La Venta: Explore the Oldest Olmec Archaeological Site in Mesoamerica
Plenty of La Venta visitors go to the Archaeological Site founded by Olmecs. This humid place, surrounded by vegetation and animal sounds, witnessed how this culture established and became one of the region’s oldest and most important.
Although its prehispanic name is unknown, one of La Venta’s preserved vestiges is the 34 meters high and 140 in diameter main pyramid, built in clay and considered the oldest in Mesoamérica territory.
La Venta Ceremonial Center remains were discovered in 1925 by archaeologists Frans Blom and Olivier La Farge. To present, it stands out among other archaeological sites for its planned layout, the numerous and colossal sculptures made by its artists and its numerous jade offerings.
Part of these vestiges can be seen in the site museum, although many of these pieces were translated to the Parque Museo La Venta (La Venta Museum Park) in Villahermosa, for preservation reasons.
La Venta is surrounded by vegetation and animal species, in addition to having water bodies, which is why they were a farming town.
The vestiges still preserved are of earth due to the lack of stone deposits. Despite this, they sculpted monumental rock pieces brought from Veracruz and Chiapas, in addition to the green stones from Oaxaca and Puebla.
You can explore La Venta on three different tours: the most complete one lasts an hour and a half, so plan very well your itinerary. It has an on-site museum where you can see many of the famous Olmec heads and another 200 pieces found in the archaeological site.
Although its prehispanic name is unknown, one of La Venta’s preserved vestiges is the 34 meters high and 140 in diameter main pyramid, built in clay and considered the oldest in Mesoamérica territory.
La Venta Ceremonial Center remains were discovered in 1925 by archaeologists Frans Blom and Olivier La Farge. To present, it stands out among other archaeological sites for its planned layout, the numerous and colossal sculptures made by its artists and its numerous jade offerings.
Part of these vestiges can be seen in the site museum, although many of these pieces were translated to the Parque Museo La Venta (La Venta Museum Park) in Villahermosa, for preservation reasons.
La Venta is surrounded by vegetation and animal species, in addition to having water bodies, which is why they were a farming town.
The vestiges still preserved are of earth due to the lack of stone deposits. Despite this, they sculpted monumental rock pieces brought from Veracruz and Chiapas, in addition to the green stones from Oaxaca and Puebla.
You can explore La Venta on three different tours: the most complete one lasts an hour and a half, so plan very well your itinerary. It has an on-site museum where you can see many of the famous Olmec heads and another 200 pieces found in the archaeological site.
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