El Manatí
Encyclopedia
| Olmec Culture– Archaeological Site | ||
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| Name: | El Manatí | |
| Type | Mesoamerican archaeology | |
| Location | Hidalgotitlán, Veracruz Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is... |
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| Region | Mesoamérica Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and... (México Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... ) |
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| Coordinates | ||
| Culture | Olmec Olmec The Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco.... |
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| Language | ||
| Chronology | 1600–1200 BCE.C. | |
| Period | Mesoamerican Preclassical | |
| Apogee | ||
| INAH Web Page | Non existent | |
El Manatí is an archaeological site
Archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
located approximately 60 km south of Coatzacoalcos, in the municipality of Hidalgotitlán 27 kilometers southeast of Minatitlan in the Mexican state of Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
. El Manatí was the site of a sacred Olmec
Olmec
The Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco....
sacrificial
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals or people to God or the gods as an act of propitiation or worship.While sacrifice often implies ritual killing, the term offering can be used for bloodless sacrifices of cereal food or artifacts...
bog
Bog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
from roughly 1600 BCE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
until 1200 BCE.
It is likely that this site was used for ritual ceremonies which included offerings of wooden sculptures, rubber balls, ceremonial axes, and other items including the bones of infants — all found in an excellent state of preservation in the muck. Most of the wooden sculptures are busts
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
created in the "elongated man" style and are the oldest wooden artifacts yet found in Mexico. The rubber balls are also the earliest such items yet discovered and were possibly used in the Mesoamerican ballgame
Mesoamerican ballgame
The Mesoamerican ballgame or Tlatchtli in Náhuatl was a sport with ritual associations played since 1,000 B.C. by the pre-Columbian peoples of Ancient Mexico and Central America...
.
The Olmec Culture
The Olmec were a Pre-ColumbianPre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
civilization living in the tropic
Tropic
A tropic can refer to:In geography, either of two circles of latitude:*Tropic of Cancer, at 23° 26' 16" N*Tropic of Capricorn, at 23° 26' 16" S...
al lowlands of south-central Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, near the modern-day cities of Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
and Tabasco
Tabasco
Tabasco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa....
. The Olmec flourished during Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
's Formative
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
period, dating roughly from as early as 1500 BCE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
to about 400 BCE. Pre-Olmec cultures had flourished in the area since about 2500 BCE, but by 1600-1500 BCE Early Olmec culture had emerged centered around the San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán
San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán
San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán is the collective name for three related archaeological sites -- San Lorenzo, Tenochtitlán, and Potrero Nuevo -- located in the southeast portion of the Mexican state of Veracruz. From 1200 BCE to 900 BCE, it was the major center of Olmec culture...
site near the coast in southeast Veracruz. They were the first Mesoamerican civilization and laid many of the foundations for the civilizations that followed. Among other "firsts", there is evidence that the Olmec practiced ritual bloodletting and played the Mesoamerican ballgame
Mesoamerican ballgame
The Mesoamerican ballgame or Tlatchtli in Náhuatl was a sport with ritual associations played since 1,000 B.C. by the pre-Columbian peoples of Ancient Mexico and Central America...
, hallmarks of nearly all subsequent Mesoamerican societies.
The site
El Manatí is located at the foot of Cerro Manatí, some 15 km (9.3mi) southeast of the major Olmec center of San Lorenzo TenochtitlánSan Lorenzo Tenochtitlán
San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán is the collective name for three related archaeological sites -- San Lorenzo, Tenochtitlán, and Potrero Nuevo -- located in the southeast portion of the Mexican state of Veracruz. From 1200 BCE to 900 BCE, it was the major center of Olmec culture...
. It is notable among Olmec sites for the absence of contemporaneous local ceremonial or domestic architecture.
Archaeologists have identified three separate phases of deposits at El Manatí:
- Manatí A Phase (ca. 1700 - 1600 BCE)
- Manatí B Phase
- Macayal Phase (ca. 1040 BCE ± 150 years). The wooden busts were all found in this later phase.
