no later than 1200 BCE, San Lorenzo had emerged as the most prominent Olmec center. While a layer of occupation at La Venta dates to 1200 BCE, La Venta did not reach its apogee until the decline of San Lorenzo, after 900 BCE. After 500 years of pre-eminence, La Venta was all but abandoned by the beginning of the fourth century BCE.

Located on an island in a coastal swamp overlooking a former river, the Río Palma, or Río Barí, La Venta probably controlled a region between the Mezcalapa and Coatzacoalcos rivers. The site itself is about