Olmec Colossal Heads

Olmec Colossal Head

 The Olmec Civilization from 1200 BCE - 400 BCE was from the Gulf Coast of Mexico. There are seventeen large colossal heads that are considered the most mysterious artifacts from the ancient art world.

They are enormous and it is baffling how they made and moved these large carved stone heads. They can range from9.8 feet, to 14.7 feet around  and weigh an average of 8 tons. They carved them using stones and moved them along the river some 100 km.

It is thought they represent ancient rulers and and there is even speculation that they were thrones. They were moved around quite often for rituals and even put in place for protection. The Olmec only made them as a "head" because they thought this where the emotions and soul resided.

They were eventually buried - maybe to negate the power of the dead ruler they were made for. They remained buried for three thousand years and were discover in 1871 with the last one being found in 1994.

Cited from: http://www.ancient.eu/article/672/

Olmec Colossal Heads