The colossal Olmec heads
The account
Giant stone faces, with features some compare to Africans, would prove transoceanic contact or visitors from somewhere else.
What investigators found
They are portraits of rulers of the Olmec culture, the oldest great civilization of Mesoamerica. The features match the peoples of the region itself.
The story
On the plains of the Gulf of Mexico, between Veracruz and Tabasco, 17 giant basalt heads have been found, some about 3 meters tall and weighing tens of tons. The first turned up in 1862, and others surfaced throughout the 20th century.
All of them wear a kind of helmet and have distinct features, as if they were portraits. The stone came from the Tuxtla Mountains, tens of kilometers away. Theories speak of Africans reaching the Americas or of beings from another world. Archaeologists see in them the Olmec rulers, of a civilization that flourished from 1200 BC and influenced the Maya and the Aztecs. The real puzzle is how they moved so much stone without wheels or pack animals.