Settlement and Subsistence in Early Formative Soconusco: El Varal and the Problem of Inter-Site Assemblage Variation

The Soconusco region, a narrow strip of the Pacific coast of Mexico and Guatemala, is the location of some of the earliest pottery-using villages of ancient Mesoamerica. Mobile early inhabitants of the area harvested marsh clams in the estuaries, leaving behind vast mounds of shell. With the introduction of pottery and the establishment of permanent villages (from 1900 B.C.), use of the resource-rich estuary changed. The archaeological manifestation of that new estuary adaptation is a dramatic pattern of inter-site variability in pottery vessel forms. Vessels at sites within the estuary were about seventy percent neckless jars -- "tecomates" -- while vessels at contemporaneous sites a few kilometers inland were seventy percent open dishes. The pattern is well-known, but the the settlement arrangements or subsistence practices that produced it have remained unclear. Archaeological investigations at El Varal, a special-purpose estuary site of the later Early Formative (1250-1000 B.C.) expand possibilities for an anthropological understanding of the archaeological patterns. The goal of this volume is to describe excavations and finds at the site and to propose, based on a variety of analyses, a new understanding of Early Formative assemblage variability.Series: Monographs 6

The Neolithic Demographic Transition in Mesoamerica

The Neolithic demographic transition in Mesoamerica was a gradual process that unfolded over most of the Formative period (1800 BC-AD 200). An analysis of published records of over 6,700 pre-Hispanic burials, focusing on changing proportions of juveniles 5-19 years of age, suggests that fertility rates rose steadily during both the second and the first millennia BC. The gradual pace of the demographic transition was probably related to the low initial productivity of maize

Emplotment as Epic in Archaeological Writing: The Site Monograph as Narrative

To emplot a narrative as epic is to present a story of vast scope and multiple plots as a legitimate member of a tradition of other such stories. This article argues that emplotment as epic is the broadest of three levels of plot in archaeological writings. At that level, the site monograph emerges as a characteristically archaeological form of narrative, fundamental to archaeology as a discipline and a source of chronic anxiety for archaeologists. The ‘stories’ told in site monographs are epic in length, diversity of materials covered and multiplicity of themes, plots and authors. Indeed, the more complexities of that sort the better, since those are features that help to emplot the work as good archaeology

The Constitution of Inequality in Yurok Society

Ethnographic accounts of the precontact Yurok of Northwest California serve as a test case for evaluating Jane Collier's (1988) recent models of the constitution of inequality in kin-based societies. This analysis does not support Collier's basic thesis that the nature of the relationship between husbands and their wives' kin determines the degree of social inequality. Nor does it support her contention that each of three contrastive models represents a particular type of society, since two of her three models apply to the Yurok case. However, Collier's models, treated as organizational themes rather than societal types, represent useful analytical tools for understanding the bases of inequality in Yurok society. In addition to the social structural relations explored by Collier, particular material circumstances and cosmological tenets established the contexts in which people negotiated the distribution of power, privilege, and prestige

Paso de la Amada: Sociopolitical dynamics in an early formative community.

Feasting and the circulation of valuables are two domains of activity typically linked to prestige in kin-based societies. Jonathan Friedman and Michael Rowlands (1978) propose that a feedback relationship between these two domains can generate new forms of social inequality, specifically, the emergence of hierarchical relations between corporate kin-groups characteristic of chiefdoms. The trajectory of Early Formative organizational change in the Mazatan zone on the Pacific Coast of Chiapas, Mexico, appears to follow that described by Freshman and Rowlands. At the large village site of Paso de la Amada, the settlement pattern soon after 1400 b.c. consisted of large buildings evenly spaced across the site, each surrounded by a cluster of small residences. However, by 1300 b.c., one large building (Mound 6) was being repeatedly enlarged and elaborated, while others fell into disuse. The sequence of platform construction suggests the emergence of hierarchical relations among neighborhoods, which collapsed around 1100 b.c. when Mound 6 was abandoned. Previous investigators have argued that chiefdoms emerged in this region by 1350 b.c., and that Mound 6 was linked to an emerging elite group. An analysis of midden materials from the site of Paso de la Amada does not support Freshman and Rowlands' model. Circulation of valuables was examined by looking at ornaments and imported goods. No differences in access to these items were identified at the site during the ascendancy of Mound 6 (especially 1250 to 1100 b.c.); only after the abandonment of the large mound, around 1100 b.c., did some areas of the site have preferential access to imported materials and ornaments. The question of feasting was addressed in the ceramic analysis by examining the distribution of decorated serving vessels and very large feasting vessels. No differences in the use of these items among different areas of the site was identified during the period 1400 to 1000 b.c. Assumptions made by Freshman and Rowlands concerning the uses of valuables and the devolution of social credit for feasts may not be appropriate for Early Formative Paso de la Amada. Another assumption is that the media used to represent and negotiate status remain constant over time; at Paso de la Amada, the emergence of economic inequalities coincides with a shift in the media of status differentiation.Ph.D.ArchaeologySocial SciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/129627/2/9542889.pd