The Olmec civilization is often referred to as the “Mother Culture” of Mesoamerica.

Known for their colossal stone heads, intricate art, and advanced agricultural techniques, the Olmecs laid the foundations for many other Mesoamerican cultures, writing systems, calendar concepts, and religious practices.

• Area of Settlement: Gulf Coast (present-day Veracruz and Tabasco).
• Dates: Approx. 1500 BCE – 400 BCE.

Important Places:

• San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán: Early Olmec ceremonial center.
• La Venta: Known for its colossal heads and ceremonial pyramids.
• Tres Zapotes: Site of the last major Olmec phase.

The Zapotecs were one of the first civilizations in Mesoamerica to develop a system of writing and a calendar. They are also known for their advanced agricultural practices and their influence on neighboring cultures.

The Zapotecs flourished for centuries in the Oaxaca Valley.

• Area of Settlement: Oaxaca Valley.
• Dates: Approx. 700 BCE – 1521 CE.

Important Places:

• Monte Albán: A large ceremonial and political center.
• Mitla: Known for intricate mosaics and religious significance.

The Maya civilization is known for its advanced knowledge of astronomy, mathematics, and architecture. They developed a complex calendar system and one of the earliest forms of writing in the Americas.

Their cities were centers of religion, trade, and governance.

• Area of Settlement: Yucatán Peninsula, Chiapas, Tabasco, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras.
• Dates: Approx. 2000 BCE – 1500 CE.

Important Places:

• Chichén Itzá: A major city with the iconic El Castillo pyramid.
• Uxmal: Known for the Pyramid of the Magician.
• Palenque: Famous for its architecture and inscriptions.
• Tulum: A coastal city with well-preserved walls and temples.
• Calakmul: One of the largest ancient Maya cities.

Teotihuacan was one of the largest cities in the ancient world and a major cultural and economic center. It is known for its massive pyramids, sophisticated urban design, and influence on other Mesoamerican civilizations.

• Area of Settlement: Central Mexico (present-day State of Mexico).
• Dates: Approx. 100 BCE – 750 CE.

Important Places:

• Teotihuacan: The city with the Pyramid of the Sun, Pyramid of the Moon, and Avenue of the Dead.

The Toltecs were known for their militaristic culture and artistic achievements.

The Toltecs were skilled builders and left behind impressive monuments, such as the Atlantean statues in Tula. The Toltec civilization significantly influenced the Aztecs, who regarded them as cultural predecessors.

• Area of Settlement: Central Mexico (Hidalgo and surrounding areas).
• Dates: Approx. 900 CE – 1150 CE.

Important Places:

• Tula (Tollan): Known for its Atlantean stone statues.

The Mixtecs were known for their craftsmanship, particularly in gold, ceramics, and manuscripts. They also developed intricate political systems and were influential in southern Mexico, especially in Oaxaca.

• Area of Settlement: Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Puebla.
• Dates: Approx. 1000 CE – 1521 CE.

Important Places:

• Yagul: A Mixtec ceremonial center.
• Tilantongo: An important political and cultural site.

The Tarascans, or Purépecha, were a powerful civilization. Known for their resistance to Aztec expansion, the Tarascans developed unique architectural styles and advanced metalworking techniques, particularly in copper.

• Area of Settlement: Michoacán and surrounding areas.
• Dates: Approx. 1300 CE – 1521 CE.

Important Places:

• Tzintzuntzan: The Purépecha capital, known for its circular pyramids called Yácatas.

The Aztecs were one of the most powerful civilizations in Mesoamerica. They built an empire, with advanced systems of agriculture, governance, and trade. Known for their religious rituals, they left a lasting legacy in Mexican culture.

• Area of Settlement: Central Mexico (present-day Mexico City and surrounding areas).
• Dates: Approx. 1325 CE – 1521 CE.

Important Places:

• Tenochtitlán: Capital city, located on an island in Lake Texcoco.
• Tlatelolco: Known for its large marketplace.
• Cholula: Important religious site with the Great Pyramid of Cholula.

The Huastecs were known for their unique art and music, as well as their distinctive architectural styles. The Huastecs were skilled agriculturists and maintained vibrant trade networks along the Gulf Coast.

• Area of Settlement: Northeastern Mexico (Tamaulipas, Veracruz, San Luis Potosí).
• Dates: Approx. 1500 BCE – 1500 CE.

Important Places:

• Tamtoc: A ceremonial and political center.

The Totonacs were known for their agricultural innovations, particularly vanilla cultivation, and their monumental architecture. They were skilled engineers, as evidenced by the impressive structures at El Tajín.

• Area of Settlement: Veracruz and parts of Puebla.
• Dates: Approx. 800 CE – 1521 CE.

Important Places:

• El Tajín: Known for its Pyramid of the Niches.

The Olmecs had a unique political and social system that combined religion and inherited power. They formed a centralized government, unlike any other society at the time.

Olmec society was structured with divine rulers and common people. The rulers traced their lineage back through generations, using this ancestry to justify their authority and separate themselves from the general population.

Religion played a crucial role in reinforcing the rulers’ power. This ancient society is renowned for its early and influential political system, closely intertwined with religious beliefs, leading some to describe it as a theocratic civilization.

Despite its significance, the specific ethnicity of the Olmecs remains a mystery due to their ancient origins.

Despite the widespread influence of the Olmec culture throughout most of Mesoamerica, some of the clearest evidence of the presence of this culture is found in the southern part of the coastal plain of the Mexican Gulf.

Mexico covers the northern half of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. This territory corresponds to the southeastern part of Veracruz and the western part of Tabasco. It is characterized by a warm and extremely humid climate.

