The Ojochi phase marks the earliest ceramic sequence at San Lorenzo, forming a baseline for the later “Olmec-style” ceramic tradition and helping define the beginning of the regional Formative-period pottery sequence.
At El Manatí, early deposits in a spring (including broken ceramics and other offerings) mark some of the earliest known ritual activity in the Olmec heartland, providing key evidence for very early ceramic use and ceremonial deposition practices.
During the Bajío phase, San Lorenzo’s ceramic assemblage continues from earlier traditions but shows growth and change alongside increasing settlement complexity—setting the stage for later hallmark Olmec vessel forms and decoration.
The Chicharras phase at San Lorenzo is widely treated as the point when more characteristically Olmec materials become visible in the ceramic and figurine record, marking a shift toward recognizably “Olmec” styles.
In the San Lorenzo phase, the site reaches major prominence and its ceramics become a key reference collection for defining Early Olmec styles, including vessel techniques, forms, and iconographic motifs used for interregional comparison.
Ceramic evidence at Cantón Corralito (coastal Chiapas) indicates substantial movement of Olmec-style pottery and figurines from the San Lorenzo area, documenting long-distance exchange and the spread of specific carved/incised ceramic types.
The Nacaste phase corresponds to San Lorenzo’s early Middle Formative decline. Ceramic change through this interval helps track shifting production and use patterns as regional political and ritual centers reconfigured.
As La Venta becomes a major Olmec center, archaeologists define Phases I–IV (primarily from Complex A) to structure the site’s ceramic and occupational sequence, broadly spanning the later Olmec era.
Radiocarbon samples from La Venta’s Complex A provide an approximate anchor for Phase I (reported as an average around 814 BCE, with substantial uncertainty), supporting the broader 900–400 BCE occupational range used for the site’s ceramic phasing.
La Venta’s Phase II is associated with a reported radiocarbon date around 804 BCE (from Complex A), contributing to the loose but widely cited chronological structure used to contextualize later Olmec ceramic and offering deposits.
The Palangana phase represents a long later span of occupation in the San Lorenzo sequence. Its pottery provides a crucial bridge for comparing Gulf Coast ceramics with contemporaneous Middle Formative developments elsewhere in Mesoamerica.
Based on post-Phase IV dating and excavation history at Complex A, scholars have estimated the end of Phase IV broadly between about 450 and 325 BCE, aligning with the waning of major Olmec ceremonial activity and corresponding late ceramic horizons.
Olmec ceramic traditions and pottery sequence (c. 1600–400 BCE)
