Archaeology Revealed Archaeology for students, beginners…for everyone Skip to content Home Archaeology 101 Topics Resources Breaking News About Contact Search for: Home > Archaeological Sites > The Power of Ideology: Understanding Olmec Iconography through Archaeology (Part 1) The Power of Ideology: Understanding Olmec Iconography through Archaeology (Part 1) By Karen McCamy October 1, 2010 Background Figure 1: Map of the Olmec Heartland, showing archaeological sites with Olmec presence. Adapted from Lesure 2004. The Study Area The area commonly referred to as Mesoamerica is geographically defined by scholars as having the boundaries of the Basin of Mexico on the West, through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and bordered on the East by the modern countries of western Honduras and El Salvador (Joyce 2005; 2000 Masson and Smith). However geographic borders are possibly the least of the factors that comprise that which is Mesoamerica: it is simultaneously a culture area, exhibiting: strictly indigenous art iconography architecture cosmology subsistence and economy and exchange networks … and a linguistic area featuring, among other language types, Mixe-Zoque, Oto-Manguean, Mayan, and Totonac (Joyce 2005). The Olmec initially emerged in the southern Gulf Coast region (Figure 1) at the extreme north edge of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (indicated by the red arrow). This is the area traditionally referred to as the “Olmec Heartland,” and includes the archaeological sites of San Lorenzo, La Venta, and Tres Zapotes (Diehl 2004; Joyce 2004; Lesure 2004), which I discuss in detail in this article. As the map (Figure 1) above indicates, their influence is evidenced archaeologically throughout most of Mesoamerica. As I will illustrate below in the discussion on Archaeological Data, evidence of Olmec art and iconography extends well beyond this heartland region, including such divergent areas as the Basin of Mexico to the west, the Pacific Coastal areas of Chiapas and Guatemala, and eastern reaches of Eastern Guatemala, Western Honduras, and El Salvador (Lesure 2004). This archaeological evidence is wide ranging in form: ceramic vessels and decoration monumental architecture huge carved three-dimensional stones carved glyphs and various forms of small, portable objects. Olmec Chronology Figure 2: Olmec Timeline featuring archaeological phases. © Karen McCamy 2010. Archaeology Revealed.com As indicated by the Olmec Timeline (Figure 2), the Olmec periods are conventionally divided into phases, based on changes in archaeological styles and forms. One of the factors that has most likely contributed to descriptions of Olmec peoples as so enigmatic and unique is that the archaeological evidence of early “Pre-Olmec” phases is scant. Scholars know little about the predecessors of the Olmec culture, appearing seemingly ex nihilo as a complex society in San Lorenzo. What is known about the ancestors of the Olmec is based on the Bari pottery phases between 1800 and 1500 BC (Adams 2005), as well as studies of the Archaic period (7000 BC – 1800 BC) by MacNeish. As Adams (2005) indicates, MacNeish has proposed that early villages (and the sedentary life style that typically accompanies sedentism) were established in coastal areas as early as 5000 – 3000 BC, but spread to other ecological regions before 2000 BC. Correlated to sedentary village life were both the increased use of domesticated plants, creating “nearly instant food surpluses” (Adams 2005:42), and associated increasing populations that naturally emerge with such surpluses. Gareth Lowe (Adams 2005:43) further speculates that increased pressures created by the “anxieties” of becoming agriculturalists led to increasing importance on religion and ideology (see the following discussion in Ideology for extended implications of this social factor). Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Buzz this on Google Share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Share on technorati Tumblr it Tweet about it Buzz this on Yahoo! Email it Print PDF Read more on pages: 1 2 3 Leave a Comment This entry was posted in Archaeological Sites, Ideology, Art, Symbolism and tagged Iconography, Olmec, Prehistoric Art. Bookmark the permalink. Liked this, did you? Be sure to dig into these titles: The Power of Ideology: Understanding Olmec Iconography through Archaeology (Part 3) The Power of Ideology: Understanding Olmec Iconography through Archaeology (Part 2) Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Name * Email * Website Comment You may use these HTML tags and attributes:
Top of Page Admin | Privacy Policy | Site Map Copyright © 2010 ArchaeologyRevealed.com, All Rights Reserved Website Design by Ten Digit Publishing