Votive axe or celt (Olmec, Mexico), made of aventurine (a type ofquartz, usually green).The figure h
Votive axe or celt (Olmec, Mexico), made of aventurine (a type ofquartz, usually green).The figure has a large head and a small, stocky body that narrowsinto a blade shape. Its mouth is slightly open, with a flaring lipand the corners turned down; it has flaming eyebrows and a cleft inthe middle of its head. Hands and a loincloth have been incised onthe lower part. It is 29cm high and 13.5cm wide.This axe combines characteristics of the caiman and the jaguar, themost powerful predators of the tropical lowlands. The pronouncedcleft in the head, which has been compared to the human fontanelle,imitates the indent found on the skulls of jaguars. Other Olmecsculptures have these clefts, as do imagery in which plant motifsspring from similar cracks and orifices, alluding to the undergroundsources of fertility and life.The crossed bands glyph, lightly incised on the waistband, representsand entrance or opening. The combination of symbols on the axeproclaims its magic power to cleave open the portals to theunderworld. This also reinforces the association of celts withagriculture and maize, as ground stone axes were used for fellingforest trees and clearing the ground for planting.Utilitarian objects were often personified in this way to representthe qualities & attributes of supernatural forces. Theyaccumulated inner power, becoming potent objects that were handeddown through the generations. -- source link
#history#sculpture#agriculture#olmec mythology#olmec sculpture#mesoamerica#olmecs#mexico#axes#quartz#aventurine