Historia del manati: Los manatíes inspiraron las leyendas sobre sirenas
Los manatíes inspiraron las leyendas sobre sirenas
Los manatíes son criaturas marinas que viven en las aguas poco profundas en las áreas costeras pantanosas del Sistema Arrecifal Mesoamericano, a lo largo de México, Belice, Guatemala y Honduras. Por su curioso aspecto, estos emblemáticos animales han protagonizado muchas historias a lo largo de la historia.
En México, los manatíes también eran conocidos como tlacamichin, que significa “hombre pez”, mientras los mayas llamaban a estos animales chiilbek o “pez grande”.
Estos lentos y curiosos animales duermen bajo el agua durante medio día, subiendo a la superficie para tomar aire y buscar alimento cada 20 minutos.
Aunque los manatíes son animales solitarios, la curiosidad de estos mamíferos les lleva a acercarse a embarcaciones pequeñas y grandes, lo que supone una amenaza para la especie.
(Relacionado: ¿Por qué se están muriendo los manatíes de Florida?)
Manatíes
La importancia de esta emblemática especie es clave para mantener el equilibrio de la vegetación en los ecosistemas y su salud es un indicador del bienestar marino y ecológico.
Estos apacibles mamíferos, también llamados vacas marinas, están clasificados como vulnerables por la Unión para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, entre otros motivos, porque muchos de ellos mueren cada año como consecuencia del choque con barcos. De hecho, solamente quedan unos 13 000 ejemplares en estado salvaje, según U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
(Relacionado: La megafauna de agua dulce está en peligro de extinción)
Los manatíes están divididos en tres especies: amazónico (Trichechus inunguis), africano (Trichechus senegalensis) y del Caribe (Trichechus manatus), y pertenecen al orden de los sirenios, formada por cinco especies de mamíferos entre las que se encuentran también los llamados dugongos (Dugong dugon) de la familia de los dugónguidos (Dugongidae).
Un manatí nada por las aguas turbias de Crystal River, Florida.
Fotografía de Jason Gulley
Mitos y leyendas de los manatíes
Los sirenios son los herbívoros más grandes del océano y son conocidos por ser el origen de muchos mitos y leyendas del mundo entero relacionados con las sirenas. El mejor ejemplo de ello es el de Cristóbal Colón, que en su primer viaje a las Américas pudo “ver” tres sirenas desde la proa de su barco.
(Relacionado: El triángulo de las Bermudas ¿realidad o mito?)
Así lo reflejó en su diario: “Cuando el Almirante iba a Río del Oro dijo que vio tres sirenas surgiendo del agua, pero no eran tan hermosas como dicen, pues sus rostros tenían rasgos masculinos”.
Los dudongos, las damas del océano
Efectivamente, los manatíes y los dugongos pueden elevarse considerablemente sobre el agua, mostrando a veces su cola.
Además, con unas patas delanteras que cuentan con cinco conjuntos de huesos parecidos a dedos y un cuello vertebrado que les permite girar la cabeza, es posible que los humanos pudieran confundirlos con sirenas al verlos de lejos.
Los dugongos, que viven en el océano Pacífico, también están muy presentes en las leyendas. En 1959 se descubrió en la cueva Tambun de Malasia representaciones de 3000 años de antigüedad en la que aparecían estos animales. La palabra se traduce como “dama del mar” en el lenguaje malayo.
En Palaos, una nación del Pacífico que se extiende por 340 islas, los dugongos, que en malayo significa «sirena», son protagonistas de muchas ceremonias y tradiciones: sus habitantes sienten un gran respeto por los seres vivos de su entorno (plantas, animales, aves) y creen que los dugongos fueron una vez humanos.
Además, sus habitantes cuentan historias de mujeres jóvenes transformadas en estos tranquilos herbívoros, y tallan madera donde ilustran a dugongos ayudando a los pescadores perdidos en el mar.
Artículo publicado el 9 de julio de 2015 y actualizado el 22 de abril de 2022.
Trichechidae – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre
Se denominan triquéquidos (Trichechidae) a los integrantes de una de las familias de mamíferos acuáticos en que está dividido el orden de los sirénidos. De los géneros en que está compuesta, solo uno posee representantes vivientes, los que se distribuyen en aguas subtropicales y tropicales de América y África; todas las especies ubicadas en los restantes géneros se han extinguido.
