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Group 1 consists of sculptures in which the natural surface of the stone is minimally modified by cupping, grooving and incision. Sculptures in this group are all petroglyphic boulder sculptures. Sculptural themes in this group are Zoomorphs, Cerro el Vigia Monument 4, Saltillo Monument 1 and Lirios Monument 1; Anthropomorphs, Monument 19? and Saltillo Monument 1.
Monument 31, Cerro el Vigia Monument 4, Saltillo Monument 1 and Lirios Monument 1 show incision in the form of smoothly grooved lines. Saltillo Monument 1 and Lirios Monument 1 show cupules.
Group 2 consists of sculptures in which major features are represented in incision or low relief with incised detail. The natural surface of the stone is retained wherever its removal is not essential to the depiction and the surface of the sculpture adheres closely to the natural surface of the stone. No clothing or body ornament are depicted. Sculptural themes in this group are, Zoomorphs, Totogal Monument 1, Cerro el Vigia Monument 2; Seated Figures, Monument 12 (a potbelly); Bound Captives, Monument 26; Tenoned Busts, Monument 29, Hueyapan de Mimendez Monument 1 and Tlapacoya Monument 1.
Monument 12, Totogal Monument 1, Chamilpa Monument 1 and Cerro el Vigia Monument 2 are the most primitive examples of this group with most features defined by simple incision. However, the relief treatment of the limbs and head of Monument 12 and Totogal Monument 1 as well as the serpent coils of Cerro el Vigia Monument 2 elevate them beyond the simple petroglyphs of Group 1.
Monuments 26, 29, Hueyapan de Mimendez Monument 1 and La Providencia Monument 1 and Tlapacoya Monument 1 are the most advanced of Group 2 sculptures with most features in low relief and the tenons of tenoned examples bearing few traces of uncarved stone. The head of La Providencia Monument 1 projects from the top surface of its horizontal tenon and gazes straight ahead. Tlapacoya Monument 1 has a vertical tenon with its head on a horizontal axis.
Group 3a consists of sculptures in which major features are represented in the round or in the half round with relief detailing. Modeling is concentrated on the front of the face. Forms are massive and compact with no deep declivities and no perforation of the stone. Some natural surfaces are left unworked in areas that would not be seen. There is little body ornament and no clothing is depicted. This group is somewhat more uniform than Group 2 and has not been subdivided into simple and advanced subclasses. Sculptural themes are Seated Figures Monument 10, Hueyapan de Mimendez Monument 2 (a potbelly); Tenoned Busts, Monument 6; Colossal heads, Monument 1; and Monument 8.
Seated Figures in this group have well defined limbs which are connected to the mass of the torso by stone webs or buttresses. However, the limbs are simply treated and project only slightly from the mass of the torso.
Tenoned Busts in this group have well defined limbs which are connected to the mass of the torso by stone webs or buttresses. The head of Monument 6 is on the same axis as its tenon and peers straight ahead. Another example of a tenoned bust with group 3a characteristics is La Venta Monument 56.
Monument 1, the colossal head from this group shows many technical advances over the simple relief treatment of Cerro el Vigia Monument 1. Even though the forms of Tres Zapotes Monument 1 are more rounded and naturalistic than Cerro el Vigia Monument 1, they still adhere closely to the outlines of the blocky colossal throne from which it was almost certainly carved.
Large cubical "Olmec altars", probably thrones, have not yet been found at Tres Zapotes. However, recent study suggests that flat-backed colossal heads, such as Monument 1, represent recarved Olmec "altars" (Porter 1989, 1990) If that suggestion is true, such altars form a hidden component of Group 3 and probably Group 4 as well.
Group 3b consists of sculptures in which major features are represented by angular geometric forms ornamented with incision or flat relief with incised detail. Sculptural themes are Tenoned Busts, Monument 27?, Cerro el Vigia Monument 3; and, possibly, the Colossal head, Cerro el Vigia Monument 1. Group 3b is extremely interesting for the evidence it provides of a distinctive geometric substyle of Olmec sculpture. Prior to the examination of the pieces composing Group 3b La Venta Altar 6 had been believed to be unique. Yet, remnants of this substyle are found throughout the same range as the more common Olmec style sculpture.
Cerro el Vigia Monument 1 employs somewhat bolder relief with traces of modeling around the eyes, though the ears are represented by simple incised lines in a low relief mass. The head of Cerro el Vigia Monument 3 projects from the top surface of its horizontal tenon and gazes straight ahead while the head of Miscellaneous 6 is on the same axis as its tenon and peers straight ahead. Monument 29 has a vertical tenon with its head on a horizontal axis.
Group 4 consists of sculpture in which major features are represented in the round or in the half round with relief detailing. All surfaces are artificially modified and many show considerable modeling. Deep declivities and perforations often separate limbs from the mass of the torso. Clothing and body ornament is more abundant and complex than in Group 3. Sculptural themes are Seated Figures, Monuments 9, 13, 23?; Tenoned Busts, Monuments 7, 18, 19 and Panatlan Monument 1; Colossal heads, Monuments 17, 22; Composite Sculpture, Monuments 15, 16, 33, 34, 25 and La Puente Monument 1; Proscenium Monuments, Stela A; and a small fragment of a grotesque head, Miscellaneous *.
Seated figures in this group have well defined limbs which are not connected to the mass of the torso by stone webs or buttresses. Though the arms and legs of Monument 13 are broken it is clear that the space between the limbs and the torso was pierced through. The absence of scars for the hands on the knees of Monument 9 and the worked surface on the bottom suggest that it also belongs in this group. Both figures are clothed in relief with incised detail upon the raised areas. Monument 23 is so badly battered that little can be said concerning it. However, the remaining surfaces show deep declivities with double wristbands or legbands in relief.
