La Venta Site Museum

Sala introductoria. Contextualizes in the time and space the Olmec civilization through maps and timelines; also presents dioramas about agriculture and the transport of monoliths, and a maquette of the Olmec architectural layout of the ancient city La Venta. Sala 1. Three monumental sculptures that originally delineated the southern limit of the ancient Olmec city. These crouching human figures are carved in sandstone and weigh between 17 and 35 tons. Sala 2. This room presents two topics. The first concerns the history of La Venta's investigations, where a series of images of researchers who have worked at the site is shown. The second topic concerns the ceramics, displaying everyday and ceremonial pieces; a wide variety of figurines, probably portraits of the ancient inhabitants of La Venta. Sala 3. This room also shows two topics. The first deals with the stone industry, exhibiting stone tools used to craft jewelry, sculpt sculptures, domestic uses, hunting and agricultural uses; in addition to the recycling of raw materials. The second topic covers earth architecture, where a model of an Olmec house with posts and bajareque walls is shown, along with organic remains (maize, corozo, turtle, fish) and various utensils. Across the central display, a series of images represents the chronology of investigations and the development of knowledge about Olmec architecture and sculpture at La Venta; furthermore, between Rooms 3 and 4, as well as between Rooms 4 and 5, basalt columns originally part of the ceremonial enclosure’s perimeter wall are displayed. Sala 4. Nine monumental sculptures are displayed, highlights include a set of five low-relief monuments found at the foot of the main pyramidal building of La Venta, sharing the same theme of a fantastic figure, while Stela 5 depicts a historical-mythological scene. This room also features jaguar and columnar sculptures. Sala 5. A small display of green stone (jade) objects: an offering of chisels recovered from the ceremonial precinct, a carved votive axe and a pectoral, as well as a replica of Offering 4. Dioramas of the tomb of columns and a massive offering are also presented.