File:Villahermosa, Parque-Museo La Venta, The Old Warrior (20498593120).jpg

Villahermosa, Parque-Museo La Venta, The Old Warrior, Monument 4

The Olmec colossal heads are at least seventeen monumental stone representations of human heads sculpted from large basalt boulders. The heads are a distinctive feature of the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. All portray mature men with fleshy cheeks, flat noses, and slightly crossed eyes; their physical characteristics correspond to a type that is still common among the inhabitants of Tabasco and Veracruz. The backs of the monuments often are flat. The boulders were brought from the Sierra de los Tuxtlas mountains of Veracruz. Given that the extremely large slabs of stone used in their production were transported over large distances, requiring a great deal of human effort and resources, it is thought that the monuments represent portraits of powerful individual Olmec rulers. Each of the known examples has a distinctive headdress. The heads were variously arranged in lines or groups at major Olmec centres, but the method and logistics used to transport the stone to these sites remain unclear.

Dating the monuments remains difficult because of the movement of many from their original contexts prior to archaeological investigation. Most have been dated to the Early Preclassic period (1500–1000 BC) with some to the Middle Preclassic (1000–400 BC) period. The smallest weigh 6 tons, while the largest is variously estimated to weigh 40 to 50 tons, although it was abandoned and left unfinished close to the source of its stone.

The Olmec civilization developed in the lowlands of southeastern Mexico between 1500 and 400 BC. The Olmec heartland lies on the Gulf Coast of Mexico within the states of Veracruz and Tabasco, an area measuring approximately 275 kilometres east to west and extending about 100 kilometres inland from the coast. The Olmecs are regarded as the first civilization to develop in Mesoamerica.

The Olmecs were the first inhabitants of the Americas to construct monumental architecture and to settle in towns and cities. They were also the first people in the Americas to develop a sophisticated style of stone sculpture. In the first decade of the 21st century evidence emerged of Olmec writing, with the earliest examples of Olmec hieroglyphs dating to around 650 BC. Examples of script have been found on roller stamps and stone artefacts; the texts are short and have been partially deciphered based on their similarity to other Mesoamerican scripts. The evidence of complex society developing in the Olmec heartland has led to the Olmecs being regarded as the "Mother Culture" of Mesoamerica, although this concept remains controversial.

The seventeen confirmed examples of Olmec colossal heads are known from four sites within the Olmec heartland on the Gulf Coast of Mexico, namely San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, La Venta, Tres Zapotes, and La Cobata.

La Venta Monument 4 measures 2.26 metres high by 1.98 metres wide and 1.86 metres deep. It weighs 19.8 tons. It was found a few metres to the west of Monument 2 and has been moved to the Parque-Museo La Venta. As with the other heads in the group, its archaeological context has been radiocarbon dated to between 1000 and 600 BC. The headdress is elaborate and, although damaged, various details are still discernible. The base of the headdress is formed by three horizontal strips running over the forehead. One side is decorated with a double-disc motif that may have been repeated on the other; if so, damage to the right side has obliterated any trace of it. The top of the headdress is decorated with the clawed foot of a bird of prey. Either straps or plaits of hair descend on either side of the face, from the headdress to the base of the monument. Only one earspool survives; it is flat, in the form of a rounded square, and is decorated with a cross motif. The ears have been completely eroded away and the lips are damaged. The surviving features display a frown and creasing around the nose and cheeks. The head displays prominent teeth.