▁“ art ” ▁and ▁those ▁with ▁el ite ▁status ▁would ▁have ▁worn ▁elaborate ▁he address es ▁of ▁fe athers ▁and ▁other ▁animal ▁forms . ▁Ocean ▁cre atures ▁were ▁also ▁sacred ▁to ▁the ▁Ol m ec — P ohl ▁( 2 0 0 5 ) ▁found ▁sh ark ▁teeth ▁and ▁st ing ▁ray ▁remains ▁at ▁fe ast ing ▁sites ▁at ▁San ▁And res ▁and ▁it ▁is ▁clear ▁that ▁those ▁at ▁La ▁V enta ▁shared ▁in ▁the ▁same ▁ide ology . ▁“ Z o omorphic ▁forms ▁reference ▁sh arks ▁and ▁birds , ▁and ▁both ▁collections ▁contain ▁representations ▁of ▁the ▁qu inc un x ▁symbol , ▁a ▁concept ual ization ▁of ▁the ▁cos mos ▁in ▁Mes o amer ican ▁thought .” ▁ ▁“ G iven ▁the ▁lack ▁of ▁written ▁documents ▁in ▁Form ative ▁Mes o amer ica , ▁there ▁is ▁no ▁fool proof ▁strategy ▁for ▁interpre ting ▁Ol m ec ▁visual ▁culture .” ▁ ▁However , ▁it ▁is ▁almost ▁certain ▁that ▁the ▁Ol m ec ▁had ▁some ▁form ▁of ▁a ▁writing ▁system ▁that ▁util ized ▁symbols , ▁as ▁ev iden ced ▁in ▁the ▁cyl inder ▁se al ▁and ▁other ▁forms ▁of ▁writing ▁found ▁at ▁nearby ▁el ite - center , ▁San ▁And res . ▁ ▁Agricult ure ▁and ▁economy ▁The ▁wild ▁fl ora ▁and ▁fa una ▁greatly ▁varied ▁at ▁La ▁V enta ▁and ▁mostly ▁consisted ▁of ▁sea fo od , ▁de er , ▁and ▁a ▁variety ▁of ▁small ▁animals , ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁many ▁wild ▁plants . ▁The ▁only ▁animals ▁domestic ated ▁by ▁the ▁Ol m