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

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horizons. Charles B. Connor helped me to better understand and explore the relationships between geology and archaeology, and he generously provided the technologies necessary for the remote sensing portions of this investigation. In the field, the archaeological survey project was facilitated by the assistance of the people of El Marquesillo. I would specifically like to thank Mario and Christina Capetillo and their family, along with Leopoldo Joachin, Eduardo Mulaga, and Martin Mollina Pérez for their efforts on my behalf. As well, the work and contributions made by Luz Benítez, Edder León Herández, and Alfredo Delgado Calderón were invaluable. I am also grateful for the authorization provided by Ing. Joaquín García-Barcena González, Presidente del Consejo de Arqueología del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) in Mexico City and the cooperation of Ing. Daniel Goeritz Rodríguez, Director del Centro INAH – Veracruz and his staff. Discussions with David Grove, Richard Diehl, Michael Coe, Thomas Killion, and Christopher Pool improved my understanding of the Formative period in Mesoamerica and enhanced my research perspectives. I wish to thank Lori Collins who provided the balance, support, and input to help me achieve the successful completion of this dissertation. Laura Conner contributed the technical expertise that allowed me to conduct the geophysical surveys in the field and to process the data. I also want to thank James Hawken, Claire Novotny, Ethan Goddard, Christopher Branas, Steven Hernandez, Alan Peche, Anthony Aveni, and Lawrence Poulsen for their help and expertise during the various surveys and analyses. Finally, I would like to express my indebtedness to John Yellen and the National Science Foundation for his assistance and their financial support via dissertation improvement grant BCS-0424526. xix
Introduction Chapter 1. Archaeology, Social Theory, and the Southern Gulf Olmec What might the presence of a ruler’s throne at El Marquesillo mean? Was this apparently small site an unknown major Olmec center that will force us to rewrite the political history of Olmec culture? (Diehl 2004:191) In January, 2002, the attention of the archaeological world was drawn to El Marquesillo when an on-line edition of El Liberal del Sur, a southern Veracruz news service, published photographs of a recently recovered monumental stone sculpture. The monolith was identified as an Olmec table-top throne (Figure 1.1). Why was this find so remarkable? What is the significance of this artifact to Formative period researchers? In Mesoamerica, monolithic stone thrones are regarded as material symbols of elite lineage status and rulership; they are literally seats of power (Clark 1997; Coe 1968; de la Fuente 1996; Gillespie 1999; Grove 1973, 1999; Taube 2004). The recovery of an Olmec-style stone altar at El Marquesillo is significant because examples comparable in size, form, and iconographic depiction have been recovered only at San Lorenzo and La Venta, the two primary central places of the Gulf Coast Olmec (Grove 1999). Substantially smaller and iconographically different versions have been found at Tres Zapotes and Laguna de los Cerros (Gillespie 2000a; Stirling 1965). Still other derivative types were recovered at Loma del Zapote and Estero Rabón; sites considered secondary support centers within the San Lorenzo polity (Cyphers 2004). 1
Page 1 and 2: An Unexplored Realm in the Heartlan
Page 3 and 4: “Note to Reader” The original o
Page 5 and 6: Confederacy Model 39 Feudalistic Mo
Page 7 and 8: Elemental Analysis of the Soils fro
Page 9 and 10: The Initial Occupation of El Marque
Page 11 and 12: List of Tables Table 5.1. Ceramic C
Page 13 and 14: Figure 3.14. Plan view of the Olmec
Page 15 and 16: Figure 5.7. Site map illustrating l
Page 17 and 18: Figure 5.53. El Marquesillo throne
Page 19 and 20: the resulting data do not fit many
Page 21: Furtherance of my academic career w
Page 25 and 26: esearch being conducted along the S
Page 27 and 28: its introduction to Mesoamerican ar
Page 29 and 30: participants. It is especially crit
Page 31 and 32: interpretations. Finally, I compare
Page 33 and 34: analogy (Diehl 1989:25; VanDerwarke
Page 35 and 36: change, fluctuates according to “
Page 37 and 38: embedded misconceptions about these
Page 39 and 40: The “Heartland” has been deline
Page 41 and 42: than a century after their occurren
Page 43 and 44: inference as opposed to evidence. T
Page 45 and 46: Sanders and Webster (1988:544) argu
Page 47 and 48: Park (1992:90) presents the Olmec a
Page 49 and 50: lowland subsistence economy until a
Page 51 and 52: Maya are lineal descendents of the
Page 53 and 54: continued to inhibit scientific inq
Page 55 and 56: describes this attempted conformanc
Page 57 and 58: The models used for evaluation of t
Page 59 and 60: number of archaeological correlates
Page 61 and 62: Confederacy Model Pool (2000:150;20
Page 63 and 64: Limitations and Cautions in the Use
Page 65 and 66: Lorenzo is considered the earliest
Page 67 and 68: Several lines of evidence suggest a
Page 69 and 70: turn, gave budding Olmec leaders co
Page 71 and 72: apid growth of settlements and thei
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techniques (Berger et al. 1967; Hei
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appear to characterize it as a “c
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iconographic detail, and appear to
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Formative period Southern Gulf Lowl
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Medellín-Zeníl (1960) found large
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de Agua, and the famous, iconograph
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egarding subsistence, settlement, p
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Introduction Chapter 3. El Marquesi
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300-900). Historical documentation
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The features of the San Juan are ch
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Figure 3.4. Aerial photograph of El
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At each of these three points of co
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El Marquesillo’s geographic locat
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of the location for more than 3,500
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The extensive Villa Alta architectu
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of constructions. This formal archi
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To achieve and maintain this elevat
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Figure 3.11. Map of the Southern Gu
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Teotihuacán and Aztec trade routes
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land was not in the form of gold an
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Huaspaltepec (Playa Vicente), betwe
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as listed in these records, include
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community members had to work the l
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The 1944 flood was a momentous even
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of ancient structures, including Ce
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to recover as much information as p
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Figure 3.17. Photograph of El Seño
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collection along the cut bank was a
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its termination line (Borstein 2001
