Before the Olmec

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”

Mark Twain

Chapter 3

Part I

Eggs and Bacon? or A Method That’s Simple.

Like the dragon stones, these three pieces represent the same thing but, were created stylistically different. From top to bottom: 1. egg 🥚shaped stone made of polished limestone. 2. egg shaped stone made of polished brown stone. 3. egg 🥚 shaped unpolished brown stone. All of the stones the Aha produced had symbolic meaning. Stones like these eggs are simply easier to understand. After all, an egg is an egg no matter how you look at it. ☺️

It’s doubtful that when Sir Francis Bacon laid the groundwork for the scientific method over 400 years ago, he knew it would become the bedrock of modern science. He took the mystery and madness out of the largely unorganized scientific field of his day. He replaced it with a simple method of analyzing the natural world that all of humanity could understand. Since I relied exclusively on the scientific method during my research, I thought it only appropriate to give Mr. Bacon his due. 👏

As a brief refresher, let’s go over what the scientific method is.

  • 1. Make a prediction: observe and collect data.
  • 2. Define a question to investigate: form a hypothesis (educated guess) or possible answer to the question.
  • 3. Gather data: collect evidence to support hypothesis.
  • 4. Analyze the data: ensure data can be repeated so others can evaluate.
  • 5. Draw a conclusion: based on whether or not the prediction came true, decide if the evidence clearly supports or does not support the hypothesis.

Now that we have covered the basics of this simple method of research I will provide a condensed version of how it was applied in steps.

Step four begins now dear reader as I provide the evidence for you to analyze. We’ll start with the repition of shapes amongst certain stones.

This small terracotta stone may hold a big meaning. I’ve found several stones that have this identical pentagonal shape. All of those stores likewise are terracotta. I believe that this stone is missing a hump or prominence like similar shaped stones.  The prominence likely started where the reddish pigment is seen and moved upwards. Unfortunately, due to erosion we’ll never know. 😔

This hand sized terracotta piece is flawless in its’ simplistic design. It is similar to the previous piece but,  is about 2.5 times larger. The purity of the clay used to fashion these stones is mind blowing. They are absent any chert or other foreign materials.The stones have a light, almost airy feel. The perfectly leveled sides speaks to the high degree of workmanship the Aha put into pieces large and small. This piece may have been put into a mold of some sort prior to firing. The prominence or raised portion of this piece  indicates that it had additional features added. What remains are slight traces of the black ink or pigments used to decorate this piece with a face. This stone, like others may have had an outer stone casing on which the face and other decorative marks were painted. If so then the remaining black pigments are the result of the ink having bleed through the outer stone casing.

Repeatedly I have asserted that many of these stones weren’t naturally occurring but, instead were made. They were. I also just told you that some have a decorative outer stone layer or casing. They do.  Now is a great time to pause and clarify just what I mean.

Sadly this piece is missing about 90% of its tan outer stone casing. Happily however, it still has much to see and illustrates how many of these stones were created. The core is shaped terracotta stone. Atop the terracotta is the remnants of its tan colored outer stone casing.  In this, and other examples, the outer stone layer can range in thickness. It can be anywhere from less than a millimeter to several millimeters thick. Finally, there are remnants of ink in both black and red shades. These pigments, that have bleed through the outer stone casing and onto the terracotta core, are all that’s left of this stones decorative patterns.

Next post, Chapter 3 Part 2. If you have enjoyed reading please consider sharing on your socials. Thanks.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top