The heart of the Olmec civilization is fed by the mighty rivers that flow from the slopes of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca and the Sierra Madre Oriental, including the Coatzacoalcos, San Juan, and Tonala rivers.

During the monsoon season, the area experiences frequent river overflows due to the moisture and sources of these rivers.

This region was once covered with dense tropical forests that were home to numerous species, such as jaguars, colorfully plumaged birds such as macaws and quetzals, and various reptiles and mammals such as the tapir.

The region has humus-rich soils of considerable depth.

Crude oil seeps to the surface among the vegetation. However, many materials characteristic of Olmec-style artifacts found in this area and other parts of Mesoamerica are missing, including obsidian, jade, serpentine, and cinnabar.

To obtain hard stone for their materials, the region’s inhabitants turned to quarries in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, also known as the Sierra de Santa Marta or San Andres, which supplied them with basalt and other volcanic rocks used in the construction of temples and sculpture.

These sources of stone are located more than a hundred kilometers from places like San Lorenzo and La Venta, which gives an idea of the level of organization required to transport monoliths weighing tens of tons without pack animals.

The self-name of those whom we call Olmec remains unknown.

The word “Olmec” means “inhabitants of the rubber region” and was used by the Aztecs to refer to the several ethnic and linguistic peoples who occupied the Veracruz and Tabasco regions for centuries.

The term “Olmec” covers two realities: a people from the Mexican Gulf region and an artistic style. The Olmec style is evident in boulders, caves, large and small sculptures, and clay objects scattered throughout Mesoamerica.

From Jalisco to Costa Rica, through Guerrero, Chiapas, Oaxaca, the Central Highlands, and the Gulf Coast, images of were-jaguars and other hallmarks of Olmec art have been found.

The spread of this artistic style is believed to have occurred because the peoples of the gulf established extensive networks of exchange with distant populations, integrating Olmec symbols and forms into artistic expressions in other regions of Mesoamerica.

The Olmecs are considered the “mother culture” of Mesoamerica.

It’s because these early societies initiated cultural practices that became fully integrated into Mesoamerican culture, such as the use of an urban settlement pattern, the creation of a theocratic society, and the development of the ball game, among others.

The earliest evidence of Olmec culture dates back to around 1200 BCE, with the most recent traces appearing around 400 BCE. The Olmecs centered around three main ceremonial centers: San Lorenzo, La Venta, and Tres Zapotes.

Additional manifestations are also found in places such as Laguna de los Cerros.

San Lorenzo

The oldest Olmec center is San Lorenzo (c. 1150 BCE), located in the municipality of Texistepec.

The Olmec culture at this site began to flourish around 1150 BCE, as evidenced by most of the sculptures and architectural elements characteristic of the Olmec culture, many of which survive at the site.

San Lorenzo was sacked around 900 BCE, and monumental sculptures were subject to attempts at destruction; some were buried and others were moved to the ceremonial center.

La Venta

La Venta was the most significant Olmec ceremonial center.

This ancient city is notable for representing the earliest planned architectural layout in ancient Mexico, featuring monumental clay architecture, an extensive collection of sculptures, jade offerings, and enormous offerings unique to the pre-Hispanic world.

Cultural remains around La Venta date back to 1750 BCE, although major occupation lasted from 1200 to 400 BCE.

It boasts the oldest pyramid in Mesoamerica and is famous for its colossal heads and thrones, which required the transportation of huge basalt blocks from the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, located tens of kilometers away.

At its peak, La Venta is estimated to have had up to 20,000 residents.

Tres Zapotes

Tres Zapotes was the last ceremonial center to be built. It is best known because it survived into a later period, although the Olmec civilization here experienced more decline than the splendor of earlier ceremonial centers.

These ceremonial centers functioned as cities with earthen and adobe buildings, of which few remains remain. Mounds with temples on them were built, considered the predecessors of the Mesoamerican pyramids.

Structures surrounding central courtyards, characteristic of later civilizations in the area, were also built. Evidence from around 900 BCE suggests drastic political changes, such as attempts to destroy some Olmec heads.

While most experts believe that the Olmec culture originates from the Gulf Coast, others consider the Olmec culture as a multiethnic and multilingual entity that spread across much of Mesoamerica from 1200 to 500 BCE.

Olmec presence is confirmed in Mexico (Gulf Coast, Pacific Coast, and Central Highlands), primarily along the Gulf Coastal area between the Papaloapan and Grijalva Rivers, and in places such as Chalcatzingo (Morelos) and Teopantecuanitlan (Guerrero).

Outside of Mexico, traces of the Olmec presence are found in Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

The Olmec economy was primarily based on agriculture, with trade taking place both within Olmec communities and with neighboring peoples, especially nomadic groups. The Olmecs grew corn, as well as beans, squash, cocoa, and other crops.

They also built major urban centers such as San Lorenzo and La Venta.

The Olmec culture, probably the first civilization in Mesoamerica, is credited with many of the region’s initial advances. Among these achievements were the development of the calendar, writing, and epigraphy.

Until 2002, a dozen epigraphic texts dating from the period between 300 BCE and 530 CE.

In 2002, an inscription dating back to 650 BCE was discovered, and in 2007 another one was found, dating back to 900 BCE, which preceded the Zapotec writing and made the Olmec writing the oldest in the Americas.

Some steles with inscriptions containing glyphs have been discovered. According to some historians, one of these stelae narrates the life of the ruler, although this interpretation has no international consensus.

Between 1991 and 1994, linguists Terrence Kaufman and John Justeson deciphered Olmec inscriptions, identifying the language as Mixe-Soque, specifically the ancestor of Proto-Soque and distantly related to Proto-Mixe.

This decipherment showed that the glyphs functioned as part of a syllabary.

