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

Ceramics from the Surface Collection
In October 2003, a surface collection was conducted, and artifact recovery
identification was made according to a site grid composed of units measuring 50 x 50 m
(2,500 m²) (Hester et al. 1997:208-212). The datum point, identified as N0/W0, was
arbitrarily placed approximately 10 m west and 5 m south of the Olmec throne location.
Each grid unit was identified by the number assigned to the north-south and east-west
lines that intersected at the northwest corner of the square. The survey grid eventually
covered an area in excess of 2 km² (2,000,000 m²), and extended well beyond Fields 1
through 8.
The surface visibility of El Marquesillo Fields 1 through 8 was medium and
relatively consistent. The cultural visibility or obtrusiveness of the site is high. Most
architectural remains are clearly identifiable and there are no modern structures present.
The uppermost 20 to 30 cm of the surface has been subjected to manual and mechanical
farming techniques (e.g., plowing, tilling, and disking), as well as grazing livestock.
Nevertheless, surface and plowzone collections can provide informative data when
properly applied (Dunnel and Simek 1995), and can support inferences about site types,
occupation, and activity areas (Schlanger and Orcutt 1986).
Of the 4,756 ceramic sherds recovered during the surface collection, 1,330 were
chronologically diagnostic (Figures 5.26 and 5.27). Because some pieces were identified
as transitional between two periods, such as Middle to Late Formative or Protoclassic to
Early Classic, these quantities were arbitrarily divided equally between both periods and
added to the appropriate period and plotted according to their site grid location. The
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