The Olmec. 1800-400 B.C.E.

THE CAMBRIDGE WORLD PREHISTORY C A M B R ID G E U N IV E R S IT Y PRESS USA UTSRQPONML 32 Avenue ofthe Americas, New York, NY 10013-2473, Cambridge University Press is part ofthe University ofCambridge. Ir furrhers the University's in the pursuit mission of education, internationallevels by disseminating learning and research knowledge at the highest of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521119931 © Cambridge University Press 2014 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission ofCambridge First published University Press. 2014 Printed in the United States of AmericacbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA A catalo9 re c o rd fo r th is publication L ib ra ry o fC o n 9 fe ss The Cambridge is a v a íla b le J i" o m th e British L ib ra ry . Catalo9in9 in Publicatíon d a ta world prehistory / [edited by] Colin Renfrew, PaulBahn. volumes cm Includes bibliographical ISBN 978-0-521-11993-1 references and index. (set) - ISBN 978-1-107-02377-2 (volume 1) - ISBN 978-1-107-02378-9 (volume 2) - ISBN 978-1-107-02379-6 (volume 3) 1. Prehistoric peoples - Encyclopedias. Prehistoric - Encyclopedias. Encyclopedias. GN710.C36 569.9-dc23 2. Anthropology, 3. Antiquities, 1. Renfrew, Colin, 19372012 2012008268 ISBN 978-1-107-02377-2 Volume 1 Hardback ISBN 978-1-107-02378-9 Volume 2 Hardback ISBN 978-1-107-02379-6 Volume 3 Hardback ISBN 978-0-521-11993-1 Three-Volume Cambridge PrehistoricII. Bahn, Paul G. Hardback University Press has no responsibility or accuracy ofURLs for external or third-party referred to in this publication Set for the persistence Internet web sites and does not guarantee that any content on such web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. 2 .2 0 UTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA THE OLM EC, ANN CYPHERS Thefirst stirrings of the Olmec Culture began at the onset of thesecond miUennium B C E zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSR 1 8 0 0 -4 0 0 BCE in the southern whichis considered the heartland Gulf coast region, (Map 2.20.I). From modest beginnings,the Olmec went on to attain a high level of developmentuntil their demise around 400 neighbours,they are characterised BCE. In contrast to their by a geographical well-developedregional trade networks, animposing art style and centralísed centre, social stratification, political systems sane- diffusion theories that ascribe Olmec achievernents cultures, as the evidence for their indigenous Mesoamerica The chronology of portablegreenstone (Grove 1997; Pool 2007). The present three-dirnensional (1400-IDOO felines (1000-400 as weU as heartland development is Preclassic, with San Lorenzo as the first capital, foUowed by tals (I800-I400 human figures and anthropornorphised Olmec La Venta. Tres Zapotes was an epi-Olmec centre after 400 the foUowing segments stelae, columns, in conventionaUy divided into two periods, the Early and Middle tíonedby religion and led by hereditary rulers backed by arrned colossalheads, thrones, development is overwhelming. force.Their celebrated artistic manifestations in stone, such as to distant BCE deals with of time: prior to the rise of the capiSan Lorenzo's BCE), BCE) discussion and La Venta's florescence development and wane and decline BCE). axes, figurines and masks, gave the first indicationsof an elite social order and helped define their Gulf coastorigino H is to r y o fO lm e c Thetrue narne of this preliterate culture has not survived in R esearch oraltraditions and historie memory. Its name, meaning people oftherubber country, is borrowed from a hístoric-period Gulf coastculture. It did not seem quite fitting until the recent dis- Olmec coveryof rubber balls that confirm ancient Olmec knowledge basic questions anduse of this substance from the Castilla elastica tree. The Olmec civilisation originated milieuin Mesoamerica, tal migrations. Theories reached, from the Archaic Period and did not appear abruptly or myste- riouslyor fuUy developed as a consequence archaeology of intercontinen- of external origins do not meet the now surpasses rernain unresolved. for example, exact geographic the Iso-year Consensus on the definition of the art style, the political organisation. Likewise, the character, scale and inten- sity of relations with distant societies continue to be disputed. Historical accounts invariably begin with José Melgar's 1869 report of a colossal stone head from southern nessesin art forms, a highly uncertain first clue of an archaeological tionof population movements. For exarnple, the facial features yet extent of the culture or the nature of their burdenof scientific proof as they rely largely on formal likebasis for the postula- mark has not been in Mesoamerica. Veracruz, the culture never before documented The subsequent appearance of other artifacts ofthe colossal stone heads are the keystones of unsustainable stirnulated populararguments for African origins, whereas other anthro- culture. Growling hurnanised jaguars with cleft heads, oblique pomorphous representations almond allegedly Nordicfeatures, The substantiation show Chinese of these theories requires geneticproof and artífacts carried by migrants, DNA studies do not support denceof imported but, to date, these claims, nor is there evi- objects from other continents. the Mormon theory of Old World origins ableas the characteristics and ofOlmec Moreover, is equally unten- Culture do not match the scholarly atternpts to define the style and label the eyes, prominent fangs, everted upper lips and fiat- tened noses were considered prominent but they were perplexed by its style and chronological Despite the growing highland brass objects, they did not weave silk and linen, they did not the heartland, havebeasts of burden, facts were the basis for suggesting specialists do not support aca- did not begin until the late I930s. George Vaillant's pioneering the earth, In sum, knowledgeable relation- body of evidence and mounting demic curiosity, Olmec archaeology not mine and smelt metals to produce gold, copper, iron and to tiU art style. ship to the Classic Period Maya. description of the Iaredites in the Book of Mormon - they did and they did not use ploughs traits ofthe The early finds inspired bold explorers to inspect the region, research at the central sites, Zacatenco and El Arbolillo, preceded work in and highland discoveries of Olmec-style the coexistence peasant culture and an elite culture ofOlmec origino IDOS arti- of a local 2.20 ANN CYPHERS SRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA G u lf o f M e x ic o T Ia tilc o • UTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA .T I a p a c o y a CENTRAL H IG H L A N D S Z a z a c a tla • San M ig u e l • .C h a lc a t z in g o Am uco .O x t o t it lá n • T e o p a n te c u a n itlá n ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA o L M E C SOUTHERN Jvxüebuaca ••• _san . • • C a u a d z í d z lq u i San H IG H L A N D S José * L o re n zo M o g o te IS T H M U S O F TEHUANTEPEC ¡.oc P a c if ic O c e a n LEG END MAP * O lm e c • S to n e • S ite ••. M u r a ls it e c a p it a l w íth o u t 2.2 0 . 1 . site m onum ent s to n e s c u lp tu r e Map of southern Mesoamerica heartland ofMexico's southern heartland sites containing Archaeological showing Early and Middle PrecIassic archaeological murals and stone sculpture as weIl as to other sites mentioned excavations at Gulf coast Olmec centres began with Matthew Stirling's work at Tres Zapotes, 1938-9, in the texto (Map by Gerardo Iirnénez.) the Olmec as Mesoamerica's until the 1959 publication Stirling La Venta. of stone sculpture, early studies offerings role in the crystaIlisation and their unearthing and architecture of zoth-century played a key perspectives on Olmec Culture. Scholars of the first radiocarbon carne together at the 1942 Mexican Society of round-table meeting to discuss the definition and symbolism of the Olmec art style and its chronological to the Classic Maya. A fruitless attemptwas to rename the culture in order to distinguish from the ancient archaeological as the basic theme, humans the historie Olmec culture. Miguel Covarrubias provided the first broad consideration impact on later Mesoamerican made of the art style and its iconography. He defined felines as the predominant representa- luxury offerings. sequence A four-stage in the civic-cerernonial edge is skewed towards and productive ones. Like most Mesoamericanists Gulf coast scholars assumed mouth, a robust human heads. He inferred triad the Olmec diet. However, a large resident popula- tion of swidden agriculturists at La Venta seemed precluded by was proposed as a "vacant" ceremonial empty eyes, the trapezoidal ofthe time, the maize-beans-squash on earlier observations, human physique and pear-shaped core, currentknowl- elite activities rather than domestic the extent of monumental large rectangular tombs and Middle Precias sic construction for La Venta was devised. Since the early investiga- tions concentrated dominated mapping of units and exten- sive work in Complex A, the locus of luxurious tion and the presence of baby or dwarf imagery and, building incIuded other traits - flame eyebrows, dates from The mid-zoth century ushered in an era of new explorations at La Venta under Robert Heizer that incIuded the central core, excavation of stratigraphic Anthropology's relationship mother culture in counterpoint to the proposal of a Classic Period dating, a debate not settIed foIlowed by La Venta, 1942-3, and then San Lorenzo, 1945-6. and his team's sites in and beyond the Olmec Gulf coast. The Olmec capitals ofSan Lorenzo and La Venta are shown in spatial relation to non- After the discoveries Consequently, the site centre. at La Venta, views of Olmec art and updated. Formal, iconographic and thernatic an Olmec expansion out of the Gulf coast region based on the studies provided useful syntheses, cIassifications and interpre- style's broad geographic tations. The thesis of an Olmec Em pire gained momentum and 1006 distribution. Alfonso Caso argued for developmentwere architecture. 