Chapter 17 Chapter 17 The Olmec Mystery

After leaving Tres Zapote, our next stop was San Lorenzo, southwest of Cozhicox.The Olmec cultural relics here are located in the center of the "snake sanctuary".The myths and legends of Quetzalcotel often refer to this place.The oldest Olmec site archaeologists have dated using carbon-14 dating is in the San Lorenzo area.According to identification, the history of this site can be traced back to around 1500 BC①.However, Olmec seems to have matured before that period, and there is no indication that Olmec culture developed in the San Lorenzo area. There must be a mystery in it. After all, the Olmecs had once established a fairly splendid civilization and carried out large-scale engineering programs.They developed superb skills and were able to carve and process huge stones (some of the human heads they left behind were carved out of a single huge stone, weighing more than 20 tons; the stone was mined in the Tuxtla Mountains, along the transported over a 60-mile mountain road).If not in the San Lorenzo area, where did the Olmecs' advanced technological knowledge and high organizational capabilities originate, evolve, and mature?

Unbelievably, despite the repeated efforts of archaeologists to dig, in Mexico, and even throughout the Americas, they have never been able to find any signs and evidence that the Olmec culture once had a "stage of development".This nation, which is best at carving huge black heads, suddenly appeared in Mexico as if jumping out of a stone. Exquisite and complicated sluice design At noon, we arrived in San Lorenzo.Here, in Mesoamerica at the dawn of history, the Olmecs built a rockery more than 100 feet high as part of a larger structure (4000 feet long and 2000 feet wide).We climbed to the main mountain, which is now covered with tropical plants, and stood on the top of the mountain, looking at the boundless fields around us.We also saw many smaller mounds scattered across the field.Nearby are several deep trenches that were dug by archaeologist Michael Coe when he was exploring the site in 1966.

The antiquities discovered by Koy's archaeological team include more than 20 reservoirs; these artificial reservoirs are composed of cobweb-like, basalt grooves connected in series to form an intricate system, some of which are built along the ridge.Coy found that when it rains heavily, these sluices still spew water, just as they did more than 3,000 years ago.The main pipeline of the drainage equipment stretches from the east to the west.Three branch lines flow into the main line, and the design is very advanced.After careful investigation, archaeologists admit that they do not understand the purpose of this elaborate system of sluice gates.

The monuments here also contain another mystery that has puzzled archaeologists: five huge statues of human heads showing black facial features-the "Olmec heads" as today's archaeologists call them-were deliberately Buried underground, arranged in a unique pattern.Inside these bizarre, religious tombs, archaeologists also found more than 60 precious artifacts, including exquisite jade objects and statuettes.Before burial, some statuettes were deliberately amputated limbs. The manner in which the statues of San Lorenzo were buried makes it difficult to date them precisely—although archaeologists have also found bits of charcoal in the same formation.Unlike carvings, charcoal chips can be dated by carbon-14, the method of identification.According to the test results, experts believe that these charcoal chips were produced around 1200 BC ④.However, this does not mean that the statue in the tomb must have been made in 1200 BC.Of course it is possible.However, they may also be works from an earlier period.Perhaps, before being buried in San Lorenzo, these sculptures with artistic beauty and mysterious religious power have been preserved and worshiped by many peoples.The charcoal shavings buried with them only prove that the statues existed as early as 1200 BC; it is not known how old they are.

Ravenda Pyramid At sunset, we left San Lorenzo for Villahermosa, in the Province of Tabasco, more than 150 kilometers to the east.We drove around the Kozhicox port along the highway from Acayucan to Via Hermosa.In this area, there are oil refineries, high-voltage power line towers and extremely modern suspension bridges everywhere.From the peace and quiet of the rural town of San Lorenzo, in the blink of an eye, we are in the messy and noisy industrial area around the factory Kozhicox.The sudden transformation of the landscape is truly shocking.I finally realized: we can still see the weather-beaten Olmec cultural relics in San Lorenzo today because no oil has been found there.

