Riddles of one of the most ancient civilizations of America: Olmec stone heads

The huge head-shaped stone sculptures found on the territory of the former "Olmec country" in Mexico still raise many questions. Scientists cannot determine their exact age, the reliable reason for their construction, and some even see in them the features of the black race. However, with the civilization of the Olmecs, whose writing has not yet been deciphered, there are many other secrets.

In total, 17 sculptures were found in Mexico, weighing from 6 to 40 tons. All sculptures are made in the form of male heads from basalt rocks, and one of them was not even completed and did not leave the quarry, where it was discovered. Sculptures were found in the mountains in the Mexican state of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico. All places are part of the so-called "country of the Olmecs" - the territory on which the ancient civilization of the Olmec Indians existed.

According to studies, the Olmec civilization is the oldest in Mesoamerica, and its heyday falls on 1500-400 BC. Subsequently, the Olmec civilization disappeared, leaving a legacy of the pyramids, plumbing, writing, which still can not be deciphered, and huge sculptures in the form of heads. It is assumed that the ancient Mayans borrowed their calendar from the Olmecs, with whom they lived next door. In the Aztec chronicles, the Olmecs are also mentioned, which indicates the contacts of these cultures with each other.

The first basalt head in Mexico was discovered in the 60s of the XIX century near the village of Tres Zapotes in the state of Veracruz, two more sculptures from black basalt were later found there. The weight of these statues ranges from 5 to 40 tons. According to archaeologists, the sculptures perpetuate the memory of the ancient leaders of the Olmecs, but it is not clear how they ended up in the jungle several tens of kilometers from the basalt deposit. Later, in the same state, other sculptures were found, called the "Olmec heads". The sculptures were allegedly made during the heyday of the Olmec civilization. All of them are made in the same style, on their heads wearing a kind of helmets or hats, but each of them has an individual face. Many scholars, not without reason, point to the obvious Negroid facial features of the sculptures, although the remaining statues and sculptures of the Olmec civilization period have Mongoloid facial features characteristic of Mesoamerica.

The famous traveler and explorer Thor Heyerdahl pointed out the possibility of contacts between the civilizations of the Mediterranean and the peoples of the New World. It was these contacts, in his opinion, that could explain some similarities in Egyptian and American civilizations, as well as the fact that the Olmec civilization arose in a short period, as if borrowing its knowledge from a more developed civilization. It is likely that the mysterious heads are a reflection of this contact and do not represent the Olmec leaders, but seafarers from Africa, who have repeatedly been in the jungle of the Gulf of Mexico.

Be that as it may, the Olmec civilization disappeared as suddenly as it appeared on the American continent, and scientists are still trying to unravel their secrets.