Índice
- 1 Taxonomía
- 1.1 Subdivisión
- 2 Distribución y hábitat
- 3 Referencias
- Descripción original
Esta familia fue descrita originalmente en el año 1821 por el naturalista, curador, botánico, briólogo, algólogo, zoólogo, micólogo, inglés John Edward Gray.[2] Su género tipo es Trichechus, el cual había sido descrito en el año 1758 por el científico, naturalista, botánico y zoólogo sueco Carlos Linneo.[3]
- Etimología
Etimológicamente, el término “Trichechidae” deriva del de su género tipo, Trichechus, nombre que se construye con palabras del griego antiguo, en donde: θρίξ (“thríx”) significa ‘pelo’ y ἔχω (“ékhō”) es ‘tener’, haciendo referencia a las cerdas que estos animales poseen esparcidas sobre su cuerpo.[2]
Subdivisión[editar]
Esta familia está subdividida en varios géneros:
- Anomotherium Siegfried, 1965[4]
- Miosiren Flower, 1874[5]
- Potamosiren Reinhart, 1951[6]
- Ribodon Ameghino, 1883[7]
- Trichechus Linnaeus, 1758[3]
Distribución y hábitat[editar]
El único género que ha sobrevivido, Trichechus, posee integrantes en África Occidental y en la parte cálida y atlántica de América, desde el estado de Florida por el norte hasta la Amazonia por el sur. Sus especies viven en ríos de aguas cálidas, estuarios y aguas marinas costeras. Se alimentan de vegetales acuáticos.
Mediante el registro fósil se constató que esta familia tuvo una distribución mucho más amplia de la que ocupa el único género con representantes vivientes, habiéndose exhumado representantes desde la Argentina por el sur,[7] hasta Nueva Jersey,[8] Inglaterra[5] y Alemania[4] por el norte.
Referencias[editar]
- ↑ Bonaparte, C. L. (1850). Conspectus Systematis Mastozoologiae. Editio Altera Reformata. E. J. Brill, Leyden 1.
- ↑ a b Gray, J. E. (1821). On the natural arrangement of vertebrose animals. The London Medical Repository Monthly Journal and Review 15:296-310.
- ↑ a b Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis.
Editio Decima 1:1-824. - ↑ a b Siegfried, P. (1965). Anomotherium langewieschei n.g. n. sp. (Sirenia) aus dem Ober-Oligozan des Dobergs bei Bunde/Westfalen. Sonder-Abdruck aus Palaeontolographica 124(4-6):116-150.
- ↑ a b Flower, W. H. (1874). Description of the skull of a species of Halitherium (H. canhami) from the Red Crag of Suffolk. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 30:1-7.
- ↑ Reinhart, R. H. (1951). A new genus of sea cow from the Miocene of Colombia. University of California Publications Bulletin of the Department of Geological Sciences 28(9):203-214.
- ↑ a b Ameghino, F. (1883). Sobre una colección de mamíferos fósiles del Piso Mesopotámico de la formación Patagónica recogidos en las barrancas del Paraná por el Profesor Pedro Scalabrini. Bol. de la Acad. Nac. Cienc. Córdoba V(1):101-116.
- ↑ W. B. Gallagher, D. C. Parris, B. S. Grandstaff and C. DeTample (1989). Quaternary mammals from the continental shelf off New Jersey. The Mosasaur 4:101-110.
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San Lorenzo | Ancient Olmecs: history and research problems | Tabarev Andrey Vladimirovich
2.2.
The classical Olmec period in San Lorenzo is also divided into three phases: San Lorenzo (1150-900/800 BC e.), Nakaste (900/800-700 BC) and the Palangan phase (600-400 BC).
The San Lorenzo phase is characterized by several types of new ceramics called Calzadas Carved (Calzadas Carved), Hochiltepec White (Xochiltepec) and Limon Carved-Insised ( Litop Carved-Incised ) (Fig. 42, 43). The first two types are widespread not only in the Gulf of Mexico, but have been found in archaeological contexts in other areas of Mesoamerica. It was at this time in San Lorenzo at 690 ha (7 km 2 ) most of the sculptural images and colossal stone heads appear, the water supply network and the system of artificial reservoirs (lagunas), continue to build earthen embankments and platforms surrounding rectangular platforms[195] (Fig. 44). There is every reason to believe that the builders of San Lorenzo (as well as the builders of other Olmec centers and large settlements) had certain engineering designs and pre-designed layout options. Undoubtedly, the Olmec builders used a wide arsenal of measuring instruments for the preliminary marking of sites[196].