Tenoned Busts in this group have well defined limbs which are connected to the mass of the torso by stone webs or buttresses. Necklaces, wristlets and possibly clothing are also present on Group 4 Tenoned Busts. The heads of Monuments 7 and Panatlan Monument 1 project from the top surface of the tenon, though the face of Monument 7 gazes upward while the face of Panatlan Monument 1 gazes straight ahead. Scars on the upper surface of the tenons of Monuments 18 and 19 suggest the heads of these sculptures also projected from the top of the tenon like Monument 7 and Panatlan Monument 1.
Colossal heads in this group appear in two distinct forms. Monument 17 is a logical outgrowth of the tradition of interest in natural forms seen in the earlier Tres Zapotes Monument 1 and in Cerro el Vigia Monument 1. However, Monument 22, a column head, represents an Olmec tradition of interest in unnatural forms which is quit distinct from the naturalistic focus apparent in Cerro el Vigia Monument 1, Monument 1 and Monument 17.
Composite sculptures are assemblages of two or more stones. La Puente Monument 1, a detached arm, is a finished work with full detailing. However, work on Tres Zapotes Monument 25, a large grotesque head with a short tenon at the neck, and Monuments 15 and 16, another pair of detached arms, was abandoned after they had been roughly blocked out without any detailing. Monuments 15 and 16 were probably intended as companions to Monument 25 since they bear identical surface treatments. The complex projecting masses of Monuments 15 and 16 suggest that they postdate La Puente Monument 1 with its simpler relief forms.
Monuments 33 and 34 represent another kind of composite sculpture. Monument 33 is an upright column with a tenon at the base which was found set up in a hole in the center of Monument 34, a rectangular slab. This arrangement parallels the situation which Blom and la Farge suggested for Piedra Labrada Stela 1, an upright stone with a tenon at its base, and its support, a flat rectangle with a depression in the center (Blom and la Farge 1926:40-41). Monument 34 is also remarkably similar to a rectangular slab with a central hole, which unlike Monument 34 bears relief carving, that was found in the Early Classic Structure 4 at El Tajin (Garcia Payon 1976, Figure 46).
Proscenium Monuments are a development from the Niche Figure theme in Olmec art. However, in Proscenium Monuments the niche is transformed into open jaws with a figure or figures within. Unlike most Proscenium Monuments Stela A bears a scene with a half round figure flanked by relief figures within the jaws of the mask. The treatment of the scene within the niche of Stela A closely parallels La Venta Stela 2 which also centers on a figure in the half round flanked by pudgy low relief figures.
Group 5 consists of sculptures in which flat surface patterns with combinations of swirling and angular forms are executed in a linear style. This group includes combinant sculptures in which these formal characteristics are used to convey Olmec themes. Two sculptures in Group 5, Stelae C and D, also employ hieroglyphic writing. Sculptural themes are; Stone Boxes, Monuments 2, 3; Proscenium Sculptures, Stela D; and Stelae, Stela C.
Stone Boxes in this group, represented by Monuments 2 and 3, have practically identical dimensions. Monument 2 is plain while Monument 3 employs flat relief surface patterns to convey the Olmec theme of a pudgy dwarf surrounded by floating figures.
Stelae in this group are represented by Stela C which is a celtiform stela with tapering outlines and the front face divided into three horizontal zones bearing a destroyed basal motif, a face with buccal mask, and a headdress. Celtiform stelae like Stela C are common at La Venta, where Monuments 25/26, 58 and 66 of green schist and Monument 27 of green gneiss have been found (Porter, in press). The reverse of Stela C bears an Initial Series date, a characteristic shared only with Abaj Takalik Stela 50 among Olmec sculptures.
Proscenium Monuments in this group are represented by Stela D which has a relief scene showing a pair of figures on the right confronting a figure to the left below a "sky figure", all within the jaws of the mask. It bears hieroglyphs on the side frames, between two figures and on the cranium of the upper grotesque. The scene within the jaws of Stela D closely parallels the scenes depicted on La Venta Stela 5 and Pijijiapan Stone 1.
Group 6 consists of sculptures in which forms, themes, compositions, features and motifs unique to Olmec art do not appear at all. Sculptural forms are Stelae, Stela E; Altars, Altar 1; Basin Incensarios, Monuments 4, 14 and 21; Bedrock Sculpture, Monument 5; and Thrones, Monuments 11? and 28.
Stelae in this group are represented by Stela E which is the butt of a stela that retains a few remnants of relief carving, but no evidence of Olmec style.
Altars in this group are represented by Altar 1, a low round altar, which was discovered in front of the re-used middle fragment of Stela C (Stirling 1939).
Basin "incensarios" in this group are columnar with rounded depressions in the upper surface. Similar stone basin incensarios are also found in Late Preclassic and Early Classic Highlands and Southern Lowlands sites (Graham 1972, Miles 1965, Parsons 1969, 1986). Possibly these basin incensarios are also related to column altars of Campeche and Tabasco.
Bedrock Sculpture in this group is represented by Monument 5, a hieroglyphic text without accompanying figures. The calendar round date six Ik' is written, with the bar/dot numeral six over the day sign. The absence of a cartouche around the day sign is found on Abaj Takalik Monument 11, Kaminaljuyu Stela 10 and the Dumbarton Oaks Pectoral.
Thrones in this group are represented by Monument 11, a flat slab with a projecting support, and Monument 28, a corner of a flat slab with serpent heads carved on one side. Other examples of such monuments appear at La Venta, Kaminaljuyu and Izapa.
Tres Zapotes Monuments 20 and 34 are impossible to sequence because of the absence of chronological indicators. Monument 30 is so fragmentary that it is impossible to identify its original form.
