Some researchers identify this figure as the were-jaguar while others state that it instead represents the Rain Deity. Monument 52 from San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán. Miller & Taube differentiate a Personified Earth Cave, equating it with Joralmon's God I-B. With the Bird Monster, the Olmec Dragon is one of the most commonly depicted supernaturals. Fangs are prominent, often rendered as an upside-down U-shaped bracket. When viewed from the front, the Olmec Dragon has trough-shaped eyes when viewed in profile, the eyes are L-shaped. Olmec Dragon (God I) Īlso known as the Earth Monster, the Olmec Dragon has flame eyebrows, a bulbous nose, and bifurcated tongue. ĭespite the use of the term "god", none of these deities and supernaturals show any sexual characteristics which would indicate gender. To add to the confusion, Joralemon suggested that many of these gods had multiple aspects – for example, Joralemon had identified a God I-A through a God I-F. For example, "flame eyebrows" are seen at times within representations of both the Olmec Dragon and the Bird Monster, and the cleft head is seen on all five supernaturals that appear on Las Limas Monument 1. Any given motif may appear in multiple supernaturals. The confusion stems in part because the supernaturals are defined as a cluster of iconographic mafias. The names and identities of these supernaturals are only provisional and the details concerning many of them remain poorly known. The study of Olmec religion, however, is still in its infancy and any list of Olmec supernaturals or deities can be neither definitive nor comprehensive. Over time Joralemon's viewpoint has become the predominant exposition of the Olmec pantheon. paper and subsequent article posited what are now considered to be 8 different supernaturals. This view was challenged in the 1970s by Peter David Joralemon, whose Ph. Early researchers found religious beliefs to be centered upon a jaguar god. Specifics concerning Olmec religion are a matter of some conjecture. Figure from Las Limas Monument 1 Olmec supernaturals There is also considerable evidence for shamans in the Olmec archaeological record, particularly in the so-called " transformation figures". The rulers seem to have been the most important religious figures, with their links to the Olmec deities or supernaturals providing legitimacy for their rule. Olmec religious activities were performed by a combination of rulers, full-time priests, and shamans. Using these techniques, researchers have discerned several separate deities or supernaturals embodying the characteristics of various animals. This assumption is called the Continuity Hypothesis. The latter two techniques assume that there is a continuity extending from Olmec times through later Mesoamerican cultures to the present day.
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