Parque la Venta

Why Parque La Venta is special
Parque La Venta is a remarkable outdoor archaeological museum. It features colossal stone heads (see photo) sculpted nearly 3,000 years ago by the Olmecs. They are exhibited in a lush tropical botanical garden.

Parque La Venta tips and insights
How to pronounce
Parque La Venta: pahr-KAY lah vehn-TAH

Olmec stone heads
Parque La Venta exhibits 4 of the 17 known Olmec basalt stone heads. They were originally in La Venta, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of Villahermosa, where the Parque La Venta is located. They were transferred to their new home in the 20th century for preservation's sake.

What the faces depict is open to debate
Theories include "half man, half infant" and "half man, half deified jaguar". Some see negroid features, which would suggest that the Olmecs or their ancestors came from Africa.

Height
The body-less heads are over 2 meters (6 feet) tall. If they had a body, the statues would be as high as a modern 3-story building.

Material
The heads at Parque La Venta are basalt rock. Each weighs over 2000 kilograms (20 tons) and was chiseled with relatively primitive tools. The Olmec artisans did more than carve enormous craniums. They created an array of artistic treasures including jaded figurines.

Olmec civilization
It is the oldest in Mexico and was at its peak from around 800 to 300 BC. Subsequent Mesoamerican civilizations, including that of the Mayans, were clearly influenced by the Olmec culture.

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