Olmec Stone Mask

The Olmecs are generally considered to be the ultimate ancestor of all subsequent Mesoamerican civilisations. Thriving between about 1200 and 400 BC, their base was the tropical lowlands of south central Mexico, an area characterized by swamps punctuated by low hill ridges and volcanoes. Here the Olmecs practiced advanced farming techniques and constructed many permanent settlements. Their influence, both cultural and political, extended far beyond their boundaries; the exotic nature of Olmec designs became synonymous with elite status in other (predominantly highland) groups, with evidence for exchange of artefacts in both directions. Other than their art (see below), they are credited with the foundations of writing systems (the loosely defined Epi-Olmec period, c. 500 BC), the first use of the zero – so instrumental in the Maya long count vigesimal calendrical system – and they also appear to have been the originators of the famous Mesoamerican ballgame so prevalent among later cultures in the region.

The art form for which the Olmecs are best known, the monumental stone heads weighing up to forty tons, are generally believed to depict kingly leaders or possibly ancestors. Other symbols abound in their stylistic repertoire, including several presumably religious symbols such as the feathered serpent and the rain spirit, which persisted in subsequent and related cultures until the middle ages. Comparatively little is known of their magico-religious world, although the clues that we have are tantalising. Technically, these include all non- secular items, of which there is a fascinating array. The best- known forms are jade and ceramic figures and celts that depict men, animals and fantastical beasts with both anthropomorphic and zoomorphic characteristics. Their size and general appearance suggests that they were domestically- or institutionally-based totems or divinities. The quality of production is astonishing, particularly if one considers the technology available, the early date of the pieces, and the dearth of earlier works upon which the Olmec sculptors could draw. Some pieces are highly stylised, while others demonstrate striking naturalism with deliberate expressionist interpretation of some facial features (notably up- turned mouths and slit eyes) that can be clearly seen in the current mask.

This mask touches and exhilarates centers of life beyond our present reality. It serves as a means of transforming the ordinary to the extraordinary, the natural to the supernatural. The mask has always been used as a ritual agent of transformation in Mesoamerica. The ritual wearer of this mask, the shaman, not only represented the god; he was the god. He manifested the life force. Through that ritual transformation joining the worlds of spirit and nature, man and god fused in the zone of mysterious transition marked by the mask itself. This mask is the seat of the soul, where the outer and inner worlds meet. We are left to ponder over the mysteries of the universe hidden behind this mask, and the awakened insights it has brought to our own inner spirits.

The accomplished lapidary techniques and symbolic features that occur in this outstanding work of art were emulated by all the coexisting village cultures. The symbolic mask, transformation, ritual, art styles and belief structures crystallized first in the Olmec culture. These elementary ideas diffused to all of the high cultures of Mesoamerica creating one great mythological tradition. It is a mythological tradition rich in the all-encompassing essential order of the cosmos and expressive of the divine essence. This is the life force itself which is clearly manifested in this mask and in reality determined by one's perception of the world. – (PF.3142)