El Azuzul

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
One of the "twins" at El Azuzul.© George & Audrey DeLange, used with permission.
One of the "twins" at El Azuzul.
© George & Audrey DeLange, used with permission.
A photo of the sculptures in situ, as they were discovered, with the "twins" facing off against the jaguar. The scuptures have since been moved to Xalapa.
A photo of the sculptures in situ, as they were discovered, with the "twins" facing off against the jaguar. The scuptures have since been moved to Xalapa.

El Azuzul is an Olmec archaeological site in Veracruz, Mexico, a few kilometers southeast of the San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán complex and generally considered contemporary with it (perhaps 1100 to 800 BCE). Named for the ranch on which it is located, El Azuzul is part of the Loma del Zapote complex. The site occupies the higher elevations north of the confluence of two ancient river courses, a part of the Coatzacoalcos River system. It is upstream of the monumental earthworks at Potrero Nuevo, itself part of the San Lorenzo complex.

El Azuzul is best known for two pairs of monumental sculptures, now on exhibit at Museo de Antropologia, Xalapa, Mexico. These statues were found on the south side of the large pyramid/hill on the site, apparently undisturbed since they were placed there in Pre-Classic times.

The first pair of statues are nearly-identical seated human figures. When discovered the two statues were facing east, one behind the other. Some researchers have suggested that these "twins" are forerunners of the Maya Hero Twins from the Popul Vuh,[1] although their headdresses have led others to describe them as priests. [2]

Facing these two humans was a feline-like statue, identified by some as a jaguar. Slightly larger than the humans it faced, the feline is roughly 1¼ meters high. A 1.6 meter version of this feline was found a few meters away, to the northeast.

In addition to the large pyramid/hill, El Azuzul contains other possible structures, now completely overgrown.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "The physical arrangement and characteristics of human figures and felines bear uncanny symbolic resemblances to later period myths from the Maya and Central Mexican cultures about twins and jaguars." Cyphers (1999), p. 174
  2. ^ ". . . una pareja de sacerdotes."

[edit] References

  • Cyphers, Ann, and Botas, Fernando, "An Olmec Feline Sculpture from El Azuzul, Southern Veracruz", Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, 1994, 138 (2): pp. 273–283.
  • Cyphers, Ann, "From Stone to Symbols: Olmec Art in Social Context at San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán", in Social Patterns in Pre-Classic Mesoamerica, Dumbarton Oaks, 1999, pp. 155-181.
  • Solis, Felipe, "Las culturas del Golfo", en Español.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../e/l/_/El_Azuzul_918a.html"