Portal:Mesoamerica

Olmec colossal heads are a distinctive feature of the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. The first archaeological investigations of Olmec culture were carried out by Matthew Stirling at Tres Zapotes in 1938, owing to the discovery there of a colossal head in the 19th century. Seventeen confirmed examples of stone heads are known, all from within the Olmec heartland on the Gulf Coast of Mexico, in the states of Veracruz and Tabasco. Most colossal heads were sculpted from spherical boulders but two from San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán were recarved from massive stone thrones. An additional monument, at Takalik Abaj in Guatemala, is a throne that may have been carved from a colossal head. This is the only known example outside of the Olmec heartland.

Dating of the monuments has proven difficult due to the movement of many from their original context. Most of the heads have been dated to the Early Preclassic (1500-1000 BC) and some to the Middle Preclassic (1000-400 BC). The smallest examples weigh 6 tons, while the largest is variously estimated to weigh 40 to 50 tons, although this was abandoned unfinished near to its quarry.

Olmec colossal heads were sculpted from large basalt boulders quarried in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas mountains of Veracruz. They were transported over large distances, although the method used for transportation is not clear. Finished momuments represented lifelike portraits of individual Olmec rulers, each wearing a distinctive headdress, and heads were variously arranged in lines or groups at major Olmec centres.

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K'inich Yat Ahk II (Mayan pronunciation: [kʼinitʃ jat akh]), also known as Ruler 7, was the final ajaw of Piedras Negras, an ancient Maya settlement in Guatemala. He ruled during the Late Classic Period, from 781 to roughly 808 AD. Possibly a descendant of Itzam K'an Ahk II, K'inich Yat Ahk II ascended the throne upon the death of his brother, the sixth ajaw of the site, Ha' K'in Xook. While K'inich Yat Ahk II presided over the destruction of the rival Maya site Pomona, his reign seems to have ended with the capture of Piedras Negras by K'inich Tatbu Skull IV of Yaxchilan. Itzam K'an Ahk II left behind several monuments, including stelae at Piedras Negras, a stone seat known as Throne 1 which records either the death or abdication of Ha' K'in Xook, and Panel 3 which recounts the exploits of Itzam K'an Ahk II.

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• ... that ajaw Itzam K'an Ahk II's reign of Piedras Negras, from 729 to 757 AD, was one marked by hegemony over neighboring kingdoms?

• ...that the P'urhépecha language isolate of Mexico is one of only two Mesoamerican languages not to have a phonemic glottal stop and that it has more than 160 affixes, 13 tenses and 6 modes?