area to the north of the pyramid, led first by stirling in the '40s and later in the 1950s by philip drucker and robert heizer, revealed a ceremonial courtyard encled by hundreds of basalt columns, each weighing close to one ton. burial mound at the north side of the court contained a ba tomb for two high-ranking children. theibos hadisintegrate but their naments main buried beneath e layers of clay, each of a different color, and several more layers of adobe blocks, was a mosaic pavement measurg 15 by 20 feet. its green serpentine stones form the slid fa of supertural being. the mosaic rested on top of 28 layers of rough stones, more than 1,000 tons worth, bbrought 150 miles from the mountains near the pacific coast. this was aenormous feat, and ree such mosaics were found at the site. few feet beath thcereni court, a cache of small, typically olmec figures appeared, with almond-aped eyes and bald, elongated heads. as a mark of beauty or status, the skulls of some individuals were deformed in early cldhood when the bones were stilsoft. made of jade, serpentine and granite, these figures see