Olmec art style includes pear-shaped heads, broad noses, baby faces, large lips, drooping mouths, and occa­sionally jaguar fangs. Dwarfs, hunchbacks, and others with deformities were often artistic subject matter. Nude males were also common.

Olmec art refers to the artistic expressions of the Olmec culture, which developed during the Middle Preclassic period of Mesoamerica (flourished between 1200 and 500 BCE) and is considered the first of the great civilizations in the region.

The cultural influence of Olmecs extended far beyond these regions, reaching many parts of Mesoamerica. The Olmecs introduced various cultural elements that became widespread throughout various Mesoamerican societies.

Examples include the worship of mountains and high places (such as the conical pyramid of La Venta), the veneration of the Feathered Serpent and jaguar deities, the game of ball, and the religious symbolism of jade.

The Olmec culture, credited with the invention of writing using pictograms and ideograms as well as the calendar, was originally defined as an artistic style that remains its distinctive feature.

It became the standard and legacy for all subsequent cultures of Central America – the Toltecs, Zapotecs, and even the Aztecs – with the Maya writing based on the first hieroglyphic system developed by the Olmecs.

Olmec art is characterized by exceptional technical skill in sculpture and carving, unmatched by any other pre-Columbian civilization. Much Olmec art is naturalistic, filled with rich iconography reflecting religious significance, featuring highly stylized anthropomorphic creatures.

Along with some rock art, there is monumental or colossal art made from clay, stone (primarily basalt and andesite), and wood, and smaller or portable art often made from jadeite and other green stones (such as serpentine) and obsidian.

Stone monuments are divided into four categories:

• Colossal stone heads
• Rectangular “altars”
• Independent round sculptures
• Steles

Colossal stone heads (up to 3 meters in height and 10 tons in weight), exemplary monumental sculptures carved from distant quarried basalt, representing iconic Olmec art forms. Seventeen of these heads were found at various sites.

These stone heads are characterized by black features, prominent eyes, full lips, wide noses, and matching helmets, these heads are believed to depict gods, warriors, or chiefs – heads of ancestors – or even ball players.

Rectangular “altars” (probably thrones) with the front cavity representing the gateway to the underworld, with a mythological figure appearing holding a rope surrounding the entire altar as a border.

Independent round sculptures are a common motif in Olmec art.

Steles that appeared later than colossal heads, altars, or individual sculptures. Initially simple depictions of figures later developed into depictions of historical events, especially those that legitimize rulers.

This trend culminated in post-Olmec monuments which combined images of rulers with glyphs and dates from the Long Count calendar.

Another important type of artifact is small carvings of face masks made of jade and hard stone. Jade was a precious material that symbolized position among the ruling classes.

By 1500 BCE, early Olmec sculptors had mastered the human form.

Curators and scholars refer to “Olmec style” face masks – human heads disproportionately large compared to the body, with sunken eyes, flat nostrils, wide curved mouths (“Olmec mouth related to the mouth of the jaguar”) and a small chin, sometimes with a slit on the head.

However, no such example has been discovered archaeologically in an Olmec context. They have been found at other cultural sites, including one deliberately buried in a ceremonial site in Tenochtitlan.

The mask had likely lasted for about 2,000 years when the Aztecs buried it, suggesting that such masks were highly prized and collected like Roman antiquities in Europe.

Because Olmec art was deeply intertwined with their religion, which emphasized jaguars (believing that a race of “jaguar men” once existed from unions of jaguar women), the “Olmec style” combines human and jaguar facial features.

Also notable are the numerous clay and stone figurines known as Olmec miniatures, which were found in abundance in archaeological sites throughout the Formative Period.

Among them are “children’s faces,” small ceramic sculptures with children’s faces, large heads, almond-shaped eyes, thick lips, decorated with a helmet, and pear-shaped bodies. Other examples include figures representing “jaguar men” apparently used in rituals.

In most cases, the head makes up half the volume of the figure. All Kunz axes have flat noses and open mouths.

Other distinctive jades include the so-called “Olmec spoons.”

Ceramics also developed in the area of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where Barra, Locona, and Ocos reached artistic heights.

Major Olmec artifacts recovered from excavations are now housed in museums, with notable collections in the Museum of Anthropology of Xalapa and the La Venta Park Museum, as well as outstanding exhibits in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.

The geographic setting of La Venta played a crucial role in its development and significance. The site is situated within the region known as the Gulf Coast lowlands, which is characterized by lush, tropical rainforests, abundant rivers, and fertile soils.

This environment was ideal for agriculture and allowed for the cultivation of crops such as maize, which was the staple of Mesoamerican diets.

The Tonalá River, flowing nearby, provided a means of transportation and facilitated trade networks between La Venta and other ancient Mesoamerican cities.

Additionally, the surrounding rainforests were rich in natural resources, including precious woods, rubber, and cacao, which were highly valued commodities in ancient Mesoamerican cultures.

Indigenous had their own names for the site, but these names have largely been lost to history.

The Olmec civilization, which thrived at La Venta between approximately 1400 BCE and 400 BCE, did not leave written records, so much of what we know about the site and its name comes from later Spanish accounts.

The name “La Venta” has its origins in Spanish, as it means “The Sale” or “The Vend” in English. This name was given to the site by the Spanish explorers and conquerors who arrived in the region during the 16th century.

The name likely reflects the Spanish perception of the site as a place where valuable items could be obtained or traded. This is in line with the site’s historical importance as a center of commerce, culture, and religious significance in the ancient Mesoamerican world.

The Olmec was one of the first civilizations to develop in the Americas.

