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

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political structure. Was it an <strong>in</strong>dependent center that functioned as an autonomous unit, or<br />

a subsidiary site that operated with<strong>in</strong> a dendritic system? In Chapter 2, proposed models<br />

for Sou<strong>the</strong>rn <strong>Gulf</strong> Lowland centers were presented and detailed. Here, <strong>the</strong> data recovered<br />

from El Marquesillo are evaluated aga<strong>in</strong>st each <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> proposed models <strong>in</strong> an attempt to<br />

assess <strong>the</strong> site’s structure.<br />

Models <strong>of</strong> Settlement Patterns<br />

Stark’s (1999) capital zone model posits an extensive area conta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g dispersed<br />

formal groups that cumulatively represent an adm<strong>in</strong>istrative core. <strong>An</strong>ticipated<br />

architecture <strong>in</strong>cludes large and small complexes, major isolated structures, and smaller<br />

outly<strong>in</strong>g groups. The complexes are expected to be relatively equivalent with no one<br />

dom<strong>in</strong>ant cluster. Craft production is anticipated to be widely distributed and present<br />

across central complexes as well as <strong>in</strong> residential zones.<br />

At El Marquesillo, <strong>the</strong> exist<strong>in</strong>g data do not appear to correspond to <strong>the</strong> projected<br />

conditions <strong>of</strong> a capital zone. The occupational sector at El Marquesillo is concentrated,<br />

restricted with<strong>in</strong> a contiguous circumscribed area with no outly<strong>in</strong>g formal complexes.<br />

The Olmec Throne Complex dom<strong>in</strong>ates <strong>the</strong> site, surpass<strong>in</strong>g all o<strong>the</strong>r architectural groups<br />

<strong>in</strong> elevation, volume, and labor <strong>in</strong>vestment. Moreover, ceramic production, which<br />

appears to be <strong>the</strong> primary craft at El Marquesillo, is restricted to specific portions <strong>of</strong><br />

Fields 1 and 2.<br />

The confederacy model <strong>in</strong>fers that several <strong>in</strong>dividuals, factions, or elite l<strong>in</strong>eages<br />

shared authority over <strong>the</strong> polity (Pool 2003:92-96), and is similar to <strong>the</strong> capital zone <strong>in</strong><br />

that it is also a distributive model <strong>of</strong> authority. Physically and politically, it presents a<br />

325

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