Fig. 42. Fragments of bowls, jugs and “tecomates”. San Lorenzo (after: [Diehl, 2004: 89]).
Fig. 43. Ceramics. Basic ornamental motifs, San Lorenzo (after: [Diehl, 2004: 90]).
Fig. 44. The highest part of the San Lorenzo plateau (in the rectangle). According to M. Ko, it was artificially created in the form of a huge bird flying to the east. 1-shaft D; 2-shaft C; 3 – central platform (after: [The Olmec World…, 1995, p. 13]).
In the central part of the plateau there are several groups of embankments, earthen platforms and platforms, the contours of which are clearly visible today. Most likely, it was here that the most significant ritual structures of San Lorenzo were located. These structures are united by archaeologists in group A and include several complexes: the central platform (Central Court), the southern platform (South Court), the northern platform (North Court) and the palangana (Palangana). The central platform is framed by four embankments (NW-1, NW-2, NW-3 and NW-4). Of these, SZ-1 is the largest – up to 6 m high and up to 25 m long (along the east-west axis).
Group B consists of four mounds in the northwestern part of the plateau. The largest – B2-1 – approx. 2 m high and 15 m long.
The next essential components of the San Lorenzo ensemble (already mentioned above) are huge artificial ramparts (ridges). There are six of them: Northwest, Group C, Group D, Southwest, Southwest, and Southeast.
Important complexes were also located in the western part of the plateau (groups C, D, E). It was here, since the expedition of M. W. Stirling, that the largest number of stone monuments (more than 50), a large section of the water supply (more than 170 m), as well as a number of structures that received the names “Red Palace” (Red Palace), “ Basalt Workshop and Monument Reworking Workshop. According to the observations of A. Cyfers, the “Red Palace” (a structure with 4-meter columns that supported the vault, stepped passages and large living quarters, in which the floor was strewn with gravel, ocher or white clay) served as the residence of the local ruling elite, which controlled the production of ritual sculpture in nearby workshops[198].
Stone (basalt) for the monuments was delivered to San Lorenzo from the Tuxtla Mountains, 50 km northwest of the center. Huge blocks, blanks and finished products (up to 30 tons in weight) were transported from the quarries on rafts along a winding and complex labyrinth of rivers and channels to the foot of the plateau, and then rose to a height of 50 m along steep slopes. The implementation of such procedures is possible only with the use of special devices and organized actions of dozens of skilled workers and experienced managers. nine0003
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One day in San Lorenzo*
Time: Past, beginning of summer, OK. 1000 BC e.
Location: San Lorenzo, near the river. Coatzacoalcos, Gulf of Mexico region.
Civilization: Olmecs.
On a cold damp morning, shortly before dawn, the weaver’s family wakes up. During the day, the tropical sun will be hot, but the early morning is gloomy and chilly. While the family is getting dressed and having a quick breakfast of corn porridge, the sky in the east is beginning to brighten. The weaver is a little worried, she knows it will be another long and hard day, there will be no respite for several weeks: she devotes all her time to making clothes, while her husband works on the family plot. She weaves cloth from cotton grown in the family field and sews clothes (capes, loincloths) with bone needles. From local plants, the weaver receives a dye for dyeing fabrics and decorating clothes. Her most profitable trade is making clothes for wealthy families who live in a ceremonial center on a hill up the river. In exchange for fine clothes, she receives food or valuable tools, such as sharp obsidian plates, which make it much easier to work with fabric. nine0003
A woman and her family live in a thatched hut in a village with about a dozen families. Many of them are related, but from the older generation of the parents of the weaver and her husband, almost no one is alive. Their village is one of many, smaller and larger, closely associated with a large ceremonial center. Just a day ago, a raft with a huge stone head was moved upstream. The raft moored at the foot of the hill on which the ceremonial center is located. Today, the weaver’s husband and many other adult men from neighboring villages have been called by the chief to help lift the heavy basalt monument up the slope to the top of the hill. These important chores will take many days. For the family, this poses a problem, as family fields need constant care. Therefore, the weaver will have to take care of the crops herself. And also to fulfill an important order for the son of the leader, who wants to receive an elegant cape for the ceremony accompanying the installation of a huge stone head. nine0003
Fig. XI. Stone head 1. San Lorenzo. The technology of transporting and lifting this 30-ton giant from the place of manufacture to the plateau is unknown (according to: (Clewlow et al., 1967, p. IV]).
