La Venta is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Olmec civilization, located in the present-day Mexican state of Tabasco. Located on an island in a coastal swamp overlooking the then-active Río Palma, La Venta probably controlled a region between the Mezcalapa and Coatzacoalcos rivers. The site itself is about 16km inland, with the island consisting of slightly more than 3sq km of dry land. Unlike later Maya or Aztec cities, La Venta was built from earth and clay, there was little locally abundant stone for the construction.

Sightseeing
La Venta was a civic and ceremonial centre. While it may have included as-yet-undiscovered royal residences, habitation for the non-regal elite and the commoners were located at outlying sites such as San Andrés. Instead of dwellings, La Venta is dominated by a royal/sacred area (Complex A), the Great Pyramid, and the large plaza to their south. As a ceremonial centre, La Venta contains an elaborate series of buried offerings and tombs, as well as monumental sculptures. These stone monuments, stelae and altars were carefully distributed amongst the mounds and platforms. The mounds and platforms were built largely from local sand and clay. It is assumed that many of these platforms were once topped with wooden structures, which have long since disappeared.