San Lorenzo is an Olmec period site located in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. San Lorenzo is the name of the central place in the larger San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan archaeological region. It is located on a steep plateau above the Coatzacoalcos flood plain.
The site was first settled in the second millennium B.C.E. and had its heyday between 1200 - 900 B.C.E.. Temples, plazas, roadways and kingly residences are included in an area of about a half acre, where about 1,000 people resided. Ten colossal stone heads representing heads of past and present rulers have been found at San Lorenzo. Evidence suggests that these heads were plastered and painted in bright colors. They were arranged in ensembles and set in a plaza paved with red sand and yellow gravel. Sarcophagus-shaped thrones linked living kings with their ancestors.
1
2
3
4