are certainly symbolic and might have ritual meaning. For example, the crossed bands symbol, an X in a rectangular box, is often repeated in stone at La Venta, other Olmec sites, and continued to have significance to the cultures inspired by the Olmec. It often appears in conjunction with the maize deity and so might have connection with subsistence. The artifacts discovered at La Venta have been crucial to starting to understand Olmec religion and ideology. For example, hematite and iron-ore mirror fragments have been discovered in abundance at La Venta. Mirrors were an incredibly important part of Olmec society, used in both rituals and daily life. Celts, or "pseudo-axes," are extremely common in both burials and offerings. It is unclear whether these artifacts were actually used in any practical way or if their meaning is ritual or symbolic. Most are smooth, but quite a few are decorated with what has been interpreted as representing religious symbolism. Such celts and other jade artifacts were offered to deities during ceremonies at La Venta and the belief in supernatural beings is evidenced in Olmec artifacts. However, it is difficult to tell which important figures remaining on the stone monuments and artifacts are gods and which are human leaders. In fact, there might have been little difference between the divine and the Olmec king, in their ideology. Structures at La Venta show that "various architectural-sculptural canons were firmly established—canons that were, in essence, used in civic-ceremonial constructions throughout the cultural history of ancient Middle America." In other words, most of what we know about the Olmec, from La Venta, comes from the architecture and artifacts left behind and from these clues it can be discerned that Maya and Aztec culture and ideology was heavily influenced by the Olmec "mother culture." There is a definite connection between animals and spirituality among the Olmec, especially with animal characteristics combined with human features. This is represented in Olmec "art" and those with elite status would have worn elaborate headdresses of feathers and other animal forms. Ocean creatures were also sacred to the Olmec—Pohl (2005) found shark teeth and sting ray remains at feasting sites at San Andres and it is clear that those at La Venta shared in the same ideology. "Zoomorphic forms reference sharks and birds, and both collections contain representations of the quincunx symbol, a conceptualization of the cosmos in Mesoamerican thought." "Given the