Izapa is a very large pre-Columbian archaeological site located in the Mexican state of Chiapas; it was occupied during the Late Formative period. The site is situated on the Izapa River, a tributary of the Suchiate River, near the base of the Tacaná volcano), the fourth largest mountain in Mexico.
The settlement at Izapa extended over 1.4 miles, making it the largest site in Chiapas. The site reached its apogee between 600 BCE and 100 CE; several archaeologists have theorized that Izapa may have been settled as early as 1500 BCE, making it as old as the Olmec sites of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán and La Venta. Izapa remained occupied through the Late Classic period. The period of Izapa’s height is still unknown due to little material for carbon dating, so the issue is still widely debated.
Due to the abundance of carved Maya stelae and monuments at Izapa, the term "Izapa style" is used to describe similarly executed works throughout the Pacific foothills and highlands beyond, including some found at Takalik Abaj and Kaminaljuyu.
Izapa is located on wet and hilly land made of volcanic soil, though it is still fertile for agriculture. The weather is very hot and very wet. The area around Izapa was a major cacao producing area known as the Soconusco region, which was used by the Aztecs.
Izapa was a large site that included extensive monuments and architecture. The site had eight groups of mounds with between 80 and 130 total mounds, of which roughly only half have been restored. Izapa’s architecture makes up roughly 250,000 cubic meters when combined. The site included pyramids, sculptured plazas and squares, and possibly two ball courts. There are two long open areas that resemble ball courts found at other Mesoamerican sites, but it is unclear if these two courts were used for the ballgame. Mound 30A was where a stepped pyramid was built. This pyramid was around ten meters high and probably used for religious and ceremonial purposes.
Like many Mesoamerican sites, Izapa is laid out just east of true north, It is aligned with the volcano Tacaná and also seems to be situated to the December solstice horizon.