El Manati may have been chosen as a sacred place because of one or more of its natural features:
- The presence of a natural springSpring (hydrosphere)A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
, often a feature of MesoamericaMesoamericaMesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
n sacred sites. - The presence of red pigment, likely hematiteHematiteHematite, also spelled as haematite, is the mineral form of iron oxide , one of several iron oxides. Hematite crystallizes in the rhombohedral system, and it has the same crystal structure as ilmenite and corundum...
, which symbolized blood. - Its location at the foot of a hill, Cerro Manatí. Many early Mesoamerican sites, including ChalcatzingoChalcatzingoChalcatzingo is a Mesoamerican archaeological site in the Valley of Morelos dating from the Formative Period of Mesoamerican chronology. The site is well-known for its extensive array of Olmec-style monumental art and iconography. Located in the southern portion of the Central Highlands of Mexico,...
, TeopantecuanitlanTeopantecuanitlanTeopantecuanitlan is an archaeological site in the Mexican state of Guerrero that represents an unexpectedly early development of complex society for the region. The site dates to the Early to Middle Formative Periods, and archaeological evidence clearly indicates some kind of connection existed...
, and Las BocasLas BocasLas Bocas is a minor archaeological site in the Mexican state of Puebla, whose name has become attached, often erroneously, to a wide-ranging type of Olmec-style figurines and pottery....
, were situated east or west of a prominent hill.
Discoveries
Wooden Busts
Of particular note are 37 wooden busts or sculptures recovered from the bogs in 1989 by INAH archaeologists, during the third excavation phase at El Manatí. These busts were unusually well-preserved, owing to the anaerobic conditions of their interment and a stable water temperature that impeded microbial decay. Samples from two of these busts produced Carbon-14 dating results equivalent to a date of around 1200 BCE. Carved from the wood of ceibaCeiba
Ceiba is the name of a genus of many species of large trees found in tropical areas, including Mexico, Central America, South America, The Bahamas, Belize and the Caribbean, West Africa, and Southeast Asia...
and jobo trees, almost all of the busts had been ritually buried and wrapped in mats (petate
Petate
A petate is a bedroll used in Central America and México. Its name comes from the Náhuatl word petlatl. The petate is woven from the fibers of the Palm of petate . The Royal Spanish Academy defines it as a bed. Generally petates are woven in quadrangular forms, though not to any exact...
s) made from vegetable fibers—the earliest evidence of funeral wrappings in Mexico. The number of busts interred at or around the same time has led the INAH researchers to speculate that some widespread calamity, such as flood or prolonged drought, encouraged the ancient community to increase their offerings made in supplication to the mountain deities.
Despite the obviously stylized shape of the head, researchers suggest that, due to their individual expressions, the busts depicted actual persons. The wooden busts were usually accompanied by other objects. For example:
- Sculpture 1 was associated with a wooden staff and a dark green ax (celt).
- Sculpture 2 was associated with a large obsidian flake, tied bundles of leaves and plants, a hematiteHematiteHematite, also spelled as haematite, is the mineral form of iron oxide , one of several iron oxides. Hematite crystallizes in the rhombohedral system, and it has the same crystal structure as ilmenite and corundum...
ball, a pile of sandstone rocks "common to a number of other sculptures," as well as fragments of human infant bones. Nearby to its east was the skeleton of an infant. - Sculptures 5, 6, & 7 were interred as a group, each laid on their sides in a triangle, facing inward. These sculptures were associated with bundles of plant material and were covered with a mat. An incomplete wooden staff and an infant cranium were associated with this burial.
Some of these heads were stolen and later found in Germany in the hands of archaeological object traffickers.
