Olmec Colossal Heads: What Are They?
Many ancient civilizations left behind intrigue even archaeologists still puzzle over today. In South America alone, we see cases of anomalous disappearances and unexplained history such as the Incas’ abandoned citadel, Machu Picchu, and the mysterious Mayans’ disappearance, which continue providing fodder for questions about what really happened to these societies.
When it comes to the Olmec people, one giant factor continues to be debated: their colossal heads.
Not of the people themselves, but the 8-ton sculptures of heads they buried underground. The Olmec heads have become yet another famous and mysterious element of ancient cultures we just haven’t solved yet.
Olmec People and Civilization
The Olmec people lived in Southeastern Mexico between 1,500 and 400 B.C., in the lowlands of what is today Tabasco and Veracruz. They are credited with being the first civilization to develop in Mesoamerica, with the Olmec heartland being one of the six cradles of civilization.
Olmecs were the first inhabitants of the Americas to settle in towns and cities with monumental architecture. Evidence has also been found for Olmec hieroglyphs around 650 B.C., as well as scripts on roller stamps and stone artifacts. The fine Olmec artwork survived in several ways, including figurines, sculptures, and of course, the colossal heads.
While the Olmecs seem to have been well-established tradesmen with routes, the civilization vanished around 300 B.C. , although its influence is obvious in the Mayan and Aztec civilizations that followed.
Olmec Colossal Heads
The Olmec colossal heads are aptly named — of the 17 uncovered in the region, the average weight is around 8 tons, standing three meters tall and four and a half meters circumference. Perhaps more than any other aspect of the Olmec heads, their size is cause for a great deal of analysis and speculation.
The heads were carved from a single basalt boulder retrieved from Cerro Cintepec in the Tuxtla Mountains. After their creation, the heads were then transported 100 kilometers to their final destination where they were buried. Most of the heads are wearing a protective helmet, which was worn by the Olmec during battle and the Mesoamerican ballgame, and it is likely they were originally painted with bright colors.
While the heads have been dated to either the Early Preclassic period (1500–1000 BC) and the Middle Preclassic (1000–400 BC) period, it is difficult to say for sure, given that many were removed from their prior contexts before archaeological excavation.
What Was the Heads’ Purpose?
Although the reason why the Olmec created the colossal heads remains unclear, there are many theories.
Because all of the heads have different facial features, they could be portraits of the rulers, as scholar M.E. Miller identified one of the heads to be the second-millennium BCE ruler of San Lorenzo. Miller posits this could have been an act of remembrance following that ruler’s death.
Conversely, the heads may have been defaced and buried by subsequent rulers to more strongly legitimize their claim to power.
Other theories suggest perhaps the figures were famous ball-court players, with the reasoning that the flattened noses and grimaces on the faces of the heads reflected the highly aggressive sport.
Heads From the Different Sites
Whatever the purpose of the heads, they were left underground for 3,000 years until the first head was re-discovered in 1871 CE, with the most recent excavation in 1994 CE.
The 17 heads were found across three sites in Mexico: La Venta, Tres Zapotes, and San Lorenzo.
La Venta
La Venta Head courtesy AncientWisdom.com
Heads found at La Venta all faced the Atlantic, with the largest flattened so as to also function as an altar. The speaking tube from the mouth to the ear was considered possible oracles or talking gods.
The large size and weight of the heads open up questions as to how the Olmec moved them from where they obtained the stone over 80 kilometers away.
Tres Zapotes
Image Source: AncientWisdom.com
The first head was found in 1938 by Dr. Stirling, who noted it was both realistic and negroid in character.
San Lorenzo
Image Source: AncientWisdom.com
Ten of the 17 heads have been found at San Lorenzo, arranged in a plaza with red sand and yellow gravel.
The Mystery Remains
The Olmec civilization proves similar to many others that developed in Latin America, in that they left behind intriguing clues that still have not been solved.
Colossal heads found buried in the former Olmec cradle of civilization raise interesting questions about the culture and technological capacity of the Olmec people.
Additionally, the Olmec heads are not an entirely unique phenomenon. The heads of Easter Island, Mt. Nemrut, and the underwater heads of Egypt all bear resemblance to the Olmec heads, despite all of these being scattered around the world.
Along with their influence upon the civilizations that followed, the Olmecs’ colossal heads give contemporary archaeologists and history enthusiasts alike plenty of questions to continue pondering.
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The Book of Enoch Might Tell a Different Story of the Pyramids
Biblical stories are often fantastical, unbelievable, and sometimes confusing when it comes to interpreting their meaning. Of the apocryphal biblical texts, there are few more enigmatic and fascinating than the Book of Enoch, and in certain sects of Christianity, these books are still part of the dominant biblical canon. But could clues from these texts provide evidence of a completely different story of our ancient ancestors, namely one involving visits from an advanced extraterrestrial race?
