Olmec colossal heads the monuments with ropes. Two heads from San Lorenzo have traces of niches that are characteristic of monumental Olmec thrones and so were definitely reworked from earlier monuments. Seventeen confirmed examples are known. An additional monument, at Takalik Abaj in Guatemala, is a throne that may have been carved from a colossal head. This is the only known example outside of the Olmec heartland on the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Possible fragments of additional colossal heads have been recovered at San Lorenzo and at San Fernando in Tabasco. Crude colossal stone heads are also known in the Southern Maya area
Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas important because it shows a Mixe–Zoque–Olmec culture which eventually split from the Olmec. The development of the ancient city has been divided into a number of phases. The earliest and most important are the Escalera or Chiapa III (700-500BCE) and Francesa or Chiapa IV (500BCE to 100CE) phase. Olmec influence is strongest in the Escalera phase when it became a planned town with formal plazas and monumental buildings. However, contacts with Mayan areas is evident as well. However, even during this phase, there are significant differences in architecture and pottery which suggest a distinct Zoque identity from the Mixe–Zoque/Olmec cultural