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

different structure, however. This model is primarily concerned with the nucleation or
spatial clustering of these separate groups with respect to residential and activity areas.
Residential settlement would be arranged in a concentric pattern extending outward from
a central formal core. Several distinct secondary plaza groups extend outward around the
periphery. These individual architectural complexes represent an individual faction in the
ruling confederation. These architectural groups would exhibit similar content and
function and are surrounded by intensive occupational zones. This model holds that
small-scale domestically-centered craft production had little elite control.
At El Marquesillo, it could be argued that the residential areas extended outward,
but only in one direction. This directional template may be a consequence of land loss
due to the river action, and ceramic craft production may or may not have had elite
control at El Marquesillo. The spatial placement and design of the formal Formative
period architecture at El Marquesillo do not appear to equate with multiple secondary
complexes nor do they present similarities in their form or perceived function as
proposed by the confederacy model.
The feudalistic model represents a minor center within a hierarchically structured
settlement system. Its structure is seen as analogous to a feudal estate where vassal sites
owed goods and labor to a regional power but, at the same time, collected its own tribute
from the inhabitants of the estate’s land (Taschek and Ball 2003). Although this model
has not been suggested specifically for the Gulf Coast, the circumstances and conditions
for its presence appear to make it a beneficial model when evaluating Formative period
sites along the Southern Gulf Lowlands (e.g., the San Lorenzo and La Venta subsidiary
support areas). A center, under the feudalistic model, is sociopolitically autonomous but
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