Evening star., 1954-10-11
Team Will Diq
Into Mysteries
0f0Id Mexico
Expedition Forming
To Probe Mounds
OF Ia Ventu People

VI ID VeHtu feOPie
The mysteries OF the La Venta
people of ancient Mexico, who
built earth mounds for Their
temples centuries before the
AztecS' pyramids. will come ir
for new exploration early next
year.
DR.. John Oliver La Gorce
president of the National Geog-
raphic Society. announced that
the society. the Smithsonian In
stitution and the University OF
California would send out an
archaeological team.
Leading the expedition will be
DR.. Philip Drucker, Smithsonian
anthropologist and a veteran OF
many trips to the south Mexican
jungles, and DR.. Robert F.. Hell
zer of the University of Cali
fornia's department of anthro-
pology at Berkeley.
The La Venta civilization gave
ancient Mexico a great cultural
impulse at least 1,450 years ago
the Geographic announcement
noted.
Had Accomplished Artists.
LA Venta, in northwestern
TabaSco State, is the most i'm
portant single site in the Olmec
civilization that probably ante
dated the theocratic cultures of
the Maya. the Zapotecs and the
Toltecs," it said.
The La Venta people were
among Americas earliest ac-
complished artists, sculpturing
both huge basaltic monuments
and small, delicately carved jade
objects.
One Of the biggest mysteries
is how they transported the
heavy basalt used in their mon
uments. The nearest volcanic
rock lies so miles to the north.
Another concerns who popu-
lated La Venta Island. At most,
only 100 people normally could
have lived from the island grown
food, while many more must
have worked on the mounds.
This gives rise to speculation it
may have been a political and
religious capital occupied by In
dian kings, high priests and
their retinues who held sway
over vast region.
Study Initiated in 1899.
The new exploration stems
from a long-range study initi-
ated by the Geographic Society
and the Smithsonian in 1899. At
that time. DR.. Matthew w. Stir
ling Of the. Smithsonian .discov-
cred IN southern Veracruz traces
OF an aboriginal culture different
from anything in the better
known Mayan area to the east.
The party expects to arrive on
the site January 81 and stay
until mid-May. It will INCLUDE
University of California and
Mexican psychologists and a dig
ging force of SO Indians.
The party will focus it's atten-
ton on ceremonial architecture
and Olmec religious and artistic
products.
It also hopes to date the Mid
die Tres Zapotes period of Oh
mec civilization-the La Venta
era of cultural climax from ap-
proximately 100 AID. to 500. With
good fortune. according to DR..
Drucker. charcoal remains may
be unearthed that can be dated
precisely by Pathological meth
ods.
Mound Is on Island.
The archaeological site lies on
a sandy island in the midst of
a mangrove swamp. A large
pyramidal earth-mound on q
rectangular platform almost 100
yards square, with a combined
height of los feet, is the central
feature.
A rectangular, stone fenced
incloSure extends to the north.
To the south, another mound,
200 feet long, is surrounded by
smaller mounds.
The expedition will concen-
trate mainly on the stone-fenced,
courtlike inclosure partly covered
by blown soil where pos
sibly priests or royalty were once
buried. Several statues already
have been eXcaVated in the area