Having prepared everything for the day, the weaver goes along the trodden path that leads from the river to the fields, and her husband goes to the shore. Younger children, anticipating the festive atmosphere that usually accompanies the raising of huge stone monuments to the hill, go with him. Such events periodically bring together people from different villages and are of great social significance. The father and children, like many neighbors, go to the place of unloading the stone head in small rowing canoes. Another part of the family cultivates the fields in the high parts of the plain. The lands of the river valley owe their exceptional fertility to the annual floods that bring silt. Upland areas are also fertile, but after several seasons of exploitation they become depleted and abandoned. The path of the weaver lies in a low forest between virgin tracts of land, actively used at the present time, as well as recently abandoned. Soon she reaches the family marker and takes a shortcut to her fields. Maize, planted two months earlier, is growing well and should bring a rich harvest, but the ubiquitous weeds are a constant problem. Weeding is slow and laborious work: some weeds are simply pulled out of the ground, others have to be dug up with a stone hoe-axe. Soon after noon, the heat becomes so unbearable that the weaver seeks refuge in the shade of nearby trees. She rinses her hands from a vessel of water, o has dried fish with tortillas.
When she comes home. her eldest daughter grinds corncobs on a stone grinder to prepare her evening meal. The resulting flour will be mixed with vegetables. When they are lucky, they eat fresh fish caught from river banks or lakes. On special occasions, the family feasts on turtle meat.
In the evening, the husband returns with the younger children. He tells how much effort it took to move the stone head from the raft to the shore. Be very careful not to damage the newly carved monument. Hundreds of men must apply not only force, but also apply accuracy, moving the head under the guidance of experienced craftsmen. Tomorrow, the slow work of lifting the head up the specially prepared ladder to the top of the hill will begin. At the moment, the face of the monument is carefully wrapped in a cotton cape. The portrait of the current leader was carved in stone by several skilled masons in quarries located in the mountains a few days’ journey from the ceremonial center. The face will be covered for a few more weeks before the start of the initiation ceremony, when the population of all the surrounding towns and villages will gather in a large open area on top of the hill (Fig. XI). nine0003
* From: Sabloff J. A, The Cities of Ancient Mexico. Reconstructing a Lost World. – L., 1992. – P. 32-33.
——————–
Many of the sculptures found in the workshop area were damaged or fragmented. Initially, archaeologists suggested that this was the result of deliberate damage to faces and figures as a result of some kind of rebellion or riot. Now it is clear that these are intermediate stages in the process of remaking individual monuments into new images[199] . nine0172
Deserves special attention, etc. group E – a complex consisting of a stone water pipe and sculptural images dedicated to water or deities associated with water. So, for example, at one end of the water pipe was found monument 9 – the image of a duck. The water pipeline provided for several branches and was laid in full accordance with engineering requirements (with a dip angle of 3 °)[200].
The complex of buildings and sculptures connected with water is complemented by a series of two dozen artificial ponds (lagunas), which, according to some researchers, could serve as reservoirs for water or ritual reservoirs[201].
The very nature of settlement in San Lorenzo reflects the social stratification of Olmec society. If representatives of the elite lived on the highest part of the plateau, then the terraced slopes preserved traces of more modest dwellings (no more than 100 m 2 ), built from organic materials with hearths, utility pits and production sites. nine0003
Archaeologists have found more than 120 different monuments on the plateau at different times – colossal heads, thrones, sculptures. The weight of individual monuments reaches 25-28 tons. Olmec masters embodied portrait images, thematic scenes, supernatural beings and deities of their complex pantheon in stone. Most experts believe that stone images could be exhibited either one at a time (in the open air or in special “pavilions”), or as whole sculptural groups or ensembles. There are grounds to assert that for specific ceremonies, as well as in separate landscape zones (on hilltops, estuaries of tributaries), mobile sculptural complexes could be created. The famous monument 34 appears to have had movable wooden arms. It is logical to assume that many monuments (in particular, colossal heads) could be painted and decorated (Fig. 45). nine0003
Fig. 45. Monument 34. San Lorenzo. Height 79 cm. Drawing. Apparently, the hands of the statue were made of wood and could change their position.
