Izapa, Chiapas, Group A, Tree Of Life
Mexico Tour And Travel
Pictures And Photos

George And Audrey DeLange

Izapa Group A and B: The turnoff is located about 700m. from the entrance to Group F on the road that leads back toward the Chiapas town of Tapachula. Look for a very narrow gravel road that leads off into the jungle through farm fields and yards of the farm owners. It will be on your left side of the road as you are traveling toward Tapachula from Group F. There is no sign to notify you of the road. If you get lost, the caretaker at Group F can direct you. You will notice monuments in the yards and fields of the land owners as you travel the road. After your first turn off from the main road, after traveling about 800m., you will find a sign at a fork in the road with one fork going to Group B and the other to Group A. When you find the sign you are close to both sites. We visited the site of Izapa Group A and B on January 29, 2004. When you visit the site you will pass through the front and back yards of the many farm houses that cover the area. Be sure to remember that you are a guest upon other peoples private property. Some of these people are having a hard time just to make enough money to get by. It would be appropriate to make a small donation to these people for parking upon their property as you feel fit to make. At Group A and B you will be parking on private property. You must ask permission to park and a tip is certainly in order. Perhaps the most controversal and important stele in the MesoAmerican World is located at Izapa Group A. It is Stele 5. We are including ample photographs and drawings of the stone on this page for your examination. Three of the pictures on our page are not our original work. We have no idea whose work it is. We of course can not give permission for the use of those three pictures. They are marked with an * in the text under the picture. If anyone knows who to give credit to for those three photos, we would welcome the opportunity to do so. There are many web sites that explain Stele 5, known as "The Tree Of Life". We will therefor make no attempt to explain the stele on our web page. You are free to use our photos for wholesome purposes that are supportive of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints. This web site is not sponsored or endorsed by The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints in any way. It is our understanding that The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints has no official position on any hypothesis concerning Stele 5. The "Tree Of Life" Stele 5 stone is very worn due to it's exposure to the elements. Several researchers had to enhance their photos to show the detail. Some of the drawings were made from rubbings off of the stone. We had to do some enhancement to the photos to get the detail to show better. The enhancement was only done by increasing the contrast to the original digital photos.