The Olmec colossal heads are stone representations of heads sculpted from large basalt boulders. They range in height from 1.17 to 3.4 metres (3.8 to 11.2 ft). The heads date from at least 900 BCE and are a distinctive feature of the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. All portray individuals with characteristics corresponding to phenotypes that are still common among the inhabitants of Tabasco and Veracruz. The backs of the monuments are often flat.
Portraits from an early civilization
The Olmec civilization developed in the lowlands of southeastern Mexico between 1500 and 400 BC. The Olmec heartland lies on the Gulf Coast of Mexico within the states of Veracruz and Tabasco, an area measuring approximately 275 kilometres (171 mi) east to west and extending about 100 kilometres (62 mi) inland from the coast. The Olmecs are regarded as the first civilization to develop in Mesoamerica and the Olmec heartland is one of six cradles of civilization worldwide, the others being the Norte Chico culture of South America, the Erlitou culture of China's Yellow River, the Indus Valley civilization of the Indian subcontinent, the civilization of ancient Egypt in Africa, and the Sumerian civilization of ancient Mesopotamia (Iraq). The colossal heads cannot be precisely dated.
However, the San Lorenzo heads were buried by 900 BC, indicating that their period of manufacture and use was earlier still. The heads from Tres Zapotes had been moved from their original context before they were investigated by archaeologists and the heads from La Venta were found partially exposed on the modern ground surface. The period of production of the colossal heads is therefore unknown, as is whether it spanned a century or a millennium. Estimates of the time span during which colossal heads were produced vary from 50 to 200 years. The San Lorenzo heads are believed to be the oldest, and are the most skilfully executed.
Carving and moving basalt
Olmec colossal heads vary in height from 1.47 to 3.4 metres, or from 4.8 to 11.2 feet, and weigh between 6 and 50 tons. All of the Olmec colossal heads depict mature men with flat noses and fleshy cheeks; the eyes tend to be slightly crossed. The general physical characteristics of the heads are of a type that is still common among people in the Olmec region in modern times. The backs of the heads are often flat, as if the monuments were originally placed against a wall. All examples of Olmec colossal heads wear distinctive headdresses that probably represent cloth or animal hide originals. Some examples have a tied knot at the back of the head, and some are decorated with feathers.
The production of each colossal head must have been carefully planned, given the effort required to ensure the necessary resources were available; it seems likely that only the more powerful Olmec rulers were able to mobilise such resources. The workforce would have included sculptors, labourers, overseers, boatmen, woodworkers and other artisans producing the tools to make and move the monument, in addition to the support needed to feed and otherwise attend to these workers. The seasonal and agricultural cycles and river levels needed to have been taken into account to plan the production of the monument and the whole project may well have taken years from beginning to end.
Heads at the major centers
The ten colossal heads from San Lorenzo originally formed two roughly parallel lines running north-south across the site. Although some were recovered from ravines, they were found close to their original placements and had been buried by local erosion. These heads, together with monumental stone thrones, probably formed a processional route across the site, powerfully displaying its dynastic history. Two of the San Lorenzo heads had been re-carved from older thrones. San Lorenzo Colossal Head 1 (also known as San Lorenzo Monument 1) was lying facing upwards when excavated.
Three of the La Venta heads were found in a line running east-west in the northern Complex I; all three faced northwards, away from the city centre. The other head was found in Complex B to the south of the Great Pyramid, in a plaza that included other sculptures. The latter, the first of the La Venta heads to be discovered, was found during archaeological exploration of La Venta in 1925; the other three remained unknown to archaeologists until a local boy guided Matthew Stirling to them while he was excavating the first head in 1940.
The two heads at Tres Zapotes, with the La Cobata head, are stylistically distinct from the other known examples. Beatriz de la Fuente views them as a late regional survival of an older tradition while other scholars argue that they are merely the kind of regional variant to be expected in a frontier settlement. These heads are sculpted with relatively simple headdresses; they have squat, wide proportions and distinctive facial features.