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

standardized political centralization or shared ethnic identity. One way to assess these
issues is to consider models of site settlement organization. Various forms of centralized
models have been postulated for Mesoamerican centers based on architectural patterns,
features, and the spatial distribution of material remains. After a brief examination of
these models, I review the sites of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, La Venta, Laguna de los
Cerros, Las Limas, La Oaxagueña, and Ojo de Agua in light of these models. In the
concluding section of the chapter I discuss the data previously recovered from the
Formative period Southern Gulf Lowlands and how they have been interpreted.
Models of Political and Economic Organization
The models considered here are illustrative of various types of settlement
organization that have been proposed for the Southern Gulf Lowlands and the
interrelationships between their political and economic processes. Settlement centers are
identified by common traits and practices that include “a variety of integrative institutions
and activities [that] are centralized and which both serves and is served by a hinterland
from which it is differentiated in size and population density” (Pool 2003:90). Although
the function and effect of centralized organization are recognized (Blanton 1978; Sanders
and Webster 1988; Stark 1999), the specific nature of the processes and the reasons for
variation in size, scope, and arrangement are not fully understood. Recent surveys,
however, are beginning to illustrate the substantial organizational and spatial variations
among these centers in the Southern Gulf Lowlands (Borstein 2001; Cyphers 1997a;
Killion and Urcid 2001; Santley et al. 1987; Stark 1991, 1999; Symonds and Lunagómez
1997).
34