Fig. 46. Monument 10. San Lorenzo. Height approx. 117 cm. The character wears a characteristic headdress with a V-shaped indentation, in the hands of a mysterious object, which had no analogues found during the excavations of the Olmec sites (after: [The Olmec World…, 1995, p.97])
Fig. 47. Monument 52. San Lorenzo. In it, researchers see the Olmec deity of water or rain. Height 93 cm (after: [Diehl, 2004, p. 103]).
Two main themes dominate the sculpture of San Lorenzo – quite realistic portrait images and images of animals, especially the jaguar (Fig. 46-48). it is in San Lorenzo that the emphasis of the Olmec masters on the ritual of transforming a person (shaman, clergyman) into a jaguar and on various attributes of this predator – fangs, claws, and skin – is most noticeable.
Fig. 48. Monument 14. San Lorenzo. Possibly the throne. Height 183 cm (after: [Diehl, 2004, p. 39]).
————-
Jaguar
Fig. XII. Head 5 from San Lorenzo. Drawing of paws and claws of a jaguar on a helmet (after: [Saunders, 1989: 52]).
In Mesoamerica, the most powerful land predator is the jaguar (Panthera onca, or Felis onca).
Jaguar is a large (approx. 40 kg weight and up to 2 m long) and aggressive animal with strong jaws, developed fangs, razor-sharp claws. Usually spotted, rarely black. Exceptionally agile and successful in hunting, easily moves through the trees, feels comfortable on the rocks and in the water. The main objects of his hunting are deer, tapirs, monkeys. It rarely attacks a person, in cases of self-defense or exceptional hunger. nine0003
Outstanding physical characteristics of the jaguar, its beauty and grace have been noted by man since ancient times. In the mythology and religion of all Mesoamerican cultures, the jaguar occupies a very special place.
The ancient Maya caught the jaguar to be sacrificed on special occasions, and the Aztecs to keep it in special menageries, where the predators were fed on the bodies of the sacrificed people.
In the religious rituals of the early Mesoamerican cultures, the jaguar, according to most researchers, was regarded as one of the incarnations of powerful shamans, and in later cultures – as one of the bright hypostases of the gods. These ideas are reflected in numerous works of art (bas-reliefs, paintings, plastic, mosaics), in architecture (steles, thrones, stairs) (Fig. XII), in religious paraphernalia (robes made of skins, covers for thrones), military ceremonial structures (the Order of the Jaguar among the Aztecs), as well as in calendar systems and in hieroglyphic writing. nine0003
Olmec art of the formative period is especially rich in the image of the jaguar. It is in it that the images of the jaguar man and the scenes in which the man and the jaguar act as partners first appear. These images have led many researchers to refer to the Olmecs as the “People of the Jaguar” or as the “Children of the Jaguar”.
——————-
In its heyday, San Lorenzo was the ceremonial and political center of a fairly vast territory, which included almost the entire basin of the river. Coatzacoalcos. The southern approaches to San Lorenzo were controlled by smaller centers (or centers of the second level) – Loma del Zapote (Loma del Zapote) and Las Camelias (Las Camelias), northern – El Remolino (El Remolino) and El -Bajio (El Bajio), western – Estero Rabon (Estero Rabon). Olmec farmers have mastered almost all potential hills and even small semi-flooded islands around San Lorenzo. Archaeological materials eloquently testify to the existence of dozens of small centers, settlements and places of seasonal fishing, which make up the third level in the hierarchy of Olmec sites. nine0003
Monuments of ritual significance, traditionally confined to relief elements significant for the Olmecs – sources of fresh water, solitary hills, places of confluence of rivers, should be attributed to a special category.
Fig. 49. Plan of the area in the area of the El Manati (Manati Hill) and La Merced sites (after [Ortiz, Rodriguez, 1996, p. 156]).
First of all, these sites include the site of El Manati, located 17 km southeast of San Lorenzo (Fig. 49). The first finds were made by local residents while digging a pond back in the first half of the 1980s. Stationary studies carried out by Mexican experts on the site since 1987 opened a completely new page in Olmec archeology[203].
