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

Among the potsherds recovered in Test Unit 7 (Appendix 2), numerous pieces
demonstrated the introduction of new types of pastes, clays, slips, and firing techniques
but retained many of the forms, shapes, sizes, and designs from the Middle and Late
Formative (Types 420.1 and 420.2). Modifications to surface finishing included greater
amounts of polishing and burnishing. The improvements in technology include better
control of heat and oxidation during firing and in the finer processing of clays that
removed elements that would have reacted unfavorably during firing. These
advancements allowed thinner but stronger, more resilient wares to be produced, which,
over time, allowed a greater range of shapes, forms, and plasticity to be created. In short,
the ceramic specialists learned to make a better product and continued to improve it over
extended periods of time. Based on these observations, the transition of ceramic
production technology, probably through experimentation, eventually led to the Fine
Orange of the Late Classic period that is also well-represented in the assemblage.
Regarding the perception of cultural collapse or failure of the Post Classic
Southern Gulf Lowlands, not only is it difficult to distinguish and classify these
conditions archaeologically but, as Cowgill (1988) demonstrates, there are obstacles in
simply trying to define the terms. Killion and Urcid (2001) note these difficulties in the
Hueyapan region just north of El Marquesillo and effectively approach the Post Classic
period by using a Direct Historical Approach. In the Post Classic Period section of
Chapter 3, it is demonstrated that the region of El Marquesillo remained active and
participated on a limited and indirect basis in the socioeconomic sphere operating out of
the Coatzacoalcos Basin region.
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