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Olmec

Jade pectoral (with Maya glyphs), c. 1000-600 B.C.E., Olmec, Middle Preclassic period, jadeite, 10.5 x 11 cm, Mexico © Trustees of the British Museum — Jade was a prized material for the Olmec, and their carving has been found throughout Mesoamerica and beyond.

Olmec Jade

by The British Museum

Olmec stone mask, c. 900-400 B.C.E. Olmec, greenstone, 13 x 11.3 x 5.7 cm © Trustees of the British Museum — Dress for the job you want, not the one you have: could this mask pendant turn its wearer into a god?

Olmec stone mask

by The British Museum

Olmec figurine — Olmec figurines are known for their baby faces, as well as a mixture of feline and human traits.

Olmec figurine

by The British Museum

Offering #4, La Venta — These seventeen baby-faced figures may have represented a priestly ritual, a sacrifice, or a procession.

Offering #4, La Venta

by Dr. Billie Follensbee

Olmec mask — This face has a naturalistic quality to its skin, but its mouth gives us pause—what does it mean?

Olmec mask at The Metropolitan Museum of ...

by The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Olmec — This was buried in an offering at an Aztec temple, some 1500 years later and far from where it was made.

Olmec mask (offering 20 from the Templo ...

by Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank and Dr. Steven Zucker

Votive Adze "Kunz Axe" (detail) — In spite its name, this jade figure was a ritual object and never used as an axe.

Kunz Axe (Olmec)

by Dr. Rex Koontz and Dr. Steven Zucker