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

The discrepancy between sources at El Marquesillo and the other sites mentioned
may be due to sample error; nevertheless, this limited number of sources may suggest
that El Marquesillo may have been autonomous from the San Lorenzo or the later La
Venta exchange spheres. More than 38 percent of El Marquesillo’s obsidian originated at
the Zaragoza source, but none of this material is identified at San Lorenzo.
During extended periods at El Marquesillo, I observed additional obsidian
material on the surface. As well, portions of prismatic blades were recovered in situ with
San Lorenzo phase ceramics (c. 1150-1000 BC) along the river cut. This association
indicates that blade technology and its implications for elite control were present at El
Marquesillo at this early time (see Clark 1987; Clark and Blake 1994). Based on the
formal surveys and informal observations a significant relationship is demonstrated with
Zaragoza (400 km) and Guadalupe Victoria (300 km) during the Formative period.
Lithic Analysis
No stone material, other than river gravel, is indigenous to the alluvial river basins
of southern Veracruz and Tabasco (Sisson 1976). Igneous rock such as basalt, pumice,
rhyolite, and andesite were favored for ground stone tools and had to be imported to El
Marquesillo (see Appendix 4a and 4b). The sources for these types of rock are located in
the volcanic Tuxtla Mountains, 30 to 40 km to the north. Apart from the Olmec throne,
the lithic collection from El Marquesillo is unremarkable for a Formative period site;
nonetheless it demonstrates participation in regional economic interaction spheres. The
form of involvement in these systems may have been through collective actions with
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