Considered the mother culture of Mesoamerica,
the Olmecs are one of the oldest and richest
civilizations ever to inhabit the Americas. Today,
they are remembered foremost for their colossal
heads of rulers or gods. Their artistic influences
and religious traditions were absorbed and
adapted by the many diverse cultures that
followed them, from the Mayas to the Aztecs.
Although highly stylized, almost to the point of
abstraction, the human face carved on this celt, a
type of prehistoric tool shaped like an ax head,
has taken the form of the “were-jaguar.” This
name describes a mythical half-man/half-jaguar
hybrid creature that characteristically features
the puffy, fat cheeks and jowls of a human baby
with the slanted eyes and down-turned mouth of
a jaguar. The “were-jaguar” is thought by
schools to depict a shaman in the midst of
transmogrification. Thus, it is likely that this
celt, rendered in a green stone that might be
jade, one of the most valued material in Ancient
Mesoameric, might have once been possessed by
a shaman. As great civilizations rise and fall,
they leave behind traces of their existence.
Ritualistic objects, venerated in their own time,
continue to exert an eternal force long after they
have left the hands that once held them sacred.
A mysterious energy still radiates from the core
of this celt, a testament to the artistry and
culture of the ancient Olmec civilization.
- (PF.6195)
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