| Abstract: | The pyramid at La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico, was surveyed in May 1969 with a high-sensitivity difference magnetometer. The general pattern of the magnetic map is one of low (10-gamma) radial anomalies, which reflect the ridge and gully topography of the pyramid, with a larger magnetic high area (+30 gammas) centered 25 meters south and 10 meters east of the center of the pyramid. The anomalous region near the top has been interpreted with the aid of computer-calculated anomalies from three-dimensional rectangular blocks. The major high is probably associated with a basalt structure that rises to within 1 to 2 meters of the surface. A possible form for this structure was found to be a 10-meter-square horizontal platform with walls along its northern and eastern margin. |
