Also on display in the Jalapa museum is this magnificent Olmec stone head from San Lorenzo. The monolith is 8.5 feet tall. The stone was moved 50 miles by the Olmecs, from Cerro Cintepec in the Tuxtla Mountains. San Lorenzo was occupied from 1700 to 1200 BC. About nine of these colossal heads were found at San Lorenzo.
Two of the danzantes stelae at Monte Alban, the major Zapotec center on a mountain top in the middle of the Oaxaca Valley. These date to the Monte Alban I phase, from before 200 BC.
Two of the danzantes stelae at Monte Alban, the major Zapotec center on a mountain top in the middle of the Oaxaca Valley. These date to the Monte Alban I phase, from before 200 BC.
In this view a duplicate of a danzante is being made so the original can be moved into the Monte Alban museum. There are about 150 of these figures. They are important for their early display of glyphs. These bas-reliefs are the oldest known literary texts in Mexico.
Another stela in the Jalapa Museum, with Gulf Coast provenience is Stela 6 from Cerro de las Mesas, Vera Cruz. The column of glyphs on the left records the Long Count date 9.1.12.14.10 (during AD 468). The iconography in this image is indicative of continuity from the Olmec era.
elaborate Classic Mayan stela