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Figure 3.18. Illustration of San Lo
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is seated transitionally between th
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Introduction Chapter 4. El Marquesi
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Grove 1997; Tolstoy 1989). Landscap
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Determination of the Survey Area Th
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Surface Mapping and Terrain Modelin
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Global Positioning System (GPS) Map
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Figure 4.4. Map of El Marquesillo g
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have the potential to record points
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The topographic images and terrain
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Figure 4.8. Digital Terrain Model o
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Figure 4.11. View to the east of lo
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The western third of the platform h
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Figure 4.15. Elevated view of Field
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Figure 4.17. Topographic map of El
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Figure 4.19. Northwest view of spri
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Information Systems (GIS) approach
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Figure 4.21. Illustration of docume
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Magnetic Properties of Basalt The m
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Magnetic Data Collection, Condition
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The magnetometer was set to the bas
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Figure 4.23. Topographical base map
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of basalt, but instead, a body of s
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Figure 4.25. Topographic contour ma
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mercuric sulfide in the soil. There
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Coyote, Honduras (Terry et al. 2000
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intersection on the numbered rows a
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The results were reported in parts
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Figure 4.28b. Box plot summaries of
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Elemental Analysis of the Soils fro
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Summary of the Soil Analyses When t
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Figure 4.31a. Potassium distributio
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estriction prohibiting further exca
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The average depth of any observed a
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Figure 5.7. Site map illustrating l
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Figure 5.8. River cut profile 1A Le
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Figure 5.9. River cut profile 1B in
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Figure 5.10. River cut profile 2A L
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Figure 5.11. River cut profile 6B o
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Formative to Protoclassic ceramics
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fabrication methods, technologies,
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some of the Formative period wares
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The San Lorenzo Olmec Period (c. 11
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Figure 5.19. Examples of Middle For
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The Late Classic Period (c. AD 550-
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English annular ware (c. AD 1785-18
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Ceramic Collection Areas The identi
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Figure 5.26. Distribution of cerami
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Formative period accounted for 785
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The survey was conducted along the
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Figure 5.29. Diagram of Olmec thron
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Figure 5.30. Map illustrating the l
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Late Formative (263), Protoclassic
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demonstrates an analogous situation
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Offering I Figure 5.32. Locations o
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Figure 5.34. Offering I is at the c
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Figure 5.36. Two reconstructed plat
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crescent with its concave and conve
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The two figurine types are common t
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vessels that were deposited into a
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Figure 5.45. Two of three similar s
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Obsidian and Lithic Analyses The Ob
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Throne Units Test Units Offerings I
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inhabitants from other sites, or in
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Figure 5.50. Examples of stones tho
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Figure 5.51. El Marquesillo throne
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accomplished through violent blows
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Figure 5.56. Close-up of the figure
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Figure 5.58. Illustration of magnet
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Modifications to this pattern occur
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class occurred only in the presence
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appearance of ceramics occurred dur
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series of interrelated residential,
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The Early Formative period appearan
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Evidence of these constructions is
Page 281 and 282:
and the excavated pit is not known,
Page 283 and 284:
For the Gulf Olmec, monumental exhi
Page 285 and 286:
precisely. This method would also m
Page 287 and 288:
An earlier discussion suggested sty
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approximately 100 cm to 120 cm belo
Page 291 and 292:
Nevertheless, the structural design
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discussion about the antiquity of t
Page 295 and 296:
6.3). At La Venta equivalent basalt
Page 297 and 298:
shamanistic ritual and rulership (F
Page 299 and 300:
elevation provides an excellent ove
Page 301 and 302:
further support to the idea that El
Page 303 and 304:
Also contributing to the ceramic pr
Page 305 and 306:
Another possible basalt deposition
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off is dramatic to say the least. T
Page 309 and 310:
direction, a series of hills approx
Page 311 and 312:
Finally, the selection and investig
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a metaphor for the movements of the
Page 315 and 316:
plaza complex is also oriented to p
Page 317 and 318:
the traditional communal ideology.
