• La Venta

    La Venta
    INAH
  • La Venta

    La Venta
    Daniel Santaella / INAH-Dirección de Medios de Comunicación
  • La Venta

    La Venta
    INAH
  • La Venta

    Complejo C
    Sisiyi Ruvalcaba / INAH-Zona Arqueológica La Venta
  • La Venta

    La Venta
    INAH
  • La Venta

    La Venta
    Carlos Giordano / INAH-Centro INAH Tabasco
  • La Venta

    La Venta
    INAH
  • La Venta

    Altar 4
    Sisiyi Ruvalcaba / INAH-Zona Arqueológica La Venta
  • La Venta

    Cabezas Colosales
    INAH-Zona Arqueológica La Venta
  • La Venta

    La Venta
    Luis Gerardo Peña Torres / INAH-Dirección de Medios de Comunicación

Visit us

La Venta

Opening hours
Monday to Sunday from 09:00 to 17:00 h - Last access 16:30 h
Fee
$75.00
Adress

Villa Benito Juárez Road s/n, C.P. 86410, Villa La Venta, Huimanguillo, Tabasco.

Access

From Coatzacoalcos, take Federal Highway 180 towards Villahermosa; the archeological zone is at km 45.

From Villahermosa, take highway 180 towards Coatzacoalcos; the exit for Villa La Venta is at km 128.

Services
Medical assistance
Parking
Information module
Toilets
Shop
Power outlet
Guided tours
Important
  • Extra fee for professional cameras
  • Discount for Mexican students and teachers
  • Discount for senior Mexican citizens
  • No smoking
  • No entry with food
  • Pets not allowed

La Venta

La Venta

La Venta

One of the first cities of ancient Mexico (1200-400 BC), set in a region of lush vegetation. The imprint of the mysterious Olmecas appears in the urban layout, the amazing stone sculptures—some of them weighing up to 35 tons—and the jade offerings found here.


La Venta is the oldest known Olmec city in Mesoamerica with a planned layout and a monumental architecture. It is comprised of platforms which are aligned on a north to south axis to form avenues and create open spaces. Settlers possibly first arrived in the region around the year 5,000 BC and 600 years later had already developed a remarkable culture. Large structures were built from compacted earth (stone quarries were far away), with the use of natural tar. These structures reached up to 100 feet in height on broad terraces, with enormous stone sculptures weighing up to 35 tonnes which were brought from the distant Gulf of Mexico area. These were carved with extraordinary skill and replicated the human form or combined it with animal forms to portray fantastical beings. Abundant offerings were also found underground, many of which were made from jade. There are no other comparable examples from this period in ancient Mexico.

A complex society lived here which was probably organized hierarchically, and which carried out intensive farming of corn and yucca (both of these were domesticated by the Olmecs relatively early and they yielded up to three harvests each year). They knew how to exploit the richness of the very humid alluvial soils and the abundant lakes and rivers—Tonalá River and its tributaries—as well as an ecosystem which was rich in edible plants and animals.

It is estimated that the site’s original area around 400 BC covered 500 acres. The city’s most valuable remains are grouped into four complexes. Complex A is the ceremonial enclosure, whose northern courtyard is marked out by a series of basalt columns (the mere fact of bringing them here was a great achievement); its Building A 2 contains a double tomb, made from this type of column, and the remains of two dignitaries, as well as rich offerings of jade, and another large offering of green stones (serpentine), perhaps in honor of Mother Earth. Complex B is a large ceremonial space on a spectacular platform, to the north of which the Stirling Acropolis is found (named in honor of the archeologist Matthew Stirling, who successfully explored the area between 1940 and 1943). Complex C contains the highest pyramidal base (100 feet), the Great Pyramid, in which six magnificent sculptures of fantastical beings were discovered, now in the Site Museum. Complex D consists of more than 20 platforms. Two sculptures which have been described as “altars”, also made with peerless skill, were found in one of them.

In 1955, upon excavation of the northern platform, the archeologist Eduardo Contreras found a substantial offering comprised of 16 figurines of male individuals, all carved from different green stones and framed by a row of axeheads. This discovery, known as Offering 4 of La Venta, commemorates a religious and political event which occurred approximately 1,300 years ago. It is currently exhibited in the National Museum of Anthropology.

A visit to the site is complimented by the Site Museum’s extensive exhibition and explanation of more than 200 original objects made from stone, ceramic or jade, as well as dioramas and miniatures made by expert artisans.


 


 

Complejo A

Complejo A

This is the ceremonial precinct of this ancient city. It was originally composed of nine structures arranged symmetrically around two courtyards. The north courtyard was delimited by a wall made of basalt columns.

Complejo B

This architectural group is located south of the main pyramidal base and consists of three large platforms aligned on a north-south axis (B-1, B-2 and B-3). A fourth platform to the east (B-4), which is smaller, completes the group.

Complejo C

Complejo C

Located to the south of Complex A, it consists of a platform on which the main pyramidal foundation (building C-1) was built. It is 30 m high and offers an unobstructed 360-degree view.

Complejo D

Complejo D

This architectural complex of 20 rammed earth buildings is organized in three north-south axes, creating a sort of avenues between them. Three monumental sculptures (52, 53 and 54) were found on top of building D-7, at the southern end.

Acrópolis de Stirling

Acrópolis de Stirling

It delimits the Great Plaza to the east. It consists of an enormous platform that presents a front of more than 300 m long, on which at least four small mounds have been located. It is, without a doubt, the structure of greater extension in the old Olmec city.

  • Dirección del Centro INAH
    Carlos Arturo Giordano Sanchez Verin
    carlos_giordano@inah.gob.mx
    +52 (933) 352 1022

  • Complejo C
    INAH-Zona Arqueológica La Venta Sisiyi Ruvalcaba
  • La Venta
    INAH
  • Cabezas Colosales
    INAH-Zona Arqueológica La Venta
  • La Venta
    INAH
  • La Venta
    INAH-Centro INAH Tabasco Carlos Giordano
  • La Venta
    INAH-Dirección de Medios de Comunicación Luis Gerardo Peña Torres
  • La Venta
    INAH
  • Altar 4
    INAH-Zona Arqueológica La Venta Sisiyi Ruvalcaba
  • La Venta
    INAH
  • La Venta
    INAH-Dirección de Medios de Comunicación Daniel Santaella

    Contacto

    cinah_tabasco@inah.gob.mx
    +52 (993) 352 1030
    +52 (993) 352 1022

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