"For decades, certain scholars have used shamanism as an explanatory paradigm for considering the monuments of La Venta... one of the most important ceremonial-civic centers of the Middle Formative era. Most of what is known about Olmec religion is speculative, but certain patterns do emerge at La Venta that 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.