17 September 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

World’s Smallest Stegosaurus Track Found

14 March 2021

14 March 2021

The smallest trace of stegosaurus in the world that lived 155 million years ago was found. Stegosaurus, a herbivorous dinosaur,...

Ancient Mastaba Tomb of Royal Physician “Magician of the Goddess Selket” discovered in Sakkara

7 January 2025

7 January 2025

In the southern region of the Saqqara archaeological site, a joint French-Swiss archaeological team made an important discovery uncovering the...

Archaeologists discover Ice Age human footprints in the Utah desert —may be more than 12,000 years old.

26 July 2022

26 July 2022

Daron Duke and Thomas Urban, a Research Scientist with Cornell University, discovered 88 preserved human footprints on alkaline plains at...

In Germany, volunteers unearthed the largest hoard of Slavic coins to date and bronze-age seven swords

29 November 2023

29 November 2023

Volunteer archaeologists found bronze age seven swords and from the 11th century 6000 silver coins in the northeastern German state...

Archaeologists uncovered a 3,500-year-old Egyptian Royal Retreat in the Sinai Desert

5 May 2024

5 May 2024

An Egyptian mission uncovered the ruins of a 3,500-year-old “royal fortified rest area” at the Tel Habwa archaeological site in...

Medieval subterranean corridors found by accident in northeast Iran

1 October 2022

1 October 2022

The workers working on a routine road construction project near Shahr-e Belqeys (City of Belqeys) in northeast Iran made an...

A first-of-its-kind Ayyanar stone idol found in Vellore, India

25 June 2022

25 June 2022

An Ayyanar stone idol, the first of its kind in Vellore, was discovered at Thandalai Krishnapuram (TK Puram) in Tamil...

Archaeologists Unearth 78,000-Year Oldest Human Burial

5 May 2021

5 May 2021

A 78,000-year-old group of bones discovered at the mouth of a Kenyan coastal cave constitutes the oldest recorded formal human...

1,700-Year-Old Roman Ringstone Depicting Goddess Athena Discovered at Assos

30 August 2024

30 August 2024

A Roman Imperial Period ringstone depicting Athena, the mother goddess of the Assos ancient city, has been discovered in the...

60-million-year-old Snail Fossil Found in southern Turkey

22 May 2021

22 May 2021

A snail fossil dating to the age of 60 million was found in Mersin’s Toroslar district. The snail fossil discovered...

2000-Year-Old Marvel: The Mystery of the Parthian Battery

1 March 2024

1 March 2024

The Parthian Battery is believed to be about 2000 years old (from the Parthian period, roughly 250 BCE to CE...

A 3300-year-old seal and a dagger/sword reminiscent of Mycenaean swords were discovered in the Heart of western Anatolia

18 July 2022

18 July 2022

A unique 3300-year-old seal and a sword/dagger reminiscent of Mycenaean swords were unearthed during the excavations of Tavşanlı Höyük (Tavşanlı...

One of the greatest gold treasures in Danish history found in Vindelev

6 September 2021

6 September 2021

Near the town of Jelling in Denmark, one of the biggest treasures ever found dating from the sixth century has...

The altar of Zeus Temple discovered in western Turkey

1 September 2023

1 September 2023

Archaeological excavations in the ancient city of Magnesia, located in the western province of Aydın’s Germencik district, have uncovered the...

Millefiori Glass Plateques From the 5th Century AD Discovered in the Ancient Lycian City of Myra

9 September 2024

9 September 2024

One of the six leading cities of ancient Lycia and the birthplace of Santa Claus (or Sinterklaas in Dutch), the...