1 8 0 0 - 4 0 0 ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHG BCE The OImec,UTSRQPONMLKJIHGFE wasproposed as the causal force behind the development of interactions between the San Lorenzo Olmec and distant sites sociopoliticalcomplexity in distant regions, and its expansion were put forward as the mechanisms by which the former pro- wasthought to involve the founding ofhighland moted the development complexity in the latter. colonies and However, researchers working in the Mexican highlands long-distance merchant activities. Parallel with Gulf coast research focusshifted to other regions, in the 1950S and 1960s, and the discovery of further Olmec-styleartifacts led to a backlash against Olmec Gulf origins,with alternatives proposed in Guerrero, Morelos, Oaxaca andthe Pacific coast. Interpretations of artistic styles combin- ingOlmec and local features centred on Olmec expansion. Manydoubts about the in situ Olmec development coastheartland were dispelled ofincreasing agreed and proposed that early highland form prior to Olmec inftuence (Flannery Grove 1974, 1987; Niederberger (1997), an archaeologist Foundation, by Michael Coe and Richard later expansion tive in the Book ofMormon. stane monuments was improved surveys,but retrieval of contextual discovered sculptures for the first heartland dates. The questing for rise, followed by its back into the Pacific coast to establish testpits laid the stratigraphic foundation Young University's is the leading propo- regio n were the cause of San Lorenzo's nies, an assessment by radiocarbon Marcus 1994, 2000; nent of a different theory - that inftuences from the Soconusco in the Gulf Diehl's(1980) research at San Lorenzo in the late 1960s. Various chronology supported & 1996). In contrast, Iohn Clark from Brigham New World Archaeological dis- complexity began to Issues involving the definition of "Olmec" and the nature, with novel magneto meter temporality information tant regions resurfaced in an impassioned for the newly was scant. Ray Krotser produced the colo- uncannily parallel to the migration narra- and impact of Gulf coast relationships with dis- School of American Research (SAR) seminar in 1983 (see contributions in Sharer & firsttopographic map of a major Olmec centre, and regional Grove 1989), which was held at a time when highland research maps were generated had surpassed the scale ofwork in the southern Gulf coast. One by commercial 1974); however, archaeological photogrammetry settlement (Coe surveys were not conducted.The excavation evidence and ethnographic, botani- caland zoological surveys forrned the points of departure for recovery of botanical remains, seminarwas the polarisation debate. The two essential positions ofpositions thathas versus sister-cultures in the debate may be sum- marised as follows: (1) Olmec as a single homogeneous Caeand Diehl's model ofSan Lorenzo's development. Despite limited resultofthis come to be known as the mother-culture Coe and born in the Gulf coast heartland culture that exerted powerful socio- Diehladvocated the dietary priority of maize, complemented political inftuences by foods such as root crops, fish, turtle, wild plants, turkeyand plex distant societies; and (2) Early and Middle Preclassic peer domesticated dogo The production polity interaction with multiple regional inputs that arose from of a maize surplus was piv- otalto their model for the rise of social stratification warfareover a circumscribed in which on the emergent of less com- a broadly shared ideology without a specific origin hearth. Since the SARseminar, or scarce resource concentration, trajectories the pendulum has veered back to the definedas fertile river levee lands for highly productive maize Gulf coast, where recent investigations agriculture, culminated dence necessary to resolve these and other issues. Settlement in their control by the elite. They proposed a bipartite social division of elite and commoners composing ants, an estimate the population founded of one thousand on the frequency mounds. At the top of the social scale, inhabit- of visible low hereditary kings pattern studies now cover nearly 3000 km>, about 10% ofthe heartland. Although these surveys have registered hundreds of Early and Middle Preclassic sites, only a few have been subject to more thorough acquiredpower from their control over scarce resources (such pretations asthe river levee lands) and their role as redistributors in environmental goods: they commanded nicstone from the Tuxtla Mountains, unfinished bird effigy, a suggestion and lay- exploration. iconographic and subsistence lowing synthesis of Olmec development publications T h e O lm e c H e a r tla n d (i.e., Olmec monumental Like Stirling, they of San Lorenzo's for the mutilation, demise destruction organisation Lorenzowas largely based on the presence of standardised to the later Mesoamerican (loralernon 1971), divine kingship, ment oflong-distance at San deity god pantheons the labour requirements stane transport and plateau construction on determining is customarily defined if the region could be considered territory, or ifthe term "heartland" of and the elite manage- trade and religion. Long-distance trade strongest by the distribution interaction of stone arto Research has not yet focused a political should remain an archaeo- logical construct loosely demarcating and linear burial of stone monuments. images analogous not all of symbolThe heartland of state-level is based on a broad have been given due consideration. icallycharged items, the latter implying an Olmec religious Coe's (1977) proposal and formal, sample of these studies, but due to space limitations dominance over the rest of Mesoamerica. and as the forces responsible investigations and con textual analyses of Olmec arto The fol- trade of raw materials and ritual exchanges viewedinvaders as the instruments Exciting new data and inter- have become available in these studies as well as baths. of early long-distance to the sources obsidian and greenstones) as an enormous now discredited) ingstone aqueducts to feed ceremonial Cae and Diehl's interpretation volea- building the prominent ridges of the site's core plateau (envisioned included expeditions of exotic work forces for transporting have sought the evi- the geographic area with and maximum development. Limited by the Gulf waters, the Papaloapan and Usumacinta Rivers and the mountain ranges ofthe Isthmus ofTehuantepec, the heartland covers approximately ern Mexican states ofVeracruz continuous 30,000 km 2 of the mod- and Tabasco (Map 2.20.1). Its surface may be heuristically broken down into the 1007 2.20 ANN CYPHERS SRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA G u lf o f M e x ic o ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHG S y m b o ls 3 2 E le v a t io n s 4 4 @ R o u te n o d e [!] R o u te ~ C a p it a l ~ S a c re d D W a te r K ilo m e t e r s mountains. The geopolitical positioning role in extending and shaping the supply hinterlands gross physical features: and (1-27 containing and river islands segregated 451 - 1,680 the location ofkey sites in the coastal plains, uplands and web and at the sources ofimportant and channelling unification in raw materials played an important the flows of resources and products. The presence of stone strategies aimed at offsetting the friction of distance among widely separated by watery and irregular terrains the wetlands uplands s it e ofSan Lorenzo and La Venta Island capitals and other key sites at nodallocations sculpture at nodal sites formed part of politico-religious communities 301- 450 UTSRQPONM _ 2 8 -6 0 the fluvial and terrestrial transportation-communication include s h r in e 11-27 s e a le v e l ( m e t e r s ) _61-300 03-10 m o n u m e n t(s ) 0 Relief map of the western Olmec heartland illustrating MAP2.20.2. following n o d e w it h s t o n e above internal low-relief by Iow-relíef promontories (10-60 m asl): and the Tuxtlas Mountains, into piedmont 1008 the coastal plains, which m as!) bordered (61-300 m asl), mountain valleys (301-450 (Map m asl) and high mountain terrain (450-1680 m asl) 2.20.2). The environmental etration of geological, and biological mosaic shows geomorphic, an intricate climatic, interpen- hydrological diversity. From the Gulf shoreline, its terrain The Olmec, 1800-400 ascendsto 1700 m asl in the Tuxtlas Mountains; coastalplains (» 80%) proportionally however, the outweigh the moun- tainsZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA « 20%). Temperatures range from 8 to 42 C (annual o appropriate BCE riverbanks in accord with the mode of transporta- tion and water levels. AlI in all, traversing the coastal plains in any direction usually involves a combination of foot travel and mean= 26 o C); and rainfall varies from 1200 to 4500 mm, with downriver transport, with a careful selection of routes and por- extremesoeeurring in the dry and rainy seasons, respective!y. tage points to minimise effort and risk. To the untrained The heartland is home to the highest discharge rivers in Mexico.Three navigable river systems drain northwards meGulf after meandering into across the plains. The Papaloapan the choices may seem numerous, able ifthe traveller hopes to arrive unharmed. Storage possibilities system,including the San Juan and Tesechoacan Rivers, is sep- humid aratedfrorn the Coatzacoalcos "rot" in a few centuries, drainage by a low upland divide andthe physiographic discontinuity ofthe Tuxtlas Mountains. Anotherrange of uplands segregates Grijalva-Usumacinta and Tonalá the ftoodplains River systems of the from the tropics, Thedynamic environment, modelled by natural and anthro- pogenic forces, shows past and reeent modifications, both subtleand swift, that affeet the lives of its inhabitants. In the sedimentary eoastal plains, the interrelated impaeting biota and cultural patterns forces of change of exploitation lateralshifts in river channels, deltaic subsidence include and sea leve! are also limited by the clima te. The where small volcanic stones may literally do not provide conditions conducive tocbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA lo n g - te r m storage of perishables. The use of preservation techniques allows foods to be sto red for about three months. The preparation les s important Coatzacoalcos. eye, but not all are recornmend- of foods with limited storability is nonethefor managing the mid-summer drought periodo Such constraints the risky lean time of the year, and subsequent regional resource distribution The heartland's "invisible" wealth of perishable studies, include tend to foment and exchange. in the archaeological sourcing high annual flood on food accumulation resources, relatively record until the advent of cacao, cotton, feathers, rubber, end of the (e.g., parrots, macaws, monkeys) and tropical plants, fruits and spices (e.g., chicozapote, acuyo, MexieanVolcanic Belt, were the chief source of basalt stone achiote and orchids such as vanilla). There are myriad sources used in Olmec sculpture. The landmass of local minerals such as specular and nonspecular c1imatieand soil variations between the coastal beaches and shell, honey, live animals regression and