The Secret Under Every Olmec Helmet

Were the Olmecs naturally bald, or was something more ritualistic going on? After studying thousands of pieces of Olmec art, a striking pattern emerges: while the Maya and Aztecs are depicted with flowing hair, Olmec men—from the "chubby baby" figurines to the colossal stone heads—are almost exclusively shown with shaved heads.

In this video, we dive deep into the iconography of the "Mother Culture" of Mexico. We explore the evidence of obsidian-blade shaving, the rare depictions of women with "mohawks," and the fascinating possibility that the Olmec practiced tonsure (religious head shaving) thousands of years before European monks.
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