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

lowland subsistence economy until after the Olmec rose to power” (VanDerwarker
2006:37, 65 ). If the interpretations of these new data are correct, then much of the social
theory relating agriculture to sociopolitical development will need to be re-evaluated and
in many cases, revised.
Cross-Cultural Comparisons
The Gulf Olmec are cited by Oates (1993:414) in support of a social emulation
model that she proposes for Late Uruk Mesopotamian societies (c. 3500 cal BC). She
agrees with Flannery’s (1968) inference that lowland Olmec influence was strongest
among other developed societies in Mesoamerica, ones that would appreciate their
advancements in complexity and its materialization. Kirch (1991:159) cites the “labor-
intensive symbols” (i.e., monumental sculpture and architecture) of the Gulf Olmec are
analogous to those of the Lapita culture. He believes that the creation and implementation
of these types of symbols was used to broaden cultural integration over significant
geographic areas.
In his multi-cultural examination of societal development, Sanderson (1995:65-
66, 127) describes the large ceremonial centers at San Lorenzo and La Venta as places
that witnessed the emergence of social complexity that would eventually lead to state
formation. He cites the colossal carved stone heads as depictions of individual chiefs and
alludes to the Olmec as the originators from which the subsequent Maya civilization
arose. Younker’s (1997) examination of the Moab society, in present-day Jordan, and
their sociopolitical structure during the Bronze and Iron Ages, leads him to draw parallels
to the Olmec region. He cites hieroglyphic writing, monumental architecture, planned
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