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

north, northwest, and west did not experience the same devolutionary processes will
apparently require further, concentrated research.
The Late Classic presence is substantiated by a continuing ceramic record and
numerous, substantial Villa Alta phase architectural constructions. The Postclassic period
occupation appears to follow the same conservative pattern and social insulation
attributed to the Early Classic, and these impressions are corroborated by ethnohistoric
accounts (Berdan and Anawalt 1997; Scholes and Warren 1965; Shahagún 1970-1982 ).
Spanish Colonial activity (c. 1520-1600) is documented for the adjacent Coatzacoalcos
Basin, but non-indigenous presence at El Marquesillo is not recorded until the 1700s
(Aguirre-Beltrán 1992; Delgado-Calderón 2000). Census archives from 1793
demonstrate that El Marquesillo was occupied by the end of the 18 th century (Aguirre-
Beltrán 1981; Delgado-Calderón 1995) and chronologically diagnostic European and
Mexican ceramic and glass recovered at El Marquesillo implies occupation during the
19 th century. The surnames of numerous present-day families that reside in El
Marquesillo match those of individuals listed in the 1793 census, a condition that implies
a continuous 200 year descent group residence that continues today.
Whether the 3,500 year occupation at El Marquesillo was an unbroken continuum
or the result of periodic recurrences is not known. Changes in the ethnic composition of
the population occurred unquestionably in the 16 th century, but prior alterations or
transformations cannot yet be determined. Concerning the Formative and Classic period
residency (c. 1500 BC-AD 900), however, a variety of evidence is provided below that
suggests the establishment and continuance of long-held social or community memories
that involved the natural and cultural landscape. If this hypothesis is correct, the
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