An Olmec Cylinder Seal from Los Soldados

Summary

In 2010, a young man from the Ejido Diaz Ordáz found a Prehispanic clay cylinder eroding out of a road cut in the Olmec site of Los Soldados. Although the exact archaeological provenience is not secure, we consider the object belonging to the Olmec culture through other data obtained by the Proyecto Arqueológico Arroyo Pesquero-Los Soldados. The artifact is of particular importance because of the unique images presented on this artifact, which appears to constitute a domestic scene. We know of no comparable Olmec or other Mesoamerican cylinder seals. In this study we develop an iconographic comparison between similar Mesoamerican images to clarify unique and common characteristics. And we argue that the scene represented on this clay cylinder seal has much to do with the activities engaged by the residents of the site. We consider the potential that this archaeological piece has in helping to reconstruct the daily life of the Ancient Olmec.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Household and Ritual in the Eastern Olmec Heartland

Keywords

Spatial Coverage