El Manati, as a sacred place for rituals and offerings, arose in antiquity near the source at the foot of the hill. Due to the anaerobic conditions (without access to oxygen) of the swamp, in an archaeological context, almost all organic materials, so rare at the previously known Olmec sites, have been preserved. Archaeologists had to work in the literal sense of the word knee-deep in liquid mud, but this work brought amazing finds. nine0003
As a place regularly visited by pilgrims from large settlements, researchers distinguish several phases in the history of El Manati. The most ancient of them – the Manati A phase (Manati A phase) dates back to 1600-1500 years. BC e. It is assumed that the bottom of the reservoir was previously lined with sandstone tiles, and then ceramic and stone vessels, jadeite celts and beads, as well as nine rubber spheroids were placed there[204].
The next layer with finds dates back to the Manati B phase and is dated within 1500-1200 BC e. It is made up of carefully polished jadeite celts, laid out in series in a horizontal position or oriented to the cardinal points. They are complemented by small rubber spheroids, in which experts see balls for a ritual game.
The third period of sacrificial offerings is associated with the Makayal A phase and dates back to 1200-1000 BC. BC e. About 40 wooden busts were immersed in the waters of the sacred spring[205]. They were accompanied by wooden wands, stone knives with wooden handles, fragments of woven mats and ropes, lumps of hematite, painted animal bones, remains of leaves, fruits, and nuts (Fig. 50). nine0003
Fig. 50. Wooden anthropomorphic busts. El-Manati (after: [The Olmec World…, 1995, p. 16]).
Special attention of the researchers was attracted by the bones of infants and even newborns, most likely sacrificed to the Olmec gods along with rich gifts in offerings.
El-Manati was not the only such sacred source. Research at the La Merced site (only 3 km from El Manati) made it possible to record no less outstanding sacrificial complexes. Only in one of them there are more than 600 Celts. They are less elegant than similar finds at El Manati, but are also accompanied by a significant number of other gifts, in particular, fragments of hematite and pyrite mirrors, a 70 cm stone stele with a typical Olmec face, and a large green stone celt depicting a grimace of a child’s face. (“El Bebe”)[206]. nine0003
In the area controlled by San Lorenzo, there are a few other important locations worth mentioning. These are Laguna de los Cerros, Las Limas and La Oaxaquena.
Fig. 51. General plan of the Laguna de los Cerros monument (after [Bernal, 1969: 47]).
Laguna de los Cerros is considered to be an exceptionally interesting and important center that existed in a wide chronological range from the wounds of the non-formative to the classical period. On an area of approx. The outlines of about 100 different earth embankments, the central pyramid 20 m high and the 170-meter platform are traced on 40 hectares (Fig. 51). Known ca. 40 stone monuments of Olmec origin that appear to have been partially damaged or moved at the beginning of the Classic period. The monuments were made at the nearby quarry-workshop of Lano del Jicaro. It is possible that this workshop supplied semi-finished products to San Lorenzo[207]. In the immediate vicinity of Laguna de los Cerros, other points with single finds of sculptural images are also known – La Isla, El Cardonal, Loma de la -Piedra, Cuatotolapan, Cruz del Milagro. All of them are promising for further research. nine0003
Las Limas Monument (40 km south of San Lorenzo) was first known as the site of a unique sculpture of a seated young man with a jaguar-like baby in his arms, called the Lord of Las Limas [208]. Studies carried out at the site of the find showed that a large settlement existed here in the Early Formative period. On an area of approx. Approximately 800 nearby mounds (possibly platforms for dwellings) were recorded on 100 hectares[209]. nine0003
La Oaxaqueña – a monument located on the bend of the river. Coatzacoalcos 27 km south of San Lorenzo and 14 km from Las Limas. Preliminary archaeological surveys made it possible to record several groups of mounds and fragments of early formative ceramics. The center of the monument in antiquity was, apparently, surrounded by an impressive moat – approx. 10 m deep and 15 m wide. This fact gives reason to consider La Oaxaqueña as one of the fortified outposts in the system of the San Lorenzo zone[210]. nine0003
Researchers consider the dynamics of the paleoecological situation to be one of the main reasons for the gradual extinction of San Lorenzo in subsequent times. There is reason to believe that the depletion of agricultural land, the displacement of the riverbed and the change in the level of groundwater in the plateau region significantly affected the economic component of the Olmec center. At the same time, the question of the subjective factor – the invasion of neighbors or social conflict – remains open.
