Cult of beauty - Minerva

Ancient Mexico
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significance. Scientific expeditions
to the region
took place only relatively
recently, and
many of these were
devoted to uncovering
impressive statuary
(Figs 2, 4). Frans
Blom and Oliver
La Farge of Tulane
University made
detailed descriptions
of monuments
in La Venta and San
Martin during their expedition of
1925. Like most other scholars of the
time, they assumed what they found
was a chronologically equivalent variant
of the Maya culture (the Classic
Period c. AD 250–900). Following
systematic excavations of Olmec sites,
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Matthew Stirling (1896–1975) and
Miguel Covarrubias (1904–57) suggested
that the Olmec preceded most
other Mesoamerican civilisations.
The debate only ended with the use
of radiocarbon dating from the 1950s
onwards.
The Olmec have been credited with
many ‘firsts’. There is good evidence
that they played the ball game that was
known to later Mesoamerican cultures,
and it is assumed that the enormous
helmeted heads are representations
of rulers dressed as ballplayers.
Archaeological
evidence in the form
of spikes and thorns
suggests they were
also involved with
bloodletting. They
may also be credited
with the earliest
writing
system in the
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New World, and
are believed to have
developed a calendar, although
Olmec civilisation had ended by
the 4 th century BC, several centuries
before the earliest known artefact with
a Long Count calendar favoured by
later Mesoamerican peoples such as
the Maya.
While the public imagination of the
pre-Columbian New World is largely
focused on the Maya, Aztecs and Incas,
there is every reason to appreciate the
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Fig 6. Ceramic
figurine of a baby
holding a ball,
probably from Las
Bocas, 1200–800 BC.
H. 28.6cm. FAMSF
collection. Photo:
Joseph McDonald.
Fig 7. Zoomorphic
earthenware vessel
of an opossum,
Central Highlands,
1200–600 BC.
Museo Nacional
de Anthropologia,
Mexico City. H. 12cm.
Fig 8. Seated female
figure with polished
hematite disk from
an elite burial, La
Venta, Mound A-2,
Tomb A, 900–500 BC.
Fig 9. Basalt head of
a supernatural being,
Laguna de los Cerros,
1200–900 BC. Museo
de Antropologia de
Xalapa, Universidad
Veracruzana.
H. 79cm.
Fig 10. Greenstone
plaque from the
Gulf Coast Olmec,
c 800 BC. The head
attached to the main
head wears a trefoil
motif associated
with maize.
Museo Nacional
de Antropologia,
Mexico City. H. 15.4,
W.16.3cm.
Figs 1, 2,
3, 5, 7, 8, 9,
10 courtesy
of Consejo
Nacional para
la Cultura
y las Artes/
Instituto Nacional
de Antropologia
e Historia Mexico/
Javier Hinojosa.
As a rule, men of this
period were portrayed
with intentional
cranial deformation,
with heads of a pear
shape, a down-turned
mouth and slit eyes
importance of the Olmec. This has
recently been emphasised in the exhibition
‘Olmec: Colossal Masterworks
of Ancient Mexico’, that has been running
at de Young Museum in San
Francisco, and which was accompanied
by a well illustrated catalogue that conveys
the power of Olmec art. Excellent
introductory essays in the catalogue
also cover the golden age of exploration,
which will come within the living
memory of some. A slight drawback
of the exhibition and catalogue is that
there has been no mention of the issue
of forgery. There are some masterpieces
of art, ascribed to the Olmecs, that have
arrived in museum collections with
no provenance, and some of these are
included in the exhibition. It is therefore
appropriate to suggest that in such
cases scholarly debate is noted, as well
as the results of any scientific testing.
After the exhibition closes in North
America, it is hoped that it will travel to
Europe, despite the difficulty of transporting
main attractions of the show:
two large monumental heads and a
throne. Even if we do not know the
name of the culture that made them,
they convey the essence of a civilisation
that continues to fascinate. n
‘Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of
Ancient Mexico’, has been running at
de Young Museum in San Francisco.
A fully illustrated catalogue, edited
by K. Berrin and V.M. Fields is
available. 288pp. Softcover, $39.95.
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Minerva May/June 2011