects to which can be reasonably assigned a ritual function even though their specific uses are not known. Some offerings display ideologically significant patterns in the placement of objects, such as celts arranged in geometric patterns or stylized deity faces. Some researchers identify this figure as the were-jaguar while others state that it instead represents the Rain Deity.
Other art expresses fantastic anthropomorphic creatures, often highly stylized, using an iconography reflective of a religious meaning. Illustrated World's Religions Huston Smith ; Penguin Handbook of the World's Living Religions Hinnells, John R. Soustelle, Jacques. God IV is an infant or dwarf, probably associated with rain, whom Joralemon sees as an early form of later rain deities, such as the central Mexican tlalocs and Maya chacs. [19], There is considerable disagreement between researchers whether the Rain Spirit and were-jaguar are one distinct or two separate supernaturals. One of the least understood aspects of Olmec religion is ritual. Usually this supernatural doesn’t have a body represented in the pictures. Some authorities dispute these proposed linkages with later deities, but unfortunately there is a lack of a coherent methodology for resolving the issues of continuity and change in deity concepts through time.

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 latter two techniques assume that there is a continuity extending from Olmec times through later Mesoamerican cultures to the present day. sacrifices, large sculptures of human heads, cave rituals, pilgrimages, ball-courts, pyramids, © 2004-2020 ReligionFacts. Origins of Religious Art and Iconography in Preclassic Mesoamerica, edited by H. B. Nicholson (Los Angeles, 1976) contains Joralemon's definitive study of the Olmec Dragon and the Olmec Bird Monster in addition to many other useful articles. The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership. Anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines, masks, celts, "spoons," "stilettos," and a host of miscellaneous objects, frequently decorated with religious designs and symbols, indicate a well-developed set of ritual paraphernalia. Encyclopedia of Religion. The first Mesoamerican civilization, the Olmec, developed on present-day Mexico's southern Gulf Coast in the centuries before 1200 BCE. Refer to each style’s convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. The objects are often made from jadeite, serpentine, and other blue-green stones whose color obviously had some special significance. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list.