An Unexplored Realm in the Heartland of the Southern Gulf ... - Famsi

science techniques have produced changes in survey methods and are transforming
modeling approaches (e.g., Allen et al. 1991; Barcelo and Pallares 1996; Conyers et al.
2002; Kvamme 1999, 2001, 2003; Poe 1997).
The investigation of El Marquesillo was an opportunity to examine a previously
undocumented civic-ceremonial center whose role within the social and economic
landscape of the Formative period Southern Gulf Lowlands was unknown. It was also an
opportunity to apply a variety of integrated survey and prospection techniques to
document the landscape signatures and constituents of the site and its surroundings.
Although the primary focus was site specific, informal surveys were made within a 10
km radius that revealed numerous smaller sites that extended chronologically from the
Formative to Classic periods based on surface artifacts and architectural remains.
At El Marquesillo, the topography of the site was mapped using an electronic total
station and Global Positioning System (GPS). Subsurface prospection was accomplished
through magnetometry and soil surveys. Non-invasive, non-destructive methods were
employed as a way to search for the material traces left on the land by human
development. Recording the presence and nature of these surface and subsurface deposits
generated an initial diachronic picture of settlement pattern organization, allowed
recognition of activity loci, and permitted an assessment of the degree to which the site’s
residents were involved in regional socioeconomic exchange networks and political-ritual
ideology.
116