transgression. The Tuxtlas Mountains, forming lagoons to the Catemaco the eastern shows Lake and volcanic significant peaks of San bitumen, kaolin clays, salt, sulphur, limestone, sandstones, most known to have been exploited by the Olmec MartínTuxtla, Santa Martha and San Martín Pajapan. Sinuous and some, such as bitumen riversand wetlands are absent; instead permanent Neff mittentwatereourses down-cutting floodplains form radial drainage volcaniemassifs. Noteworthy and inter- through narrow mountain patterns engraved into the risk factors are volcanic activity, Asin most places, geographical features and seasonal cycles on human activities, not in a deterministic fashion, but by limiting the number oflocational ehoices for specifieactivities. The frequency and loeation of viable settlementloeations that provide a reasonable degree of safety, basie necessities and accessibility were not neeessarily constant. fact, the instability of the heartland's placed far greater constraints more stable environments In physical environment on human ways of life than the ofhighland Glascock highland sources, Alternative itineraries for crossing the coastal plains provide an example of available ehoices and appropriate jade source), Isthmus decisions that exported obsidian from multiple (i.e., jades and re!ated rocks) (the only known Mesoamerican (Cobean et al. 1991; Pires- Isthmian Ferreira 1976; Pires-Ferreira & Evans 1978; Seitz et al. 2001). Uneven resource distribution in the heartland has received by David Grove (1994), whose model of"zonal complementarity" heartland (Herrera, and iron ores from Oaxaca and the southern ofTehuantepec consideration 2008), is deficient in other geological greenstones Guatemala and pottery Cyphers & resources which the Olmec imported: recognises resources, three basic niches each dominated cal site: coastallagoon Tuxtlas Mountains regions. spheres 1999; Wendt afar. Conversely, the heartland from Motagua, highwinds and soil erosion on slopes. placedeonstraints & hematite, bentonite and of natural by a major archaeologi- (La Venta), riverine (San Lorenzo) and (Laguna de los Cerros). In counterpoint Timothy Earle's (1976) model of antagonism he suggests the Olmec capitals preferred to cultivate mutually ensure personal safety and ease travel. For the sake of simplicity, beneficial cultural barriers are not considered. sources of raw materials to facilitate their procurement. If traversing by foot from to and competition, cooperative relations with communities near the Both east to west, swamps ean often be avoided by following high models require revision since we now know that Laguna de los rivermargins or bordering Cerros was not a major capital and that, despite their overlap- uplands. Crossing rivers is inevita- bleand theoretically could be done almost anywhere; however, ping Early Preclassic occupations, narrow channel sections and places with shallower depths or were in no way peers at that time.UTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA La Venta and San Lorenzo meanders slowing the current are the safest and easiest to rnanage. When travelling by water (generally north-south), options are determined route S u b s is te n c e by the shape of the fluvial system and channel navigability. These travel choices are further reduced at high-water times (and may actually vanish in some localities) Despite when the difficulty and peril in navigation or crossings increase remains, improved recovery techniques due to swift and unpredictable seeurity in embarking debris-laden and debarking currents. Ease and requires the selection of generally poor conditions of the wide variety of resources of preservation of food provide new evidence used by the Olmec. These include maize, root crops, avocado, palm nuts, beans, chile, 1009 2.20 ANN CYPHERS sunflower, turtles, molluscs, crustaceans, freshwater crocodiles, fish, dog, deer, birds, armadillo, ray, among others. Recently identified salt and shark and sting- by chemical analyses, cacao was used as a principal ingredient in ritual drinks around 1800-1550 BCE(see Perspectives assumptions Powis fíood-recession agriculture. cation after predictable are moving away from of intensive maize agriculture to considerations ground desíc- floods so that emerging dry land stays dry long enough for the seJected crop to mature. Under favourable conditions, 2007). on Olmec subsistence Ideally, wetland planting followsa regular line of water descent and uninterrupted staggered wetland harvests would contribute to dry season subsistence security and mitigate the problemof tropical food storage. However, optimal conditions do nottyp· of mixed eco no mies diversified in a broad array of resources ically prevail, which leads to complete or partial crop destrue- and complex tion by unexpected floods that disrupt the regular drop in water procurement environmental strategies tailored to a dynamic mosaico Since the rise of complex societies is stronglycorrelated to crop specialisation, cation, increased grain production archaeologists agricultural intensifi- and storage, Mesoamerican have often assumed the importance early sedentary tal conditions of maize in societies even where favourable environrnenfluctuate, crop productivity is inherently low or variable due to incomplete or ongoing adaptation and storage is not favoured due to conditions of cultigens, ofhigh humidity. levels. For that reason, wetland production of mature maize involves great risk because the planting-to- harvest intervalis a restricted window of opportunity flood hazards. that overlaps the periodof However, if sweet corn or stalks are desired, then they can be harvested sooner, with a greater chance fOl success. Stalk-sugar suggest the harvest of stalks proponents and their use as a sweetener before The subsequent 2003). ZYXWVUT Blake 1250 BCE(Smalley & increase in maize cultivation coincides Potential alternatives to maize have not been given equal atten- with a boom in maize symbolism in art (Taube tion, especially in the Olmec region. there is a Jack of evidence to support it as a staple in the Olmee The appearance, the heartland adaptation continue and dietary import of maize in to be debated. The primary context of the earliest evidence for maize ,(5100 BCE)in the La Venta regio n heartland. processes Sluyter& Domínguez 2006; (i.e., bioturbation) von Nagy macy - how important cf 2003; Another issue is even more problematic Pohl e ta l. 2 0 0 7 ) . was maize in the Olmec diet? There is never have been a staple crop (Rust & Sharer but maize may cf 2006; Arnold Evidence for its greater late Early and Middle Preclassic use and improved lowland adaptation macrobotanical 2006; 2006; than its temporal pri- no clear answer based on current knowledge, 2009). (Blake Zurita remains derives from micro- and (Rust & Leyden Vanderwarker 1994; Ioshua Borstein's Tuxtlas Piedmont (2001) proposed subsistence is based on settlement shift in the patterns showing Early Precias sic sites hovering near rivers and streams, changing to a Middle Precias sic colonisation The author takes into account from permanent of higher elevations. that site displacement rivers was influenced by sociopolitical tors, as well as patterns of food production ance of more productive maize races. To attribute settlement environmental 2009) disregards fac- and the appear- changes exclusively to the "irnproved" of early maize (e.g., Arnold away heartland productivity the cultural and setting of this shift, and furthermore ignores The gross contrast between uplands and river levees for the posedly high maize productivity the latter for their sup- but obscures variations in terrain and hydrology (e.g., Arnold the distinction crucial micro2009), such as between high and low, active and inactive levees (Rust & Sharer Root crops, (Coe & Diehl 2006). 2005; and few planting Agriculture on low levees is highly risky as possible restrictions in well-drained tice of staggered vegetative propagation round availability. Unfortunately, Nagy 2003; cf Pool 2007). The undue focus on levees ignores their nominal proportion ofthe total wetlands, which may be more fully cultivated with 1010 soils. The pracevidence for so their relative contribu- tion to the Olmec diet over time cannot be adequately evaiua single manioc pollen grain, dated to 4600 ated. Nonetheless, cal et BCE, from a deep core in the Tabascan coastal plain (Pope may testify to its Archaic Period antiquity. Also, a l. 2001) identification of manioc (Manihot sp.) phyto- liths before and during San Lorenzo's Zurita florescence provides archaeological 2012) (Cyphers & evidence of its presenee in Early Precias sic cultural deposits. The vast wetlands not only afforded surrounding important tein foods and plant resources, specific physical 2002; techniques von Nagy 2003). - oxbow lakes, floodplain appropriate (Symonds, places for using rnassCyphers Cost-efficient were scheduled to the reproductive ity. Numerous strategies cycles and habitats offish, hydrological changes and seasonal- artificial wetland mounds around San Lorenzo (Symonds, Cyphers & Lunagómez important & Lunagómez procurement were used as dry camps for seasonal the production of aquatic pro- but also are characterised by characteristics pools and side channels, harvesting San Lorenzo and La Venta concentrations 2002; resource cf Clark procurement 2007) and for of sto rabIe smoked and dried wetland foods, in covering the dietary needs of the growing popu- lation, particularly during the annual crisis time. Food scarcity ing high flood may be ameliorated von Olmec foods archaeological root crops has rarely been sought, prevailing during the critical midsummer 1997; San permits a nearly year- there is insufficient winter rain in El Niño years or unpredictAguirre & González 650 BCEat are viable starchy staples with high yields and does not produce consistently high yields, particularly when able floods (Lane-Rodríguez, at Seinfeld, von Nagy & Pohl zooc]. once conjectured 1980), turtles and invertebrates, the low productivity of maize at this time. coastal cultivation of maize emphasises in rituals and ceremonies Andrés (see Pohl et a l. microbotanical 1997). butasyet Recent chemical evidence points to its use in b e - erages consumed (PopecbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA e t a l. 2001) has been questioned on the basis oftropical wetland formation 2004), tein foods to the disadvantaged, relationships Olmec sto red pro- thereby creating patron-client and debts. subsistence a diversified drought and ensu- by distributing economic practices activity are currently characterised portrayed as by various The Olmec, 1800-400 