However, oil has been discovered around Lavendar, and many monuments have been lost forever as a result... We are now passing through Lavendar. Looking north, at the end of a fork next to the expressway, the oil city, illuminated by sodium lights, stands in the dark night, gloomy like a city that has suffered a nuclear disaster.Since 1940, this area has been systematically "developed" by oil companies; an airstrip runs through the place where the pyramids once stood; chimneys spit out thick black smoke, obscuring the sky where ancient Olmec astronomers looked up at the rising stars .Tragically, the oil company bulldozers razed almost all of the monument to the ground before archaeologists arrived; many ancient structures have since disappeared without a chance for archaeologists to survey.We no longer know through these buildings the peoples who built and used them.

The American archaeologist Mazuo Sterling, who excavated the Triszapot site, was actively carrying out archaeological work in La Venda before the oil companies exploited it extensively.Carbon-14.The results of the identification show that between 1500 and 1100 BC, the Olmecs settled here and continued to occupy this land, including an island in the swamp on the east bank of the Tonala River, until 400 BC It disappeared suddenly after a year or so.At that time, the construction work was abruptly stopped, the existing buildings were all deliberately vandalized or destroyed, and several huge human heads and other smaller sculptures were buried with ceremonies in strange tombs, just as they were in St. Lorenzo did.Ravendar's tomb was exquisitely constructed, with thousands of thin blue bricks in the chamber and topped with layers of colorful clay.At one site, the Olmecs dug some 15,000 cubic feet of soil from the ground to create a deep pit, then filled the bottom with winding stones and filled the soil back.Archaeologists also discovered three mosaic patterns⑥ buried under several layers of mud bricks and several layers of clay.

The main pyramid at Ravendar stands at the southern end of the site, with a slightly rounded base.The entire tower looks like a fluted cone, with ten vertically raised spines and grooves in the middle.The pyramid is 100 feet high, almost 200 feet in diameter, and has a total volume of about 300,000 cubic feet—by any measure, it is a monumental structure in the history of architecture.There is an axis in the middle of the whole site, almost half a kilometer long, pointing to a position 8 degrees west of due north.On both sides of the axis, there are several small pyramids, squares, platforms and mounds arranged in an orderly manner, with a total area of ​​more than 3 square miles.

There is an eerie, cold air about the ruins of Ravendar; no one really knows what it was used for.Archaeologists call it a "ceremonial center"—perhaps that's its original function.However, upon closer inspection, we cannot help but suspect that it has other functions as well.To put it bluntly, we know next to nothing about the social organization, rituals, and belief systems of the Olmecs.We don't know what language they spoke, nor what kind of tradition they bequeathed to their children and grandchildren.We don't even know which race they belonged to.The hot and humid climate of the Gulf of Mexico made it difficult for Olmec bones to survive today.For all the names we give to the Olmecs and the particular ideas we have about them, the fact is that the people remain a great mystery to us.

There is even the possibility that the enigmatic carvings left by "they" - we assume to be their self-portraits - were not made by "they" at all, but from another, older, forgotten The hand of the nation.I've wondered for a long time whether some of the giant human heads and other artifacts that scholars consider the work of the Olmecs were the creation of an ancient people and then passed down as family heirlooms from generation to generation , perhaps after thousands of years, finally fell into the hands of the peoples who built the pyramids at San Lorenzo and La Venda.

