Tres Zapotes

Tres Zapotes is a Mesoamerican archaeological site located in the south-central Gulf Lowlands of Mexico in the Papaloapan River plain. Tres Zapotes is sometimes referred to as the third major Olmec capital (after San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán and La Venta), although Tres Zapotes' Olmec phase constitutes only a portion of the site’s history, which continued through the Epi-Olmec and Classic Veracruz cultural periods.

The 2000-year existence of Tres Zapotes as a cultural center is unusual, if not unique, in Mesoamerica.