techniquesof exploitation and production food resources. Such diversification of a wide range of was a more successful adaptivestrategy for the risky riverine environment than spe- of concentrated wetland resources BCE located within walking distance of San Lorenzo (Fig. 2.20.1). Built by San Lorenzo's founder-group households as auxiliary features for subsis- cialisationin a low productivity resource such as maize. Their tence activities, dietwas high in protein due to the frequent procurement significant technological change from a simple extractive tech- nology to a conspicuous landscape wetlandresources, which formed the appropriate of nutritional complement to root crops, the most likely candidates as the principIestarch.UTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA these tiny man-rnade islands represented modification camps. The oxbow lakes, floodplain a for dry base pools and side channels of the key reso.urce zone allowed the use of cost-efficient techniques for harvesting aquatic resources in order to obtain high protein yields with a low labour investrnent. brought I n itia I O lm e c back to the permanent Resources were for consumption and, at some times of the year, were dried, smoked and stored to cover household D e v e l o p m e n t , SRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA needs during the annuallean The possession 1 8 0 0 -1 4 0 0 residences BCE of the dry camps time. underwrote access to the key resource zone. The ownership During this period, settlements high food returns in the hands ofthe founder groups and curbed outside in the low Tabascan coastal plains may have been temporary due to the fluctuations in the ment of subsistence infrastructure position to control the distribution and manage- placed these groups in a of critical foodstuffs during local coastal environments crises, which was the basis for social debts potentially payable (RustZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA & Sharer 2006; von Nagy 2003). Gradual site shifting along lagoon and river margins suggests temporary settlements On the other hand, for seasonal activities. permanent communities with political support and labour (Cyphers & Zurita 20I2). From these early times, the real or mythical origins of the in the San founder groups played a fundamental role in social differentia- Lorenzo region, about 45 km inland along the Coatzacoalcos tion, with status predetermined at birth and defined by genea- River, are set on islands and uplands in proximity to fluvial logical distance to the founding ancestors. channels and wetlands legitimation and at nodal positions ways (Symonds, Cyphers & Lunagómez manyways the later development 2002), presaging locations temporaneous occupation in of regional communication networks. Similarly, the Tuxtlas Piedmont erence for well-watered along water- Sites show a pref- for the central Tuxtlas The first colonists arrived in the San Lorenzo regio n around ¡800 BCE,and founded San Lorenzo on a low hilly island (10- 30 m as!) surrounded San Lorenzo's by now extinct rivers and wetlands (Map 2.20.2). The establishment of the site on this specific island Grove growing Exchange systems tary stone monuments distant. This island was singled out essentially due to practical iconography tion; (3) extraordinary offered by water circumscrip- interconnectivity sur- obsidian, sources (Hirth Glascock 2006), and basalt from the nearbyTuxtlas equally met by larger expanses of uplands located only 6-7 km wild resources; (2) defensibility a major con- were in place for obtaining the greater part from three central highland strate early stone-working (1 ) undertook landform with 2,000,000 m 3 an epic model of the "sacred mountain for well-rnade utilitarian wetlands especially rich in populace rounded by water" began to take form (Cyphers et al. 2007-8). floodhaven or the presence offertile soils. These conditions are characteristics making the location far superior to others: Diehl & Gillespie 1992). of earthen fill where private and public ritual spaces were built. in the soggy coastal plains goes beyond its utility as a natural high food availability in contiguous & struction effort, the levellingofthe In this manner, (Santley & Arnold 1996). Later, the political rulers and their lineages would be based on sacred origin myths (Coe 1968, 1972; Coe 1980; Grove 1970,1973; (Borstein zoor). Little con- is registered of powerful & Mountains stone tools and ves seis that dernonknowledge. No whole or fragmen- date to this period, appears on pottery (Di Castro Further evidence oflong-distance & but early sacred Cyphers 2006). trade is found at El Manatí Hill, located only 10 km from San Lorenzo. The offerings placed at the hill's spring are related to the Olmec reverence for due to the atypical mountains, hills and volcanoes as animistic landscape features, shape of the encasing fluvial network of convergent navigable mythical origin places and cosmological waterways, and (4) modest size, placing wetland subsistence the intersection point of sky, earth, and the watery underworld; resource concentrations their apertures - caves, craters, hill clefts and springs - were within easy travel distance. The early settlers lived in the safe uplands and moved back considered pivots, or axis mundi, en trances to the watery underworld (Grove 1970, and forth to the wetlands to obtain a wide range offoods in the 1973, 1999; Reilly 1994a, 1999; Schele 1995; Taube 2004) and open countryside. consequentlywere Competition for resources was minimal or nonexistent due to low population levels. Subsistence mixed strategies on high-yield, with resource withdrawal a focus in the wetlands involved Iow-labour and low risk, root-crop production in the uplands. By 1400 BCE,island population stilllow at 1000 inhabitants cial mounds (average height = 1.3 = So m) that were built as dry camps in a spatially limited zone & Delgado 1997). The periodicity ofthe offerings may indicate calendar ceremonies, crisis rites related to drought were thirty-five artifi- m; average basal diameter panied by rubber balls and wooden sceptres in the waterlogged deposits ofEI Manatí (Ortiz, Rodríguez was and just 500 at San Lorenzo. The earliest artificial constructions singled out for ritual activities. Two sequen- tial ritual deposits of 350 finely crafted jade items were accorn- conducted by special groups sodalities. Although or floods and episodic such as families, the earliest deposit ritual s lineages and is associated with domes tic objects, the second one is exclusively ceremonial IOII in 2.20 ANN CYPHERS ="--'~.FIGURE 2.20.1. subsistence Reconstruction of an artificiallow mound built that was used as a dry base camp in the wetlands for seasonal activities. In the thatched mud structures fire pits, which allowed their short-term atop the mound, aquatic foods, such as fish, were smoked and dried above storage and later consumption nature and lacks defensive constructions - to protect the bur- in crisis times. (Drawing by Fernando Botas.) eventually weighing 450 reach a total of 129, collectively ied wealth. This sacred place exemplifies the intimate linkage tonnes, and the majority ofthose among wealth, wealth storage, long-distance context (about half) date to this period and provide a stylis- trade, technol- ogy, sacred beliefs, high status and risk management. By 1400 as the first Olmec capital. Outstripping its nearest cornpeti- tor, Estero Rabón, located only 12 km westwards, took the forefront its defensible tic baseline the stage was set for the rise of San Lorenzo BCE, in the emerging position founder-group settlement San Lorenzo hierarchy from in the waterway circuits. Leaders from lineages managed risk for societal welfare and played an important distributive poorly developed long-distance role in intercommunity and for inferring (Fig. z.ao.aa-g). of cosmology from secure archaeological a similar dating for the remainder The sculpture shows the thematic interplay and politics in sovereign portraiture heads), symbols of office (stone thrones), warriors (as larger-than-life human (colossal priests, nobles and and transformation ures) and deities (the Earth monster and supernatural birds, serpents and saurian creatures). was based on hereditary succession, fig- felines, Early Olmec rulership and the political legiti- economic interactions.UTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA mation of a powerful aristocracy via sacred origin myths reaffirmed the cosmic order. At least two competing royallineages vied for power at the capital with political intrigue associated with ruler succession E a r Iy O lm e c Social stratification (Clark 1997; Coe 1968; Cyphers 2008). is manifested by the organisation of set- tlement on the artificial plateau (Map 2.20.3) and by the size, D e v e l o p m e n t , SRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA design and construction 1 4 0 0 -1 0 0 0 BCE top construction by lIOO-IOOO San Lorenzo's development over a span of five centuries includes its ascent to power, the period of maximum dour starting BCE. c. 1200 Stone monuments 1012 BCE and subsequent appear splen- decline after 1000 early as icons of power and unequalled BCE, produced style of residences. Continuing hill- multilevel habitation terraces and, the 90 ha terraced plateau (50-60 m asl) was in the Early Preclassic world, with an artificial vol- ume of7,000,000ZYXWVUTSRQPONML m j (Cyphers cbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFE e t al. 2007-8). Plateau design participated in structuring and maintaining in which status was predetermined the social order at birth by genealogical T h e O lm e c , FIGURE 2.20.2. A selection of stone monuments from the capital ofSan Lorenzo, the outpost centre ofLaguna and the secondary centre ofLoma del Zapote: (a) San Lorenzo Monument slit eyes, down-turned mouth and long fangs, carries an unidentified (b) San Lorenzo Monument IOS, the head of a supernatural Lorenzo Monument being with ahuman I02, a deeapitated posed transformation I04 displays the bas-reliefimage = bird exhibits harpy eagle traits (height ofthe earth monster deity (height 2, a medíum-sized by two Atlantean-like (height = I.I9 m); from a larger sculpture, shows severe mutilation (e) San Lorenzo Monument 58, a block or box = 93 cm); = (e) San Lorenzo Monument = 1.04 90, a rigidly m); ( O San Lorenzo Monument 85 cm); (g) San Lorenzo Monument 14, a large monolithic preeinet, shows the saered ancestor emerging from a niehe, symbol ofthe saered origin 1.83 m); (h) Laguna de los Cerros Monument del Zapote Monument de los Cerros figure with cleft head, object, often caIled a "knuckle-duster" = 