Engineers worshipped the Xenomorph

It was thousands of years ago but does show a resemblance of the Xenomorph but it could be something that was mixed with the wall as a look instead of something that was made to be worshipped. The giant head was more likely to be worshipped as "creator of life" or " the face of their race."

I just posted about that chamber! YES! I agree totally! It seems in a civilization so advanced that they are indeed fascinated with a parasitic life forms that kills it host. Perhaps the chamber is something of same as the pyramids in egypt; Pharaohs of ancient egypt were buried with treasure, statues, monuments and paintings. The stone head in that room seems to be bigger then the Xeno monument....does this mean anything. I would hate to bring up AVP (Alien Vs. Predator) but look at the similarities....underground, catacomb style combat, ancient type looking chambers and room and in the end it was a hunting trip.....So i ask too if this may sort of the same thing, did the engineers simply lose control of the Xenos? I think that if we learn the origins of the Xenos things will fall into place quite quickly :) cheers

We know the SJ's in prometheus were heading to deliver their payload to earth about 2000 years ago. The SJ in Alien was waaaaaaaaaaaaay older than that which we know for a fact. The problem with the xeno is that it is directly "created" when it's face hugger form comes in contact with a human. The bigger question/answer I have is that the original SJ had a hole in it's chest which means it was infected "before" it crashed. So, some form of the black goo or alien/bio weapon either got him from the cargo it was carrying...or...there wasn't any cargo (eggs) aboard the derelict ship and whatever popped out of the SJ laid those eggs. I think we assumed that a xeno popped out of the SJ...perhaps it was still another form...cousins. Now that we see in prometheus how differently the traits of the host reacts with the organism, I say we can definitely "assume" that these SJs have a higher power than them being the be all end all. It seems that there could be a reverence for these creatures. Almost like whatever created the SJs are more "xeno-like" than human. Of course, I could be on glue with my thoughts lol.

Da Nizzy I've also been wondering about the giant head....not sure how it ties in though...as for the underground labyrinthian-style hide out, yes it does have parallels with the AvP film, which makes me think these engineers are actually operating a cult or order of some sort out of their dirt-mounds! What a weird thing to worship.... I am a little disappointed that the engineers come across as rather petty beings for all their super duper technology (but then maybe they didn't invent it either : )

EveryoneHere: I believe you are on the right track. Based on other discussions I have been reading, a lot of people are forgetting that the SJ and spacecraft found in Alien is much much older than anything happening in Prometheus, (fossilized remains!) An assumption can be made that the ship in Alien was carrying a biological weaponized pay-load (egg sacs) to Earth and that the SJ became infected and ultimately crashed into LV-426. But the point I want to make is that the egg sacs we become familiar with in the Alien franchise could be an archaic method of spreading the Xeno compared to the Octopus thing that attacks the Engineer in Prometheus. If following the timeline, it becomes apparent that the traditional face hugger came long before the Octopus- ram a rope down your throat creature. Also, I believe the eggs in the ship on LV-426 were placed in the cargo hold by the Engineers because if you remember from Alien, when Kane enters the cargo hold, there is a blue mist, theorized to be either a detection system for the eggs that a host is nearby, a warning system (Keep Out) designed to keep a host from being potentially attacked, and/or acting as a suspension field maintaining the environment necessary to keep the eggs "alive" indefinitely. I like the "warning" theory best.

Fwiw, the giant head reminded me of the Olmec heads, theoretically a tribute to themselves in some fashion ( perhaps their leaders ).

I saw the mural as directions for operating their weapons of mass destruction. We saw earlier how controls were intertwined with the walls and decor of the complex. I think there's something to the mural that would get answered in a sequel, but to me, the space jockeys seemed to arrogant to worship the xenomorphs

I have a vague memory of the 'blue mist' from Alan Dean Foster's post movie novel of 'Alien', it's been years since I've read it but I think it was mentioned as part of an alarm system of sorts for the facehuggers. Not sure if my memory is correct or if Foster counts as canon though.

My theory is that the Engineer you see in the beginning of the film is a different race or faction than the Engineers you see on LV-223. For example: different spacecraft; Engineer 1 had a saucer shaped craft, the LV-223 engineers have the crescent shaped crafts. Different clothing; Engineer 1 wore a robe; LV-223 engineers wear the biomechanical suits. The Engineer 1 body looks human when he takes of his robe, if you look closely at the LV-223 engineer’s neck they have the patterns that mimic the biomechanical suits. The engineers you see seeding a planet (presumably Earth) are obviously spiritual creatures, sacrificing themselves while they clearly have the technology to seed a planet with technology alone. This is in stark contrast to the engineers on LV-233, a race with a bio weapons base that show nothing but malice towards humans. These two species may share a common ancestry but may have gone their separate ways, and may be at war with each other…the writers may be trying to roughly follow the Old Testament with Lucifer and his angels falling from grace and that the Engineers are truly our “Gods”.

In Prometheus, there is an ongoing comparison between the Engineers, Humans and Robots. Going along with original poster's theory, then I'd surmise that the Engineers were created by the Xeno. If the Engineers worshiped the Xeno, then there is a direct parallel to how Humans worshiped Engineers. Much like what happened when Humans met the Engineers (decapitations and what-not) -- the same thing must've happened to the Engineers when they finally met their makers -- the Xeno. And as the hologram suggests, the Xeno attacked/killed them -- and a DECAPITATION occurred (tying everything thematically). Xeno made Engineers. Xeno hate Engineers. Engineers made humans. Engineers hate humans. Eventually: Humans made robots. Humans hate robots? (Blade Runner anyone?)