In 1987, residents near Hidalgotitlán, Veracruz, dug the waterlogged Cerro Manatí spring, about 15 km from San Lorenzo. Its oxygen-starved deposits preserved offerings dating as early as 1600 BC: about 37 Olmec-style wooden busts, Mexico's oldest known wooden artifacts, and at least 12 Castilla elastica rubber balls, the world's oldest known rubber balls. Staffs, jade celts, greenstone beads and obsidian blades were also recovered. Beneath the busts were infant remains from children who died before or shortly after birth. 🌿
El Manatí yielded Mexico's oldest wooden objects and the world's oldest rubber balls
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Key facts
- In 1987, residents near Hidalgotitlán, Veracruz, dug a spring at the foot of Cerro Manatí, about 15 km from San Lorenzo.
- The spring's waterlogged, oxygen-starved deposits preserved offerings whose earliest dates reach about 1600 BC.
- About 37 Olmec-style wooden busts were recovered in total, including 17 initially found by local residents; they are Mexico's oldest known wooden artifacts.
- At least 12 rubber balls, about 5 cm to more than 30 cm and made from Castilla elastica latex, are the world's oldest known rubber balls.
- The assemblage also included carved wooden staffs, jade celts, greenstone bead strings and obsidian blades.
- Infant remains found beneath the busts belonged to children who died before or shortly after birth.
- Manatí is the principal known source of preserved organic Olmec material on the Gulf Coast.
Sources
allthatsinteresting.com
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mayaztequemexique.fr
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education.nationalgeographic.org
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archive.archaeology.org
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worldhistory.org
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Introduction: The Origin and Development of Olmec ...doaks.org
The archaeological evidence argues for an entirely Indigenous development, Cerro Manatí. Cerro Manatí. have provided crucial insights into the Early Formative ...
El Manatí Wooden Olmec Buststraffickingculture.org
El Manatí was a sacrificial bog utilized by the Olmec culture from around 1600 to 1200 BC. The twenty wooden busts recovered by villagers and ...
El Manatíen.wikipedia.org
El Manatí was the site of a sacred Olmec sacrificial bog from roughly 1600 BCE until 1200 BCE. located at the foot of Cerro Manatí, Many artifacts have been ...
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