Reach San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan:
from Acayucan, south of Veracruz
Location: 19*26.60' N, 99*5.60' W               
Near Coatzacoalcos and Acayucan.
This ruin was the home of the culture now called Olmec.  
The settlement spread over three small villages along
the river estuary and totaled 1200 acres.  The Olmec
occupied the area from 1500 to 400 BC, with a peak
occupation from 1200BC to 900BC
Construction was of artificial earthen plateaus and
mounds to bring the settlement above the flood plane of
the Coatzacoalcos River
The settlement had a population or 15,000.
The site has a small museum  with a single stone Olmec
sculptured head at the entrance and other sculptures
within and on the grounds.
Fee:  30 pesos
Hours: Museum  8:AM  to 3: PM
Notable Features:
Archaeological features will escape all but the trained
eye. The museum, however, is worth the visit for
devotees of the Olmec.
San Lorenzo, Olmec Homeland, Veracruz, Mexico
At San Lorenzo, an extensive system of basalt
tiles, some of which are in the small museum
at the site, show engineering prowess  by the
inhabitants of the Olmec settlement and have
been proposed as aqueducts for carrying
potable water.

At San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan, excavators found
ten Colossal heads sculpted from blocks of
basalt as large as 20- tons that had been
hauled 60 miles from the Tuxtla mountains to
the site which at the time was an Island in the
Coatzacoalcos River.  

Head # 1 of 17 so far found and numbered in
the order of discovery,  is at the Museum of
Anthropology in Xalapa, (Jalapa) the capitol of
Veracruz State.
Unusual black stones with holes that could be
fishing net weights have puzzled researcher
and visitor alike. One theory proposed is that
they are iron ore devices used to generate
sound.
Archaeological features are not evident, the
museum, however, is worth the visit for
devotees of the Olmec.
Sculptures found at the San Lorenzo and La Venta sites
have been moved to the La Venta Museum in Villa
Hermosa and the Museum of Anthropology in Xalapa.
San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan, The Olmec Homeland was first excavated by
Archaeologist Mathew Stirling in 1941 and later by Archaeologists
Michael Coe and Richard Diehl in 1967.  The site as mapped by the
Coe expedition shows artificial enlargement of plateaus to 150 feet in
height on which the Olmecs built their settlement on what was once an
island in the Coatzacoalcos River drainage system.  
The sculpted heads were moved to the
more secure and accessible Museum of
Anthropology in Xalapa (Jalapa) in Veracruz
State
Olmec Head at the Xalapa Museum
Olmec Head at the San
Lorenzo Tenochtitlan
Museum
Sculptures were moved to from San Lorenzo
and La Venta Olmec sites to the La Venta
Museum in Villa Hermosa and to the Museum
of Anthropology in Xalapa.
(Pictured above)
Olmec sculptures from La Venta Ruin Site are displayed in
the La Venta Museum in Villa Hermosa, Tabasco State
Reaching San Lorenzo and the Olmec Homeland:
Bus out of Mexico City Tapo or Norte for Veracruz.  From Veracruz head to Coatzacoalcos or
Minatitlan south east of Catemaco.  Then head by local bus to Acayucan where you get a collective taxi
for the ten miles to the small farming village of San Lorenzo.  (San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan.   Just Tenochtitlan
on some maps)
From Oaxaca , ADO first Class bus to  Coatzacoalcos or Minatitlan bus to Acayucan, taxi to San Lorenzo.

Have lots of small change for taxis and water. (5 and 10 peso, 20 peso max.)  Cash is scarce in remote
areas of Mexico
San Lorenzo, the Olmec Homeland in Veracruz, Mexico is also
called San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan and is a small, seldom visited
ruin site with a museum near Coatzalcolcos.