Olmec Cave Paintings: Discovery from Guerrero, Mexico

A cave in Guerrero, Mexico, investigated in 1968, contained previously unreported Olmec paintings. These paintings, some of the oldest known in Mesoamerica, are stylistically similar to Olmec art from the site of LaVenta, on Mexico's Gulf Coast, but contain several important glyphic motifs neve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inScience (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 164; no. 3878; pp. 421 - 423
Main Author Grove, David C.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 25.04.1969
Subjects
Cave paintings
Caves
Grottos
Gulfs
Highlands
Iconography
Jaguars
Motifs
Rock paintings
Trade routes
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Summary:A cave in Guerrero, Mexico, investigated in 1968, contained previously unreported Olmec paintings. These paintings, some of the oldest known in Mesoamerica, are stylistically similar to Olmec art from the site of LaVenta, on Mexico's Gulf Coast, but contain several important glyphic motifs never previously known to have existed at this time level. The iconography of the paintings confirms several important hypotheses concerning basic concepts of Olmec religion; the cave itself was probably a shrine to water and fertility. Several pre-Hispanic textile fragments found in the cave are probably from a later culture period.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
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ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.164.3878.421