Crocodilians and Olmecs: Further Interpretations in Formative Period Iconography

1980 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 740-758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry Stocker ◽  
Sarah Meltzoff ◽  
Steve Armsey
Keyword(s):  
New World ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Ecological Approach ◽  
World Religions ◽  
European Contact ◽  
Elite Status ◽  
Religious Importance ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Exchange Network ◽  
Early Formative

An ecological approach to religion is utilized to examine crocodilians represented in highland and lowland Mesoamerican art from the Early Formative to European contact. It is suggested for certain Formative New World religions, the Olmec in particular, that the crocodilian may have attained religious importance because it served as a major food source, is a predator of humans, and is an anomalous and striking animal. It is further proposed that crocodilian products (meat, skins, etc.) may have been lowland items used in an exchange network with highland groups, that the crocodilian motif and crocodilian products became elements of elite status regalia, and that Olmec ideology thereby gained a foothold in central Mexico. Subsequently, a decline in the supply of crocodilians due to overhunting or other causes may have undermined one basis of Olmec strength and hastened their downfall in the Middle Formative. Crocodilians remain in the art up to European contact, but their role seems to change as they transcend the secular-mundane, as the elite establish other status regalia, and as a greater variety of religious expressions develops.

Radiocarbon Evidence for Initial Early Formative Period Occupation in Coastal Oaxaca, Mexico

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 437-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy David Hepp
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
Human Bone ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Early Formative

Seven AMS radiocarbon dates (1950–1525 cal BC) from controlled contexts demonstrate Early Formative period occupation in coastal Oaxaca, Mexico. These dated elements from the site of La Consentida include hearths, occupational surfaces, carbon adhering to pottery from a midden, and human bone collagen processed with XAD purification. They were excavated from primary contexts and do not represent redeposited materials. An eighth sample, dated to the Middle Formative period, is considered postoccupational. The diversity of dated deposits and features, their distribution, and their overlapping calibrated ranges indicate settlement by an initial Early Formative period village.

Context, Cult, and Early Formative Period Public Ritual in the Mixteca Alta

1998 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey P. Blomster
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Social Ranking ◽  
Mixteca Alta ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Early Formative

AbstractFrom the Early and Middle Formative periods, hollow ceramic-baby figurines in the Olmec style—representing a suite of shared symbols and iconography—appear at sites throughout Mesoamerica. Hollow babies are usually reported without provenience, which has prevented a context-based analysis. The recent discovery of a hollow-baby figurine in a bell-shaped pit in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca provides the opportunity to examine the role and purported distribution of these objects across Mesoamenca. Based on consideration of the Etlatongo hollow-baby image, a semiotic analysis of contemporaneous solid figurines from Oaxaca, and the volume and nature of its bell-shaped-pit context, hollow babies are interpreted as ritual paraphernalia used in display and public ceremonies that reflect the emerging social ranking of this period. Moving beyond a socioeconomic interpretation, the interregional relationships expressed through hollow-baby figurines are suggested to evince participation in a regional cult.

THE EARLY FORMATIVE PERIOD IN THE SOUTHERN ISTHMUS: EXCAVATIONS AT BARRIO TEPALCATE, IXTEPEC, OAXACA

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliana Carla Reyes González ◽  
Marcus Winter
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
San Jose ◽  
San Lorenzo ◽  
The North ◽  
Late Formative ◽  
Isthmus Of Tehuantepec ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Design Motifs ◽  
The Village ◽  
Early Formative

AbstractBarrio Tepalcate, on the Los Perros River just outside Ciudad Ixtepec, Oaxaca, 18 km upriver from Laguna Zope, is one of the few Early and Middle Formative period sites known in the southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec region. Our salvage excavation in 2005 showed that the village covered no more than four hectares. It was probably one of several villages along the river in a two-tiered settlement hierarchy centered on Laguna Zope. The presence of Early Formative period ceramics suggests that the inhabitants of Barrio Tepalcate participated in the Early Olmec style horizon, although the design motifs on their pottery are simpler than those from San Lorenzo 150 km to the north. We found little evidence of imported ceramics from San Lorenzo, which may be due to the small size of the sample and the site, or to differences in how San Lorenzo interacted with highland sites, such as Etlatongo and San José Mogote, and Isthmian sites, such as Barrio Tepalcate. The Early Formative inhabitants of the southern Isthmus were members of the Mixe-Zoque language family, and specifically Mixe speakers by the Late Formative.

A Comment on Ford's Review of Early Formative Period of Coastal Ecuador

1968 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 254-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon D. Muller
Keyword(s):  
Long Range ◽  
New World ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Culture Contact ◽  
Early Formative ◽  
Ceramic Decoration

AbstractFord"s conclusions that a substantial reevaluation of New World prehistory is required are not fully justified. In the first place, the Valdivia complex has not clearly been shown to be the source for all New World ceramics. Second, the comparisons of Valdivia and Jomon potsherds are not so tightly controlled as Ford indicates. Given the great variety of ceramic decoration in Japan, it is not surprising that many similarities should exist. In addition, the question of ceramic origins is confused with the origins of Neolithic and the question of long-range culture contact.

