De la iconología olmeca a la cosmovisión mesoamericana

Abstract

It is generally accepted that the Olmec culture (1500 BC-1 AD) was the first civilization of Mesoamerica, and that the acquisition of much of their knowledge and beliefs by the succeeding peoples would have catalyzed their own social transformation and development, leading to the Late Pre-Classic, Classic, and Post-Classic Mesoamerican Periods (ca. 500 BC-1500 AD). However, their cosmological and Cosmogonic conceptions are practically unknown. The purpose of this research was to extend the empirical description of the Olmec divine representations, as a way of access to the underlying thinking. To do so, an extensive sample of Olmec archaeological images (n=1531), considered representations of gods, or entities associated with the ambit of divine, was documented, regardless the size, technique or support utilized. Quantitative analyses of natures present in the sample were performed, either alone or in combination with others, an Olmec and Mesoamerican trait to express divine being or condition. Based on the results described herein, the Cosmogonic hypothesis (Bonifaz, 1986) is reaffirmed as the most probable iconological explanation of the Olmec divine images, and suitable attractor of the Major Complex System (ʃcM) that it can be conceived integrates the entire Mesoamerican civilization.

Keywords: Middle America; Olmec iconography; Olmec iconology; Olmec thinking.