The site was first settled in the second millennium BC and had its heyday between 1200-900 BC. Temples, plazas, roadways and kingly residences are included in an area of about a half acre, where about 1,000 people resided.
Architecture at San Lorenzo
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.
A royal processional aligned to the north-south axis of the plateau led the way to the center. At the center of the site are two palaces: the San Lorenzo Red Palace and the Stirling Acropolis. The Red Palace was a royal residence with a platform substructure, red floors, basalt roof support, steps and drain. The Stirling Acropolis may have been the sacred residence, and is surrounded by a pyramid, E-group and a ballcourt.
Excavators of San Lorenzo include Matthew Stirling, Michael Coe and Ann Cyphers Guillen.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com Guide to the Olmec Civilization, and part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst.
Blomster, Jeffrey P., Hector Neff, and Michael D. Glascock 2005 Olmec Pottery Production and Export in Ancient Mexico Determined Through Elemental Analysis. Science 307:1068-1072.
Cyphers, Ann 1999 From Stone to Symbols: Olmec Art in Social Context at San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán. Pp. 155-181 in DC Grove and RA Joyce, Social Patterns in Pre-Classic Mesoamerica. Dumbarton Oaks: Washington DC
Pohl, Mary D. and Christopher von Nagy 2008 The Olmec and their contemporaries. Pp. 217-230 in Encyclopedia of Archaeology, D.M. Pearsall, editor. Elsevier: London.
Wendt, Carl J. and Ann Cyphers 2008 How the Olmec used bitumen in ancient Mesoamerica. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 27(2):175-191.