Rubber Balls
Twelve rubber balls associated with axe offerings were found El Manatí in 1989. Their surprisingly excellent state of preservation led archeologists to suspect that the balls had received a vulcanization type process, and it was found that the balls were made of two types of vulcanized latex.Ceremonial Axes
In addition to the dozen rubber balls and 37 wooden busts, excavation has turned up many jadeiteJadeite
Jadeite is a pyroxene mineral with composition NaAlSi2O6. It is monoclinic. It has a Mohs hardness of about 6.5 to 7.0 depending on the composition. The mineral is dense, with a specific gravity of about 3.4. Jadeite forms solid solutions with other pyroxene endmembers such as augite and diopside ,...
ceremonial axes (celts
Celt (tool)
Celt is an archaeological term used to describe long thin prehistoric stone or bronze adzes, other axe-like tools, and hoes.-Etymology:The term "celt" came about from what was very probably a copyist's error in many medieval manuscript copies of Job 19:24 in the Latin Vulgate Bible, which became...
), pottery, greenstone
Greenstone (archaeology)
Greenstone is a common generic term for valuable, green-hued minerals and metamorphosed igneous rocks and stones, that were used in the fashioning of hardstone carvings such as jewelry, statuettes, ritual tools, and various other artefacts in early cultures...
beads arranged in clusters (likely once two separate necklaces), "baby-face" figurine fragments, carved wooden staffs, ritual obsidian
Obsidian
Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock.It is produced when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimum crystal growth...
knives (with no evidence of use), bones of newborn or unborn infants, and human and animal bone fragments. Most of these objects within the bog were found to be carefully arranged rather than haphazardly deposited, pointing to a sacred sacrificial intent.
Infant bones
The bones of the newborn or unborn infants consisted of some whole skeletons as well as dismembered femurFemur
The femur , or thigh bone, is the most proximal bone of the leg in tetrapod vertebrates capable of walking or jumping, such as most land mammals, birds, many reptiles such as lizards, and amphibians such as frogs. In vertebrates with four legs such as dogs and horses, the femur is found only in...
s and skulls. These remains are particularly intriguing since they point to the possibility of human sacrifice
Human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice has been practised in various cultures throughout history...
, a ritual without direct evidence in the Olmec archaeological record. The infant remains are each associated with, and subordinate to, the burial of a wooden bust. It is not known how the infants died.
Cocoa traces
On July 30, 2008, INAH reported that testing of residues found in a ceramic container in El Manatí, Veracruz, dating from approximately 1750 BCE (at least between 1900 to 900 BCE), show that the container contained a cocoa drink base probably consumed by the elite of the site.The ceramic vessel, which has slightly divergent cylindrical walls, a flat bottom, black spots and a red slip
Slip (ceramics)
A slip is a suspension in water of clay and/or other materials used in the production of ceramic ware. Deflocculant, such as sodium silicate, can be added to the slip to disperse the raw material particles...
on its bottom, was associated with other sumptuary objects. It is believed that this type of vessel was used for drinks such as "chicha" (maize beer), chocolate, and atole preparations which were consumed only by priests or other people of high social prestige. Content verification tests yielded the presence of Theobromine
Theobromine
Theobromine , also known as xantheose, is a bitter alkaloid of the cacao plant, with the chemical formula C7H8N4O2. It is found in chocolate, as well as in a number of other foods, including the leaves of the tea plant, and the kola nut...
, an essential cocoa component; chromatography and UV tests detected ions of cocoa's chemical components. This evidence predates other evidence found in Mayan areas of Belize and Puerto Escondido Honduras.
Olmec Technology
The Olmec knew how to produce rubber and various uses of it, and probably had technological processes for vulcanization and for waterproofing with tar.After multiple studies by several specialists, it has been established that to create the rubber balls, the Olmecs mixed latex rubber (scientific name Castilla Elastica) with a type of flowering vine (Ipomoea alba) farmed in tropical regions of Mexico and containing latex sulphides.
The chemical reaction produced by mixing the two allows vulcanization.
The Olmecs obtained rubber or "ulli" by cutting an incision in the tree for the sap, which in its natural state is a sticky milky fluid and when dry is very fragile and will not retain a form.
The Ipomoea alba was crushed and, in liquid form, mixed in a container with the latex. When this mixture solidifies, it forms a white mass and can be used to form balls.
There were probably two techniques used for making the balls. The first was to spread the rubber on a flat surface, let it dry and cut it into small strips. The second method was to cook the rubber and then shape it into a ball: this required high heat or vulcanization.