Guasave, Sinaloa: An Area of Interaction and Transformation

Guasave, Sinaloa: An Area of Interaction and Transformation Guasave, located in northwest Mexico, holds special significance for Mesoamerican and US-Southwest archaeology. Works undertaken by Gordon Ekholm at the El Ombligo site in Guasave during the late 1930s revealed the presence of ceramics featuring seemingly Mesoamerican iconography and non-local goods —collec vely defined as the Aztatlan Tradi on. These materials coexisted with the local, and purportedly Southwestern, Huatabampo archaeological tradi on between AD 1100 and 1450. Beyond works undertaken in the 1930s, the paucity of research in northern Sinaloa posi ons the Guasave region as an unexplored borderland between Mesoamerica and the Greater Southwest, and as a point of conten on in northwest Mexico's archaeological thought. These discussions con nue about whether or not Guasave served as a hub within the interac on sphere linking West Mexico and the US Southwest, hinge on the scant informa on available from this poorly-known region. This research inves gates the Lower Guasave River (LGR) from a local scale, documen ng new archaeological sites occupied pre- and post-Aztatlan advent, and offering new insights into the inter and intra-community dynamics. Department of Anthropology. Jose R. Vivero-Miranda INTRODUCTION The Lower Guasave River (LGR) in Northern Sinaloa is pivotal for understanding cultural interac ons between Northwest Mexico and Mesoamerica around AD 1100. Despite its significance, research in the region remains limited, relying primarily on data from a single site, El Ombligo. This has le key ques ons unanswered, including the intracommunity organiza on of Huatabampo groups, the mechanisms and reasons behind the arrival of the Aztatlan tradi on in the LGR, its influence on local Huatabampo communi es' trajectories, and what the Aztatlan tradi on ul mately represented for these groups. To address these gaps, a mul phase research project has been ini ated, beginning with a systema c survey of a 30 km stretch of the LGR. This first phase documented 16 previously unrecorded sites, including a coastal shell mound site that appears to have served as a hub for interac on and integra on dynamics within the evaluated area. The findings suggest that local groups were engaged in broader social and cultural networks extending beyond mere economic exchanges. Furthermore, the documented sites provide evidence of a pre-exis ng, dynamic, and complex cultural landscape preda ng the arrival of the Aztatlan tradi on. These insights shed new light on the social transforma ons of the region. Research area, Northern Sinaloa. Map BACKGROUND Exis ng informa on of regional se lement pa ern encompass scant descrip ons in 16th Century Accounts. Therein, informa on is contradictory summarizing a dispersed pa ern of rancherias placed along the main river. Ini ally, this field study aimed to relocate sites recorded by Ekholm during the 1930s; however, demographic expansion and mariculture ac vi es have severely modified the LGR region. At this stage, popula on es mates during the Huatabampo and Guasave phases are s ll unclear. Several sites were recorded beyond the current Guasave River, based on local informants. Research results reveal intriguing distribu on pa erns of sites not men oned in ethnohistoric accounts. Indicators such as site size, diversity and density of ceramic types, and diversity and density of surface features, provide further insights about site func on at the intracommunity level. Site GS-15. Shell middens. Site occupies aprox. 10km along the coast. Rank-Size correlation graph. Primo-Convex Relationship. Documented surface materials. Documented surface materials Project Area and recorded sites. Aztatlan Policromo Ceramic Type Guasave Red on Buff (Aztatlán Tradition) 5cm 0 Aguaruto Inciso El Dorado Inciso 0 Examples from Funerary Assemblages at the El Ombligo site (Northern Sinaloa) Sites recorded. GS-2 (Platform severely disturbed by rural road; GS-5 Site affected by agricultural land. Site GS-15. Distribution of shell middens. Rojo Guasave (Huatabampo Tradition) 5cm Aguaruto METHODS & RESULTS Given that Guasave Red on Buff (ACC ceramic type) and diagnos c ceramic forms associated with the Huatabampo phase appear consistently across all sites, the 16 recorded sites were tenta vely contemporaneous some me between AD 900 -1400. S ll adventurous, is possible to infer some level of interac on and possible integra on among sites based on site distribu ons and observed ceramic types. A preliminary qualita ve typology of site importance incorporates addi onal archaeological evidence, including the presence of obsidian and the diversity of site features such as shell middens, hearths, and mounds. For instance, the differen al distribu on of ceramics —ACC and Red Plainwares, suggests different roles and ac vi es associated with sites, not necessarily defined by site size. Addi onally, the presence of dense shell middens and mounds at two sites provides further insight into intra-community structure and site use. Coastal Landscape, project area. Mangroves/Coast Par cularly, site GS-15, categorized as a “nodal site or large site” may have held a unique role as a social gathering point on a regional scale, indicated by its size, high density of materials, and number of shell middens (24). A rank-size correla on (Pa erson and Drennan 2005) complements the above observa ons and provides addi onal insights into community structure during the Guasave phase (AD 1100-1450). The distribu on reflects extreme primateness (primo-convexity) due to the presence of one very large site (GS-15) and most sites being significantly smaller. A Primo-Convex rela onship indicates a high degree of centraliza on in one site (GS-15) but with a weakly integrated se lement system (Figure 6). This result somewhat matches qualita ve observa ons, as the GS-15 site may have controlled an extensive area of marine resources, likely also func oning as a social gathering locus, based on the presence of Andara Tuberculosa shell species present in all recorded sites. At present, the lack of archaeological excava ons represents a limita on to more detailed interpreta ons of se lement pa erns. In regard to chronology, tenta vely, all sites were occupied during both the Huatabampo and Guasave phases indicated by the widespread presence of Guasave Red on Buff (ACC ceramics) and diagnos c Huatabampo ceramic forms. -Alvarez Palma, Ana Maria, and Elisa Villalpando Canchola(1979)Informe del reconocimiento de superficie del Norte de Sinaloa y Sur de Sonora. Centro Regional delNoroeste, I.N.A.H., Mexico. -Braniff Cornejo, B. (1994). La frontera septentrional de Mesoamérica. In Historia Antigua de México vol. I, I (L. Manzanilla & L. López, coords.) (pp. 159-190). INAH, UNAM -Peterson, C. E., & Drennan, R. D. (2005). Communities, settlements, sites, and surveys: Regional-scale analysis of prehistoric human interaction. American Antiquity, 70(1), 5-30. -Carpenter, J. P. (1996). El ombligo en la labor: differentiation, interaction and integration in prehispanic Sinaloa, Mexico. 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