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Exploring Olmec Civilization: A Quiz on Culture and Artifacts

This quiz evaluates knowledge about the Olmec civilization, focusing on their art, artifacts, and cultural significance in Mesoamerica.

#Olmec #Mesoamerica #Civilization #Artifacts #Archaeology #History

1 What does the following picture show? Altar 5 from La Venta. The inert were-jaguar baby held by the central figure is seen by some as an indication of child sacrifice. In contrast, its sides show bas-reliefs of humans holding quite lively were-jaguar babies. The jade Kunz Axe, first described by George Kunz in 1890. Although shaped like an axe head, with an edge along the bottom, it is unlikely that this artifact was used except in ritual settings. At a height of 11 in (28 cm), it is one of the largest jade objects ever found in Mesoamerica.

2 The 2002 find at the San Andrés site shows a bird, speech scrolls, and glyphs that are similar to the later ________.

3 Many of these luxury artifacts, such as jade, obsidian and ________, came from distant locations and suggest that early Olmec elites had access to an extensive trading network in Mesoamerica.

4 The name 'Olmec' means 'rubber people' in Nahuatl, the language of the ________, and was the Aztec name for the people who lived in the Gulf Lowlands in the 15th and 16th centuries, some 2000 years after the Olmec culture died out.

5 ________, in Valley of Morelos, which features Olmec-style monumental art and rock art with Olmec-style figures.

6 While ________ are found abundantly in sites throughout the Formative Period, it is the stone monuments such as the colossal heads that are the most recognizable feature of Olmec culture.

7 Numerous natural and ceramic ________ spikes and maguey thorns, for example, have been found at Olmec sites, and certain artifacts have been identified as bloodletters (see this Commons photo).

8 Fields were located outside the village, and were used for maize, beans, squash, ________, sweet potato, as well as cotton.

9 Olmec religious activities were performed by a combination of rulers, full-time priests, and ________.

10 What does the following picture show? Las Limas Monument 1, considered an important realization of Olmec mythology. The youth holds a were-jaguar infant, while four iconic supernaturals are incised on the youth's shoulders and knees. 'The Wrestler', an Olmec era statuette, 1200 – 800 BCE. The major Formative Period (Pre-Classic Era) sites in present-day Mexico which show Olmec influences in the archaeological record. Altar 5 from La Venta. The inert were-jaguar baby held by the central figure is seen by some as an indication of child sacrifice. In contrast, its sides show bas-reliefs of humans holding quite lively were-jaguar babies.

💡 Interesting Facts

  • the Chontal Maya of Tabasco, Mexico consider themselves the direct descendents of the Olmec civilization.
  • the Oxtotitlan grottoes feature some of the few existing examples of Olmec culture paintings (pictured).
  • the icons and faces incised into Las Limas Monument 1 (pictured) were used for a hypothetical reconstruction of the Olmec pantheon.
  • some experts believe a cylinder seal (pictured) from the prehistoric San Andrés site is evidence for an Olmec writing system.
  • art historian George Kubler declared The Wrestler (pictured), an ancient Olmec statuette, "among the great works of sculpture of all ages".
  • San Martín Pajapan Monument 1 (pictured), a large Olmec statue of a young lord raising the axis mundi under supernatural protection, was found near the peak on an extinct volcano.
  • Takalik Abaj, an archaeological site in lowland Guatemala, has one of the greatest concentrations of Olmec-style sculpture outside of the Gulf of Mexico coast.
  • archaeologists at the El Manatí Olmec site have not only found the earliest rubber balls yet discovered and the earliest wooden artifacts in Mexico, but also the skeletons, femurs, and crania of human infants.
  • hardstone carvings in semi-precious stones range from Neolithic Chinese jades and Olmec face masks (example pictured) to tiny animals by Fabergé.
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