Olmec to Aztec: Settlement Patterns in the Ancient Gulf LowlandsBarbara L. Stark, Philip J. Arnold Archaeological settlement patterns - the ways in which ancient people distributed themselves across a natural and cultural landscape - provide the central theme for this long-overdue update to our understanding of the Mexican Gulf lowlands. Olmec to Aztec offers the only recent treatment of the ancient Gulf lowlands that considers the entire prehistory of the region - from the second millennium B.C. to A.D. 1519 - instead of focusing on a single time period or culture group. Olmec to Aztec is a crucial resource for archaeologists working in Mexico and other areas of Latin America. Its contributions help dispel long-standing misunderstandings about the prehistory of this region and also correct the sometimes overzealous manner in which cultural change within the Gulf lowlands has been attributed to external forces. This important book clearly demonstrates that the Gulf lowlands played a critical role in development and change in ancient Mesoamerica, not only during the earliest Olmec periods but throughout the entirety of pre-Columbian history. |
Contents
PART | 5 |
Introduction to Part I | 35 |
Olmec Ritual and Sacred Geography at Manatí | 68 |
Olmec Architecture at San Lorenzo | 96 |
Spindle Whorls and Cotton Production at Middle Classic Matacapan | 115 |
Introduction to Part 2 | 139 |
Formative Period Settlement Patterns in the Tuxtla Mountains | 174 |
The Geoarchaeology of Settlement in the Grijalva Delta | 253 |
Gulf Lowland Ceramic Styles and Political Geography | 278 |
Gulf Lowland Settlement in Perspective | 310 |
References Cited | 331 |
List of Contributors | 375 |
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Common terms and phrases
activities ancient archaeological architecture artifacts associated Aztec Bezuapan Catemaco celts centers central Veracruz ceramic Cerro channel Classic period Coatzacoalcos Coe and Diehl Colonia Ejidal complex Cotaxtla cotton cultural Daneels density deposits distribution Drucker Early Classic Early Preclassic economic El Tajín evidence excavations Formative period García Payón groups Gulf lowlands Gulf Olmec highland household houselot incision indicate interaction Joya Killion La Venta Laguna Late Classic Late Formative Late Postclassic Late Preclassic located Macayal Manatí Matacapan material Maya Medellín Mesoamerica Mexico Middle Classic period Middle Formative Middle Preclassic period Mixtequilla area motifs obsidian occupation Olmec heartland Ortíz Pajonal Papaloapan Pepegua phase political population Postclassic period pottery Preclassic period production region ritual River Santley sculptures settlement pattern sherds social southern Gulf lowlands southern Veracruz sq km Stark structures studies style zones stylistic suggests surface survey Tabasco Tenochtitlan Teotihuacan terraces tion Tres Zapotes Tuxtla Mountains Venta villages whorls