THE SHARK-MONSTER IN OLMEC ICONOGRAPHY - Imaginary Year

PHILIP J. ARNOLD III, “The Shark-Monster in Olmec Iconography”
Mesoamerican Voices, 2 (2005)
below. First I address the rarer instances
in which the provenience of relevant Olmec
material is well established. This exercise
underscores the apparent sacred nature of
the shark-monster in Olmec thought. I
then investigate several images in which the
shark-monster interacts with human figures.
These representations imply a
Mesoamerican world-creation event in
which a deity or mythic hero subdues the
shark-supernatural, ultimately resulting in
the formation of the world’s surface. Finally,
I explore the association of the sharkmonster
and ritual regalia. One set of examples
involves scepters and batons tipped
with a shark’s tooth. The second group of
examples includes headdresses in which
shark imagery plays a central role. In these
cases the ruler appropriates the shark-supernatural
imagery to exemplify and reinforce
his position as axis mundi.
Shark Imagery from Known
Contexts
In a series of studies dating to the
1970s, Peter David Joralemon (1971, 1976)
tentatively identified a suite of
supernaturals that occurred in Olmec iconography.
Among these representations
was “God VIII,” one of four images that also
appeared on the Las Limas figure. This
sculpture, uncovered by children in the
small village of Las Limas, Veracruz in 1965,
consists of a seated, cross-legged individual
holding a smaller individual across his lap
(de la Fuente 1996; Joralemon 1996a). The
God VIII profile is located on the left knee
of the Las Limas figure (Figure 5). 6 Its
defining characteristics are simple, but
should now be familiar: a reduced lower
10
jaw, a single large tooth emerging from the
upper gum, and an unfilled crescent that
serves as the eye. Although this image is
still occasionally characterized simply as a
“Death God” (e.g., de la Fuente 1996:170),
most scholars now accept it as the sharkmonster
(Joralemon 1996a:55; Coe
1989:76; Grove 2000:279-280).
The presence of the shark supernatural
on the Las Limas figure bespeaks the
central relevance of this entity to coastal
Olmec ideology. This importance is echoed
in additional Gulf lowlands contexts.
For example, a shark-monster effigy occurs
within the spectacular jade cache from
Cerro de las Mesas (Drucker 1955:Figure
4, Plate 40c). This cache was discovered
when excavations trenched Mound 1 at the
site (Drucker 1943, 1955). Although this
offering dates to the Classic Period, it contained
many greenstone artifacts that appear
to be Olmec in origin. The inclusion
of the shark supernatural in this offering,
as well as the presence of shark-monsters
on Cerro de las Mesas stelae (see below),
indicates the powerful longitudinal impact
of this water beast along the Gulf lowlands.
It should not be surprising, however,
that shark remains per se are rare; as mostly
cartilaginous creatures, sharks have few
parts that will survive the ravages of time.
Shark teeth, therefore, are the most common
direct evidence for this fish in archaeological
contexts (e.g., de Borhegyi 1961). 7
Excavations at La Venta produced shark
teeth in a highly ritualized context. During
the 1942 field season, workers explored
the area known as Complex A, located to
the north of the great Mound C-1 (Drucker
1952). A trench placed in Mound A-2 revealed
a closed “tomb” constructed entirely