Raddatz, K. 1952. “Zur Deutung der Funde von La Tène.” Offa. Berichte und Mitteilungen aus dem Schleswig-Holsteinischen Landesmuseum fur Vor- und Fruhgeschichte in Schleswig und dem Institut far Ur- und Fruhgeschichte an der Universitat Kiel 11: 24–28.

Schwab, H. 1989. Archéologie de la 2e correction des eaux du Jura, Vol. 1, Les Celtes sur la Broye et la Thielle. Archeologie fribourgeoise no. 5. Fribourg: Editions Universitaires Fribourg.

Vouga, E. 1885. Les Helvetes à La Tène. Neuchâtel: Attinger.

Vouga, P. 1923. La Tène: Monographie de la station. Leipzig: Hiersemann.

La Venta

A major Olmec site in Tabasco, mexico, near the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, La Venta is located on top of a salt dome and is surrounded by swampy terrain. The site was discovered in 1925, when large earth structures and massive stone monuments were found. It was once thought to be a “vacant” ceremonial center, with little cultivable land in the immediate environs and the surrounding rural populace using the uninhabited site for public rituals. Recent excavations, however, have revealed that this view was in error. We now know that by 2000 b.c. there were already farmers in the region, subsisting on its maize and rich estuarine and marine resources. The prized land for farming was along river levees, annually renewed with rich silt.

The farming hamlets gradually grew into larger villages, and signs indicate a developing social stratification. By 1150 b.c. construction had begun on the large earth mounds that formed the ritual heart of the site. After the downfall of the nearby olmec site of San Lorenzo, about 900 b.c., La Venta became the most important site in the region. The ceremonial center of La Venta includes dozens of earth mounds and platforms. Its largest pyramid, over 30 meters high, has been argued by some to have the form of an effigy volcano. Another earth platform, possibly the royal palace compound, is over 320 meters long, 260 meters wide, and up to 7 meters high.

../images/LaVenta1.jpg

Jade Olmec carved head

(Image Select)

Excavations in La Venta in the 1940s revealed additional huge stone monuments that are among the hallmarks of Olmec civilization. Some eighty monuments have been found to date, weighing up to 35 tons. They include colossal heads (probably the portraits of rulers), thrones, and a wide variety of other sculptures. Later in La Venta’s history, probably after 800 b.c., a more narrative art was executed. Monuments called “stelae” portray scenes of several interacting figures, carved in low relief.

Among the most dramatic discoveries at La Venta are the appropriately called “massive offerings.” One of these offerings involved the digging of a huge pit, which was then filled with twenty-eight layers of roughly shaped serpentine blocks, weighing 1,000 tons in total. The offering was covered with a mosaic mask, also made of serpentine blocks, and different-colored clays.

La Venta’s heyday was between 900 and 400 b.c. The site displays many of the hallmarks of later Mesoamerican civilization: an extensive ceremonial heart for the enacting of public rituals, rich dedicatory offerings, carved stone monuments, elaborate burials, writing, objects carved in jade, and so on.