Mantis Knives

An Early Contribution to Olmec Culture?

The early Olmecs people “may” have adopted some aspects of Pasada de la Amada culture Mazaton,a section of Saconusco near the Gautemala border,was comprised of hamlets and 3 villages ca 1900-1700 BCE [all dates calibrated].Pasa de la Amada [10ha] was the largest village.The residents collected wild flora and cultivated crops,which included a minor maize component.They supplemented their food supply with aquatic resources.From ca 1700-1550 BCE The populace of Mazaton expanded to 7 large villages with numerous satellite hamlets.People lived in small,daub-wattle homes,with thatched roofs and earth floors,that were round at each end.The village chief usually had a larger dwelling.Their Barra ceramics were too well developed to have been an initial endeavour.The surface of the thin walled,deep bowls was decorated with monochrome,biochrome and tricome slips.Other decorative techniques included incision,zone stamping,grooving and gadrooning.Vessel shapes resembled gourds,which they might have re[placed.The style could have evolved in northern South America pre-3000 BCE and gradually spread north along the Pacific Coast seaboard to Mezaton [R Diehl,2004].

Pasa de la Amada gradually absorbed proximal communities and expanded in areal extent to ca 140ha with a 37ha civic/ceremonial centre.There were 51 earthen,platform mounds,which were randomly scattered over 50ha.Eventually only mound 6 was utilized.It is 4m above ground level and was rebuilt at least 8 times.Structure 4 on the mound was 22 by 10m,with recessed porches,a hearth at each end of its curved ends and broad clay footings,that supported a daub-wattle walls and it had  large posts,whichmight have held up a thatched roof.Excavations uncovered well made stone bowls,elaborate pottery,a highly polished jade axe,large hollow ceramic effigy figures,ceramic ear ornaments,mica greenstone,and iron ore mirrors,etc.This structure “may” have been an elite residence and/or communal building.The nearby 80m longball court was the oldest in Central and Mesoamerica.The ball court,mound 6 and an elongated mound [function ?] defined the edges of a 304m sq plaza complex [J Clark,2004].

From ca 1700-1550 BCE other ceramic form began to emerge.In addition to new round bottomed and tripod  tecomates,there was a proliferation of shallow dishes and plates.New bowl forms included flat bottomed,cylindrical and tripod varieties.They were often adorned with pink,irredescent stripes and incised,lattice designs,with some rocker stamping and fabric cord impressions.The closest parallels to this style and its subsequent phase were the initial Olmec ceramics.At Pasa de la Amada pottery was still used for feasting and gained greater acceptance as a utilitarian product.Prestige items made their first appearance during this period.Pieces of greenstone and mica mirrors were placed on the foreheads of some of the deceased.From ca 1550-1450 BCE the relatively static population became more concentrated.Ceramics tended to be less elaborate and figurines of fat,seated men with animal masks were retrieved from the site.There was no evidence of war among the chiefdoms [ibid]. The residents of Pasa de la Amada had a progressive society before the Olmecs rose to prominence.

The Olmecs believed that the waters and mountains were imbuded with sacred qualities [N Saunders,2004].The El Manti shrine lies near the base of Cerro Manati Hill by a natural spring,which is bounded by swamp land.The shrine is located east of the Coatzocoalcos River ca 17km SE of San Lorenzo,which was initially occupied ca 1500 BCE.Votive offerings were sporadically consigned to these sacred waters from ca 1700-1200 BCE.The base of the spring was lined with sandstone boulders and rocks.A number exhibit V shaped cuts and shallow depressions,which resemble those on later monuments.The inventory from the sacred spring was comprised of pottery shards, greenstone axes and beads,nine rubber balls[ca 15cm in diameter],stone mortars,and flora [eg;hogplum].The pottery is similar to coeval samples at San Lorenzo and the Chiapas.These artifacts were overlain by a layer of peat.The phase B offerings were more formalized,with larger rubber balls [ca 20cm in diameter] and rows of polished stone axes.Phase c [ca 1400-1200 BCE]yielded wood busts,staffs,wood handled knives,bundles of plants,mats,red hematite balls,and the bones of children [C Pool,2007].

Jadeite,which was used to make high quality celts,was retrieved from the basal phase A [ca 1700-1500 BCE]cultural assemblage at the El Manati shrine.It was procured from the Motogua Valley of Guatemala ca 1000km distant [K Pope,2001]It is unlikely that the indigenous inhabitants made rubber balls prior to 1500 BCE,without external assistance.The jadeite,rubber ball technology and ceramic styles “might” have been introduced from the west by a small group people from the general vicinity of Pasa de la Amada.These individuals could have made a contribution to early Olmec culture [speculation].Over the next 500 years the direction of cultural exchange was gradually reversed as the Olmec societies gained a position of prominence.

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