Matthew Sterling discovers Tres Zapotes colossal head in 1938

Matthew Sterling discovers Tres Zapotes colossal head in 1938. In 1938, Matthew Sterling and Marian Sterling made their first field trip to Mexico Sterling learned of a giant head half-buried in a field outside the village of Tres Zapotes This was the same colossal head that Jose Maria had seen in 1862

In 1938, Matthew Stirling made his first field trip to Mexico and learned of a giant head half-buried in a field at Tres Zapotes — the same head José María Melgar y Serrano had discovered in 1862. With Smithsonian backing, his 1939 expedition mapped the entire ancient city and unearthed a second head nearby. No proper roads existed — only muddy horseback paths.

Key Facts

• In 1938, Matthew Sterling and Marian Sterling made their first field trip to Mexico
• Sterling learned of a giant head half-buried in a field outside the village of Tres Zapotes
• This was the same colossal head that Jose Maria had seen in 1862
• In 1938, there were no proper roads to Tres Zapotes - only muddy horseback paths
• Sterling convinced the Smithsonian and National Geographic to sponsor an expedition
• The first official Olmec expedition launched in December 1938
• By spring 1939, they mapped the entire ancient city with its pyramids
• They discovered a stela fragment with markings similar to the Mesoamerican bar and dot dating system
• They fully unearthed the original mysterious colossal head and found a second head nearby

Related site: Tres Zapotes — view location, images, and history on the Ancient Nerds map.

Source: The First Explorers of the Olmecs: A Truly Lost Civilization by Luke Caverns