Archaeologists studying images of fantastic beings comparable to medieval representations or
Chinese dragons The worship was not confined to Asia and Europe. Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have located in Veracruz, Guerrero and Morelos images carved in stone, paintings and sculptures of clay dishes reporting on ritual worship of a wonderful animal: the dragon Olmec.
archaeological and iconographic These tracks date from the period from 1200 to 400 BC. This is not the famous feathered serpent that received the names of Quetzalcoatl and Kukulcan. Another figure is much older and still not defined whether it should be regarded as a deity, ie as a god.
In some cases the so-called Olmec dragon appears as a fantastic animal that combines features of snake, bird and jaguar. In other representations looks like a human animal shares details that identify this mythical being.
"has very specific features of Olmec culture, as is a type of flame-shaped eyebrow, eyebrow is known as flaming, also in the eye or torso cross we call Olmec Cruz de San Andrés" archaeologist says in an interview with Carolina Meza Rodriguez, head of excavations at the site of Chalcatzingo, Morelos, where they have become numerous findings of this figure. "Another interesting aspect of Olmec dragon emerging from his mouth a virgules-signs like eat, which can be words or clouds. It could also be some kind of fog that the animal or the priest launched from inside a cave to make it rain or make the land fertile, "says Meza Rodriguez.
The Olmec culture expert indicates a very strong academic debate to determine whether this animal should be called a dragon or not. However, when most scholars use the term that was coined in the mid-twentieth century by two of the pioneers in the study of the Olmecs: Miguel Covarrubias and Beatriz de la Fuente, who were the first to see this fantastic animal paintings in Olmec archaeological site in Veracruz. Symbols of power
Archaeologists Canto Aguilar and Victor Castro Mendoza, INAH-Morelos, also found stylized images of the dragon and dragon priests Zazacatla site, Morelos. These images are always related to the entrance to caves and had allegedly been the symbol of power of an ancient Olmec lineage that ruled between 800 and 500 BC.
Sometimes the iconographic elements that are associated with the Olmec dragon are separated in different parts a cave, in parts flaming brow appears in other parts of the cross of St. Andrew, so that the entire cave becomes the dragon or the fantastic animal represented by the oldest sedentary culture in Mesoamerica from which record.
- In what seems and what is not like this picture of Olmec dragon dragons we know of other cultures? - Is asked Meza archaeologist.
"The dragon is the best known oriental and medieval Europe. These two images are very much like a picture you are Chalcatzingo we call "the figure of creation", which is a figure of snake which has the face of a bird, with jaws of eagle with wings is flying and has the cross of St. Andrew in his torso. Anyone coming from another culture think it is a dragon.
There is also a figure of the archaeological site of La Venta, which is a character in a mythical snake with features that combine various animals. They are mythological figures, with the syncretism of several animals in many cultures are consistent with the figure of the dragon. In contrast, I must say that the Olmec deities are more related to water and land and not to the fire, like the dragons from other continents, "he says.
drawings instead of words
Because the Olmec culture dates back more than 3 thousand 200 years is very difficult to explain many things about your life, organization, emergence, splendor and decline. There are no written documents, their cities are few and very few glyphs that can be interpreted. Therefore, apart from archaeologists, the other scientists who study this culture are Hitori art, specializing in pictograms.
The Institute of Aesthetic Studies at UNAM has a specialized seminar on pre-Hispanic murals and participated in it have some of the most important experts in Olmec iconography, and Beatriz de la Fuente. This line of study was taken up by Dr. Mary Teresa Uriarte, who explains some of the major gaps or concerns about the image of dragon named Olmec.
"It is important to note that in prehispanic Mexico representations of animals no one hundred percent pure, or almost not there. What does this mean? Well, in his worldview animals thrive in the realm of the supernatural. His world is numen-sacred-and its representations recreated a supernatural world in which myth and ritual occupied all their issues, "the expert in art history.
Uriarte stressed that the supernatural animals comprising a space that a human can not reach, and mixed in beings different areas: earth, fire, air and water as the four elements of ancient Greek.
- The so-called Olmec dragon was a god? - You asked the researcher at the UNAM.
-not as easily call the so-called Olmec dragon deity. Why? Because we do not have enough evidence to worship that deity, as if it would to an elderly man who appears in Cuicuilco and is associated with the fire until the arrival of the English, they call Huehuetéotl, I dare say it is one of the oldest deities "says Uriarte.
As discussed attributes and function ritual of dragon figure, the findings continue to appear on the site of Chalcatzingo, considered a sanctuary site located between two mountains and is located 40 minutes east of Cuautla. Dozens of pieces of pottery reveal the same iconography, but there are large gaps in information on their characteristics, their functions and their relationship with Quetzalcoatl.
"From some points of view one could say that there is a relationship with a deity who appeared many years later and that is Quetzalcoatl, but can not directly demonstrated this relationship because there is no archaeological information that directametne interlock. What is a fact those who do not refer to this fantastic animal called the Olmec dragon dome 'the monster of the earth', while maintaining his supernatural role, "said Meza.
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