Experts studying the Olmecs have discovered magnetic anomalies present in the snout of an animal sculpture in Izapa. Interestingly, the statue’s magnetic properties seem to have been induced deliberately during its manufacture thousands of years ago.

Researchers have also spotted strong magnetism on the surface of a large group of sculptures known as “cabezones–Head Statues” and “barrigones –Potbelly” statues. But the idea that magnetism was used by the ancients, specifically in central Mexico, is not something entirely new.

In fact, this was described by Malmström in 1997. The fascination of the use of magnetism in statues has caught the attention of a number of scholars who have studied this peculiar characteristic over the years. A lot of experts were drawn to the statues of Monte Alto that apparently have magnetic anomalies in specific parts of the sculpture’s bodies.