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

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

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Formative period Sou<strong>the</strong>rn <strong>Gulf</strong> Lowland polities may have been more symbolic or ritual<br />

<strong>in</strong> nature than subsistence oriented (Blake 2006; Blake et al. 1992; Smalley and Blake<br />

2003).<br />

The scale <strong>of</strong> La Venta’s monumental constructions and labor-<strong>in</strong>tensive projects,<br />

craft production, subsistence methods, and long-distance exchange networks demonstrate<br />

a centralization <strong>of</strong> power and authority. The spatial and hierarchal arrangement <strong>of</strong><br />

residences, specialized craft production areas, subsistence areas, civic-ceremonial<br />

architecture corresponds well with <strong>the</strong> central place model. The temporal duration and<br />

geographic scope <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> site sociopolitical <strong>in</strong>teraction fur<strong>the</strong>r support this premise.<br />

Never<strong>the</strong>less, fur<strong>the</strong>r <strong>in</strong>vestigation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> residential areas and activity areas <strong>in</strong> and<br />

around <strong>the</strong> site core is required to develop a more nuanced view <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sociopolitical<br />

organization and how it changed over time.<br />

Laguna de los Cerros<br />

“Laguna de los Cerros has long been a source <strong>of</strong> considerable and unwarranted<br />

confusion” (Diehl 2004:47). The Formative period occupation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> site may be <strong>the</strong> most<br />

widely misunderstood event <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>vestigation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Sou<strong>the</strong>rn <strong>Gulf</strong> Olmec. In many<br />

ways, <strong>the</strong> situation regard<strong>in</strong>g this site can be viewed as a microcosm <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> difficulties<br />

encountered <strong>in</strong> many phases <strong>of</strong> Formative period Sou<strong>the</strong>rn <strong>Gulf</strong> Lowland studies. Limited<br />

<strong>in</strong>vestigations have led to unwarranted assumptions that form many generally held<br />

<strong>in</strong>terpretations.<br />

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