Monte Alto is an ancient site in what is now Guatemala.

Located 20 Km. South East from Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, and 4 Km. from La Democracia, in Escuintla. Monte Alto (1800 BC to 200 AD) is a large predominately Late Pre Classic regional center. There is a light Early to Middle Pre Classic presence but significantly less than either El Bálsamo or Los Cerritos Sur located about 10 km west and east of Monte Alto respectively. The site has 45 major structures, being the tallest a Pyramid 10 mt. high. The Monte Alto Culture is one of the Oldest in Mesoamerica and perhaps it was the Original Culture that lead other cultures such as the Olmec and Maya. The archaeologist refer to them as Pre-Olmec, but they deserve to be named with their own Name. Escuintla (sometimes spelled Esquintla) is a small city in south central Guatemala. ... The cultural areas of Mesoamerica The term Mesoamérica is used to refer to a geographical region that extends roughly from the Tropic of Cancer in central Mexico down through Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua to northwestern Costa Rica, and which is characterized by the particular cultural homogeneity... Monument 1, one of the four Olmec colossal heads at La Venta. ... The word Maya or maya can refer to: // The Maya, Native American peoples of southern Mexico and northern Central America Maya peoples, the contemporary indigenous peoples Maya civilization, their historical pre-Columbian civilization Mayan languages, the family of languages spoken by the Maya Maya people, an Australian Aboriginal tribe Maya... Monument 1, one of the four Olmec colossal heads at La Venta. ...

Although Monte Alto is noted for its sculptures (heads and potbellies), more than a dozen tabular shaped stone Stelas were found as well as three stone Altars. 15 plain Stelas were recorded at Monte Alto and one alignment of three large plain Stelas erected in a north south line could have served astronomical purposes as a means for recording days and the position of the sun for agricultural purposes, in fact, The azimuth from the principal pyramid to the south Stela marked the winter solstice on December 21. The sun rose over the central Stela on February 19, February 19 at midnight marks the eastern elongation of Eta Draconis during the Late Preclassic period. According to Marion Popenoe de Hatch, Eta Draconis shows unusual stability and that from 1800 B.C. to A.D. 500 the annual date of its meridian midnight transit varied less than one day (Popenoe de Hatch, 1975). She has shown that alignments of certain monuments at Takalik Abaj, also mark the eastern elongation of Eta Draconis at various periods during Tak'alik Abaj existence.[1] Stele is also a concept in plant biology. ... Look up Altar in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Astronomy, which etymologically means law of the stars, (from Greek: αστρονομία = άστρον + νόμος) is a science involving the observation and explanation of events occurring outside Earth and its atmosphere. ... Azimuth is the horizontal component of a direction (compass direction), measured around the horizon, usually from the north toward the east — i. ... A pyramid is any three-dimensional structure where the upper surfaces are triangular and converge on one point. ... Illumination of Earth by Sun on the day of the northern hemisphere winter solstice Illumination of Earth by Sun on the day of the southern hemisphere winter solstice In astronomy, the winter solstice is the moment when the earth is at a point in its orbit where one hemisphere is... Takalik Abaj is an archeological site, formerly a site of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization. ...

Many of the Monte Alto sculptures are magnetic as well. Although certain distinctive patterns of magnetism recur with some frequency, it would appear that the sculptures were executed by artisans who were aware of these properties. If this is true, the Monte Alto sculptures no doubt deserve recognition as the oldest known magnetic artifacts in the world. [2] Sculptor redirects here. ...

Two general styles of sculpture are found the Monte Alto site, one representing a human head, and the other, a human body. Since both the heads and the bodies are rather crudely shaped from large, rounded basaltic boulders, the subjects have a decidedly corpulent appearance. Because they seem to be male figures, they have been termed "potbellies" in the archaeological literature. Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ...

Of the collection of "potbellies" sculptures from Monte Alto on display in the town park of La Democracia, Guatemala and in front of its local museum, four of the heads and three of the bodies were found to have magnetic properties. All four of the heads have a north magnetic pole located in their right temples, while three of them have south magnetic poles below the right ear and the fourth (that in front of the museum) has a south magnetic pole in its left temple, Such a pattern of occurrence is unlikely to be a matter of chance, even in a sample size as small as four.

There is also a substantial Early Classic occupation but it is largely localized at Structure 6, a large platform located well to the northeast.[3].

references

Famsi: Monte Alto (UTM 722341E, 1573508N)

Parsons, Lee A. 1976 Excavation of Monte Alto, Escuintla, Guatemala In Research Reports: Abstracts and Reviews of Research during the Year 1968. pp. 325-332 National Geographic Society, Washington, DC

Popenoe De Hatch, Marion 1989 A seriation of Monte Alto sculptures In New Frontiers in the Archaeology of the Pacific Coast of Southern Mesoamerica. Frederick Bove and Lynette Heller, eds. pp. 25-42 Anthropological Research Papers, 39 Arizona State University, Tempe

• [4]] Guatemala Pacific Lowlands sites