 Due to its location in a pass between the river valleys to the south and the northwest, and its proximity to basalt sources in the volcanic Tuxtla Mountains to the north, Laguna de los Cerros was occupied over an uncharacteristically long period – perhaps close to 2,000 years, from Olmec times until the Classic era.Laguna de los Cerros was likely settled between 1400 - 1200 BCE and by 1200 BCE it had become a regional center, covering as much as .By 1000 BCE, it had nearly doubled in size with 47 smaller sites within a radius.