The Tronadora Complex: Early Formative Ceramics in Northwestern Costa Rica

1994 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Hoopes
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Central America ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Central American ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Southern Central ◽  
Tephra Stratigraphy ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Early Formative

The correlation of archaeological features with tephra stratigraphy and radiocarbon dates in the volcanic cordillera of northwestern Costa Rica has provided evidence for an Early to Middle Formative ceramic complex dating to at least 2000 B.C. Tronadora ceramics have been found in association with evidence for early horticulture and sedentism. Stylistic comparisons with other early pottery from Central America have helped with the refinement of our chronology for the earliest sedentary societies in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Differences between Tronadora pottery and the earliest complexes of Mesoamerica and southern Central America indicate a high degree of regionalization in ceramic styles during the Early Formative period. Similarities also indicate, however, the common participation of northwestern Costa Rica and southern Mesoamerica in broad interaction networks at this time. Tronadora pottery does not represent an incipient technology or the result of a diffusion of ceramic production from Mesoamerica or northwestern South America. Instead, it implies the existence of an earlier and still-undefined period of technological experimentation in the Central American isthmus.

Redefinition of the Swasey Phase at Cuello, Belize

1990 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 570-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Wyllys Andrews ◽  
Norman Hammond
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Farming Communities ◽  
Maya Area ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Early Formative ◽  
Cultural Developments

Calibrated radiocarbon dates of 19 samples excavated since 1976 at the site of Cuello, in northern Belize, place the Swasey phase (11 dates) and Bladen phase (8 dates) in the Middle Formative period, rather than in the Early Formative, as 10 dates on charcoal excavated in 1975 and 1976 indicated. The post-1976 dates for both phases fall between about 1100 and 400 B.C., and the two sets do not appear to differ significantly. All except 3 of the 35 archaeologically acceptable dates from the later Lopez Mamom and Cocos Chicanel contexts fall within the conventionally accepted ranges for those phases. A mixture of old charcoal from the environment or from an unidentified pre-Swasey occupation with the 1975–1976 samples may explain their early radiocarbon ages, although why such mixing should have affected only the 1975–1976 samples is not known. This reassessment of the early Cuello sequence aligns it with comparable cultural developments elsewhere in the Maya area and suggests that the earliest farming communities of northern Belize perhaps derived from the highlands of Guatemala.

Determining the Function of One of the New World's Earliest Pottery Assemblages: The Case of San Jacinto, Colombia

1999 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Ann F. Pratt
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Food Processing ◽  
New World ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Social Value ◽  
South American ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Term Storage ◽  
Early Formative

AbstractOne of the earliest pottery assemblages in the New World (5900 B. P.) was manufactured by logistically mobile hunter-gatherers at San Jacinto I, in Colombia, South America. The vessels were constructed using fiber temper and were elaborately decorated. These characteristics along with the archaeological context of the pottery suggest that its use was unrelated to cooking or food processing. Visual and statistical analyses indicate the pottery had high economic and social value for this semisedentary group; it likely was utilized for feasting/serving activities and possibly for short-term storage. Comparative analyses indicate that the pottery from other early sites in northeast South American may have served similar functions during the early Formative period.

EARLY–MIDDLE FORMATIVE PERIOD SUBSISTENCE IN THE TEOTIHUACAN VALLEY, MEXICO: PRE-HISPANIC PLANT REMAINS FROM ALTICA

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily McClung de Tapia ◽  
Guillermo Acosta-Ochoa ◽  
Diana Martínez-Yrizar ◽  
Carmen Cristina Adriano-Morán ◽  
Jorge Cruz-Palma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
Transitional Period ◽  
Cultivated Plants ◽  
Agricultural Communities ◽  
Basin Of Mexico ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Maize Cultivation ◽  
The Face ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Early Formative

AbstractRecent excavations at the Early–Middle Formative period site of Altica in the southern piedmont of the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico, provide evidence for early agriculture and plant use in a rural community in the northern Basin of Mexico. In the Basin of Mexico, settled agricultural communities were present in the southern sector of the region from at least 1200 cal b.c. Initial expansion into the semiarid northern sector of the Basin, however, appears to have taken place towards the end of the Early Formative, during the transition to the Middle Formative when agricultural economies based on maize cultivation became firmly established, setting the scene for increased population density and concomitant social complexity.Altica is currently the only community in the Teotihuacan Valley spanning this transitional period that has survived in the face of intensive changes in land use over the last three millennia. Macro- and microbotanical evidence recovered from radiocarbon-dated excavated contexts at Altica provide evidence for maize cultivation and suggest a subsistence economy in transition, prior to the establishment of intensive dependence upon a broader range of domesticated and cultivated plants.

scholarly journals Reconsidering the Age and Typological Character of “Pox Pottery” from Guerrero, Mexico

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Douglas J. Kennett ◽  
Barbara Voorhies ◽  
Josue Gomez
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Isthmus Of Tehuantepec ◽  
Per Se ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Formative Ceramics ◽  
Early Formative

We revisit the age and typological character of “Pox Pottery” that was reported in the 1960s by Charles Brush who considered it to be uniquely early (~2440 BC). Investigating the same two sites in coastal Guerrero where Brush excavated, we recovered Early Formative ceramics, some with the “pox” attribute. Here, we report potsherd frequencies for these deposits at both sites according to regional ceramic typologies, as well as AMS 14C dates used to establish a Bayesian stratigraphic chronology for each site to better constrain the age of these Early Formative period deposits. We argue that “Pox Pottery” is not a ceramic type per se and that the “pox” attribute occurs in multiple Early Formative period ceramic types. The earliest pottery is similar to other Red-on-Buff ceramic traditions from the Central Mexican Highlands and west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Our chronological work demonstrates that these ceramics date between 1820 and 1400 cal BC, consistent with other recent studies indicating an early age of Red-on-Buff ceramics and suggesting shared cultural traditions distinct from the contemporary Locona interaction sphere that emerged in parallel.

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