If so, who exactly are we referring to when we use the term "Olmec"?Refers to the builders of the pyramids?Or is it the mysteries who are strong, dignified, with black facial features, and provide the prototype for the huge human head? Fortunately, a total of about 50 "Olmec" carvings, including three colossal human heads, were salvaged from the ruins of La Venda by local poet and historian Carlos Pellicer Camara .When it was discovered that the drilling of the Mexican Petroleum Corporation (PEMEX) was endangering the ruins, he hurriedly intervened and actively lobbied for the support of the political circles in Tabasco Province (where La Venda is located) to relocate the precious cultural relics to the provincial capital Vija In a park on the outskirts of Hermosa. Taken together, these 50 carvings can be said to be an invaluable and irreplaceable cultural record left by a civilization that has disappeared—or even the only record that exists today.However, no one knows how to decipher the mysteries contained in these records. machine god ●Via Hermosa, Tabasco Province I looked at a very fine relief unearthed at Lavendar.Archaeologists call it "Man in Serpent".According to the interpretation of experts, this relief depicts "an Olmec man with a crown on his head, holding a sandalwood bag in his hand, and his whole body is entwined by a feathered snake"⑦. The image is carved on a block of granite 4 feet wide and 5 feet high.The man pictured is sitting with his feet outstretched as if stepping on the front pedal.He is holding an object shaped like a small bucket in his right hand, and his left hand seems to be manipulating the gear lever of some kind of vehicle.The "crown" on his head is weird in shape and complex in structure.According to my guess, it is not only a top hat for ceremonies, but also has some practical function-although I can't say what practical purpose it has.On this tiara - or more precisely, on a support above the tiara - are carved two X-shaped crosses. I took a closer look at another main character of this relief - "Feathered Serpent".It really depicts a large snake with feathers or feathers on its body.The feathered serpent is a very old symbol of Quetzakotel, so we can surmise that the Olmecs also worshiped (or at least embraced) this deity.Most scholars have no objection to this interpretation.The common view in the academic circles is that the worship of Quetzalcotel by the people of Central America originated in prehistoric times; after that, it has a large number of believers in different nations and cultures in all dynasties and generations. The feathered snake depicted in this relief has a unique temperament.It seemed to me more than a religious symbol; its stiff, rigid stance made it look almost like a machine. tell ancient secrets At noon that day, I stood in the shadow of a gigantic Olmec head, sheltered from the harsh sun.This statue was salvaged from the ruins of Ravendar by the poet Kamala.It presented the face of an old man, with a broad, flat nose, and thick lips, showing two rows of strong, regular teeth.The expression on the old man's face revealed an ancient, deep wisdom.Two eyes staring into eternity, fearless, like the great sphinx crouching in Gesha, Lower Egypt. It seems to me very unlikely that a sculptor could conjure up all the features of a real race face.Therefore, to embody the facial features of a race in a statue, the sculptor needs a living person as his model. I walked back and forth several times around this huge human head.It was carved out of a single block of basalt, with a circumference of 22 feet, a height of almost 8 feet, and a weight of 19.8 tons. The entire face clearly showed "concrete and real racial characteristics."In fact, like the other statues I have seen in Santiago Tuxtla and Tris Zapote, the facial features revealed by this head are undoubtedly black. Readers may wish to look at the pictures in the book and make their own judgments.My personal opinion is that the Olmec head statue presents a "real" black man, with extremely accurate depiction of the facial features.Scholars still can't tell why these strong and handsome African men appeared in Mesoamerica 3,000 years ago.We also have no way of judging whether these heads were carved 3,000 years ago.In the same pothole, archaeologists also found charcoal shavings.via carbon-14.For identification, we can only date the charcoal chips.Calculating the true history of the statue is much more complicated. With these thoughts in mind, I continued to wander among the wondrous statues in the ruins of Ravendar.They seemed to be whispering ancient secrets—the secrets of the man crouching in the machine, the black head statue... and above all, the secrets of a living legend.Quetzalkotel, the fabled god, may have been a real person, for: Among the statues unearthed from the ruins of Ravenda, besides those with black features, there are also some statues showing white races. The unique appearance of a person: high nose and deep eyes, tall and tall, bearded, wearing a long robe... Notes: ① "American Prehistoric Culture", pp. 268-271.See also Jeremy Shabulov, Cities of Ancient Mexico: Recreating a Lost World, p. 35. Jeremy A． Sabloff The Cities of ANCient Mexico: Reconstruct lng d Lost World, Thames and Hudson, London, 1990, P. 35．and "Cracking the Mayan Code", p. 61. ② "American Prehistoric Culture", 268 pages. ③ Same as above, page 268. ④ Ibid., pp. 267-268, and (Ancient Kingdom of Mexico), p. 55. ⑤ "The Ancient Kingdom of Mexico", p. 31. ⑥ "American Prehistoric Culture", 269 pages. ⑦ "Cities of Ancient Mexico", p. 37. ⑧ "American Prehistoric Culture", 270 pages.