The flattened motifs and portraits incised on Olmec stone celts, or ax heads, mirror many of the drawings found in Mesoamerican codices. Therefore celt incisions indicate a shift in Olmec culture towards “writing and conventionalized symbols." The figure carved into this jadeite celt is recognizable as the Maize God for several reasons. The figure, presented in profile, wears an elaborate headdress topped with a tripartite object, understood to be a corn cob flanked by curling leaves. Elements in groups of four, such as the banded circles around the figure’s mouth, may represent the four cardinal directions, at the center of which is the axis mundi.Taube, Karl. “The Olmec Maize God: The Face of Corn in Formative Mesoamerica.” RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, vol. 29-30, 1996, pp. 39–81, https://doi.org/10.1086/resvn1ms20166943.Celts were everyday tools used in farming and the shape itself symbolized growing ears of corn, a life cycle motif. Their production in jade and other green stones further symbolize immature corn cobs. However, it is believed that once carved with the images of a deity or ruler and donned on the body, the celt brought divine power to the holder. Such refined sculptures were worn as pendants and have been found in elite burial sites.

Celt