• Around Mexico City
  • Mexico
  • Tlaxcala
  • Puebla
  • Morelos
  • Hidalgo
• Colonial States
  • Queretaro
  • Guanajuato
  • Aguascalientes
  • San Luis Potosí
  • Jalisco
  • Zacatecas
  • Michoacán
• The Pacific
  • Sinaloa
  • Chihuahua
  • Coahuila
  • Nuevo León
  • State of Durango
  • State of Nayarit
  • Tamaulipas
• The North
  • Sonora
  • Chihuahua
  • Colima
  • Colima
  • Mexico
• Baja Peninsular
  • Baja California Sur
  • Baja California Norte
• The South
  • Oaxaca
  • Chiapas
  • Tobasco
  • Veracruz
• The Yucatan Peninsular
  • Yucatán
  • Quintana Roo
  • Campeche

• Famous Mexican Cities
• Maya Civilization
• Useful Resources
• News Aarchives

Mexico Travel :: State of Tabasco

The steamy Gulf state of Tabasco was the site of La Venta, the largest Olmec city, which contained 18,000 inhabitants at its zenith between 800 and 500 BC. On an island on the Tonala River delta 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the Gulf, archeologists found the remains of a 34-meter (112-foot)-tall ceremonial mound, four colossal heads, mosaic floors in the shape of jaguar masks and tombs made of basalt pillars, containing offerings of jade figurines arranged in circular ceremonial scenes. Between AD 200 and 900, Tabasco lay on the western border of the Classic Maya expansion. The only major site was Comalcalco, northwest of Villahermosa. After AD 900, the state was the home of the Chontal-speaking Putun Maya, who were known to the Aztecs as the Olmeca-Xicallanca. These aggressive traders penetrated as far as Oaxaca, Cholula and Cacaxtla in central Mexico; not much is known about their culture along the Gulf coast.

In 1518, Juan de Grijalva landed in Tabasco, and he was soon followed by Cortes, who landed his expedition at a Putun Maya town called Potonchan. The Spanish won a bloody victory against a large Maya army near a town up the Rio Grijalva named Tabasco (now Villahermosa) and were given a peace offering of 20 Indian maidens. Among them was La Malinche, whose assistance proved crucial to the Spanish effort. Cortes passed through the region again in 1525 on his expedition to Honduras, but the state wasn't conquered until the next decade by Francisco de Montejo. Spanish colonization arrived slowly in Tabasco due to its isolation and lack of rich resources to exploit. During the last three decades, huge oil deposits have been found underneath and offshore Tabasco; the state is now booming with petroleum-induced prosperity.

Featured Mexico Travel Destinations

Alameda: Monterrey

Alameda: Monterrey This is a park for kids and adult. A nice place with a lot of hotels nearby for travellers. Address : Avenida Pino Suárez y

Mexico has nothing to say about wall

Mexico has nothing to say about wall The article ("The other side of the fence," Dec.21, Page A-1) about Mexico's reaction to a proposed bill to

Mexico to lose money on energy subsidies

Mexico to lose money on energy subsidies Temporary limits on the price of natural gas and liquefied natural gas will cost Mexico's government about US$850

US Gulf of Mexico oil output shut-MMS

Offshore U.S. crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was totally shut on Saturday with natural gas output also lower, the U.S. Minerals

Jose Clemente Orozco : Guadalajara

Jose Clemente Orozco : Guadalajara We are in process of collecting information about this sight....

Mexico City, Built on `Gelatin,' Unprepared for the Next Quake

Mexico City, Built on `Gelatin,' Unprepared for the Next Quake The abandoned 15-story building in downtown Mexico City that once served as a federal budget

Nuñez Trip Hits Heavy Resistance

Nuñez Trip Hits Heavy Resistance California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez is one of a new generation of Spanish-speaking politicians who represent an increasingly potent Latino constituency.

Actor Mel Gibson donates U.S.$1 million to Mexico's hurricane relief

Actor Mel Gibson donates U.S.$1 million to Mexico's hurricane relief Actor Mel Gibson, sporting a long beard and no socks, met with Mexican President Vicente Fox

Museo de la Policia Preventiva de la Ciudad de Mexico

Museo de la Policia Preventiva de la Ciudad de Mexico

Mexico's Cemex sees Q4 EBITDA up 63 pct

Mexico's Cemex sees Q4 EBITDA up 63 pct Mexico's Cemex, the world's third biggest cement maker, expects a 63 percent rise in fourth-quarter earnings before interest,