Tulane expeditions 1924-26: Frans Blom documents La Venta and a volcano statue

October 21, 2026MexicoGeneralShare

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Key facts

• Tulane University organised a Department of Middle American Research in 1924 and ran its first expedition to Chiapas, Tabasco and Veracruz to survey Maya sites, collect artifacts and publish research.
• Danish-born Frans Blom, 32 at the time, was hired as field explorer and archaeologist on January 1, 1925; he sailed from New Orleans on a United Fruit Company ship on February 19, 1925 and reached Veracruz in early March.
• Blom cut up the dormant volcano San Martín Pajapan and found a kneeling statue with unusual features, described as the first recorded discovery of an Olmec monument outside a city.
• At La Venta he found Colossal Head/Monument 1 partly buried near the Great Pyramid, plus megalithic altars, Monument 13 (the 'Traveler'), the earliest feathered-serpent monument, thousands of tons of basalt columns and five buried serpentine caches.
• These materials were imported 100-200 km from the Tuxtla volcanic mountains to the west and from deep within the Maya jungles of modern Guatemala to the east.
• Recent studies of the La Venta Great Pyramid are said to show a void at its centre, potentially a burial chamber or other offering, with buried stone staircases lining each of the four sides.

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