The Olmecs are known as the “mother culture” of Mesoamerica, meaning that the Olmec civilization was the first culture that spread and influenced Mesoamerica. Chronologically, the history of the Olmecs can be divided into:

• Early Formative (1800-900 BCE)
• Middle Formative (900-400 BCE)
• Late Formative (400 BCE  -200 AD)

The spread of Olmec culture eventually became the cultural feature found throughout all Mesoamerican societies.

Rising from the sedentary agriculturalists of the Gulf Lowlands as early as 1600 BCE in the Early Formative period, the Olmecs held sway in the Olmec heartland, an area on the southern Gulf of Mexico coastal plain, in Veracruz and Tabasco.

Prior to the site of La Venta, the first Olmec site of San Lorenzo dominated the modern-day state of Veracruz (1200-900 BCE).

Roughly 200 km long and 80 km wide, with the Coatzalcoalcos River system running through the middle, the heartland is home to the major Olmec sites of La Venta, San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, Laguna de los Cerros, and Tres Zapotes.

By no later than 1200 BCE, San Lorenzo had emerged as the most prominent Olmec center. While a layer of occupation at La Venta dates to 1200 BCE, La Venta did not reach its apogee until the decline of San Lorenzo, after 900 BCE.

After 500 years of pre-eminence, La Venta was all but abandoned by the beginning of the fourth century BCE.

The humid tropical climate of La Venta has an average annual temperature of 26 C and an average annual rainfall of 2,000 mm. La Venta is located at the nexus of four different ecosystems: marshes, mangrove swamps, tropical forests, and the Gulf of Mexico.

There was a large resident population at the site, a number of specialists not dedicated to food production and political, religious, economic, and/or military relations with other sites within its area of influence.

Unfortunately, few, if any, of the residential structures surrounding the large centers of the city have survived. The main part of the site is a complex of clay constructions stretched out for 20 km in a north-south direction, although the site is oriented 8° west of north.

The urbanized zone may have covered an area as large as 2 sq km. This particular site layout is the way the city was from 600 – 400 BCE, which is when the final Olmec occupation occurred.

This site is particularly fascinating because of its layout—not only does Complex A face within 8 degrees of true North, but the east and west sides of the site are almost identical, showing bilateral symmetry.

This is perhaps related to religion (it’s fairly speculative, at this point) but it certainly shows a high level of sophistication and city planning.

Unlike later Maya or Aztec cities, La Venta was built from earth and clay—there was little locally abundant stone for the construction.

Large basalt stones were brought in from the Tuxtla Mountains, but these were used nearly exclusively for monuments including the colossal heads, the “altars” (actually thrones), and various stelae.

For example, the basalt columns that surround Complex A were quarried from Punta Roca Partida, on the Gulf coast north of the San Andres Tuxtla volcano. “Little more than half of the ancient city survived modern disturbances enough to map accurately.”

Today, the entire southern end of the site is covered by a petroleum refinery and has been largely demolished, making excavations difficult or impossible. Many of the site’s monuments are now on display in the archaeological museum and park in Villahermosa.

La Venta was a civic and ceremonial center. While it may have included as-yet-undiscovered regal residences, habitation for the non-regal elite and the commoners was located at outlying sites such as San Andrés. Instead of dwellings, La Venta is dominated by a restricted sacred area (Complex A), the Great Pyramid (Complex C), and the large plaza to their south.

As a ceremonial center, La Venta contains an elaborate series of buried offerings and tombs, as well as monumental sculptures. These stone monuments, stelae, and “altars” were carefully distributed amongst the mounds and platforms.

The mounds and platforms were built largely from local sands and clays. It is assumed that many of these platforms were once topped with wooden structures, which have long since disappeared.

Complex C (The Great Pyramid)

Complex C, “The Great Pyramid,” is the central building in the city layout, is constructed almost entirely out of clay, and is easily seen from far away. The structure is built on top of a closed-in platform—this is where Blom and La Farge discovered Altars 2 and 3, thereby discovering La Venta and the Olmec civilization.

A carbon sample from a burned area of Structure C-1’s surface resulted in the date of 394 ± 30 BCE.

One of the earliest pyramids known in Mesoamerica, the Great Pyramid is 34 m high and contains an estimated 100,000 cubic meters of earthfill. The current conical shape of the pyramid was once thought to represent nearby volcanoes or mountains, but recent work by Rebecca Gonzalez Lauck has shown that the pyramid was in fact a rectangular pyramid with stepped sides and inset corners, and the current shape is most likely due to 2500 years of erosion.

The pyramid itself has never been excavated, but a magnetometer survey in 1967 found an anomaly high on the south side of the pyramid. Speculation ranges from a section of burned clay to a cache of buried offerings to a tomb.

Complex A

Complex A is a mound and plaza group located just to the north of the Great Pyramid (Complex C). The centerline of Complex A originally oriented to Polaris (true north) which indicates the Olmec had some knowledge of astronomy.

Surrounded by a series of basalt columns, which likely restricted access to the elite, it was erected in a period of four construction phases that span over four centuries (1000 – 600 BCE).

Beneath the mounds and plazas were found a vast array of offerings and other buried objects, more than 50 separate caches by one count, including buried jade, polished mirrors made of iron ores, and five large “Massive Offerings” of serpentine blocks. It is estimated that Massive Offering 3 contains 50 tons of carefully finished serpentine blocks, covered by 4,000 tons of clay fill.

Also unearthed in Complex A were three rectangular mosaics (also known as “Pavements”) each roughly 4.5 by 6 m and each consisting of up to 485 blocks of serpentine.

These blocks were arranged horizontally to form what has been variously interpreted as an ornate Olmec bar-and-four-dots motif, the Olmec Dragon, a very abstract jaguar mask, a cosmogram, or a symbolic map of La Venta and environs.

Not intended for display, soon after completion these pavements were covered over with colored clay and then many feet of earth.

