Polished green stone, Olmec Man, L 003

This sculpture of a male figure in green serpentine or jade comes from the Olmec civilisation of Mesoamerica and is distinguishable in the mutilation of the arms and head. The practice of deliberate destruction of larger stone sculptures in the Olmec culture is associated with the abandonment of sites. Distinctive features of Olmec carvings include a downturned mouth, prominent thick, flared upper lip, toothless gums, bent legs, a flat nose, almond eyes and a cleft head. This style was produced on a monumental scale in sculptures of Volcanic stone, and in smaller portable jade objects. Early evidence of the Olmec civilisation comes from 1,200 BC and they appear to disappear around 400 BC from an early centre at La Venta. They continued for many more centuries at places such as Tres Zapotes and Cerro de las Mesas, Veracruz. The Olmec lived along the Gulf Coast, in the Veracruz and Tabasco states of Mexico. The term Olmec is the Aztec word for the region Olman meaning ‘place of rubber’. La Venta, produced evidence for the importation of basalt for the creation of colossal stone heads and jade from the Motagua River valley in Guatamala. Greenstone was utilised from local sources particularly for axes and standing human figures. Many Olmec carvings may represent men, women and children with a mythical association. The art of the Olmec was revered by later Cultures and Mayan rulers were often buried with Olmec figurines or pendants while the Aztecs deposited an Olmec mask in the Temple Mayor in Tenochtitlan. Olmec art remained influential in the development of Mesoamerican aesthetic traditions until the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th century.