Complex A tombs and massive offerings at La Venta showcase elite wealth. Complex A was the elite ceremonial core where rulers and families were buried, enclosed with large basalt columns as a privacy barrier Tomb A was constructed with walls and a roof made from large basalt columns and contained carved jadeite objects, stingray spines, shell artifacts, beads, a polished magnetite mirror, and a seated female figure with a pendant mirror Stingray spines in the tombs imply bloodletting rituals were practiced in Olmec religion
Complex A was La Venta's elite ceremonial core, enclosed with basalt columns 💎. Tombs held jadeite, stingray spines (implying bloodletting rituals), magnetite mirrors, and a sandstone sarcophagus with a were-jaguar face. One massive offering had 1,000 tons of serpentine blocks in 28 layers with a were-jaguar mosaic.
Key Facts
- Complex A was the elite ceremonial core where rulers and families were buried, enclosed with large basalt columns as a privacy barrier
- Tomb A was constructed with walls and a roof made from large basalt columns and contained carved jadeite objects, stingray spines, shell artifacts, beads, a polished magnetite mirror, and a seated female figure with a pendant mirror
- Stingray spines in the tombs imply bloodletting rituals were practiced in Olmec religion
- Tomb B contained a massive sarcophagus carved from sandstone with a were-jaguar face
- A famous massive offering contained 1,000 tons of serpentine blocks in 28 layers with a mosaic floor depicting a were-jaguar, Olmec dragon, or Olmec cosmos
- Offering 4 contained 16 figures standing upright in a circle with carved jade celts, with 10 figures observing 4 approaching a central polished jade character, possibly depicting an ancestor ceremony
- Offering 4 was remembered and revisited about a century after burial, when a precise shaft was dug to expose its top before reburying it
Related site: La Venta — view location, images, and history on the Ancient Nerds map.
Source: The Olmec Golden Age by Ancient Americas