La Venta Park - Villahermosa,Tabasco - Spring, 2002
We arrived at the La Venta Park/Museum at about 3 pm on a Tuesday afternoon in March, in perfect 30 degree weather. We were dressed for it in our normal warm weather attire, shorts, short sleev shirts/blouses and sandals. The whole thing was located in a tropical rainforest setting.
La Abuelita - Granny
We decided to go around the park in a counterclockwise fashion and the first large, carving we encountered was this little granny holding an offering. We decided we had to be in these pictures to give a proper size reference.
Animals of the Time and Place
In addition to the heads and other carvings, the park also contained animals that the Olmecs lived with at the time, such as black jaguars, spider monkeys and large crocodiles!
El Viejo - the Old Man
The first of the large carved heads we came to was the old man. Somewhat pockmarked, probably more due to subsequent damage or aging than original intent. In fact, this fellow may not have originally represented an old man, but the archeologists who found him got the right to name him.
El Joven - the Young Man
This one is well preserved, apart from the big crack on his left chin, as you can see by the good definition on the top of the head. He is called the young man, but these fellows may all have been quite young. Please keep noticing the surroundings which, while fantastic and intriguing, we did not photograph by itself.
El Guerrero - the Warrior
This last large head is the cream of the crop. Perhaps this one is the best presentable, although he does suffer from a pre-frontal lobotomy over the left eye. All of the little statues of the Olmec heads seem to be replicas of this fellow, with a small head repair. We, of course bought one of these little stone replicas.
You really must go see this; it is truly worth while!
April, 2002.
