The Olmec-made head had large eyes and thick lips

At the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, one is suddenly confronted by an enormous stone head. Its expression is neither stern nor comical, but rather seems to size up every visitor who dares stare back. These sculptures, created by the Olmecs who flourished in Mesoamerica from around 1200 BCE to the beginning of the Common Era, are known among archaeologists as the “Olmec colossal heads.” Yet no definitive explanation exists as to why they carved such monumental faces. Theories abound—ritual objects for religious ceremonies, portraits of rulers meant to project authority, or even trophies of some long-lost game. Their very presence in the museum, still shrouded in uncertainty, is a vivid reminder of how obstinate the mysteries of ancient anthropology can be.

The heads are distinguished by thick lips, broad flattened noses, and wide-open eyes—features that appear markedly different from those of modern Mexicans, and which even suggest African traits. But where the Olmecs truly came from remains unsolved. Archaeological evidence confirms they laid the foundations of Mesoamerican civilization, but no DNA traces have been uncovered. For now, speculation is all we have. It is almost as if the stone heads themselves mock us, saying: “If you want to know, dig deeper.”

Some of the sculptures weigh tens of tons, and how they were transported from their original sites remains another puzzle. Considering the traffic jams of present-day Mexico City, it’s easy to imagine just how maddening such logistics would have been in antiquity. In the end, one can’t help but suspect that the Olmec heads were left behind not merely as relics, but perhaps as deliberate stone jokes—enigmatic puzzles meant to keep scholars forever scratching their heads.