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Rediscovering women and gestation in Olmec visual culture. A cradle of civilization ; Mesoamerica and its visual culture ; Early interpretations of the first known Olmec sculptures ; New questions in Olmec studies ; Is gender or gestation the compelling issue? ; How the book develops : content and methodologies
The tale of the were-jaguar. The birth of the were-jaguar ; One were-jaguar or many deities? ; The first attempt to slay the were-jaguar ; The were-jaguar as a shamanic alter ego ; Monstrous congenital anomalies ; Pantheons of deities or symbols of vital forces? ; Shamanism in an ecological context ; The rebirth of the maize deity ; Signs of life
The sowing and dawning of the human-maize seed. Images of the unborn ; The formative Mesoamerican embryo and its matrix of associations ; Ethnographic analogies ; Hollow babies ; A contemporary baby in a boat : Niñopa ; Conclusions about embryos, fetuses, and babies
Tracking gender, gestation, and narrativity through the early formative. The archaic period, 10,000 to 2000 BC : the beginning of visual symbols ; The initial formative, circe 1900 to 1400 BC ; The early formative, circa 1400-900 BC ; Fluctuations in visual culture during the initial and early formative periods ; Discussion : Maize technology. 1, Fermentation ; Discussion : Maize technology. 2, Nixtamalization
La Venta's buried offerings : women and other revelations. Topography and sources of stone ; Discovery, excavation, and chronology of La Venta ; Surveying La Venta's visual culture through time ; Women and the unborn return to prominence
Female water and earth supernaturals : the massive offerings, mosaic pavements, and Mixe "work of the earth". Why construct massive offerings? ; Mixe beliefs in earth, water, and thunder supernormal entities ; La Venta's mosaic pavements ; Offerings inseminating the flowering earth ; Massive offerings : contained water ; Mixe healers, midwives, and rituals, and their Olmec antecedents ; Female shamans ; The mosaic pavements as conventionalized symbols ; Politics, protection, and healing
A processional visual narrative at La Venta. Previous investigations of Olmec creation narratives ; Patterns for the distribution of monumental sculptures ; A processional visual narrative
La Venta's creation and origins narrative. An approach to visual narratives from preliterate societies ; The narrative stations (Station one: A womb with three fetuses ; Station two: A quincunx of thrones ; Station three: The dawning of human-maize ; Station four: The female sources of life : earth and water ; Station five: The bodiless heads ; Station six: The phallic column) ; Inserting politics into the creation and origins narrative ; Alternative reading orders ; Conclusions and questions
A scattering of seeds. Assessing arguments for some major points ; Modes of communication ; Where did Olmec ideas go? ; Asking and answering the fundamental questions
Appendix 1. La Venta monuments by format
Appendix 2. Comparison of Mesoamerican creation and origins narratives
Appendix 3. Shape-shifters and werewolves to were-jaguars : a brief chronology.
The tale of the were-jaguar. The birth of the were-jaguar ; One were-jaguar or many deities? ; The first attempt to slay the were-jaguar ; The were-jaguar as a shamanic alter ego ; Monstrous congenital anomalies ; Pantheons of deities or symbols of vital forces? ; Shamanism in an ecological context ; The rebirth of the maize deity ; Signs of life
The sowing and dawning of the human-maize seed. Images of the unborn ; The formative Mesoamerican embryo and its matrix of associations ; Ethnographic analogies ; Hollow babies ; A contemporary baby in a boat : Niñopa ; Conclusions about embryos, fetuses, and babies
Tracking gender, gestation, and narrativity through the early formative. The archaic period, 10,000 to 2000 BC : the beginning of visual symbols ; The initial formative, circe 1900 to 1400 BC ; The early formative, circa 1400-900 BC ; Fluctuations in visual culture during the initial and early formative periods ; Discussion : Maize technology. 1, Fermentation ; Discussion : Maize technology. 2, Nixtamalization
La Venta's buried offerings : women and other revelations. Topography and sources of stone ; Discovery, excavation, and chronology of La Venta ; Surveying La Venta's visual culture through time ; Women and the unborn return to prominence
Female water and earth supernaturals : the massive offerings, mosaic pavements, and Mixe "work of the earth". Why construct massive offerings? ; Mixe beliefs in earth, water, and thunder supernormal entities ; La Venta's mosaic pavements ; Offerings inseminating the flowering earth ; Massive offerings : contained water ; Mixe healers, midwives, and rituals, and their Olmec antecedents ; Female shamans ; The mosaic pavements as conventionalized symbols ; Politics, protection, and healing
A processional visual narrative at La Venta. Previous investigations of Olmec creation narratives ; Patterns for the distribution of monumental sculptures ; A processional visual narrative
La Venta's creation and origins narrative. An approach to visual narratives from preliterate societies ; The narrative stations (Station one: A womb with three fetuses ; Station two: A quincunx of thrones ; Station three: The dawning of human-maize ; Station four: The female sources of life : earth and water ; Station five: The bodiless heads ; Station six: The phallic column) ; Inserting politics into the creation and origins narrative ; Alternative reading orders ; Conclusions and questions
A scattering of seeds. Assessing arguments for some major points ; Modes of communication ; Where did Olmec ideas go? ; Asking and answering the fundamental questions
Appendix 1. La Venta monuments by format
Appendix 2. Comparison of Mesoamerican creation and origins narratives
Appendix 3. Shape-shifters and werewolves to were-jaguars : a brief chronology.