8 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Olmec reliefs show Ancient Olmec Leaders In Trance-Like State Roaring Like Jaguars

Archaeologists in Mexico have discovered two carved reliefs from the late Olmec period (900-400 B.C.) in Villahermosa, Tabasco, southeastern Mexico that are thought to depict local rulers performing ritual contortion.

Carved reliefs depicting two tough-faced monarchs from the Olmec civilization are believed to show a pair of leaders in a trance-like state, roaring like a jaguar, in the midst of a “contortionist” ritual designed to induce black-outs.

The reliefs are carved from 4.6-foot-diameter spherical slabs of limestone that weigh more than 1,500 pounds each. Each relief depicts a guy wearing a four-corncob headdress, his face distorted in a grimace — lips open and turned down, eyes wide. In the middle of the headdress is a “Olmec cross,” a jaguar glyph that served as a status symbol. The faces take up nearly all of the space, with footprints on the sides and arms crossed beneath.

The jaguar is a very prevalent figure in many pre-Columbian Mesoamerican societies, with a jaguar deity appearing in almost all belief systems from this time period. Some archeological evidence suggests that the Maya kept jaguars as pets.

Both monuments represent the local rulers of the Middle Usumacinta region and date to the late Olmec horizon (900-400 BC).

Photo: National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

Other similar monuments from the Middle Usumacinta region suggest that the reliefs are depicting the leaders during a “contortionist” ritual, in which they were effectively strangled into an otherwordly trance.

The reliefs were found in a private house in Villahermosa. The homeowner said he had found them while leveling agricultural land on his farm in Tenosique.  (A very similar circular relief was found in Tenosique in 2000.) Archaeologists plan to survey the find site in hopes of narrowing down the date of the carvings.

“The five monuments have in common the representation of large faces, possibly of local rulers, who also practiced contortionism, not in a playful sense, but ritual. By adopting the position in which they appear portrayed –which reduces the irrigation and oxygenation of the blood to the brain–, the characters reached trance states in divinatory ceremonies and that conferred powers on them,” Tomás Pérez Suárez, an archaeologist at the INAH, explained in a statement.

This style of relief is typical of the late Olmec civilization prior to the process of “Mayanization” that struck the culture around 500 to 300 BCE.

Photo: National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

It does appear, however, that the legacy of the Olmec civilization lived on. Archaeologists from the INAH speculate that the style seen in this duo of reliefs perhaps evolved into the classic Maya “ajaw” inscriptions, which depict leaders with a similarly gaping mouth.

“It is possible that these faces evolved and derived in the Mayan ajaw altars , such as those of the Caracol site, in Belize, which tells us about the permanence of this theme for more than three centuries, already for the Early Classic and Late Classic periods. (495 to 790 AD). The word ajaw means ‘he who shouts’, ‘he who commands’, ‘he who orders’; and in these Mayan monuments the mouth stands out, a feature that must come from Olmec times, especially from these circular reliefs of ‘contortionists’ that are portraits of local chiefs”added Pérez Suárez.

Cover Photo: National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

Related Articles

Ancient tomb with prayer-related murals found in China’s Shanxi

25 December 2021

25 December 2021

Archaeologists in north China’s Shanxi Province have found an ancient tomb dating back to the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) with murals...

Turkey’s Urartian Altıntepe Castle transforms into open museum

25 May 2022

25 May 2022

Altıntepe Castle, one of the most important centers of the Urartians and the Eastern Roman Empire, is now set to...

Archaeologists discover a new megalithic monument in heart of Andalusia in southern Spain – 5,000-year-old secret

5 May 2023

5 May 2023

Archaeologists in Spain uncovered a previously overlooked tomb while investigating the formation of La Peña de los Enamorados, also known...

Divers Discover 2,500-Year-Old Shipwreck and anchors Off the Coast of Sicily

23 January 2025

23 January 2025

A shipwreck dating back to the 5th and 6th centuries BC was discovered in the waters of Santa Maria del...

The first analysis results confirm that the grave in Tiarp is one of the oldest stone burial chambers in Scandinavia

31 January 2024

31 January 2024

In Tiarp, close to Falköping, Sweden, archaeologists from Gothenburg University and Kiel University have discovered a dolmen that dates back...

An Urartian female executive grave was found at the Çavuştepe Mound

9 September 2021

9 September 2021

The grave of an Urartian, who was buried with his horse, cattle, and dog, had been found recently. Today, another...

Papal bull discovered in a former cemetery dated to the 14th century

10 May 2023

10 May 2023

A medieval bull found in 2021 in Budzistów village (Kołobrzeg district), Poland has been restored and placed on display in...

Evidence of Necromancy during Roman era in the Te’omim Cave, Jerusalem Hills: Oil Lamps, Spearheads, and Skulls

14 July 2023

14 July 2023

Te’omim Cave in the Jerusalem Hills may once have served as a local oracle where people communed with the dead...

Archeologists find a 3,500-year-old mosaic in central Turkey

16 September 2021

16 September 2021

Archaeologists have discovered a 3,500-year-old mosaic in central Turkey, which might be one of the world’s oldest. The impressive power...

Medieval double grave discovered with majestic objects inside the circular ditch

22 August 2022

22 August 2022

An early medieval double grave was discovered in Kirchheim am Neckar Friedrichstrasse, southern Germany, during excavations supervised by the State...

Croatian Team Finds a Way to Effectively and Permanently Preserve Stuka Aircraft Wreck Under the Sea

11 December 2024

11 December 2024

 The ICUA Zadar team of conservators and archaeologists carried out in situ underwater conservation of the wreckage of the Junkers...

Buddha statue discovered in ancient city of Berenice, Egypt

29 April 2023

29 April 2023

Archaeologists excavating in the ancient Egyptian seaport Berenice Troglodytica on the western shore of the Red Sea have unearthed a...

Glazed Bricks with Bull and Dragon Motifs Discovered at Persepolis

17 December 2021

17 December 2021

A team of Iranian and Italian archaeologists recently unearthed some glazed bricks bearing bull and dragon motifs in the ancient...

Bosphorus Was Frozen, People Crossed By Walking

14 February 2021

14 February 2021

The calendars showed the year 1954. Istanbul was experiencing an extremely freezing winter after many years. Heavy snowfall, hard enough...

Hiker found a place of holy worship at an altitude of 2,590 meters in the Swiss Alps

15 March 2023

15 March 2023

A trekking enthusiast stumbled upon an ancient Roman coin buried in rubble in a remote area high in the Alps...