Five formal tombs were discovered within Complex A, one with a sandstone sarcophagus carved with what seemed to be a crocodilian earth monster. Diehl states that these tombs “are so elaborate and so integrated to the architecture that it seems clear that Complex A really was a mortuary complex dedicated to the spirits of deceased rulers”.

Monument 19

This relief sculpture is the earliest known example of the feathered serpent in Mesoamerica.

Offering 4

Sixteen figurines and six celts form a strange

Complex B

South of the Great Pyramid lies Complex B. Whereas Complex A was apparently restricted to the elite, the plaza of Complex B seems to be built specifically for large public gatherings.

This plaza is just south of the Great Pyramid, east of the Complex B platforms, and west of the huge raised platform referred to as the Stirling Acropolis. This plaza is nearly 400 m long and over 100 m wide.

A small platform is situated in the center of the plaza.

This layout has led researchers to propose that the platforms surrounding the plaza functioned as stages where ritual drama was enacted for viewers within the plaza. These rituals were likely related to the “altars”, monuments, and the stelae surrounding and within the plaza.

These monuments, including Colossal Head 1 (Monument 1), were of such a large size and were placed in such a position that they could convey their messages to many viewers at once.

Complex E

Though there are not any actual houses remaining in this area (or anywhere at La Venta) “a chemical evaluation of the soil revealed unusual concentrations of phosphate, indicating the possibility it had been a residential zone.”

Summary

The arrangement of the mounds, platforms, complexes, and monumental artifacts at La Venta created a unique civil and ceremonial center that, in the words of Rebecca Gonzalez-Lauck, constitutes “one of the earliest examples of large-scale ideological communications through the interaction of architecture and sculpture”.

Colossal heads

Certainly the most famous of the La Venta monumental artifacts are the four colossal heads. Seventeen colossal heads have been unearthed in the Olmec area, four of them at La Venta, officially named Monuments 1 through 4.

Three of the heads—Monuments 2, 3, & 4—were found roughly 150 meters north of Complex A, which is itself just north of the Great Pyramid. These heads were in a slightly irregular row, facing north. The other colossal head—Monument 1 (shown at left) – is a few dozen meters south of the Great Pyramid.

The La Venta heads are thought to have been carved by 700 BCE, but possibly as early as 850 BCE, while the San Lorenzo heads are credited to an earlier period. The colossal heads can measure up to 2.84 m in height and weigh several tons.

The sheer size of the stones caused a great deal of speculation on how the Olmec were able to move them. The major basalt quarry for the colossal heads at La Venta was found at Cerro Cintepec in the Tuxtla Mountains, over 80 km away.

Each of the heads wears headgear reminiscent of 1920s-style American football helmets, although each is unique in its decoration. The consensus is that the heads likely represent mighty Olmec rulers.

Altars 4 & 5

Seven basalt “altars” were found at La Venta, including Altar 4 and Altar 5. These altars, roughly 2 meters high and twice as wide, feature an elaborately dressed and sculpted figure on the center front.

The figure on Altar 4 is sitting inside what appears to be a cave or the mouth of a fantastic creature, holding a rope that wraps around the base of the altar to his right and left. On the left side, the rope is connected to a seated bas-relief figure.

The right side is eroded away but is thought to be similar to the scene on the right.

The consensus today is that these “altars” are thrones on which the Olmec rulers were seated during important rituals or ceremonies.

This leads many researchers to interpret the figure at the front of Altar 4 as a ruler, who is contacting or being helped by his ancestors, the figures on either side of the altar. Alternatively, some believe the side figures to be bound captives.

Altar 5 faces Altar 4 across Structure D-8 (one of the dozens of mounds at La Venta, the remains of platforms).

Altar 5 is similar in design and size to Altar 4, except that the central figure holds an inert, perhaps dead, were-jaguar baby. The left side of Altar 5 features bas-reliefs of humans holding quite lively were-jaguar babies.

Like the Altar 4, the right side of Altar 5 has been defaced.

Some have seen child sacrifice echoed in the limp were-jaguar baby on the front of Altar 5. Others, however, view the tableau as a myth of human emergence or as the story of a spiritual journey.

Although less striking and displaying a lesser degree of craftsmanship, Altars 2 and 3 are similar to Altars 4 and 5. They each show a central figure, one with a baby and one without, and they sit facing each other on the southern edge of the Great Pyramid.

La Venta was the cultural capital of the Olmec concentration in the region. It contained a “concentration of power,” as reflected by the sheer enormity of the architecture and the extreme value of the artifacts uncovered.

La Venta is perhaps the largest Olmec city and it was controlled and expanded by an extremely complex hierarchical system with a king, as the ruler and the elites below him. Priests had power and influence over life and death and likely great political sway as well.

Unfortunately, not much is known about the political or social structure of the Olmec, though new dating techniques might, at some point, reveal more information about this elusive culture.

It is possible that the signs of status exist in the artifacts recovered at the site such as depictions of feathered headdresses or of individuals wearing a mirror on their chest or forehead.

“High-status objects were a significant source of power in the La Venta polity political power, economic power, and ideological power. They were tools used by the elite to enhance and maintain rights to rulership.”

It has been estimated that La Venta would need to be supported by a population of at least 18,000 people during its principal occupation. To add to the mystique of La Venta, the alluvial soil did not preserve skeletal remains, so it is difficult to observe differences in burials.

However, colossal heads provided proof that the elite had some control over the lower classes, as their construction would have been extremely labor-intensive. “Other features similarly indicate that many laborers were involved.”

In addition, excavations over the years have discovered that different parts of the site were likely reserved for elites and other parts for non-elites. This segregation of the city indicates that there must have been social classes and therefore social inequality.

