La Blanca facts for kids
La Blanca is an ancient city site in western Guatemala. It is found in the San Marcos Department. This important pre-Columbian site was active mostly during the Middle Preclassic period. This was from about 900 to 600 BC.
La Blanca was part of the later Mokaya culture. A smaller ancient site, Salinas La Blanca, is nearby. It is located at the mouth of the Río Naranjo river.
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Exploring the Ancient City of La Blanca
At its busiest time, La Blanca was one of the biggest ancient sites in its region. It is located on the Pacific coast. This city became a very important center. This happened after an earlier city called Ojo de Agua in Chiapas became less powerful.
La Blanca was the main power in its area for about 300 years. This time is known as the Conchas phase. Then, another city called Ujuxte, located 13 kilometers to the east, became more important. At its largest, La Blanca covered over 200 hectares. It had some of the first very large buildings in ancient Mesoamerica.
Mound 1: A Tall Ancient Pyramid
La Blanca was home to the tallest pyramid in the Pacific Lowlands. This pyramid, called Mound 1, was 25 meters high. It was built around 900 BC.
Mound 1 was one of the first pyramid temples in all of Mesoamerica. Its base measured 150 meters by 90 meters.
Monument 3: The Water Sculpture
Monument 3 was found in Mound 9 at La Blanca. This area was likely where important people lived. Digs in the mound also found things like floors and burials.
Monument 3 is a very special find in Mesoamerican archaeology. It is a sculpture shaped like a quatrefoil. A quatrefoil is a shape with four lobes, like a four-leaf clover. It was made from packed earth and covered with dark clay. The inside edge was painted red. The monument is 2.1 meters wide.
The La Blanca quatrefoil has a channel around its edge. This channel likely carried water into the middle basin. Experts think this sculpture was used for special water rituals. These rituals might have been about water or making things grow. The quatrefoil shape often means a watery doorway to the spirit world in ancient art. This sculpture, from about 850 BC, is the oldest quatrefoil known in Mesoamerica.
The way the outer rings are tilted and the basin is shaped suggests it held liquid. Water would flow into the center. Similar water-filled basins were used in ancient Oaxaca for telling the future.
Ancient Figurines of La Blanca
Many small clay figures have been found at La Blanca. These figures were shaped by hand.
Some of these figurines have puffy faces. These faces are similar to those seen on "Potbelly" sculptures. They also look like the large heads from the Monte Alto culture. Some figures from La Blanca have closed eyes with puffy eyelids and swollen cheeks. These features are like those seen on the Monte Alto heads and potbellies.
