Tres Zapotes

Abstract Located on the western margin of Olman (“the Olmec heartland”), Tres Zapotes, Veracruz is justly famous as the find-spot of the first Olmec colossal head sculpture to be discovered and the first Olmec center to be excavated professionally. Despite nearly a century of archaeological investigation, though, its significance remains underappreciated. Field research conducted since 1995 documents the founding of Tres Zapotes as a village before 1000 BC, its growth into an independent Olmec regional center during the Middle Formative period (1000 BC–400 BC), its fluorescence as an Epi-Olmec regional center in the Late and Terminal Formative period (400 BC–AD 300), and its ultimate decline. The site’s location on the western margin of Olman, in an upland setting different from the eastern centers of San Lorenzo and La Venta, and with distinctive interactions with other regions, underscores the intraregional variability of Olmec culture. Moreover, the persistence of Tres Zapotes as the sole Gulf Olmec center to survive the collapse of La Venta and to thrive for centuries reveals the important role of political change in social resilience.