Archaeology Magazine - April 1973 - 50

The motifs and images that decorate these altars
are recurrent ones, found not just on sculptural
monuments, but in recently discovered Olmec
cave-paintings as well; that these paintings are
situated purposely within caves is of special importance. The paintings and their placement
clearly echo the subjects of the altar carvingssubjects obviously part of Olmec mythology. The
interconnections among the altars and paintings
. are intricate ones and will take a bit of patience
as I spell them out. But to do so, I believe, may
enhance our understanding of Olmec mythology
and clarify the nature of the Olmec altars themselves.

Ï Ja Venta's Altar 4 is perhaps the finest of all
known Olmec altars. The concave niche in the
altar's face holds a beautifully carved seated
figure which is only slightly defaced and which,
I believe, is a portrait carving of a specific individual. I believe that it is portraiture because
it is finely executed and contains none of the more
simple, generalized representations common in
much of Olmec art. While the figure's face has
suffered some damage and is difficult to reconstruct precisely, the headdress which it wears
is relatively undamaged and has a pair of interesting features. One is a set of motifs which
several scholars have previously construed as
representing a jaguar's face; it represents, in fact,
the head of a large bird, most likely a Harpy
eagle (Harpia harpy ja), a powerful monkeyeating predator whose habitat range extends from
the Gulf Coast of Mexico to the Brazilian tropical
forest and eastern Peru. At the time of the
Spanish conquest of Mexico, eagles were generally associated with the sun, priests, human
sacrifice and a special class of warriors, the
"eagle knights." According to Donald Lathrap,
the Harpy eagle was also depicted by the ancient
Chavin artists of Peru, whose culture roughly
dates to the same period as the Olmec. The beak
of the eagle on Altar 4 is missing, a casualty of
the mutilation 3000 years ago, but the feathered
crest which forms the rear of the headdress is
clear enough to allow such identification.
The other notable feature is a glyphic device
that appears on the front sides of the headdress.
This glyph consists of interlocking scrolls and
was common in the art of the Post-classic period
immediately preceding the Spanish conquest. It
is identifiable with a central Mexican symbol
known as ollin, associated with motion or earth130

La Venta Altar 5,

quakes and also the sun. An identical glyph
occurs in Maya art from southern Mesoamerica,
where it is known as the Pop glyph. J. Eric
Thompson suggests that for the Maya this glyph
sometimes symbolized chieftainship and authority. The same motif again is common on the
headwear of the famed "Smiling Heads" of the
Classic period in Veracruz - a fact that may not
be coincidental but may relate to an evolving
cultural tradition in the Veracruz region, with
Classic period Veracruz culture being a cultural
descendant of the Olmec.
The niche figure in Altar 4 wears an elaborate
breast ornament which may represent a large
jade pectoral or perhaps a concave mirror made
of magnetite or ilmenite of the kind found during
the excavations at La Venta. The figure is also
wearing a skirt-like garment and grasps in his
hands the end of two ropes which pass along the
base of the altar to bas-relief human figures on
the altar's sides. The right side is badly defaced,
but the left is largely intact and shows a seated
figure, apparently a woman, whose left wrist
seems bound by the rope. I believe that this rope
does not represent captivity as some scholars have
thought, but rather, as we shall see, it seems to
link the figures in a kinship relationship.
The top of Altar 4 has a somewhat stylized
jaguar face carved on its front lip. The face is
situated directly above the niche and its seated

Archaeology Magazine - April 1973

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - April 1973