Page 319 and 320:
where new diagnostic ceramic types
Page 321 and 322:
Understanding of the early Postclas
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ceramics probably arrived at the en
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investigation before the direction
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Marquesillo, past and present. Fitt
Page 329 and 330:
Through the integration of a sequen
Page 331 and 332:
experienced an upward trend in popu
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prehispanic occupation would have b
Page 335 and 336:
Assmann (2006) argues that prehisto
Page 337 and 338:
1997:288). These changes in residen
Page 339 and 340:
structures that could provide long-
Page 341 and 342:
Analysis of these three components
Page 343 and 344:
Early architectural units, specific
Page 345 and 346:
activities and that these activitie
Page 347 and 348:
political structure. Was it an inde
Page 349 and 350:
subordinate to a nearby primary cen
Page 351 and 352:
Explanation of Spatial Organization
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conjunction with other forms of arc
Page 355 and 356:
Mesoamerican worldviews (Vogt 1981:
Page 357 and 358:
Expanding the Boundaries and a Look
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to illustrate their power and wealt
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emains is striking. This disproport
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the earliest detectable occupation
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and Uxpanapa River Basins, I wonder
Page 367 and 368:
Arnaiz-Villena, A., G. Vargas-Alarc
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Bassie, K. 2006 The Fire and Water
Page 371 and 372:
Blake, M. and J. E. Clark 1999 The
Page 373 and 374:
Butler, R. F. 1992 Paleomagnetism:
Page 375 and 376:
2001 Gulf Lowlands: South Region. I
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Coe, M. D., D. Snow and E. Benson 1
Page 379 and 380:
2003 Laguna de los Cerros: Una Capi
Page 381 and 382:
2003 Analysis of Formative Period O
Page 383 and 384:
Elachi, C. 1987 Introduction to the
Page 385 and 386:
Foster, G. M. 1940 Notes on the Pop
Page 387 and 388:
2001 La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico. In
Page 389 and 390:
Halbwachs, M. 1992 On Collective Me
Page 391 and 392:
Hester, T. R., H. J. Shafer and K.
Page 393 and 394:
Johnston, K. J. and N. Gonlin 1998
Page 395 and 396:
Kruger, R. P. 1996 An Archaeologica
Page 397 and 398:
Madry, S. L. H. 1987 A Multiscalar
Page 399 and 400:
Middleton, W. D. 2004 Identifying C
Page 401 and 402:
Ortíz, P. 1975 La Ceramica de los
Page 403 and 404:
Plog, S. 1990 Agriculture, Sedentis
Page 405 and 406:
Rapoport, A. 1990 History and Prece
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Rueda, H. G. 1989 Nuevas Exploracio
Page 409 and 410:
Santley, R. S., S. A. Nelson, B. K.
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1989 Olmec Studies: A Status Report
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Stark, B. L. and P. J. Arnold 1997
Page 415 and 416:
Tarling, D. H. 1983 Geomagnetism. C
Page 417 and 418:
Tykot, R. H. 2004 Stable Isotopes a
Page 419 and 420:
Wallerstein, I. 1974 The Modern Wor
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2003 The Role of Kinship and Demogr
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Appendix 1a. Ceramic Analysis: Type
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Appendix 1b. Ceramic Analysis: Type
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Appendix 2. Ceramic Types and Count
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Appendix 2 Ceramic Types and Counts
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Appendix 3a. Obsidian from Test Uni
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Appendix 3b. Obsidian from Throne E
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Appendix 4a. Lithics from Surface C
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Appendix 4b. Lithics from River Cut
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Appendix 5a. Soil Survey I Element
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Appendix 5a. Soil Survey I Element
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Appendix 5b. Soil Survey II Element
Page 471 and 472:
Appendix 5b. Soil Survey II Element
Page 473:
About the Author Travis F. Doering
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