Western Olmec cave sites may be the source of cave iconography

Western Olmec cave sites may be the source of cave iconography. Western Olmec sites include Chalcatzingo in Morelos and Teopantecuanitlan in Guerrero Teopantecuanitlan dates from as early as 1400 BCE Around 1000 BCE, Teopantecuanitlan built a sunken courtyard surrounded by Earth Monster images

New research suggests western Olmec sites with actual caves may be the origin point for cave iconography that later spread eastward. Oxtotitlán Cave Mural 1 (1200-900 BCE) depicts a figure on an altar stone with the same Earth Monster face found on La Venta Altar 4. Western sites like Chalcatzingo and Teopantecuanitlan (1400-900 BCE) feature caves with monuments carved directly inside them. This challenges the traditional narrative about Olmec cultural development, proposing a westward-to-eastward diffusion rather than the reverse.

Key Facts

• Western Olmec sites include Chalcatzingo in Morelos and Teopantecuanitlan in Guerrero
• Teopantecuanitlan dates from as early as 1400 BCE
• Around 1000 BCE, Teopantecuanitlan built a sunken courtyard surrounded by Earth Monster images
• Chalcatzingo dates from 900 to 500 BCE
• Chalcatzingo Monument 1 is carved inside a cave's mouth depicting a figure in a headdress
• Oxtotitlán Cave Mural 1 was discovered in the 1970s
• 2017 redating placed Oxtotitlán Mural 1 at 1200 to 900 BCE
• This mural depicts a figure sitting on an altar stone with the Earth Monster face
• The Earth Monster face on Oxtotitlán Mural 1 matches the one on La Venta Altar 4
• The author argues Olmec cave imagery originated in the western sites with actual caves and spread eastward
• This challenges the traditional narrative about Olmec cultural development

Source: The Olmec Cave Mystery Nobody's Solved by Archaeologist Ed Barnhart