Ancient site · Settlement
Paso de la Amada
A village of the Mokaya people on the Pacific coastal plain of Chiapas, Mexico, covering about 50 hectares. It holds the oldest known Mesoamerican ballcourt, a long earthen court built around 1650 BCE, centuries before the Olmec heyday, showing that the famous ball game is very old.
Large house platforms that grew over time suggest that some families were gaining rank, an early sign of social inequality in the region. Later pottery shows contact with the Olmecs.
- Dates
- c. 1800–1000 BCE
- Still standing
- No, or only traces
- Location
- 14.88° N, 92.49° W
How we know
No writing existed; the site is dated by radiocarbon and by its pottery, which belongs to the Mokaya tradition.
Nearby sites
- Kaminaljuyu c. 1500 BCE – 1200 CE (peak c. 400–100 BCE)
- La Venta c. 1200–400 BCE (main centre c. 900–400 BCE)
- San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán Olmec centre c. 1400–900 BCE
- Tikal (early phase) first farmers c. 1000 BCE; major building from c. 400 BCE; abandoned c. 900 CE
- El Mirador main city c. 600 BCE – 150 CE (later reoccupied)
- San Bartolo c. 400 BCE – 400 CE (murals c. 100 BCE)