History: Little is known of Olmec militarism, especially by comparison with the better-documented Maya and Aztec, but archaeologist Ignacio Bernal provides this basic background:
We know nothing about Olmec armies or possible military feats. Aside from the historical fact that no state can stand for a long period without the support of military forces, ideas of warlike activity are indicated in a concrete way. For instance, on Altar 4 of La Venta, a human figure bound by a cord suggests a captive. Monument C at Tres Zapotes shows scenes of war and combat. A trophy head is probably represented on Stela A from Tres Zapotes and on Stela D a kneeling figure also suggests that he is the victim of conquest. The representation of an obsidian-edged sword would indicate the same. From stelae A and D of Tres Zapotes we know that the Olmecs possessed lances and knives.
Archaeologist Susan Toby Evans provides the same type of evidence: “Militarism in the Middle Formative [600–300 B.C.] is evidenced by depictions of armed and ‘uniformed’ individuals. The spear-carriers carved into Cerro Chalcatzingo, Morelos, have the same posture and costume elements as those carved at Las Victorias near Chalchuapa, El Salvador. The direct distance between the two sites is over 1,000 km (more than 620 miles), and the southern Gulf lowlands lie between them, but, of course, Olmec-style traits are found in even more distant parts of Mesoamerica.”
A man who had studied the arts of war, like Coriantumr, would not be out of place in the Olmec world.