52 cm); zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXW BCE nose, fish-like body, shark teeth and U-shaped eye (heightZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED = 72 cm); (d) San a sacred ancestor who appears very similar to his counterpart which is sustained a seated transformation seulpture has human hands and a feline body and head (height throne from the Group E administrative cave(height IO, being decapitated on half ofthe face and a claw-Iike hand resting near the ear (height lid, displays a supernatural 1 8 0 0 -4 0 0 5, a tiny throne (height = 61 cm), contains the origin cave-niche with in the large throne (g) from the capital ofSan Lorenzo; (i) Loma throne, displays abstract motifs related to the earth monster deity on the upper ledge dwarfs (height = 94 cm). (Photos by Brizio Martínez.) IOI3 2.20 ANN CYPHERS and private ceremonial spaces. Grandiose buildings located on the plateau summit and the large residential structuresof the nobles on the terraces contrast smaIler structures sharply with the simple! occupied by commoners in the gentlyroll- ing periphery. Rernarkably large and complex palatial structures required supra-household participation in the procurement in their construction, as wellas of the associated stone architectural ele ments and sculptures from distant sources. One example isthe 1 ha Group E ceremonial-administrative complex where rulers managed the capital's affairs and conducted private and publie rituals at this symbolic threshold celestial worlds embedded between the terrestrial and with meanings related to origin myths, water, fertility and the underworld, and enhanced by stone icons of rulership (Cyphers et al. 2006). The Red Palaee is another instance - a luxurious dweIling covering whose size and design required the participation cf labour (Cyphers 2012; tionalIy differentiated Flannery & m', 2000 of nonelite Marcus 2000); its funo rooms with stone architectural elements and vividly coloured surfaces provided spaces for private ritual, storage, craft production and ordinary living activities, includ- ing food preparation. There are several indications Four stone monuments of warfare and a warrior dass. dating to the apogee period confirm the presence of weaponry (Cyphers 2004b). Also, a ruler's bato tle prowess was commemorated a large stone monument sary: its placement by the subfioor interment of showing a nearly naked fallen adver- aIlowed people to walk over the enemyto symbolise his conquest and humiliation, surface for sharpening ~ 100 O weapons (Zurita and to use its upper Cyphers 2008). & The rulers and elite lineages directly controIled the means 400ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 200 M of production and the distribution of some but not all subsis- tence and luxury goods. They were not in command offoreign MAP 2.20.3. Topographic map ofthe central section ofthe San Lorenzo plateau. Various levels ofhabitation obsidian trade and prismatic blade technology (De León 2008; terraces cf Clark 1987), whose nine sources are widely distributed in are visible in the upper and lower sections ofthe map. The the central highlands, elite and rulers occupied the plateau summitwith Glascock 2006). Nor is there patent evidence to suggest their descending with elevation and distance from the plateau centre. The distribution macro-scene ings, consisting composed head 8; and (3) the manufacturing loci ofheads of the third-phase However, there are four unambiguous 2, 4 and 7, El Manatí offer& Delgado 1997). cases oftheir ownership of technology. such as The first example is the founder groups' thrones. Heights of colossal heads: 1, 2.85 m; 2, 2.69 m; 3, wetland mound-dry camps, 1.78 m; 4,1.78 m; 5, 1.86 m; 6, 1.67 m; 7, 2.7 m; 8, 2.2 m; 9, infrastructure 1.65 m; 10, 1.8 m. (Map by Timothy Murtha and monument with population photos by Brizio MartÍnez.) apex of the social hierarchy which possession ofthe were key technological (Fig. 2.20.1). As food requirements growth, aquatic resourees to founding ancestors. With concentric social zon- permanent - intensified and their preparation protection ing, status varied by location in accord with distance from the ing permanent centre and land altitude. The plateau summit, the real m of the (Cyphers 2009). rulers and related high-status "palatial complex" administrative whose excavated components a include an precinct; a royal residence and houses oflesser relatives, dependents production nobles, could be considered or retainers, attached áreas: restricted-access storage 1014 specialised ateas: craft and civic increased these groups - now oeeupying the the extraetion of for short-term stor- age as crisis foods. And in the face of competition distance (Hirth & of over 100 fine jade objects, wooden busts and sceptres (Fig. 2.20.3a) (Ortiz, Rodríguez 1, 3-6 and 9-10; (2) the Group E platform burial of which were created by recycling previous sculptures, west Mexico and Guatemala control of the production of colossal heads refíects three distinct activities: (1) the unfinished ofheads status or conflict, for this activity was provided by found- vilIages at each end of the key resource zone The second example is elite control ofsculpture re-utilisation (recycling), which kept sacred stone and its transformation into new symbols under their patronage. sculptures Medium-sized stone (Fig. 2.20.2b, e, d, f) were stored in the Red Palace until they were recycled there by sculptors, who transformed The Olmec, 1800-400 BCE did not allow the material to acquire the requisite uniform lustre. Nor were the wasted bearings casually discarded. lnstead, their careful storage in underground ture and re-utilisation tion high-status pits deterred their cap- for the i1!egitimate production objects, whose uncontrolled have undermined the perception The final example of imita- circulation could ofthe social order. is the managerial basalt surface mine and workshop chain involving the at Llano del Jícaro, located 50 km distant in the Tuxtlas Piedmont (see Gillespie 1994). The rulers ofSan Lorenzo founded an outpost nearby at Laguna de los Cerros to handle the seasonal exploitation the workshop where sculptural pre-forrns ofthe mine and were produced for export to San Lorenzo (Map 2.20.2). Successively, they placed close kin on the throne or named local leaders to the office. Their hold on Laguna de los Cerros wavered in strength continuity, as shown by five stone thrones and at this outpost underscoringvarying control strategies (see,cbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED e .g ., Fig. 2.20.2h), perhaps in response to increasing competition from the local rulers (Cyphers 2008). The temporospatial of raw materials, continuity and degree of elite control foods, luxury goods and people ebbed with distance, as is illustrated by the case of Laguna de los Cerros and possibly by the central Tuxtlas populations cf edly distinct ethnic affiliation (Arnold 1995; The establishment of more remote outposts or colonies would have been highly problematic. FIGURE 2.20.3. Various Olmec artifacts: (a) a wooden bust of purportArnold 2009). Clark's (r997) proposed aggres- sive conquest of the Pacific coast Soconusco establishment of a colony at Cantón Corralito, away (Map 2.20.1), exceeded region and the some 300 km San Lorenzo's administrative ritualIydeposited at El Manatí Site during Early Olmec times capacity, which was at its strongest (about45 cm tall): (b) Early Olmec dril! bearings made of There is no reported evidence of raw materials or products ilmenite (average bearing size is 2-3 by 1.5 cm); (c) Late Cantón Corralito that were destined Olmecserpentine monument Lorenzo in its supposed from La Merced ritual offerings in its near hinterland. to be channelled capacity as a southern at to San control point (72 x 40 x 9 cm); (d) a Late Olmec seated jade figurine (see Cheetham 2006). Its strong affinities in material culture wearing a polished iron-ore mirror from La Venta's basalt to San Lorenzo may well be the result oflocal column tomb (8 cm tall): (e) a Late Olmec serpentine votive tion rather than evidence of an early Olmec Empire or confir- chiefly emula- axe from Tomb E at La Venta (18 cm tall), and (f) a Late Olmec mation ofthe return ofthe legendary Mormons, anthrapomorphous to the southern greenstone figure from Offering 4 at La portion of the mythological land" (see Clark 2004). Likewise, pottery vessels with Olmec- Venta(18 cm tal!). (Drawings by Fernando Botas.) style symbols • found in far-fíung societies into playas further substantiation them into new objects with prescribed forms and iconography. expansionist strategy (e.g., Clark 1997,20°7) Aswell, throne-to-colossal with caution. head conversions were eonducted in other portions (see Porter 1989) of the elite plateau summit (Map2.20.3, heads 2, 4, 7). ogy (Fig. 2.20.3b). A workshop San Lorenzo's population thousand The third example is the elite command of a dril!ing technoling stages of greenstone, specialising the Iaredites, "narrow neck of in the final craft- basalt and iron-ore objects contains al. 2°°7-8; by its natural boundaries, made of ilmenite, a dense ferrous minerallaced agglomeration (mean cf = 8,000) occu- Clark 2007), and reached 13,000 at this time. The spread of occupation polishing tools, drill bits, debris and 150,000 dril! bearings with crystal- et the whole island population horizontal alleged should be viewed reached an estimated level offive to eleven thousand inhabitants pying its 700 ha (Cyphers that are brought of San Lorenzo's across the island was Iimited which propitiated under conditions higher residential of population increase. As line veins whose source lies in Oaxaca (CyphersZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA & Di Castro land became circumscribed with population growth, the con- 1996; cf Clark 2007; Pool 2007). Not only was the workshop sequences and migration site under elite control, forest mammals, the i1menite tools also were strictly regulated. A1though the elite valued ferrous minerals tus symbols and imported ies (Di Castro, Cyphers & mirrors, for sta- shiny spangles and rnosa- Varela 2008), the exhausted bearings were not recrafted into such objects as the veined impurities included the eventual decimation deforestation of vacant terrain for the cultivation Even if subsistence of and a reduction in the amount of staple carbohydrates. strategies were specialised, diversified or intensified, or if new crops were introduced, the high carbohy- drate requirements could not be fully of the zenith population 1015 2.20 ANN CYPHERS met by the production of lands located within a reasonable helped