How many stone heads were found in La Venta?
The most agreed upon theory is that, because of their unique physical features and the difficulty and cost involved in their creation, they represent Olmec rulers. Seventeen heads have been discovered to date, 10 of which are from San Lorenzo and 4 from La Venta; two of the most important Olmec centres.
What do the Olmec heads symbolize?
Some have suggested that the heads were moved around for ritual purposes or that the heads were used to signify political power. It has also been speculated that some of the heads were buried as part of ancestor worship or by rulers hoping to neutralize a predecessor’s influence.
How was La Venta destroyed?
During the 1950s the site of La Venta was in danger of destruction due to both the construction of a nearby petroleum refinery and the encroachment of the modern town of La Venta. The site is now protected as an archaeological park.
What is buried at La Venta?
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.
How big were some of the colossal heads?
The Olmec colossal heads are stone representations of human heads sculpted from large basalt boulders. They range in height from 1.17 to 3.4 metres. The heads date from at least 900 BC and are a distinctive feature of the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica.
Why were the Olmec heads buried?
Dating. The colossal heads cannot be precisely dated. However, the San Lorenzo heads were buried by 900 BC, indicating that their period of manufacture and use was earlier still.
When was Venta abandoned?
400 B.C.
Recent excavations have established that small villages in the immediate area were growing maize as early as 1750 B.C., but the site reached its maximum size and importance from 1000 to 500 B.C. It was apparently abandoned by 400 B.C. First explored in 1925, La Venta has provided some of the most important …
How big are the Olmec heads?
1.17 to 3.4 metres
The Olmec colossal heads are stone representations of human heads sculpted from large basalt boulders. They range in height from 1.17 to 3.4 metres. The heads date from at least 900 BC and are a distinctive feature of the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica.
Where are the Olmec heads now?
Despite replicas existing in diverse locations around the globe, all seventeen of the original Olmec heads are still found in Mexico. San Lorenzo Heads 2 and 6 are at Mexico City’s National Anthropology Museum, and Head 10 is at the San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán Community Museum.
Why are the La Venta heads’revered’?
The La Venta heads showed several similarities to the Tres Zapotes heads, and it emerged through archaeology that they dominated the ceremonial plaza, a feature which suggests that they were in some way ‘revered’.
Where are the La Venta Olmec heads?
All four La Venta Olmec heads remain in Villahermosa – three are at Parque-Museo La Venta, and the other is at Tabasco’s History Museum. One of the Tres Zapotes heads, as well as the La Cobata head, are displayed in Tuxtla’s central plaza.
How many giant heads are there in Mexico?
All of the 17 confirmed colossal heads remain in Mexico. Two heads from San Lorenzo are on permanent display at the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City. Seven of the San Lorenzo heads are on display in the Museo de Antropología de Xalapa.
What are the most famous artifacts found at La Venta?
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.