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

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versus private for example. As well, there appears to be a difference in the treatment and deposition of monuments at El Marquesillo relative to San Lorenzo, La Venta, and other contemporaneous sites. These assumed differences in action could suggest that at El Marquesillo the monument served as a reminder in the memory of place. Lastly, the deposition of what may have been heirloom items in Offering I, and the intentional caching of symbolically significant Classic period objects into apparently a respected Formative period structure. This action can be interpreted as intentional social reminders that again point to the persistence of this place in memory and the transmission of this knowledge through long periods of time. The suggested multiple alignments of architectural structures toward landscape markers (i.e., the three most prominent peaks of the Tuxtla Volcanic Ridge) are shown to have occurred repeatedly over time, lending further support to the idea of the community’s collective memory. Vogt (1981:135-136) has illustrated how the constructed settlement pattern can mirror the “sacred landscape,” and directly alluded to the inhabitants’ beliefs concerning the “structure of the universe, the nature of the gods, and the functioning of the social system.” These apparently overt expressions of the people’s connection to their landscape, and possibly to their worldview, are substantially more evident at El Marquesillo than at other Early or Middle Formative sites (cf. Tate 1999b). The scale of ceramic production relative to population, during any given time period at El Marquesillo, cannot be accurately assessed. In other words, we do not know, at this point, if they were produced in quantities adequate only to meet the needs of the inhabitants, or if they were produced in amounts designed for export. Regardless, the disparity in the degree to which pottery is present over other types of material culture 338
emains is striking. This disproportion may be indicative of craft production that was somehow 'specialized,' an economically oriented initiative. If so, this economic aspect may have provided a stabilizing factor that allowed residents to withstand the types of cultural or environmental upheavals that caused sites like San Lorenzo and La Venta to decline so precipitously. The geographic location of El Marquesillo, a site that demonstrates significant size, level of complexity, and commanding physical position, brings into question previous hypotheses concerning regions and boundaries. El Marquesillo appears to have been a nexus for communication into regions not previously anticipated (i.e., to the Jimba, La Lana and Trinidad Rivers, and the Oaxaca Mountains) (cf. Coe 1968:102). Therefore, other areas within the “Olmec Heartland” can no longer be considered the 'hinterland' simply because they remain archaeologically unexplored. El Marquesillo’s placement on the landscape also calls into question assumed relationships and the purported significance of other nearby sites. The concepts of heartland versus hinterland, center versus periphery, and subregion or cultural hearth along the Southern Gulf Lowlands require reevaluation. The suite of survey techniques employed during the 2002 to 2006 examination of El Marquesillo was also anticipated to provide a guide for more specific or focused work in the future. The results were intended to assist in the development of new research designs for further investigation. From the accumulated data, a general organizational pattern of the site has been proposed, including ceramic production areas, residential zones, ceremonial precincts and public architectural complexes. 339
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An Unexplored Realm in the Heartlan
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“Note to Reader” The original o
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Confederacy Model 39 Feudalistic Mo
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Elemental Analysis of the Soils fro
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The Initial Occupation of El Marque
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List of Tables Table 5.1. Ceramic C
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Figure 3.14. Plan view of the Olmec
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Figure 5.7. Site map illustrating l
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Figure 5.53. El Marquesillo throne
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the resulting data do not fit many
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Furtherance of my academic career w
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Introduction Chapter 1. Archaeology
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esearch being conducted along the S
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its introduction to Mesoamerican ar
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participants. It is especially crit
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interpretations. Finally, I compare
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analogy (Diehl 1989:25; VanDerwarke
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change, fluctuates according to “
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embedded misconceptions about these
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The “Heartland” has been deline
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than a century after their occurren
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inference as opposed to evidence. T
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Sanders and Webster (1988:544) argu
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Park (1992:90) presents the Olmec a
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lowland subsistence economy until a
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Maya are lineal descendents of the
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continued to inhibit scientific inq
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describes this attempted conformanc
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The models used for evaluation of t
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number of archaeological correlates
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Confederacy Model Pool (2000:150;20
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Limitations and Cautions in the Use
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Lorenzo is considered the earliest
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Several lines of evidence suggest a
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turn, gave budding Olmec leaders co
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apid growth of settlements and thei
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techniques (Berger et al. 1967; Hei
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appear to characterize it as a “c
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iconographic detail, and appear to
