ART
The Olmecs and Chavins were extremely artistic people. Shown below are many of their creations.
The Olmec Civilization was filled with giant stone carvings. The carvings have large ears, big noses, wide faces, and large lips. These carvings are though to be portraits of Olmec kings. Carved between 1200 and 400 BCE these stone faces were found in San Lorenzo and La Venta, areas the Olmec lived in at the time.
The Olmecs and Chavins were extremely artistic people. Shown below are many of their creations.
The Olmec Civilization was filled with giant stone carvings. The carvings have large ears, big noses, wide faces, and large lips. These carvings are though to be portraits of Olmec kings. Carved between 1200 and 400 BCE these stone faces were found in San Lorenzo and La Venta, areas the Olmec lived in at the time.
Similar to the giant stone carvings of the Olmec, the Chavin created Tenon heads, which are jaguar heads with fangs. These heads are popularly associated with the Chavin. These Tenon heads are carved into walls and they stick out from the tops of many interior walls. The heads were carved when the Chavin were alive, sometime between 200 and 900 BCE.
ARCHITECTURE
The Olmecs buildings were simple; rectangular residences for commoners, bigger houses for the elite, as well as public ceremonial buildings such as temples and pyramids. In places such as La Venta, after 900 BCE pyramids and such structures were built near large residential areas.
Most of the Chavin architecture has been eroded away over the years, but due to the mountainous landscape, some ruins still stand. These building, most likely pyramids and temples were used as galleries and religious rites. Some of the groups who preformed these rites might have lived there as well.