Stone Monuments
As of 2006, 304 stone monuments have been found at Takalik Abaj, mostly carved from local andesite boulders. Of these monuments 124 are carved with the remainder being plain; they are mostly found in the Central and Western Groups. The worked monuments can be divided into four broad classifications: Olmec-style sculptures, which represent 21% of the total, Maya-style sculptures representing 42% of the monuments, potbelly monuments (14% of the total) and the local style of sculpture represented by zoomorphs (23% of the total).
Most of the monuments at Takalik Abaj are not in their original positions but rather have been moved and reset at a later date, therefore the dating of monuments at the site often depends upon stylistic comparisons. An example is a series of four monuments found in a plaza in front of a Classic period platform, with at least two of the four (Altar 12 and Monument 23) dating to the Preclassic.
There are several stelae sculpted in the early Maya style that bear hieroglyphic texts with Long Count dates that place them in the Late Preclassic. This style of sculpture is ancestral to the Classic style of the Maya lowlands.
Takalik Abaj has various so-called Potbelly monuments representing obese human figures sculpted from large boulders, of a type found throughout the Pacific lowlands, extending from Izapa in Mexico to El Salvador. Their precise function is unknown but they appear to date from the Late Preclassic.
Read more about this topic: Takalik Abaj, Site Description and Layout
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