This small museum on Santiago Tuxtla's main plaza focuses on the pre-Hispanic peoples that inhabited this region from 1600 BCE to around 1200 CE, with a particular emphasis on the Olmec, Mexico's first-known major civilization. Artifacts include a Totonac effigy of a woman who died in childbirth, ceramic plates used in human-sacrifice ceremonies on the Isla de Sacrificios, Olmec stone carvings (including a colossal head), a monkey-faced hacha (ax) with obsidian eyes, and a Tres Zapotes altar replica.
There's also an interesting Spanish colonial room, with impressive suits of armor (including one with a skull-like visor) and a bust of poor Cuauhtémoc, the last Aztec emperor. Sadly, there's no labeling in English.
