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

approximately 100 cm to 120 cm below the present surface. This is the same depth to
which the anomalous hole at the southern edge of Structure 111 had reached. Each of
these four intrusions fall on a single axis line. In other words, all the intrusions were
placed in a straight line, both vertically and horizontally. The horizontal direction of this
axis is 341.5º, identical to the orientation observed for the Structure 111 in which they
were deposited.
Although these offerings are not of the monumental nature as is the Olmec throne,
they may provide substantial information about the early and later inhabitants and the
origins and development of their settlement pattern. The occupation of Structure 111 in
the elite residential zone began in the Early Formative and continued through the Late
Formative period (c. 1150-300 BC). During this time, a series of construction events in
the form successive platform layers were completed with the last being assigned to the
Late Formative. No evidence for residential occupation beyond this period has been
uncovered. Then, 800 to 1300 years after the constructions were completed, an aligned
series of Late Classic offerings (c. AD 550-900) were inserted into the center of the
structures along the same axis as the architectural structure.
Two major questions arise. Why were the offerings placed in a precise linear
fashion, and why was a large hole dug along that axis but nothing deposited? I submit
that it is possible the Late Classic inhabitants of El Marquesillo may have performed a
type of dedication ceremony designed to end in the locating and recovery of the Olmec
throne. The empty Classic period excavation was made where the throne “should” have
been. If this proposal is correct, the reason the Late Classic people missed their target was
because the throne had been moved from its original location during its interment by the
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