Mexican Archaeologists Find 2,800-Year-Old Monument [ Olmecs ]

Latin American Herald Tribune ^ | Thursday, July 28, 2011 | EFE

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks B for the pic! From the hard drive:

The Olmec and the Shang
by Claire Liu
tr. by Robert Taylor

Last year, in a book entitled Origin of the Olmec Civilization, Professor Mike Xu, a Chinese who teaches in the foreign languages department at the University of Central Oklahoma, proposed a hypothesis which aroused a storm of controversy in archeological circles. In Xu's view, the first complex culture in Mesoamerica may have come into existence with the help of a group of Chinese who fled across the seas as refugees at the end of the Shang dynasty. The Olmec civilization arose around 1200 BC, which coincides with the time when King Wu of Zhou attacked and defeated King Zhou, the last Shang ruler, bringing his dynasty to a close.

[SunkenCiv]

Transpacific Contacts?
by Dr. Mike Xu
Texas Christian University
http://www.chinese.tcu.edu/www_chinese3_tcu_edu.htm

[alrea]

[SunkenCiv]

• Archaeologists Discover Two More Human Skeletons Accompanied by a Rich Offering at Chiapa de Corzo
• Pyramid Tomb Found: Sign of a Civilization's Birth?
• Decoding antiquity: Eight scripts that still can't be read
• New Maya Olmec Archeological Find in Guatemala [Takalik Abaj]
• Fighting with Jaguars, Bleeding for Rain: Has a 3K-year-old ritual survived in the central Mexico?
• Olmeca Waterproofing Technology Involved Tar
• Unknown Writing System Uncovered On Ancient Olmec Tablet
• Beyond The Family Feud (Olmecs)
• Professor Digs For Clues To Our Survival
• Archaeologists Discover Ancient Olmec-Influenced City Near Mexico City
• Script Delivery: New World writing takes disputed turn [ from 2002 ]
• 'Oldest' New World writing found
• Pottery Offers Clues To Origin Of Chinese Characters
• New Analysis Of Pottery Stirs Olmec Trade Controversy
• Mother Of Us All, Or Sister? Olmecs A Puzzle
• Secrets of old mask still hidden, duo say
• Ancient Bones Found In Honduras Said To Be Olmec
• Professor Says Mayan Calendar Does Not Portend Earth's Doom (2012AD)
• Roots of Mesoamerican Writing
• A Mother Lode Of Jade Solves Maya Mystery

[Flag_This]

"Or are these Jaguars?"

The Olmecs and later the Maya depicted jaguars in much of their art.

Some of their art depicted figures with human and jaguar features (at least that's how some interpret this:

[Beowulf9]

'The one on the left looks a lot like Garfield, though.' Or is it this one?...

[Future Snake Eater]

"No, Maggie, not Aztec. Olmec. Ol-mec."

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

four of which have cat figures, animals feared and venerated by the Olmecs,

I will admit that my information might be quite out of date but as I remember we know almost nothing about the Olmecs, not even what they were really called. So isn't the above statement speculation?

[SunkenCiv]

We know they feared and venerated cats, and probably for good reason:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2755896/posts

[gleeaikin]

Panthers and jaguars are much larger than house cats. Certainly they would be feared. But weren’t there other cats as well like the Ocelot that were intermediate in size? There were also cat goddesses in Egypt around the time the Olmec civilization began. Connection?

[SunkenCiv]

Ocelots, and just to cause trouble, the Onza (a cryptoanimal), Geoffrey’s Cat, at least two varieties of lynx, the Florida panther...