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Formative period Southern Gulf Lowl
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Medellín-Zeníl (1960) found large
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de Agua, and the famous, iconograph
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egarding subsistence, settlement, p
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Introduction Chapter 3. El Marquesi
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300-900). Historical documentation
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The features of the San Juan are ch
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Figure 3.4. Aerial photograph of El
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At each of these three points of co
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El Marquesillo’s geographic locat
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of the location for more than 3,500
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The extensive Villa Alta architectu
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of constructions. This formal archi
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To achieve and maintain this elevat
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Figure 3.11. Map of the Southern Gu
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Teotihuacán and Aztec trade routes
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land was not in the form of gold an
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Huaspaltepec (Playa Vicente), betwe
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as listed in these records, include
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community members had to work the l
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The 1944 flood was a momentous even
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of ancient structures, including Ce
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to recover as much information as p
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Figure 3.17. Photograph of El Seño
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collection along the cut bank was a
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its termination line (Borstein 2001
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Figure 3.18. Illustration of San Lo
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is seated transitionally between th
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Introduction Chapter 4. El Marquesi
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Grove 1997; Tolstoy 1989). Landscap
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Determination of the Survey Area Th
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Surface Mapping and Terrain Modelin
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Global Positioning System (GPS) Map
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Figure 4.4. Map of El Marquesillo g
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have the potential to record points
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The topographic images and terrain
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Figure 4.8. Digital Terrain Model o
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Figure 4.11. View to the east of lo
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The western third of the platform h
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Figure 4.15. Elevated view of Field
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Figure 4.17. Topographic map of El
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Figure 4.19. Northwest view of spri
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Information Systems (GIS) approach
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Figure 4.21. Illustration of docume
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Magnetic Properties of Basalt The m
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Magnetic Data Collection, Condition
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The magnetometer was set to the bas
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Figure 4.23. Topographical base map
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of basalt, but instead, a body of s
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Figure 4.25. Topographic contour ma
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mercuric sulfide in the soil. There
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Coyote, Honduras (Terry et al. 2000
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intersection on the numbered rows a
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The results were reported in parts
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Figure 4.28b. Box plot summaries of
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Elemental Analysis of the Soils fro
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Summary of the Soil Analyses When t
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Figure 4.31a. Potassium distributio
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estriction prohibiting further exca
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The average depth of any observed a
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Figure 5.7. Site map illustrating l
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Figure 5.8. River cut profile 1A Le
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Figure 5.9. River cut profile 1B in
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Figure 5.10. River cut profile 2A L
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Figure 5.11. River cut profile 6B o
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Formative to Protoclassic ceramics
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fabrication methods, technologies,
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some of the Formative period wares
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The San Lorenzo Olmec Period (c. 11
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Figure 5.19. Examples of Middle For
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The Late Classic Period (c. AD 550-
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English annular ware (c. AD 1785-18
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Ceramic Collection Areas The identi
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Figure 5.26. Distribution of cerami
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Formative period accounted for 785
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The survey was conducted along the
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Figure 5.29. Diagram of Olmec thron
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Figure 5.30. Map illustrating the l
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Late Formative (263), Protoclassic
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demonstrates an analogous situation
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Offering I Figure 5.32. Locations o
