ABSTRACT
This chapter brings several kinds of evidence to bear on the question of how La Ventans defined power. It examines the region from where the La Ventans procured their building and sculptural materials as the likely terrestrial model for the design of the site. The chapter discusses the practices of replication and repetition that the La Ventans used in creating the ritual space and provides analogies with other cultures in which these practices make a place powerful. It explores parallels between contemporary Mixe shamanism and ritual practice and some major features of La Venta. The chapter considers the importance of the small stone figurines of precious materials cached in the ceremonial court as representations of specific meditative postures. It suggests that the La Ventans and, to some extent, other Middle Formative people developed a manifold notion of power that incorporated several aspects not widely familiar in contemporary Western societies.