Burials

Several burials have been found at La Venta, especially in Mound A, but none have skeletal remains as the environment is too humid for organic preservation. “Organic materials do not preserve well in the acidic soils of La Venta.

The only organics recovered at the site include traces of long bones, a burned skullcap, a few milk teeth, a shark’s tooth, and stingray spines—all found in the basalt tomb [Structure A-2].”

Offerings of jade celts and figures seem to be commonplace and were likely concentrated in burials (though this cannot be confirmed because there are no human remains still present).

Artifacts, such as jade earspools, beads, pendants, spangles, plaques, and other jewelry, were found in plenty at burial sites; however, it is difficult to tell if they were worn or placed in the grave as burial goods.

Structure A-2

Structure A-2 (Mound A) is an earthen platform thought to be a burial site (a “funerary chamber”).

Inside the platform, researchers discovered badly preserved bones covered in a red pigment, cinnabar, a substance used in similar Mesoamerican cultures to denote status.

Also found were jade artifacts, figurines, and masks, as well as polished obsidian mirrors. Mirrors are also suspected to be a mark of rank among the Olmec, as stelae and other monuments display leaders and priests wearing them on their chests and on their foreheads.

“Throughout the layer [uncovered by Stirling in 1942] were copious unrestorable traces of organic material. The red cinnabar lay in a fashion that gave the impression that it had been inside of wrapped bundles.

Probably the bodies had been thus wrapped before interment.”

Urn Burials

Rust (2008) discovered “urn burials” in Complex E (residential area) where fragments of bone and teeth were buried in clay pots.

“The fill immediately around this large urn was clean, yellow sand, and the urn was covered with an inverted fine-paste orange bowl with flaring walls; the bowl’s interior was painted red and incised with the double-line-break pattern on the inside rim.”

“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’s 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, and other Olmec sites, and continues to have significance to the cultures inspired by the Olmec.

It often appears in conjunction with the maize deity and so might have a connection with subsistence.

The artifacts discovered at La Venta have been crucial to starting to understand Olmec’s religion and ideology. For example, hematite and iron-ore mirror fragments have been discovered in abundance at La Venta.

Mirrors were an incredibly important part of Olmec society, used in both rituals and daily life. Celts, or “pseudo-axes,” are extremely common in both burials and offerings. It is unclear whether these artifacts were actually used in any practical way or if their meaning is ritual or symbolic.

Most are smooth, but quite a few are decorated with what has been interpreted as representing religious symbolism. Such celts and other jade artifacts were offered to deities during ceremonies at La Venta and the belief in supernatural beings is evidenced in Olmec artifacts.

However, it is difficult to tell which important figures remaining on the stone monuments and artifacts are gods and which are human leaders. In fact, there might have been little difference between the divine and the Olmec king, in their ideology.

Structures at La Venta show that “various architectural-sculptural canons were firmly established—canons that were, in essence, used in civic-ceremonial constructions throughout the cultural history of ancient Middle America.”

In other words, most of what we know about the Olmec, from La Venta, comes from the architecture and artifacts left behind, and from these clues, it can be discerned that Maya and Aztec culture and ideology were heavily influenced by the Olmec “mother culture.”

There is a definite connection between animals and spirituality among the Olmec, especially with animal characteristics combined with human features. This is represented in Olmec “art” and those with elite status would have worn elaborate headdresses of feathers and other animal forms.

Ocean creatures were also sacred to the Olmec—Pohl (2005) found shark teeth and sting ray remains at feasting sites at San Andres and it is clear that those at La Venta shared the same ideology. “Zoomorphic forms reference sharks and birds, and both collections contain representations of the quincunx symbol, a conceptualization of the cosmos in Mesoamerican thought.”

“Given the lack of written documents in Formative Mesoamerica, there is no foolproof strategy for interpreting Olmec visual culture.”

However, it is almost certain that the Olmec had some form of a writing system that utilized symbols, as evidenced in the cylinder seal and other forms of writing found at the nearby elite center, San Andres.

The wild flora and fauna greatly varied at La Venta and mostly consisted of seafood, deer, and a variety of small animals, as well as many wild plants. The only animals domesticated by the Olmec were dogs and, therefore, La Venta and surrounding areas largely depended on wild game.

However, the rich, alluvial soil along the river banks allowed for multiple harvests every year and the land, in general, was quite bountiful. “Evidence has been found for corn (Zea mais) of teosinte size associated with ceramic material dated to 1750 BCE.”

Maize was the primary domesticated food source and Seinfeld’s (2007) study of feasting at the nearby sub-city of San Andres uncovered likely maize use in beverages, as well as cocoa.

Basalt rock was brought in from the Tuxtla Mountains to make stone monuments.

Whether or not this is an example of trade with another culture is uncertain. La Venta had a strong concentration of specialized craftsmen and so it is entirely possible that more goods were exported than imported.

This local exchange, and the resulting relationship system, is important, though, because it increased and consolidated the power of the elites with luxury goods and feasting foods like cacao and maize beer. “Participation in regional and long-distance exchange networks provided the La Venta ruling elite with a significant source of legitimizing power.”

Frans Blom and Oliver La Farge made the first detailed descriptions of La Venta during their 1925 expedition, sponsored by Tulane University. Originally La Venta was thought to be a Mayan site. It wasn’t until more sophisticated radiocarbon techniques were developed in the 1950s that Olmec sites were irrefutably dated as preceding the Maya.

