|
|
||||||||||||
La Venta |
 |
|||||||||||
|
La
Venta is located 150 km.
from Villahermosa and reached via Highway 180. Approximately 129 km down the
180 is the turnoff for La Venta
The vestiges of most important city belonging to the Olmec civilization (1200-400 B.C.) are found in this place. The La Venta Olmec established in a significant manner its neighbors and later civilizations.
This ancient Olmec city was surrounded by seasonally flooded lowlands and a complex network of rivers and streams, as well as freshwater and coastal lagoons. Small settlements have been found also dating to the first millennium before Christ along the ancient stream and river levees before Christ along the ancient stream and river levees. The environment of agriculture and the exploitation of rich aquatic and terrestrial flora and fauna resources for human consumption.
Olmec La Venta influence
can be found in distant sites such as Chalcatzingo and T This is the ceremonial center of this ancient city. It is composed of earth platforms which are laid out symmetrically excavations carried out in 1942, 1943 and 1955, more than 50 offerings were found of votive candles, clay vessels, jewelry and jade figurines, as well as 16 stone sculptures. A division of basalt columns mark the east and west boundary of the Northern Courtyard. Mound A- 2 marked the northern boundary of the remains of two young individuals were uncovered with a rich collection of jade objects. To the south, there were two small adobe mounds under which Massive Offerings were discovered Each of these considered of an artificial cavity within which a stone platform was built On this was placed an abstract designed mosaic composed of serpentine blocks and covered with clays and the above mentioned mounds Clomplex A was.
More Photos (Click camera icon)
.
•
Tabasco State • | Back to Tabasco State in Tour By Mexico ® | Tour By Mexico ® |
|
Near the Tomala river.
in the district of Huimanguillo, stands one of the oldest and most important
centers of Olmec culture that reached its peak between 600 and 100 AD.
Several of the colossal heads characterizing Olmec culture were found here.
Although each one represents different rules, they have common features such
as round faces, snub noses, thick lips and mouths turned down at the
corners. Another characteristic feature is the pattern of La Venta's
architectural grid, most of the buildings being oriented along the
north-south axis.
La Venta was built
by the Olmec, the earliest of the great Mesoamerican cultures. La Venta es
considered one of the most important Olmec settlements, although much of
that importance is derived from the city's antiquity. The dates most often
used for la Venta are 1000 to 600 B.C., at which time the settlement would
have covered some 200 hectares. Archaeological evidence from the countryside
around La Venta, however, suggests the city may have at one time been 
The
site is located on a natural elevation that rises 65 feet above sea
level on the coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico. The first planned
layout of monumental architecture in ancient Middle America was
constructed here with an original extension of almost 500 acres. Its
earthen constructions formed a ceremonial precinct, buildings with
civic-administrative functions and residential areas, Groups of
sculptures such as colossal heads, altar and stelea were associated to
specific edifices.
eopantecuanitlan
in the Mexican states of Morelos and Guerrero, as well as in Chalchuapa
in the Republic of El Salvador. Long distance trade and ideology were
factors that probably played a dominant role in its widespread
influence.
La Venta has been
divided into groupings, or complexes designated A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H and
I, in addition to the Stirling Acropolis. Group E is thought to have been a
residential area and heads found at the site were recovered here. Today, La
Venta is mostly a series of mounds where once there was architecture,
although the city's layout is clear, and astonishingly well designed. All
the structures with the exception of Complex F, which was built earlier, are
set on an north to south axis. They were made of perishable materials, such
as wood and thatch, and stood on platforms constructed from earth, clay and
sand. These platforms are 100 meters long or less, and stand approximately
three to four meters tall.
The most outstanding
structure at La Venta is the Pyramid with its 140-meter height. The diameter
and 34-meter height. The colossal heads that made La Venta famous and are
unique to the site, may have been portraits of its rules. The heads are
different while having certain features in common: round; heavy faces, thick
turn-down lips and wide, flat noses. Five stelae were found at the site, one
of which, is the heaviest artifact pulled from La Venta and for that, the
most outstanding.