improve distribution, works favoured the management could have been produced services. Regional interdependence absence of domestic suggests and accumulated ducers of carbohydrate Food drought the inhabitants of San Lorenzo rather than self-sufficient pro- staples. shortages able disasters domestically, pit features or central storage facilities that the apogee-phase were by and large consumers were increased with the development exacerbated during unforesee- and especially during the annual midsummer the region. Crisis times provided key opportunities to mediate food exchanges for lead- and conflicts, of transportation flowsand and the flow of resources of these trade corridors and related technologies. ConventionaI assessments of transport in Mesoamerica have dealt principally with limitations crisis time, not only at San Lorenzo but throughout ers and specialists imposed by overland convey· ance with human bearers (Batten 1998) without due considero ation of regions like the heartland's coastal plains, whose very nature makes overland carriers secondary or complementaryto water transporto However, throughout gence of civilisations alongside world history, the emer- waterways ilIustrates the vital opening the way for debt formation and surplus accumulation role of river systems in trade, commerce and defence. Important at specific times ofthe annual cycle. Resource production metropolises and frequently occupied strategic or nodal locations, exchange to avert risk (see HalsteadZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA & O'Shea 1989) entailed commonly understood extending the supply hinterland of integration. and fomenting These activities promoted mechanisms the development an intricate regional economic system with interlocking of flows of goods across the heartland. The characteristics ofthis system can only be hypothesised in a few known activities. At San Lorenzo Island, the intensified able products production of export- such as dried fish in the dry camps was in elite hands, and other island inhabitants sought their own opportu- ridors that were important and ancientlegends tion of maize on river levees surrounding The risky cultivaSan Lorenzo Island glorified or personified them. particularly ance, often emphasise river transport with ducing vegetables, condiments ipated, as well as augmented house-gardens pro- and domestic animals is anticdomes tic production of crafted goods to exchange for food. On the other hand, expected hinterland be increased root crop production San Lorenzo Island, expanding the amplified procurement responses to supply the populaces of upland maize cultivation, and and production of other goods to exchange in the expanding economic interaction materials would spheres - raw and crafted items made with bitumen, haematite, propitiates ulate the growth of economic regional specialisation (Fleming & 1984; Santley 2007). Efficient the fiow of foods, services and goods between centre and hinterland, which is necessary to stiminteraction Hayuth 1994; Halstead misunderstood, in heartland studies, or is profoundly as in the arcane conflation upstream-downstream patterns suggest that elaborate mechafood, raw materials, products pie were set in motion (see Symonds, Cyphers 2002). The baseline and integration, for resource but the vastness lenged communication, & Strategic site locations the friction separated by waterlogged of distance among were needed terrain. Cyphers & Lunagómez at tributary confluences, straits, meanders and junctures ofwaterways 2002). narrow river and upland corri- dors facilitated movement in the coastal plains, which fostered distribution. communities and irregular process was the use of fluvial networks and expan- that was distributed in three tiers around San Lorenzo plus the outpost at Laguna de los Cerros (see Symonds, integration for ritual parapher- ofkey Early Preclassic sites ilIustrates flow was interconnectivity cooperation, reduce the costs of interactions Lunagómez The spatial patterning the shape of the regional administration of the coastal plains chal- sion and exerted centripetal effects on population Ways to minimise and peo- ofOlmec regional traffic flows with the long-distance nalia (i.e., Clark 2007). Regional settlement for mitigating risk and providing disaster relief (Hassig 1985; Sanders & SantIey 1983) is often ignored exchange of essential tools and products nisms for mobilising transportation the size of the supply hinterland, teeth and the expected by-products activities. promote and buffer risk O'Shea 1989; Harris & & rubber, cotton, clay, feathers and animal fur, skin, bone and ofthese spheres, and administration UlIman 1945). The key role of improved increasing convey- of weighty and bulky goods, with lighter items transport of small-scale Studies of inland water nonmechanised the speed and low cost of the down- use and external trade in a hinterland in ritual. The proliferation promoted interest for its potential to regional integration. often as return cargo (Drennan participant accruing to in particular those located near by water conveyance is of particular would have produced a desirable, competitive product for local increasingly and encouraged them from their enemies, water (Batten 1998). The physical interconnectivity transportation, to fish depletion. or separated places with efficient transport, contribution yields, and consequently features for harbour and transship· Recent studies confirm the growth advantages technological in fishing technology to increase fluvial confluences, ment functions. Waterways united neighbours nities in other sections of the wetlands, which may have led to improvements as river crossings, narrow bends, islands and the junction of land and water coro territorial integration, at the present time with anchoring •• while the shape ofthe fluvialneto travel distance. Although certain foods, such as manioc flour, to widely Key to this for the rapid move- cohesion on many levels. These nodal locations corridors were appropriate in transpon places for activities related to eco- nomic regulation and tribute colIection. The association ofone or more stone monuments with sites located at break points ment of people and goods. These fluvial highways fomented in the fluvial systems, land corridors political integration land and water routes (Map 2.20.2 and Fig. 2.20.4) indicate by "shrinking nication, and discouraged space", thus increasing reducing 1016 costs and buffering fissiparous intraregional tendencies commu- risk. Rapid transport and the intersections of the interplay of ideology with political hierarchy Zurita 2006). (Cyphers & The Olmec, FIGURE 2.20.4. Small and medium-sized regional communication monuments from important hinterland network: (a) the Late Olmec seated anthropomorphous 1800-400 sites, which functioned BCE as nodes in the male figure with stylized profile heads adorning = 55 cm) and comes from Las Limas, an important site located on a major his knees and shoulders carries a prone baby (heightZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA tributary juncture; (b) the Late Olmec partially decapitated (height = 1.35 seated feline sculpture carries a rope-Iike serpent in its mouth m) proceeds from Los SotPados, a key aquatic-terrestrial route juncture; (e) the small crude feline sculpture from 60 cm) probably dates to the Early to Late Olmec transition; the upland Ixhuatlán Site (height = figurewith striking cranio-facial deformation hails from Chiquipixta, probably dates to the Early Olmec Period (height = 54 cm); (d) the seated youthful male an upland site located near the kaolin clay source, and (e) the famous "Wrestler" sculpture frorn Antonio Plaza, an island with important bitumen deposits, manifests typically Olmec features caused by artificial cranio-facíal the Early-Late Olmec transition period (height = deformation ear adornments that grasps a heavy bar was positioned near the top ofthe sacred San Martín Pajapan volcano (height during the Late Olmec Period; (g) the youthful "Prince" ofCruz del Milagro showing a typical forward-Ieaning (height = 1.3 and dates to 66 cm); (f) the partially kneeling male figure with an elaborate headdress and = 1.42 m) Olmec posture m) comes frorn an Early-Late transition period site on a main overland route, (h) the Late Olmec seated male figure from Cuatotolapan on the San Juan River also displays a characteristic Olmec body position (height = 1.51 m); (i) the Los Mangos stela showing profile views of two standing adult male figures dates to the 'end of the Late Olmec Period and is located on a route into the central Tuxtlas Mountains (height = 1.8 m). (Photos by Brizio Martínez, Ann Cyphers and Hirokazu Kotegawa.) 1017 2.20 ANN CYPHERS Stone thrones in particular are symbols ofthe offices oflead- Seeds of social and political fracture, already germinating in ership and are found only in political centres whose locational the elites' non-encornpassing interconnectivity to fruition as lower status nobles gained access to previously is readily evident (Fig. 2.20.2g, h, i). These seats of power served to (1) endorse and differentiate erty rights of the rulers' "houses" nections through the prop- supernatural (Gillespie 1999); (2) mark the succession and (3) distinguish con- to office, levels in the regional chain of command restricted material symbols of inequality. The increasing use of maize-based ceremonies and associated (Cyphers 2004b, 2008). Relative throne sizes and associated commoners in monumental sovereigns ruling by divine genealogical cha~ter, followed by the rulers of satellite centres (e.q., Loma del Zapote and Estero Rabón), who were appointed est ones in form and divine-charter placement of San Lorenzo ruler's the larg- icons may indicate close kin, possible as rulers of lesser centres or outposts, the heirs, such as Laguna de los Lower-level hinterland communities anthropomorphous and with small to medium transformation (Fig. 2.20.4C, d, e, g) indicate additional sculptures levels in the civic- religious regional hierarchy, and their spatial patterning responds exchanges once figured prominently. to transport in which Pressure on tbe stone from the Tuxtlas and to labour construction activities took its tall, as did insf demands began to leave. The rulers ofLaguna the diminishing de los Cerros competed for controlof open-pit basalt mine. The growing shortage of new stone symbols at San Lorenzo undermined system, and monument the status recycling into new forms intensified to obtain stone and com- as the rulers lacked the overheads mand sufficient labour for its transporto The construction of Cerros and perhaps La