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

The precision and accuracy of the mapping procedures and the magnetometer
survey can indicate specific areas of interest and identify their location to within a meter.
This accuracy permits limited, highly focused excavations that can be designed to address
specific questions. The anthropogenic soil survey can be expanded to targeted areas of
the site that will generate greater information on human activities. The magnetometer
survey area should be enlarged to include the Villa Alta long-mound complexes, and
other locations likely to contain any Formative period stone sculptures that may have
been found and relocated by Classic period inhabitants. A closer examination of the
ceramic assemblage, along with other artifacts, can add substantial insight into the spatial
organization and political economy of the site.
Other issues for future work to address include the extension of investigative
boundaries. The margins of the study area need to be expanded to include the adjacent
Classic Villa Alta complexes, which will provide substantially more information
regarding the cultural continuity at the site. As well, regional surveys are needed on both
sides of the San Juan River; one to fill in the critical areas not covered by earlier surveys
on the northeast side of the river, and another on the southwest side to bring that
unexplored region into the archaeological forum. The regional surveys will allow El
Marquesillo and its environs to be assessed on a broader scale and possibly reveal
interactions with other regional centers.
The critiquing of the Gulf Coast Olmec paradigm is significant to scholarly
research. Nevertheless, to more fully understand what or who the Olmec were, we need
to know more about their genesis, their origin. It is possible that present and future data
from El Marquesillo may be able to contribute to this pursuit. During my research into
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