La Venta was first excavated by Matthew Stirling and Philip Drucker (assisted by Waldo Wedel in 1943, due to Drucker’s military service during WWII) between 1940 and 1943, resulting in several articles by Stirling and 1952 a two-volume monograph by Drucker. Stirling is sometimes credited with identifying the Olmec civilization; although some Olmec sites and monuments had been known earlier, it was Stirling’s work that put the Olmec culture into context. This first excavation was funded by the National Geographic Society and the Smithsonian Institution and focused on collecting samples using stratipits.

In 1955, Drucker led a new excavation, funded again by the National Geographic Society, concentrating on Complex A and finally reaching the subsoil at the site, establishing stratigraphy to discover the constructional history. They discovered more jade artifacts, which were interpreted as ritual offerings, as well as pottery shards. The findings were published by Drucker, Robert Heizer, and Robert Squier, (who were also assisted by Eduardo Contreras and Pierre Agrinier) in 1959. At this point most of the site was still unexcavated and in a strongly worded passage Heizer reported that the site was inadequately protected by the Mexican government and a wave of illegal excavations followed the departure of the archaeologists, as well as damage by urban sprawl, the national oil company, Pemex, and the removal of large monuments to museums (without leaving markers as to their original positions).

Several subsequent excavations followed through the 1960s, funded by generous grants from the National Geographic Society. On their return in 1967, Drucker and Heizer saw that, as others had already claimed, the vegetation previously covering the mound, as well as their own assumptions, had led to them previously publishing a completely wrong account of its shape. It was in fact a round fluted cone with ten ridges and depressions around it, rather than the sloping rectangle, leading to a flat platform that they had assumed. Possibly the shape was intended to match or represent the mountains nearby. They also obtained better carbon samples in order to achieve one of the key goals of the excavation of La Venta—proving that the Olmec were a distinct and separate culture that pre-dates the first Maya settlements.

Rebecca Gonzalez-Lauck led an INAH (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia) team on several digs at La Venta in the 1980s. Her team focused on mapping the site and “ended and reversed the urban encroachment on the archaeological site of La Venta and created a program of protection, restoration, and research.” Their efforts have opened the site to a new generation of graduate students and other anthropologists, who continue to uncover new evidence about the mysterious Olmec.

A ceramic cylinder was recovered from the nearby San Andrés La Venta site that dates to around 650 BCE bringing evidence to the argument that a writing system existed at this site.

A bird image is connected to two glyphs on speech scrolls that represent the date 3 Ajaw on the 260-day Mesoamerican calendar. The seal increases the likelihood that a writing system existed as well as a 260-day calendar during this time period.

“Because of extremely poor viewing conditions in the tropical rainforest, different parts of La Venta were discovered piecemeal, and it was decades before scholars realized that all the platforms and stone sculptures found in the vicinity were part of a single site, an ancient city that was occupied from 900-400 BCE.”

Phases I- IV are dated based on radiocarbon dates from Complex A, with approximately one hundred years between each phase. Unfortunately, excavating Complex A led to the destruction of the original integrity of the site and has made it difficult to go back and re-verify the dates.

This is why La Venta has a rather loose chronology that cannot be made any more definitive.

Phase I—dated with five radiocarbon samples (from the stratigraphy at Complex A) that have an average age of 2770 ± 134 years old (814 BCE +/- 134 years)

Phase II—dated with a single sample at 804 BCE

Phase III—no radiocarbon dates

Phase IV—no radiocarbon dates, from Post-Phase IV dates, Heizer and Drucker estimated the end of Phase IV somewhere between 450 and 325 BCE

Post-Phase IV—two samples average 2265 years old (309 BCE)

Conclusion: The La Venta site was used from (approximately) 800- 400 BCE, during the Formative Period. Complex A at the site was built and rebuilt during this period and this date range comes from carbon samples from construction fills.

Rebecca Gonzalez Lauck asserts that the Olmec concentration at La Venta occurred from 1200 – 400 BCE and the overriding point seems to be that an exact chronology has proved to be elusive.

On January 11, 2009, 23 ancient Olmec sculptures were damaged with a mixture of salt water, grape juice, and oil by a group attempting to perform a supposed pre-Columbian ritual to bring about peace and world healing.

The group of two Mexicans, Roberto Conde Díaz and José Pablo Megenes Jasso, and an American citizen, Wanda Ivette Aguilar were alleged members of a Christian sect called “Nueva Generación”.

The incident prompted Mexican legislators to draft legislation “that would increase fines and jail time for vandalism and looting of monuments and archaeological sites.”

The word “Cēmpoalli”, from the Nahuatl root “Cēmpoal”, means twenty, and “ā (tl)”, means water, hence “twenty waters”.
An alternative etymology suggests the name meant “Abundant Water”.

Both versions imply that the city had many aqueducts which fed the numerous gardens and surrounding farmland fields.

A third version conjectures that the name referred to commercial activities which, according to some sources, were performed every 20 days in pre-Hispanic times.

Research by Vincent H. Malmström (Dartmouth College) describes an interesting astronomical relationship between the three-round rings found at Cempoala.

The Totonacs moved onto this coastal plain during the height of the Toltec Empire (A.D. 1000-1150). Archaeologists believe the Toltecs had pushed the Totonacs out of their settlements on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental and down to the coast.

Cempoala lies on the flat coastal plain about six kilometers from the Gulf and a little more than a kilometer from the banks of the Rio Actopan (also called the Rio Chachalacas).

Alliance

Cempoala and other coastal Veracruz locations were defeated by the Aztec armies of Moctezuma I (mid-15th century).

They were heavily taxed (goods and sacrifice prisoners) and forced to send hundreds of people as a tribute for sacrifices and as slaves. This conditioning treatment at the hands of the Aztecs created the situation which led up to the defeat of the Aztecs by Cortez in the 16th century.

When the Spaniards led by Hernan Cortes arrived in 1519, the Totonacs had been suffering Aztec domination for several years.

