Finding such grooves and pits on Olmec stone monuments may indicate that people started treating freestanding sculptures conceptually similar to rock art.

Nonetheless, Monument 9 portrays the same cave as two other sculptures at the site, which are carved directly into the rock surface of the mountain. Monument 9 is significant, as it denotes the ...

Elite Olmec sculptures, such as a greenstone monument were later used by Tres Zapotes’ collective government as symbols of power. (Courtesy Christopher Pool) ...

The Olmec heads are among the largest non-architectural monuments ever discovered in Mexico, ranging between roughly 3.5 and 11.5 feet in height and weighing up to eight tons, with the largest of ...

Monument 9 is significant, as it denotes the central Earth Monster cave, and unlike the other two Olmec carvings, it is face-on rather than rendered in profile.

But the monument at Aguada Fénix is not entirely unprecedented. The structure certainly bears a few similarities to San Lorenzo and La Venta, Olmec sites in the Mexican state of Veracruz.

Gail Borden Public Library’s new “Olmec Origins” exhibit, featuring 33 Olmec sculptures, makes its Kane County debut Nov. 13 at the main library in downtown Elgin.

Olmec Trails takes people on a physical and historical journey with 33 installments across multiple towns.

Monument 9, a 2,600-year-old, one-ton stone carving, was returned to Mexico from the United States in May. Mexico has repatriated more than 13,000 cultural artifacts since 2019.

Known as Monument 9 of Chalcatzingo and found in the central Mexican state of Morelos, the bas-relief piece is believed to represent an "Earth monster," a creature that often appears in Olmec ...

"This monument is a key piece for research on Olmec iconography, which is why we receive this news with joy and enthusiasm,” archaeologist Mario Córdova Tello said in an INAH statement.