Giants in the Book of Enoch
When the Book of Enoch was found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, it became clear it was a piece of literature that influenced biblical writers of the time including those who wrote the New Testament. So why is the Book of Enoch not in the Bible?
Today the Book of Enoch is only included in the main canons of Ethiopian Orthodox sects but was popular for hundreds of years in ancient Jewish perspectives. In fact, in understanding the Book of Enoch, some have pointed out that it was likely the inspiration for the Book of Genesis, due to a number of parallels.
Within the book, we find the story of Enoch who was the father of Methuselah and grandfather of Noah. He lived for 365 years up until the great flood that wiped out much of the population. Enoch was taken away in a fiery chariot before the great floods by the Archangel Michael, who some have interpreted as being extraterrestrial. Could that fiery chariot actually have been a spacecraft powered by a jet-engine?
The book that details the story of Enoch is extensive with over 100 chapters dispersed throughout several books, detailing accounts of the Nephilim and the Watchers. These giants, known as the Nephilim, are also described in the Book of Genesis. The giants are said to have been the progeny of angels, known as The Watchers, and female humans.
The ancient astronaut view of these biblical stories sees these Watchers as an advanced extraterrestrial race, who were perceived as angels, some good and some bad. Their presence among our human ancestors is thought to be either the reason we exist on this planet — the extraterrestrials being our progenitors — or the reason we advanced rapidly as beings capable of starting complex civilizations.
Some point to a particular passage that describes an account from Enoch’s grandson, Lamech, during the birth of his son, which read:
“And his father, Lamech, was afraid of him and fled, and come to his father Methuselah. And he said to him: ‘I have begotten a strange son, different and unlike man, and resembling the sons of the God of heaven; and his nature is different and he is not like us, and his eyes are as the rays of the sun, and his face is glorious.”
This was a description of Noah who would later go on to build the ark and survive the flood, sent to wipe out the Nephilim and cleanse humanity of its impurities.
But what was Enoch’s relationship with the Nephilim and the gods who created them? Enoch’s grandson was chosen to build the Ark to survive the flood, while Enoch himself was taken away by the “angels.” Could Enoch have left behind any clues for humanity that could have survived the flood? Some point to the ancient pyramids in Egypt as the answer.
The Book of Enoch and The Ancient Sumerians
There is some crossover in the biblical texts of Enoch and ancient Sumerian texts, particularly when it comes to the Watchers. Known as the Annunaki, or visitors from a planet called Nibiru, the Sumerians also looked upon these Watchers as gods, showing a crossover between the two ancient cultures. In the Book of Enoch, there is also mention of the great Sumerian ruler Gilgamesh, who often describes the Annunaki in much the same way Enoch describes the Watchers.
Throughout the bible and the Epic of Gilgamesh, the gods often did not like to show their faces and communicated through transmitters where the voice of the gods could be heard, but not seen. Today, we have technology like this, allowing us to speak to people without seeing their face, could they have been referencing something like a telephone or telecom?
Ancient astronaut theories have interpreted this secrecy as extraterrestrials not being able to take off their helmets and having bases on mountains, which were kept hidden from humans. This is a recurring theme in biblical texts and particularly the Epic of Gilgamesh. In fact, in the seventh tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh, he describes being brought to a door that speaks like a living person — much like the intercoms we’re familiar with today.
The ancient Sumerians also built pyramids of their own, called ziggurats. These ziggurats were places of protection during floods and were also topped with thrones for their gods. Erich von Däniken says he believes that the Egyptian pyramids could have also been built for a similar purpose, protecting something from the great flood of biblical texts.
Like the Epic of Gilgamesh, some believe there to be a lost 10th Sumerian tablet that details how the Annunaki built the pyramids in Egypt, which could draw a definitive connection between these two advanced ancient civilizations and an advanced visitor race.
A False Narrative of the Pyramids
As it turns out, the Great Pyramid at Giza, otherwise known as the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu, may not have been attributed to the person who ordered its construction. It seems there is actually significant evidence the pyramid was not built by Khufu, and the only reason historians and archeologists date it to the 4th dynasty is due to a questionable discovery by English Egyptologist, Major-General Richard Vyse.
Author and alternative theorist, Zecharia Sitchin, found that there is ample evidence that Vyse, after spending over a million dollars on an expedition into the upper chambers of the Great Pyramid, came up empty-handed and forged the cartouche of Cheops.
