Ritual use of the freshwater spring and adjacent wetland begins at El Manatí, forming the earliest stratigraphic phase (Manatí A) of the offering deposits at the base of Cerro Manatí, near the Olmec heartland.
Some of the oldest deposits include rubber balls placed in ritual contexts at the spring—among the earliest known rubber artifacts in Mesoamerica—indicating the early ceremonial significance of rubber at El Manatí.
Greenstone/jadeite celts (ceremonial axes) appear among the offerings, reflecting the high-value materials committed to ritual deposition at El Manatí during the Early Formative period.
A second major episode of ritual deposition (Manatí B) follows the earliest phase, continuing the tradition of placing offerings at the spring and wetland setting over subsequent centuries.
Human remains—especially infants or unborn/newborn individuals—are recovered from the deposit area, consistent with sacrificial or dedicatory practices associated with the spring and wetland offerings.
Ritual activity at El Manatí is linked by researchers to the spring, nearby hill, and local mineral resources, including specular hematite, which is discussed as part of the setting and meaning of the offerings.
Multiple rubber balls are documented in association with jade/greenstone axes within offering bundles, underscoring structured placement (not casual discard) and sustained ritual use of rubber at the site.
A major offering episode includes carved wooden busts—exceptionally preserved by anaerobic wetland conditions—with radiocarbon results reported around 1200 BCE, making them among the earliest known wooden artifacts from Mexico.
Many wooden busts were deposited wrapped in petates (vegetable-fiber mats) and ritually buried, a practice highlighted as very early evidence for funerary-style wrappings in Mexico.
A later construction/deposition stage—commonly termed the Macayal/Mayacal phase in published summaries—frames part of the late sequence of offerings at El Manatí, including contexts in which wooden bust deposits are placed.
The defined stratigraphic sequence of major ritual deposits at El Manatí is placed by researchers as ending by roughly the mid–2nd millennium to early–1st millennium BCE transition, with a terminal date around 1040 BCE in one published framework.
Residents exposed unusual artifacts while digging fish ponds; the discovery was reported and became the basis for subsequent archaeological investigation by INAH-associated researchers.
INAH researchers published an early formal account of fieldwork as a preliminary report for the 1988 season of the Proyecto Manatí, documenting the project’s initial excavation and research framework.
A subsequent INAH publication reported on the 1989 field season, consolidating documentation of El Manatí’s offering contexts and strengthening the scholarly record for this unusual wetland ritual site.
El Manatí sacrificial offerings and ritual deposits (c. 1600–900 BCE)
