Mexico - El Arco del Tiempo del Río La Venta

The site called "Arco del Tiempo del Río La Venta" (Arch of Time of La Venta River), is located on an area of geological formations over 87 thousand years old, with predominant karst landforms, because of limestone dissolution. Part of La Venta River is skirted by high cliffs, forming a canyon with limestone walls that reach heights over 500 meters. This canyon has a length of 84 km and many natural caves have been formed in its walls. The whole ensemble is a karst system, which added to tectonic factors, has originated depressions that can be physically observed such as abysses, fissures, dolines and caverns. It stands out the López Mateos karst system (named as such given its proximity to the homonymous community) which brings together speleological, natural and archaeological wealth in a tropical karst area, unique and emblematic (Bernabei et al. 1999). The caves of La Venta River keep much archaeological evidence of its Prehispanic occupation, as well as important characteristics from the point of view of stratigraphy and culture. The climatic features and the geological context of the area have allowed that artifacts made with organic materials that are rarely conserved in open archaeological sites have been conserved in several caves of the Canyon of La Venta River.