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Figure 5.34. Offering I is at the c
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Figure 5.36. Two reconstructed plat
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crescent with its concave and conve
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The two figurine types are common t
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vessels that were deposited into a
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Figure 5.45. Two of three similar s
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Obsidian and Lithic Analyses The Ob
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Throne Units Test Units Offerings I
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inhabitants from other sites, or in
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Figure 5.50. Examples of stones tho
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Figure 5.51. El Marquesillo throne
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accomplished through violent blows
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Figure 5.56. Close-up of the figure
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Figure 5.58. Illustration of magnet
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Modifications to this pattern occur
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class occurred only in the presence
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appearance of ceramics occurred dur
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series of interrelated residential,
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The Early Formative period appearan
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Evidence of these constructions is
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and the excavated pit is not known,
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For the Gulf Olmec, monumental exhi
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precisely. This method would also m
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An earlier discussion suggested sty
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approximately 100 cm to 120 cm belo
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Nevertheless, the structural design
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discussion about the antiquity of t
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6.3). At La Venta equivalent basalt
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shamanistic ritual and rulership (F
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elevation provides an excellent ove
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further support to the idea that El
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Also contributing to the ceramic pr
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Another possible basalt deposition
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off is dramatic to say the least. T
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Page 321 and 322: Understanding of the early Postclas
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Page 327 and 328: Marquesillo, past and present. Fitt
Page 329 and 330: Through the integration of a sequen
Page 331 and 332: experienced an upward trend in popu
Page 333 and 334: prehispanic occupation would have b
Page 335 and 336: Assmann (2006) argues that prehisto
Page 337 and 338: 1997:288). These changes in residen
Page 339 and 340: structures that could provide long-
Page 341 and 342: Analysis of these three components
Page 343 and 344: Early architectural units, specific
Page 345 and 346: activities and that these activitie
Page 347 and 348: political structure. Was it an inde
Page 349 and 350: subordinate to a nearby primary cen
Page 351 and 352: Explanation of Spatial Organization
Page 353 and 354: conjunction with other forms of arc
Page 355 and 356: Mesoamerican worldviews (Vogt 1981:
Page 357 and 358: Expanding the Boundaries and a Look
Page 359: to illustrate their power and wealt
Page 363 and 364: the earliest detectable occupation
Page 365 and 366: and Uxpanapa River Basins, I wonder
Page 367 and 368: Arnaiz-Villena, A., G. Vargas-Alarc
Page 369 and 370: Bassie, K. 2006 The Fire and Water
Page 371 and 372: Blake, M. and J. E. Clark 1999 The
Page 373 and 374: Butler, R. F. 1992 Paleomagnetism:
Page 375 and 376: 2001 Gulf Lowlands: South Region. I
Page 377 and 378: Coe, M. D., D. Snow and E. Benson 1
Page 379 and 380: 2003 Laguna de los Cerros: Una Capi
Page 381 and 382: 2003 Analysis of Formative Period O
Page 383 and 384: Elachi, C. 1987 Introduction to the
Page 385 and 386: Foster, G. M. 1940 Notes on the Pop
Page 387 and 388: 2001 La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico. In
Page 389 and 390: Halbwachs, M. 1992 On Collective Me
Page 391 and 392: Hester, T. R., H. J. Shafer and K.
Page 393 and 394: Johnston, K. J. and N. Gonlin 1998
Page 395 and 396: Kruger, R. P. 1996 An Archaeologica
Page 397 and 398: Madry, S. L. H. 1987 A Multiscalar
Page 399 and 400: Middleton, W. D. 2004 Identifying C
Page 401 and 402: Ortíz, P. 1975 La Ceramica de los
Page 403 and 404: Plog, S. 1990 Agriculture, Sedentis
Page 405 and 406: Rapoport, A. 1990 History and Prece
Page 407 and 408: Rueda, H. G. 1989 Nuevas Exploracio
Page 409 and 410: Santley, R. S., S. A. Nelson, B. K.
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1989 Olmec Studies: A Status Report
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Stark, B. L. and P. J. Arnold 1997
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Tarling, D. H. 1983 Geomagnetism. C
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Tykot, R. H. 2004 Stable Isotopes a
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Wallerstein, I. 1974 The Modern Wor
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2003 The Role of Kinship and Demogr
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Appendix 1a. Ceramic Analysis: Type
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Appendix 1b. Ceramic Analysis: Type
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Appendix 2. Ceramic Types and Count
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Appendix 2 Ceramic Types and Counts
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Appendix 3a. Obsidian from Test Uni
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Appendix 3b. Obsidian from Throne E
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Appendix 4a. Lithics from Surface C
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Appendix 4b. Lithics from River Cut
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Appendix 5a. Soil Survey I Element
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Appendix 5a. Soil Survey I Element
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Appendix 5b. Soil Survey II Element
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Appendix 5b. Soil Survey II Element
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About the Author Travis F. Doering
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An Unexplored Realm in the Heartland of the Southern Gulf ... - Famsi

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