Olmec lapidaries worked
greenstone into celts, figurines, beads, ear spools, pendants, and numerous
enigmatic objects with uncertain functions. Well-made, highly polished celts or
“votive axes” are quite common; hundreds appeared in buried offerings at La
Venta, El Manati, La Merced, and several sites in Chiapas, and more than 1,000
are said to have appeared at Rio Pesquero. Celt caches at La Venta often
assumed cruciform and other geo¬ metric patterns. Most celts have highly
polished though otherwise undecorated surfaces, but some — among them four
examples from La Venta and several unprovenienced pieces - have incised
designs. Three La Venta pieces, all bearing lightly incised, somewhat whimsical
“faces,” occurred in a cruciform cache. The fourth, a true masterpiece that
depicts an Olmec were-jaguar covered with red cinnabar, was part of Tomb E’s
rich offering. Celts and axes generally lack evidence of actual use in the
utilitarian functions their names imply. Karl Taube believes that they
symbolically represent maize seeds and may have been employed in rituals
dedicated to the maize deity. They may also have functioned as units of value
or currency, with caches serving as stored wealth that was hidden but easily
accessed if needed. Interestingly enough, the carved designs that grace some of
them appear to be miniature versions of the supernatural being shown on the four
stelae in front of La Venta’s Great Pyramid. (Richard A. Diehl, The Olmecs:
America’s First Civilization [London: Thames & Hudson, 2004], 120-21)
