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

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uler or lineage founder or protagonist. The importance and esteem of this individual or the faction they represent can also be inferred from the amount of wealth, power, and organization required to acquire and construct a 12-ton monolithic throne. The depositional location and placement of the throne, as well as those of associated Offerings I and II, are noteworthy because they appear to be related to a ritual termination event. By examining the method and placement of deposition it may be possible to reconstruct the original position of the throne. Furthermore, it is possible that Classic period activities occurred a millennium after the deposition of the throne were affected by the method of its interment. Figure 6.2 illustrates the hypothesized method by which the throne was interred based on observations by Hernández during the 2002 rescue project. By digging a hole in front of the monument, it was then possible to turn and lower the sculpture into the hole by removing the earth supporting the front of the piece. This manner of burial would provide control of the movement of the object and allow it to be positioned rather Figure 6.2 View to the north of the hypothesized lowering of Olmec throne 262
precisely. This method would also move the throne 2 to 3 m from its original upright position on the landscape; the significance of this point will become clear shortly. The throne was turned so that the face of the personage was positioned downward. If the throne was re-erected by turning it upright on the axis on which it was uncovered, the figure in the niche would be facing an east-northeast direction, approximately 78º east of magnetic north. Equally significant to the understanding of the sculpture are the symbolic features of the throne itself, the seated personage, and the iconographic elements depicted on the accoutrements of the person. Prior to the throne’s deposition, the hands of the figure were removed, the facial features were obscured, attempts were made to erase the iconographic details, and a cupping hole was ground into the loincloth of the personage. After the throne was lowered and turned, a second cupping hole was ground into the underside of the right tabletop extension. It appears that all traces of elements that could identify the individual were removed, literally erased or wiped away. This type of sculptural “erasure” is demonstrated on the left panel of San Lorenzo Monument 14 (Cyphers 1993:160). On El Marquesillo’s altar, there is an unequivocal deletion of surface details relating to the niche figure, but the clean, almost abstract lines and surfaces of the remaining portions of the altar raise the possibility that additional iconographic details may also have been erased prior to its deposition. The attempt to eradicate identifying iconographic features was not fully successful, however. It is possible to distinguish that the person seated in the niche wears a necklace with a pendent of diagonal cross-bands and has crenellated ear ornaments, both associated with Formative Gulf Coast water imagery (Coe 1968:112; Joralemon 263
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An Unexplored Realm in the Heartlan
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“Note to Reader” The original o
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Confederacy Model 39 Feudalistic Mo
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Elemental Analysis of the Soils fro
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The Initial Occupation of El Marque
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List of Tables Table 5.1. Ceramic C
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Figure 3.14. Plan view of the Olmec
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Figure 5.7. Site map illustrating l
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Figure 5.53. El Marquesillo throne
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the resulting data do not fit many
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Furtherance of my academic career w
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Introduction Chapter 1. Archaeology
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esearch being conducted along the S
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its introduction to Mesoamerican ar
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participants. It is especially crit
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interpretations. Finally, I compare
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analogy (Diehl 1989:25; VanDerwarke
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change, fluctuates according to “
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embedded misconceptions about these
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The “Heartland” has been deline
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than a century after their occurren
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inference as opposed to evidence. T
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Sanders and Webster (1988:544) argu
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Park (1992:90) presents the Olmec a
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lowland subsistence economy until a
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Maya are lineal descendents of the
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continued to inhibit scientific inq
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describes this attempted conformanc
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The models used for evaluation of t
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number of archaeological correlates
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Confederacy Model Pool (2000:150;20
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Limitations and Cautions in the Use
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Lorenzo is considered the earliest
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Several lines of evidence suggest a
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turn, gave budding Olmec leaders co
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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
Page 233 and 234: Figure 5.30. Map illustrating the l
Page 235 and 236: Late Formative (263), Protoclassic
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Page 239 and 240: Offering I Figure 5.32. Locations o
Page 241 and 242: Figure 5.34. Offering I is at the c
Page 243 and 244: Figure 5.36. Two reconstructed plat
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Page 247 and 248: The two figurine types are common t
Page 249 and 250: vessels that were deposited into a
Page 251 and 252: Figure 5.45. Two of three similar s
Page 253 and 254: Obsidian and Lithic Analyses The Ob
Page 255 and 256: Throne Units Test Units Offerings I
Page 257 and 258: inhabitants from other sites, or in
Page 259 and 260: Figure 5.50. Examples of stones tho
Page 261 and 262: Figure 5.51. El Marquesillo throne
Page 263 and 264: accomplished through violent blows
Page 265 and 266: Figure 5.56. Close-up of the figure
Page 267 and 268: Figure 5.58. Illustration of magnet
Page 269 and 270: Modifications to this pattern occur
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Page 277 and 278: The Early Formative period appearan
Page 279 and 280: Evidence of these constructions is
Page 281 and 282: and the excavated pit is not known,
Page 283: For the Gulf Olmec, monumental exhi
Page 287 and 288: An earlier discussion suggested sty
Page 289 and 290: approximately 100 cm to 120 cm belo
Page 291 and 292: Nevertheless, the structural design
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Page 295 and 296: 6.3). At La Venta equivalent basalt
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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
Page 307 and 308: 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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Page 315 and 316: plaza complex is also oriented to p
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Page 319 and 320: where new diagnostic ceramic types
Page 321 and 322: Understanding of the early Postclas
Page 323 and 324: ceramics probably arrived at the en
Page 325 and 326: investigation before the direction
Page 327 and 328: 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
Page 333 and 334: prehispanic occupation would have b
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Assmann (2006) argues that prehisto
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1997:288). These changes in residen
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structures that could provide long-
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Analysis of these three components
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Early architectural units, specific
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activities and that these activitie
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political structure. Was it an inde
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subordinate to a nearby primary cen
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Explanation of Spatial Organization
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conjunction with other forms of arc
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Mesoamerican worldviews (Vogt 1981:
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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
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Arnaiz-Villena, A., G. Vargas-Alarc
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Bassie, K. 2006 The Fire and Water
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Blake, M. and J. E. Clark 1999 The
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Butler, R. F. 1992 Paleomagnetism:
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2001 Gulf Lowlands: South Region. I
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Coe, M. D., D. Snow and E. Benson 1
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2003 Laguna de los Cerros: Una Capi
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2003 Analysis of Formative Period O
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Elachi, C. 1987 Introduction to the
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Foster, G. M. 1940 Notes on the Pop
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2001 La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico. In
Page 389 and 390:
Halbwachs, M. 1992 On Collective Me
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Hester, T. R., H. J. Shafer and K.
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Johnston, K. J. and N. Gonlin 1998
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Kruger, R. P. 1996 An Archaeologica
Page 397 and 398:
Madry, S. L. H. 1987 A Multiscalar
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Middleton, W. D. 2004 Identifying C
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Ortíz, P. 1975 La Ceramica de los
Page 403 and 404:
Plog, S. 1990 Agriculture, Sedentis
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Rapoport, A. 1990 History and Prece
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Rueda, H. G. 1989 Nuevas Exploracio
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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
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Tarling, D. H. 1983 Geomagnetism. C
Page 417 and 418:
Tykot, R. H. 2004 Stable Isotopes a
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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
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Appendix 5b. Soil Survey II Element
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About the Author Travis F. Doering
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An Unexplored Realm in the Heartland of the Southern Gulf ... - Famsi

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