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09/04/2010

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Kevin Stoda

Why are their Olmec heads in Copan. Please explicate?

Tim Lohrentz

Kevin, I haven't read any archeologist explanation of the Olmec head(s) at Copan. So, my belief: If it dates from the preClassic period, it is easy - the Olmec traveled to Copan and carved it, just like the hundreds of Olmec heads and rock carvings in neighboring El Salvador. The Olmec were closer to the Lenca than to any other group. If it dates from the Classic Maya period, it most likely was made by visitors from Teotihuacan or the Totonacs.

Kevin Stoda

Thanks. It sounds like you are probably accurate. Since Copan was the first place I ever saw and photographed Olmec heads, they are stored well in my memory.

Second query: Are the faces on the Olmec heads really of representation of baby worship? The head shapes resemble that of baby's more than adults (or TV aliens).

A few years ago in Mexico, my volunteer Spanish teacher said that without a doubt that the heads were babies. Since then, every time I see an olmec head, I see baby faces.

What is the current teaching on the role of babies in Olmec and other cultures where both figurines and heads were developed?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olmec_figurine

By the way, here is a nice chronology. I learned that the Mayan calendar was corrected in a Copan Meeting around 680 when I perused it.

http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/arch/mexchron.html

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