Anthropology rocks

I'm writing this post mostly just so that the photo of my naked legs in the post below will not be the first thing people see when opening this blog. Also, the Xalapa Museum of Anthropology is full of blog-worthy stone sculptures that I feel obligated to document here. 

The museum is home to the largest collection of artifacts from cultures near the Gulf of Mexico, such as the Olmec, the Huastec and the Totonac. The most memorable pieces in the museum are the giant Olmec heads, pictured below. Some of the pieces in the museum are from the period between 1300 B.C 900 B.C.

The thing that bothers, as I mentioned before, is that I don't understand how anthropologists are able to determine what these artifacts mean or what the symbols depicted on them represent. Seems like a bunch of speculation to me. How do they know that the four rectangles on the side of the giant head probably spell the person's name?

Nonetheless, it was fascinating to see so many ancient relics. Of the three main cities we have visited in Mexico so far, Xalapa is my favorite. Tomorrow we go to Puebla and in a few days Mexico City. That leaves me plenty of time on the bus to ponder the mysteries of the giant stone heads.