Jan 10, 2018
Olmec incised jadeite celt, Mexico 900 - 300 BC
About 1000 B.C., celts-elongated, elliptical ground stone tools-would acquire meaning beyond their workaday function. When made of greenstones such as the hard, polishable jadeite, celts symbolized ears of maize. The profile image incised on the upper portion of this celt is that of the Olmec maize god, identifiable by the tall tripartite element emerging from the cleft in his headdress.