Venta. sized economic traditional ficiencies in the food network. People unhappy with the elite's on the basis of principIes other than kinship. Medium and small thrones mimicking ritual drinks may have undermined cacao beverages iconography identify the hierarchy of centres; San Lorenzo's control offoreign imports, carne to key points in th~ fluvial and terrestrial cor- network the commemorative macro-scene ancestral (Map 2.20.3, heads 1, 3, 5, 6,9, ro) was god-kings perhaps intended to bolster and relegitimate but was never completed surrounding 2002). Insofar as small and medium sculptures were commonly Lorenzo's used to form scenic displays of historical the competitors region waning power, at La Venta and tbe that had been developing apogee (Rust portraits of (Cyphers zooaa). The ever more complex populations (CyphersZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA & Zurita 2006; Symonds, Cyphers & Lunagómez and mythic events of colossal-head during San Sharer 2006; von Nagy 2003) were & who took command at its fal!. The La Venta (Cyphers 1999), these rural sites could have periodically partic- rulers began to adopt an "ideology of maize" as part of their ipated with their stone emblems in centrally sponsored divine legitimation rituals. (Taube 2004).UTSRQPONMLKJIHGFE This activity, as well as involvement in the ritual ball game, not only contributed to identity formation but al so increased social and religious integration by promoting the lateral unification of a poorly developed distant hinterland and forged pathways for extending and socioeconomic interactions. dependency the hinterland D e v e l o p m e n t , SRQPONMLKJIHG integration 1 0 0 0 -4 0 0 and the communities founded outposts and in the heartland supply network which prolonged tion Iines, sometimes into politically uncharted interest focused on strategic or nodal locations to extend transporta- La Venta was founded around 1400 km from the present-day zones. Their By in the corn- settlement pattern nearby producing preferred Sharer 2006). were heterogeneous, ranging Intercommunity from peaceful patron-c1ient relations, intermarriage, interactions cooperation forced subjugation, to the of royal or noble family members as local rulers and the assignment ofhigh office to genealogically unrelated individuals. The use oflocal social and political structures may have been a common means to mediate contro!. The incorpo- ration oflocalleaders into the ideology ofinequality based on coastline there are indications IISO BCE, network, valued raw materials sources and places goods. BCE, on a small salt-dome island (lO-20 m asl) in the lower Tonalá River drainage only13 munication implantation BCE movement of people and goods. In sum, San Lorenzo's administrators targeted preexisting relationships In this way, the friction of distance was offset to facilitate regional upstream-downstream L a te O lm e c in the belief system, (Maps 2.20.1 and 2.20.2). of an initial core-periphery at La Venta, with small sites lining the river levees and competing Cultural development 1400-800 BCE in river trade (R u s t & in the Tabascan coastal plains in the period is not well understood, but the inhabit- ants shared similar pottery styles with San Lorenzo (Pohl el al. 2004; Raab et al. 2000; lap of the capitals' cf Rust 2008). Given the temporal overo occupations, economic apogee San Lorenzo and migrations probably implicated interaction with during its decline were in the rise of politico-religious rulership sacred concepts was intended to foment political integration, at La Venta. Recent research on contemporary but also may have incited competition. the Maya Lowlands suggests that early Maya sites, now known The decline of San Lorenzo was not abrupt but gradual and took place in a milieu of increasing tion and environmental the succession is no indication exotic prestige lOI8 local stress and cornpeti- changes. The buildup of conflicts over contributed to uncertainty that the rulers increased goods as economic and unrest. There the importation motivation of for the elite. to be far more complex developments in than previously thought, been trade partners and even peer competitors may have ofLa Venta (see Hansen 2005). La Venta's coastal location raises questions about its pos- sible role in mari time trade and the procurement resources. The importance of marine of this site was probably closely The Olmec, 1800-400 linkedto marine/estuary resources, incIuding a wide array BCE oriented 8° west of north (Fig. 2.20.5). The north-south offoodstuffs, stingray spines, shark teeth, shell and salt, the was the locus of multiple luxury offerings, whereas lattera high priority resource in inland trade networks. east-west axes were defined by monumental sculptures: Even axis the two a row thoughno evidence presentIy exists for marine salt produc- of three ancestral ruler portraits in the form of colas sal heads nonor use, von Nagy's (2003) tantalising define the northern exploitationat coastallagoon suggestion of salt margins in the La Venta region makesgood sense in terms ofthe proximity ofthe most importantsites to the coastline and the prime need for this resource. Participation in mari time and inland offset many disadvantages trade networks of an extremely ronment, and provide opportunities could high-risk envi- for the bulk transport of dating to 800-400 is goodsand foodstuffs. three enormous boundary sandstone of the architectural anthrapomorphous core and images mark the southern limit (González Lauck 2004). The architectural core is visually dominated high GreatPyramid (C-I) ofComplexC, of earth, which is now reconstructed by the 30-m- contaíning rj j.ooo m 3 as a stepped pyramid with stairways (González Lauck 1996, 1997)' A previous interpretation OfC-1 as an imitation volcanic cinder cone (Heizer 1968) LaVenta's florescent occupation, BCE, characterised by monumental architectural publicand private ceremonies, elaborate tombs and residences andninety-four stone monuments arrangements for (De la Fuente 2006). In the opened the way for appraisals ism of La Venta's architecture mountains of the cosmological and offerings, and the underworld symbol- in which sacred figured prominentIy as the home of deities (Grave 1999; Reilly 1994a, 1994b, 1999; Tate surrounding 40 km', there are fifty-eight smaller communities 2008; Taube 2004). Recent excavation of a magnetic anomaly locatednear river courses (González Lauck 1996), and the esti- registered matedpeak regional population speculation) reached ten thousand 2008). Isla Alar and San Andrés became important LaVentaafter 800 (Rust satellites of forming part of a three-tier settIement BCE, in 1969 near its summit (the cause of considerable did not praduce positive results The Great Pyramid divides the architectural system(e.g., La Venta at the apex, followed by mound sites and general nonmound sites) (Pohl et al. 2004; Rust 2008). Early social dis- Complex A; and the secular southern tinctions at San Andrés are manifested northern in the use of prestige segments: the northern mound construction, firstOlmec glyphs pointing to a relationship cost basalt prisrnatic-column ing and a ritual calendar outits rale as an important subsidiary site. but has abundant a higher scale of labour mobilisation incIuding luxury goods, a high- tomb and palisade centrally positioned The placement and stone in contrast, the south- ern sector shows massive earthen platforms tend to be larger than San core into two sector, sector (Grave 1999). The (Pohl, PopeZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA & von Nagy 2002) bear monuments placed near the perimeter; La Venta's stone monuments Lorenzo's, indicating sacred sector shows a relatively low energetic investrnent in goodsobtained from La Venta (Pohl et al. 2004) and later, the of rulership, writ- (R. González Lauck, pers. comm., 2009). and plazas and stone monuments. of stone monuments in the southern sector andan overall increase in elite power. Thrones, colossal heads may form a pracessional and stelae (Fig. 2.20.5, Al, AS, A8, MI, M2, M3, M4, SI, S3, (González M2S/26),among other forms, communicate 1999). On the north side of the great plaza (42,000 m'), the the ideas deemed arrangement or creation narrative Lauck 1988, 2004; Grave 1999; Tate 2008; ReilIy convenient by the rulers and aristocracy, not only at this capital bas-relief but at other sites as well. Although the messages themselves sages about the gods, the power ofthe rulers and their divine maybe subject to critical scrutiny, an undeniable fact is their weight, which serves as a measure of power (excluding pieces recycled on-site) due to the labour investment transport from afar. Since a number recall earlier Olmec sculptural possible that monumental before800 any in their of stone monuments styles (see Grave 1981), it is sculpture was displayed at La Venta narrating cosmological legitimacy could be viewed by large congregations attending special events and ceremonies 1988,1996). Along the longitudinal served as congregation platforms of people (González Lauck axis, open areas or avenues areas for les ser displays. Farther south, of les ser size and smalIer plazas administrative mes- functions. may have had The Stirling Acrapolis, a huge plat- form with subfloor stone drains located on the east side ofthe BCE. The symbolic repraduction mental architecture stelae and thrones of the cosmic arder in monu- and art reinforced ersas the centre ofthe horizontal periodo The large-scale the capital and its rul- cosmos during its florescent construction of earthen pyramids and plazas and the placement ings and the scenic display of stone monuments layered sacred landscapes composed mounds, of spectacular offer- created rnulti- of nested cosmological replicas. Charged with religious and political meanings, landscapes were used for the celebration these of public and private great plaza, may have been the rulers' palace. Farther south, there is a possible ballcourt, and in Complex B, evidence of stone sculpting activity. Ceremonial activity dominated Complex A, located north of the Great Pyramid (Fig. 2.20.5). The northern court is a private funerary precinct with connotations tors and the sky (González 1994b). Its four smalI mounds, to the Earth deity reproduced as the realm of the ances- Lauck 1990; Grove 1999; Reilly sunken patio and offerings the Olmec cosmos and sacred rituals (González Lauck 2004; Grave 1999; Reilly 1999; Taube elite origins as the setting for five ostentatious 2004;Tate 2008). ers and high officials (Fig. 2.20.5, M6, M7). The flanking line La Venta's monumental architecture, covering IS0 ha along the high