Nacaste phase ceramic (900/800-700 BC BC) overlaps the layers with ceramics of the San Lorenzo phase at a number of points on the plateau and marks the decline in the power of this Olmec center. New types of ceramic products and ornamental compositions appear, which are not typical for the previous time. It is possible that this is the influence of a wave of immigrants that arose in the area after the decline of San Lorenzo, or the result of a general deformation of the pottery tradition, extremely sensitive to any socio-economic fluctuations in culture[211]. The tradition of building stone monuments and sculptural images is interrupted. Most likely, several generations later, the people of the Nacaste phase leave San Lorenzo. nine0003
The Palangana phase (600-400 BC) completes the decline of San Lorenzo. Archaeological studies show that the area of the inhabited part of the plateau did not exceed 20 hectares. The new inhabitants of the center erect only a few mounds and perhaps one of the oldest ball courts in Mesoamerica. According to the data available to date, the last Olmecs leave San Lorenzo c. 400 BC e.
[195] According to Encyclopedia: Archeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia. – N. Y., 2001. P. Deal gives a somewhat more modest figure – 500 hectares: Diehl R. A. The Olmecs: America’s First Civilization. – L., 2004.
[196] For example, there are interesting facts that suggest the invention and use of the compass by the Olmecs. In San Lorenzo, a fragment of a carefully polished block of hematite was found, approx. 3 cm with a notch in the middle. When placed on a cork float in a container of water, the bar constantly turned to magnetic north with minimal deviation. If we assume that the initial dimensions of the bar could have been twice as large (6 cm), then the displacement became minimal. It is possible that this is precisely why the Olmec architectural and ritual complexes were aligned along the north-south axis with an offset of 8 ° west of the north. For a popular account of these experiences see: James P.,
Thorp N. Ancient Inventions. – M.: Poppuri, 1997. – 768 p.
[197] See: Diehl R. A. Olmec Architecture: A Comparison of San Lorenzo and La Venta // The Olmec and Their Neighbors. – Washington, D. C, 1981. – P. 69-81.
[198] Cyphers A. G. From Stone to Symbols: Olmec Art in Social Context at San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan// Social Patterns in Pre-Classic Mesoamerica, – Washington, 1999.
[199] It is known, for example, that two stone the heads were remade from altar thrones. nine0003
[200] Separate fragments of the stone parts of the aqueduct were also found in other parts of the plateau. In all likelihood, this indicates not a one-time system, but several stages of exploitation of sources or groundwater on the plateau.
[201] Some researchers believe that these are traces of excavation for embankments and ramparts, or even the result of the activities of farmers of the 19th-20th centuries.
[202] Various parts of this locality have previously been named Portero Nuevo, Rancho El Azuzul, and Las Trienta in the literature. nine0003
[203] Ortiz P., Rodriguez M. del C. Proyecto Manati 1989 // Arqueologia. – 1989.-N. 1. – P. 23-52; Idem. El Manati un espacio sagrado. – Xiapa, 1994.; Gulf Coast Cultures and the Recent Archaeological Discoveries at El Manati, Veracruz // The Archeology of Mesoamerica: Mexican and European Perspectives. – L., 1999. – P. 97-115; The Sacred Hill of E! Manati: A Preliminary Discussion of the Site’s Ritual Paraphernalia // Olmec Art and Archaeology in Mesoamerica. – N.Y.; L., 2000. – P. 75-93.
[204] The discovery of spheroids, according to most researchers, is the first direct evidence of the early existence of a ritual ball game among the Olmecs.
[205] About two dozen busts were removed from the layer by local peasants. They were so struck by the faces of the images that they began to give them human names, and the first statue was even baptized under the name “Vicki”. Archaeologists continued the tradition of naming busts. The finds of the busts also made it possible to assume that a significant part of the Olmec sculpture, especially in the centers of the second and third order, was precisely wooden sculptures. Many also believe that wooden sculpture generally underlies the later tradition of stone monuments. nine0003
[206] Ortiz P., Rodriguez M. del C. A Massive Offering of Axes at La Merced, Higalgotitlan, Mexico // Olmec Art and Archeology in Mesoamerica. – New Haven, 2000 – P. 154-167.
[207] See: Bove F. J. Lagunade los Cerros: An Olmec Central Place // Journal of New World Archaeology.