Tres Zapotes

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Olmec cultural zone on the Gulf coast of Mexico

Tres Zapotes is the name of a small town with about 3,300 inhabitants in the southeast of the state of Veracruz in the hinterland of the Mexican Gulf Coast and an archaeological site named after it in the immediate vicinity, which - along with La Venta and San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan - is one of the main sites of Olmec artifacts.

location

The town, located about 30 m above sea level, is about 520 kilometers by road in a south-easterly direction from the capital Mexico City ; the closest major city is Veracruz (about 140 km northwest). About 10 kilometers to the east is the Cerro el Vigía , an extinct volcano , in the vicinity of which several unworked large round basalt stones were found, some of which were worked by the Olmecs.

history

Sketch of the archaeological site with the four main groups

In 1862, a monumental head about 1.5 m high was discovered here, which was similar to the one later found by La Venta and San Lorenzo. During excavation work in the 20th century, further carved large stone monuments were found, but - with the exception of one more monumental head - they are mostly in poor condition.

The archaeological finds suggest that the site dates back to around 1000 BC. BC - perhaps even earlier - and, considering its size and the number of finds made here, was a center of the Olmec cultural sphere. In contrast to La Venta and San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan, however, the place remained populated until the end of the 1st millennium of our era. A stele found here bears one of the earliest dates found in the Long Count .

Archaeological site

The archaeological site, through which the Hueyapan brook flows, offers nothing worth seeing; since none of the mound discovered (ger .: mounds was) reconstructed at the excavations in the port, everything is covered with earth and grass. The archaeologists discovered four rectangular plazas, each less than a kilometer apart, surrounded by mounds of earth of different heights - these are interpreted as substructures of former residential buildings ('palaces') or temples.

museum

Drawing of the long count date and other glyphs of stele C.
Monumental head Q in the Museo Regional Tuxteco in Santiago Tuxtla

More informative is the small museum on the outskirts, where most of the stones found in Tres Zapotes, all of which are made of volcanic basalt, are on display.

Monumental head A
With its height of 1.50 m, the monumental head A is slightly smaller than the other Olmec monumental heads. But he also shows negroid facial features, which are probably related to the jaguar people of other Olmec stone sculptures. It is covered by a kind of cap, which was interpreted as a warrior's head protection or as a sovereign emblem of a ruler. The monumental head is dated to around 500 BC. Or dated earlier.
Stele C
Stele C, which is famous among experts for its age and broken into two large and several smaller pieces, was discovered in 1939 (lower part) and 1969 (upper part). On its obverse it shows a poorly preserved figurative representation of a ruler or jaguar man and on the reverse the long-count date 7.16.6.16.18 (September 1 or 3, 32 BC) and some - so far illegible - glyphs. Only the upper section of the stele can be seen in the local museum; the other is in Mexico City.
Stele D
The stele D probably shows the wide-open mouth of a toad or an earth monster (?), In which three figurative reliefs can be seen: Two people with striking headdresses approach from the right a figure kneeling on the floor in front of them and only lightly clothed left side. The scene is viewed as a rite of initiation or a request for mercy from a supplicant and / or prisoner. The stele is believed to have been around 100 BC. Belong to BC.
Monumental head Q
The monumental head Q is now in the Museo Regional Tuxteco by Santiago Tuxtla . The forehead of the head, which is also covered with a cap, clearly jumps back - whether this corresponded to the stone shape found or the intention of the sculptor is unclear. The back of the head shows seven braided plaits, which are held together at the lower end by flower-shaped 'clips'.

Surroundings

Another monumental head was found on the grounds of Rancho la Cobáta on the northwest flank of Cerro el Vigía , which is now located in Santiago Tuxtla's Plaza Mayor . With a height of 3.40 m and a weight of 38 tons, it is the largest and heaviest of the 17 Olmec monumental heads found so far and possibly also the youngest, because some researchers date it to the post-Christian era. With its closed eyelids, it is somewhat similar to the monumental heads of the Guatemalan Monte Alto culture , but it is twice as large and clearly more differentiated.

literature

  • Michael D. Coe et al: The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership. Harry N Abrams, Princeton, NJ 1996, ISBN 0-8109-6311-6 .
  • Richard A. Diehl: The Olmecs. America's First Civilization. Thames and Hudson, London 2004, ISBN 0-500-02119-8 .
  • Christopher A. Pool: Olmec Archeology and Early Mesoamerica. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2007, ISBN 978-0-521-78882-3 .

Web links

Commons : Tres Zapotes  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 18 ° 28 ′ 0 ″  N , 95 ° 26 ′ 0 ″  W.