Olmec art produced a number of peculiarities which puzzle scholars to the present day. Among the most significant iconographical challenges faced by archaeologists is the exact meaning, function, and implications of the ‘were-jaguar’ and ‘jaguar-baby’ motifs. The basic formula is always the same: a head which mixes feline and human facial features, gaping downturned mouths with the top lip raised, prominent teardrop or almond-shaped eyes, feline paws instead of hands and feet, and very occasionally, a tail. Certain examples also have a V-shaped cleft in the forehead. The snarling mouth often bears bifurcated fangs, but many ‘were-jaguars’ are bereft of teeth altogether. It is possible that the toothless variety should be associated with ‘jaguar-babies’ at an early stage of infancy. In some ‘were-jaguars’, the iconography is explicit and heavily programmatic; in others, certain features serve pars pro toto to indicate the ‘were-jaguar’. Indeed, aspects of the motif find their way into various other Olmec sculptures, such that it is impossible to tell where the ‘were-jaguar’ ends and portraits of regular humans begin.

Our interpretation of the ‘were-jaguar’ relies on later interpolation and comparative studies. For many other Mesoamerican civilisations, the jaguar was symbolic of the power of the monarch, or the spirituality of the shaman. In terms of the latter, scholars suggest that were-jaguars represent shamans at various stages of a transformation ritual, in which the human form is converted into a jaguar. Transformative ritual is important in many shamanic cultures, where the donning of masks allows the shaman to become various spiritual beings, whether ancestor or animal. Some of the human-animal hybrid deities of the Americas are sometimes proposed to be representations of such rituals, including the noted ‘bird-man’ motif of the Caribbean Taíno. However, specific evidence is lacking, and some scholars consider such interpretations as at odds with the centralised hierarchical structure of Olmec society, given shamans operate as mediators between the spirit world and largely egalitarian societies. For these scholars, notably Michael Coe, the jaguar was a specific symbol of the King. If we are to believe that there is a direct genetic link between the Olmec and later cultures, then it is possible to draw on Mayan and Aztec literature to illuminate Olmec tradition. Aztec rulers, believing that the jaguar (Panthera onca) was the ruler of the animal kingdom, dressed in jaguar pelts and rested on jaguar thrones. Similar theories note that the cleft in some ‘were-jaguar’ heads is repeated on the colossal stone representations of Olmec rulers, such as the Las Limas figure; in this case, it is proposed that Olmec rulers had some kind of genetic facial deformity – perhaps a neural tube defect – which was presented to the people as evidence that jaguar blood ran in the royal family. One cave painting, in the complex of Oxtotitlán (Painting 1-D) is even claimed to show an Olmec monarch copulating with a jaguar, hence bringing forth the line of ‘were-jaguars’. Another approach entirely, that of David Jeralemon, proposes that there were ten Olmec gods, nine of which were variations of the ‘were-jaguar’ alongside the ubiquitous Mesoamerican feathered serpent, which later became the god Quetzalcoatl.

Whatever the reason for the peculiar iconography of the’were-jaguar’, the result was some of the most striking and distinctive art in history. The imagery of the ‘were-jaguar’ permeated all of the major cultural products of the Olmec. The famous ‘elongated man’ and ‘Olmec baby’ figures express the features of the ‘were-jaguar’, meanwhile the image appeared in cave painting, relief carving, as did masks and maskettes and pectoral pendants. Among the more unusual and imaginative uses were the ceremonial celts and hachas, axe-heads dedicated at important spiritual-religious sites. Celts were the primary dedication at these sanctuaries, and were undoubtedly replete with spiritual meaning that we cannot begin to comprehend. The extent of the dedication of celts is such that the Olmecs are often described as a ‘celt culture’, a term given to a number of South and Central American cultures who shared this important distinguishing feature. Celts themselves were interesting objects. As axe-heads, they clearly could function either as tools or weapons. Hatchets with stone heads were probably the most commonpace example of both in Olmec communities. Based in the rich tropical lowlands of Mexico, the clearance of trees was one of the most important activities in preparation for farming, achieved through slash-and-burn techniques which heavily relied on hatchets. Ceremonial celts, too large and heavy to be used on a hatchet, were predominantly dedicated as part of large ritual offerings. The situation at Offering 4 in the early site of La Venta is typical: in a narrow shaft, sixteen male figurines were arranged in a semicircle in front of six jadeite celts, which may once have been placed upright, stuck into the soft ground. The whole ensemble was then buried under banded layers of coloured clay.

This extraordinary celt is among the most remarkable to emerge from the Olmec culture. While most celts are elegant elongated teardrops of highly polished greenstone, this celt is of a type known as an ‘effigy celt’, so-called because of the figural carving which dominates the piece. It consists of the rectilinear head of a ‘were-jaguar’ reminiscent of the baby ‘were-jaguar’ depicted in a remarkable small jadeite sculpture now in the Kimbell Art Museum (AP 2023.2). The face is dominated by elongated almond-shaped eyes with deeply-drilled pupils, by a flat nose, and by the prominent feline lips. The mouth is toothless, and the roof of the mouth and uvula are depicted in shallow relief. At the chin is a rectangular plaque, on which is an inscribed saltire with a roundel at the centre. The saltire features regularly in Olmec art, though its purpose is unknown. Perhaps it represents the four corners of the Earth, the four seasons, or the four cardinal directions. The forehead has a deep and very prominent cleft, resulting in a ‘rabbit ears’ appearance. This is accentuated by a headdress consisting of a band or diadem around the forehead, from which rises a V-shaped upright which emphasises the cleft. This headdress is paralleled on the Kimbell sculpture, as well as Monument 52 at San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan. The latter was part of the drainage system, and water may have flowed from it like a European gargoyle. Given this, some have associated this particular headdress with a rain god. Others note Olmec reliefs and celts which depict vegetation – especially maize – growing from the cleft, and therefore associate this feature with a maize god, listed as God II in Jeralemon’s typology. It is possible, then, to associate this celt with either the so-called ‘Rain Baby’ (God III) or God II. While ‘effigy celts’ are not unusual – examples can be found in the British Museum (Am,St.536), Metropolitan Museum of Art (1979.206.942,), National Museum of the American Indian (16/3400), American Museum of Natural History (30/7552), Dumbarton Oaks (PC.B.015), Walters Art Museum (2009.20.119) – but all of the examples listed depict the full body of the ‘were-jaguar’, with the head and body almost identical inside, and with the feet at the ‘bladed’ end. ‘Effigy celts’ consisting of only the head are exceptionally rare; only two examples are known to this author, both in private collections.