The Beginnings of Mesoamerican Civilization: Inter-Regional Interaction and the OlmecMesoamerica is one of a several cradles of civilization in the world. In this book, Robert M. Rosenswig proposes that we understand Early Formative Mesoamerica as an archipelago of complex societies that interacted with one another over long distances and that were separated by less sedentary peoples. These early "islands" of culture shared an Olmec artistic aesthetic, beginning approximately 1250 BCE (uncalibrated), that first defined Mesoamerica as a culture area. Rosenswig frames the Olmec world from the perspective of the Soconusco area on Pacifica Chiapas and Guatemala. The disagreements about Early Formative society that have raged over the past 30 years focus on the nature of inter-regional interaction between San Lorenzo and other Early Formative regions. He evaluates these debates from a fresh theoretical perspective and integrates new data into an assessment of Soconusco society before, during, and after the apogee of the San Lorenzo polity. |
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
Knowledge in an Archipelago of Complexity | 13 |
Gift Exchange and Social Debt | 20 |
Local Cohesion Created through the Production of Gifts | 27 |
An Archipelago of Complexity | 34 |
Summary | 45 |
CONTENTS | 71 |
ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA | 103 |
Effigy Pots and Ceramic Iconography | 204 |
Summary of Changing Aesthetics at Cuauhtémoc | 222 |
SoconuscoGulf Coast Exchange Routes and Travel Time | 228 |
Obsidian Exchange | 235 |
Ceramic Exchange | 241 |
Estuary Sites | 249 |
Data and Expectations | 259 |
Conclusion | 291 |
Diet Food Processing and Feasting | 132 |
Food Preparation at Cuauhtémoc | 148 |
Ground stone form | 156 |
Summary of the Cuauhtémoc Domestic Economy | 172 |
The Color of Ceramics | 178 |
Anthropomorphic Figurines | 186 |
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The Beginnings of Mesoamerican Civilization: Inter-Regional Interaction and ... Robert M. Rosenswig No preview available - 2014 |
Common terms and phrases
Amada Archaeological ARCHIPELAGO OF COMPLEXITY architecture assemblage Canton Corralito ceramic vessels changes Chapter Cherla phase Chiapas chiefdom Clark and Pye Coatzacoalcos color Conchas phase Conchas-phase contexts Cuadros phase Cuauhtémoc Cuauhtémoc zone cultural decorated dishes depicted documented Early and Middle Early Formative period economic Edited effigy El Chayal elite estuary evidence excavated feasts Figure Flannery and Marcus FORMATIVE MESOAMERICAN grater bowls ground stone Guatemala Gulf Coast increase inhabitants Initial Ceramic Period inter-regional exchange inter-regional interaction Iocotal phase islands of complexity Izapa Jocotal kula La Blanca La Venta Lesure Locona locotal maize Mazatan zone Mesoamerica MEsoAMERIcA’s FIRST STYLE Mexico midden Middle Formative period Mound Oaxaca obsidian ocotal Olmec dragon Olmec iconography OLMEC PROBLEM Paso political prismatic blades recovered regions Rosenswig San Lorenzo polity San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan serving dishes sherds social society Soconusco STYLE HORIZONS survey zone symbols tecomates Venta white-rimmed black wares