The Spaniards heard of a town on the way named Zempoala while at their malaria-ridden camp of San Juan de Ulua. They marched over and sent word of their arrival, and upon their arrival were met by 20 Zempoalan dignitaries.

In town, they met with “Fat Chief” Xicomecoatl, who fed them and gave them quarters. The Totonac presented Cortez with numerous gifts, including gold jewelry.

Xicomecoatl made many complaints against the Aztec Empire and the great Montezuma.

Cortez promised to alleviate his concerns. At Quiahuiztlan, the Spaniards and Totonacs forged their alliance against the Aztecs.

Spaniards and Totonacs had the same fate. In August 1519, Cortés and 40 Totonac captains, which by a lower estimate equates to around 8000 soldiers, and 400 porters left for Tenochtitlan.

The effort ended with the fall of Tenochtitlan and Moctezuma II, the Aztec Tlatoani, as a hostage.

After conquest

Cempoala was a prosperous city in 1519 when the Spaniards under Hernan Cortes arrived in Mexico and established alliances with some groups to go towards the capture of Tenochtitlan.

The city of Cempoala then numbered approximately 20,000 inhabitants and was the most important ceremonial and commercial center of the Aztec empire, more so than Tlatelolco.

The Spaniards called it Villa Viciosa, meaning fertile village by the many festivals and vast orchards and gardens available and festive and joyful inhabitants character, was later known as new Seville for its resemblance, as per the Spaniards, with the Iberian town.

Between 1575 and 1577 smallpox (matlazahuatl) epidemic decimated the population, it is estimated that two million people lost their lives in Mesoamerica, the city was totally abandoned, and the few survivors moved to the city of Xalapa, which eventually fell into oblivion until archeologist Francisco del Paso and Troncoso rediscovered it.

After the victory and conquest, the Cempoala Totonacs soon took their new destiny next to their foreign partners: were relocated and had to leave the city as they were Christianized, banned from practicing their ancient cults, and were turned into slaves to work new Spanish sugar cane fields.

Cortés first arrived at Zempoala in 1519 with 500 conquistadores who then made a long trip up into the highlands using the same routes used to haul maize to Tenochtitlan. His was added by the lord of Cempoala, known by his extraordinary corpulence as the “fat Cacique”.

The town was settled around walled perimeters delimiting temples and palaces; dating back to the 11th to 16th centuries.

The site buildings show impressive squares and fortresses surrounded by vegetation which permanently covers this area, called “Place of accounts”, as was called the Mexica rulers because it was here where all taxes and tributes from the region were collected.

What today is the archaeological site had been the most important political-religious center of the city, whose constructions were made with river stones, joined with mortar, and flattened with the lime produced from burning shells and snails, obtaining in this way that buildings shone from far away as if they were built in silver.

The urban Cempoala complex includes several buildings and major architectural structures, not only by its construction but by its historic importance, often unknown, as for example, in the part of the site now known as walled system IV, Cortés successfully faced the forces of Pánfilo de Narváez, thus consolidating his leadership in the colonization of the Mexican territory.

The main structures at Cempoala, include the following:

Templo del Sol or Great Pyramid

Or Sun Temple was built on the same platform as the Templo Mayor, separated by an ample square.

This is probably the most impressive structure on site. The great temple resembles the Sun Temple in Tenochtitlan. The Quetzalcoatl Temple, the Feathered Serpent God is a square platform, and the Ehécatl Temple, the wind God is round.

Templo Mayor

The top part is surrounded by battlements.

Templo de las Chimeneas

Or chimney temple, has a series of semicircular pillars 1.5 meters high, because of this peculiar shape, the building is named.

El Pimiento

It has a three-bodied structure, its most notable feature is its exterior decor based on skull representations.

Moctezuma’s Palace

No information

Templo de la Cruz

Or cross temple maintains some fresco mural sections with celestial motifs.

Templo Las Caritas

The so-called Temple of Charity standing about 200 meters to the east is a two-tier structure decorated with fragments of stucco reliefs.

It is named for the hundreds of stucco skulls that once adorned the facade of a small structure at the base of the temple’s staircase-archaeologists believe this complex was dedicated to the god of death.

It consists of two overlaid basements with top side elements, an open room, and two decorative belts, the lower has murals depicting the sun, Moon, and Venus, as the early morning stars, and the higher section has a large amount of clay “little faces” or little skulls.

The Structure is decorated with stucco faces on the walls and hieroglyphs painted in lower sections Gran Pirámide and the wind god Ehécatl worship altar.

Other Mounds

There are other mounds, unexcavated, that cannot be visited, located within Cempoala’s current houses. Some of the structures there are probably built in the same style as were the residences of the prehispanic commoners.

Some research by Vincent H. Malmström of Dartmouth College describes an interesting astronomical relationship that exists because of the three-round rings found at Zempoala. We will quote a part of his discussion concerning the Three Ceremonial Rings of Zempoala.

Beneath the massive pyramid (north eastern corner) in the central plaza of Zempoala, are three puzzling stone rings, each made from rounded beach cobbles jointed together to make small, stepped pillars.

The largest ring has 40 stepped pillars, the middle ring has 28, and the smaller ring is 13, around its circumference. It seems that three rings were used to calibrate different astronomical cycles, possibly by placing a marker or an idol from one pillar to the next, day after day.

The stone rings viewed from the top of the main pyramid, are surmounted by 13, 28, and 40 step-like pillars, which might have been counting devices to keep track of eclipse cycles, by Totonac priests.

It is possible that by using the rings, Totonacs priests were able to calibrate the movements of the moon. There are reasons to believe these rings provide further evidence of the intellectual curiosity and architectural ingenuity of the early Mesoamericans.”

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