eastern side ofthe island, comprises planned formal arrangements of more than thirty earthen mounds forms araund plazas generally respecting and plat- a longitudinal axis of three colossal tombs of rul- heads added further ancestral associations (Fig. 2.20.5, M4, M2, M3). Symbolism symmetrical permeated placement the carefully planned multistage of more than fifty offering 1019 caches 2.20 ANN CYPHERS UTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA - M 4M 2M 3 M4 ...SRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA M3 M 2 M l9 MI9 SI S3 Al A5 Complcx H • stonc monument ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 2 0 0 m e te rs FIGURE 2.20.5. Schematic map ofla Venta's architectural core with the location ofimportant Pyramid (C-I) divides the private elite mortuary precinct ofComplex platforms (Stirling Acrapolis) and southern administrative stone monuments. The Great A from the civic Great Plaza, high status residential sector (Complex D). The line ofthree colossal head portraits of ancestral rulers (M4, M2 and M3) denotes the cold northern home ofthe dead. Rulers' tombs in Complex A are illustrated by the basalt column tomb (M7) and the sandstone sarcophagus (M6), and stone sculptures and stelae commemorating historie and mythical events (MI9, SI and S3) al so adorn this sacred space. The dramatic impact of public events in the Great Plaza was enhanced by the ostentatious display oflarge rulership icons such as thranes (Al, AS and A8) and a colossal head (MI) as wellas other sculptures placed in narrative scenes on the apran OfC-I (including the great stela M2Sf26). Heights ofmonuments (from top to bottom and left to right): M4, 2.26 m; M2, 1.63 m; M3, 1.98 m; MI9, 95 cm; SI, 2.51 m; S3, 4.26 m; Al, 1.85 m; AS, 1.54m; M7, 1.8 m (x 4 x 2.5 m); M6, 89 cm (x 2.81 x 0.96 m); M2Sf26, 4.25+ m; MI, 2.41 m; and A4, 1.6 m. (Architectural after González Lauck 1990; monument composed of more than 3000 jade objects in Complex A (Fig. 2.20.3d, e, f) (see Gillespie 2008). Ruler emblems, in the form of cross-shaped offerings with a central magnetite composed of polished axes mirrar, were placed along the Iongi- tudinal axis, which symbolically positioned maximum author- burial of great quantities Heizer & Squier 1959; Flannery 1968). These immense stock- piles ofimported stone indicate a qualitative and quantitative shift in the treatment of prestige goods from earlier times - fram relatively small-scale the Earth deity consisted San lorenzo's hoards of crude green- of these valued materials withdrew green wealth fram circulation to prevent devaluation (Drueker, ity at the centre-Iine ofthe Olmec world. Massive offerings to of multiton map modified photos by Hirokazu Kotegawa; M6 drawing by Fernando Botas, after Covarrubias 1957-) hoards of exotic items obtained in poorly developed distant trade networks, the La stone blocks (Reilly 1999), each deposited at the onset of a Venta elite extended their many trading networks and inten- major construction ritual display. The sified procurement 1020 phase as an ostentatious in order to magnífy their accumulation of The Olmec, 1800-400 wealth.Complex A was one of their most spectacular itories of excessive riches with restricted depos- access and divine protection. emblematic ofthe of La Venta's social organisation largely (possible elite residences) of ern occupation. factor in considering showsignificant differences in quantity of items, suggesting varioussocial divisions and numerous social roles among the elite.A possible warrior class may be manifested by bas-relief (see La Venta Island covers about 400 ha of high ground, the total extent of occupation thearchitectural coreo Little is known about the lower classes. in stone the mediator the gods in the face of natural disasters Theclothing and adornments of figures represented valí- and mountains, Schele I995). derivesfram the ruler burial graund in Complex A, stone monuments and the large platforms ofrulers dated divine legitimacy and perhaps symbolised who appeased What is known association BCE is unknown The island's relatively small size was a major La Venta a "vacant ceremonial since the labour power of its estimated insufficient Heizer & but due to the mod- to build the monumental centre", low populace seemed architecture (Drucker, Squier I959; Drucker I952; Heizer I960). Although figurescarrying clubs (Coe I965; if Taube 2004). However, not the vacant centre idea has been rejected since the discovery of allwas well at home since there are evocative hints of conflict habitation inthe upper social echelon. et al. 2000; Rust 2008; Rust The images of two women in monumental art at La Venta and praduction density is unknown, areas (González Lauck I996; Raab Sharer I988), the population & so the question still remains if the resi- (Fig.2.20.5, SI, S3) mark a striking divergence from previous dent labour force was sufficient to cover all energetic efforts in times when only men are shown in stone sculpture. the apogee phase. hereditary succession and legitimation fromsacred ancestors continued, Even as through divine descent the representation ofwomen Iust as at San Lorenzo, the residents fered starch shortages in sacred media may reflect a shift from the earlier practice of ulation preferential endogamy in the highest power spheres to exog- and integration amyor the reckoning of ambilateral the extravagant descent. Such a change growth wouldhave increased conflict and disputes over the succession struction, to the thrane. long-distance A similar observation of costly imported may apply to the famous tomb made prismatic basalt columns in Complex A (Fig. 2.20.5, M7). While the ostentatious interment lescents and valuable mortuary (e.g., Fig. 2.20.3d) elite status has been suggested (Flannery I968), offerings as evidence their grandiose verystuff of sacred mountains, authenticate or generate of ado- of inherited sepulchre, made of the may have been intended to divine lineage rights in the face of flawed lineage claims to the throne. The same may be true of other tombs also. If so, then interlineage competition political turmoil validating required grand displays and comes from stone rulership monuments. The ritual mutilation thrones was conducted at the death of a ruler (Grove I98I). of monolithic The obliteration of specific icons oflegitimacy, faces and identifying emblems particularly the of portrait figures, may imply contests for power during ruler succession showy displays outside ofLa Venta. The expression sacred origins with San Lorenzo's for the throne. mological and economic of shared rulers was probably cru- Over and above their cos- significance, the large quantities large-scale was critical to finance including quarrying, monumental sculpture bas-relief slab buried the waters surrounding the ancestral at La Merced sacred mountain of nearby El Manatí. The need for validation as evidenced shrine located near the 1000 m asl summit the same name (Map 2.20.2), Pajapan of the volcano of which epitomises ally lofty portal to the underworld. a heavy anthropomorphous pivot reached an even by the San Martín an unusu- The costly placement stone sculpture con- trans port trade. Because physical geography in order to convey resources, networks continued and conditioned regional upstream-downstream to function, and were further customised with a wider distribution of prestige goods. However, in con- trast to previous times, few stone monuments with nodal communities port corridors in the immediate are associated hinterland's trans- (Map 2.20.2, Fig. 2.20.4a, b, h, i). The mean- ing of this change is poorly understood, but may include the increasingly civil nature oflesser political offices and the overt use offorce to maintain order. In contrast, the use of stone sculpture to designate trade expression in more distant lands. Key sites on remote trade routes and in close proximity to far-flung source areas of exotic raw materials were privileged to commemorate (Map 2.20.I). by the placement various kinds These far-flung of stone monuments of linkages incursions ury items to fue! the prestige-goods ways of the remote interactions locations with La Venta were driven by the of (Fig. 2.20040, economy. The exact pathare unknown, give general indications I968). Por example, coast, crossing Oxtotitlán, (RodríguczZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA & Ortiz 2000) linked La Venta to the Isthmus greater extreme, elite activities, routes the central ing by Chalcatzingo, plain stone axes, a large anthropomorphous axe and a magnificent (Fig. 2.20.3c) ofthe supply hinterland and pop- the expansion costly displays of wealth at the capital and the need for lux- (Clark I997). Political unrest may have also played a part in designing of poor-quality Consequently, routes and political allies reached its maximum Another indicator of political competition cial in competition on the island. the need for a system of nodes and land and water corridors divine genealogical rights. of La Venta also suf- due to land circumscription Iuxtlahuaca may be traced and southern Teopancuanitlán, (Grove along the Gulf highlands, pass- San Miguel Amuco, and Cauadzidziqui; of Tehuantepec, but sculpture of trade corridors the Chiapas others highlands, crossed pass- ing down the Pacific coast (as far south as El Salvador) and through highland Guatemala & (see Clark & Pye 2007). Goods made of materials shells, obsidian, iron ores, chert, Pye 2000; Gutiérrez such as greenstone, amber and mica were moved along these and other pathways yet to be defined (particularly in the lowland Maya area). The stone icons point to a nonstatic shifting web of interconnected overland, riverine I02I 2.20 ANN CYPHERS and coastallines of communication transshipment The decline stood with ofLa development Venta as well as significant 400 BCEis as poorly around Its end coincides of neighbouring with societies, and potentially environment, transgression J. Clark, multiple E. Pye, M. E. 2000. The Pacific coast and the Olmec & pp. 216-51 in O. E. Clark question, as its emergence. natural and trade, nodes. such including the Maya, changes migration in the and Art a n d A rc h a e o lo g y : National an accelerated disastrous as channel under- marine Cobean, Gallery of Art: Washington, J. R. H., Vogt, High-precision R., Glascock, obsidian facts from San Lorenzo Stocker, T. 1991. & characterization sources of major and further analyses of ani- Tenochtitlán, 2005; von N agy 2003).UTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Antiquity 2 (1): 69-91. (Hansen DC. M. D. trace-elerncnt Mesoamerican M. E. 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