6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I07 



stratitrench i. At Tres Zapotes, these wares, often adorned with 

 painted decorations, attain high frequencies only in the Upper period, 

 at which time a series of aHen elements such as mol(i-made figurines, 

 Teotihuacan-type tripod bowls, "candeleros" and the like suddenly 

 make their appearance on the scene. Since all these latter traits are 

 unknown from La Venta, it seems most logical to assume that the 

 zone of development of the Fine Paste ceramics must have been in 

 or near the La Venta region, and that they, or at least the increased 

 emphasis on them, dififused from there in a westerly direction, that 

 is, to Tres Zapotes, affecting the latter site at the same time as a 

 series of new influences, presumably from the Highland, made them- 

 selves felt. The absence of the whole series of Highland elements at 

 La Venta may be attributed to a slight time lag in diffusion, or to 

 local conservatism — perhaps to both. I suggest that chronologically 

 the La Venta occupation likely overlapped the L^pper Tres Zapotes 

 period slightly, or to put it another way, that the Middle Tres 

 Zapotes-La Venta period persisted a little longer at La Venta. This 

 slight extension in time need not modify to any great degree the 

 rough equation of this period with the Tzakol of the Peten. 



The fact that the ceramic inventories of the Middle Tres Zapotes- 

 La Venta horizon reveals respectably long lists of differences as well 

 as numerous similarities seems to me to be significant. It indicates 

 that the two centers represent well-rooted local manifestations which, 

 though descended from a common ancestral pattern, and though in- 

 fluencing each other throughout their history, nonetheless were suf- 

 ficiently well established to have developed local specialties to which 

 they clung. I trust it will not be considered unfair to mention that 

 field inspection of sherds from San Lorenzo Tenoxtitlan, between 

 the first two sites, likewise suggests that local specialization had been 

 at work, resulting in another series of related but variant ceramic 

 elements. Had Olmec culture, as we know it, been the result of a 

 rapid but short-lived diffusion, we should find far more uniformity 

 in its component elements. 



The foregoing La Venta-Tres Zapotes comparisons have linked 

 the two and have suggested an ancient and firm establishment of 

 Olmec culture in the zone in which these sites are situated. The next 

 step, logically, is to define the areal extent of the culture. In point 

 of fact, our two key sites lie near the boundaries of the civilization 

 they represent. Attempts have been made to delimit the Olmec area 

 on the basis of the distribution of finds of Olmec figurines, particu- 

 larly those of jade, but objects so portable are less trustworthy 

 markers of the culture than such things as stone monuments in the 



