Monument 19 is Mesoamerica’s earliest known feathered serpent

City/town/settlement1500 - 500 BC
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Site mentioned

📄 La Venta🗺️ More sites in Mexico🌍 Show on the globe

Monument 19 at La Venta is the earliest known depiction of the feathered serpent in Mesoamerica. The 1400–400 BC range refers to La Venta’s broader occupation; the monument is generally placed within roughly 1200–400 BC, and its exact date is uncertain. No earlier feathered-serpent version is known. “Timeless” and “masterfully executed” are aesthetic judgments, not archaeological findings. Monument 19 marks an early stage in an iconographic tradition that continued for millennia.

Key facts

  • Monument 19 at La Venta is identified as the earliest known feathered-serpent depiction in Mesoamerica.
  • The 1400–400 BC range describes La Venta’s broader occupation; the supplied record dates Monument 19 to 1200–400 BC, and its exact date is uncertain.
  • No earlier feathered-serpent version is known, but “timeless” and “masterfully executed” are aesthetic judgments and are not attributed to archaeologists by the cited results.
  • Monument 19 is an early example in the long-lived Mesoamerican feathered-serpent iconographic tradition.

More about La Venta

Sources

File:Olmec Monument 19, La Venta, 1300-400 BC.jpgcommons.wikimedia.org
Olmec Monument 19, La Venta, 1300-400 BC.jpg Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixels. Other resolutions: 320 × 213 pixels | 640 × 427 pixels |
AA.01.0442 | Ancient Americas at LACMAancientamericas.org
Drawing of Carving on Monument 19 from La Venta Depicting a Seated Figure in the Coil of a Serpent. Artist: Schele or Reilly? Medium: Black ink on mylar.
La Venta - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Monument 19, from La Venta, the earliest known representation of a feathered serpent in Mesoamerica. Courtesy George & Audrey Delange. Altars 4 & 5. edit.
"La Venta, Monument [photo 05]" by Carl L. Thurmanscholarworks.uni.edu
Monumental sized carved basalt sculputre of serpent and human. Description: La Venta, Monument 19, Fantastic Serpent. Comments. La Venta is a pre-Columbian ...
Olmec (circa 1400-400 BCE) Monument 19, from La Venta, Tabasco ...tumblr.com
The early Olmec feathered serpent, as shown here, is thought to have acted as a forerunner for many Mesoamerican deities.
Olmec Monument 19 from La Venta - MEGALITHOMANIAmegalithomania.creator-spring.com
Features a single-ply hood, tag-free neck label, and dyed-to-match drawcord. Also includes triple-needle top coverstitching along cuffs, waistband, ...
Monument 19, La Venta, Tabasco. "Seated man in serpent" ...alienexplorations.blogspot.com
"Seated man in serpent" (1200 - 400BC, discovered in 1955) The feathered serpent portrayed here combines the natures of the two traditional animal vehicles of ...
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