The Olmec site of La Venta, located on Mexico's Gulf Coast, has intrigued archaeologists with its stone sculptures, ceremonial caches, and massive earthen constructions for seven decades. Only in the last twenty years have conditions emeged that allow archaeologists to investigate readily the settlement and subsistence patterns that sustained the rise of the La Venta urban center. Recent studies at the site of Isla Alor demonstrate that a wide range of useful data can be recovered from domestic sites that formed the base of the regional settlement hierarchy of the La Venta hinterland. Isla Alor provides primary evidence of household activities, including ceramics, obsidian tools, and subsistence resources. This research suggests that regional site formation processes probably favor the preservation of many sites such as Isla Alor.