Settlement Archaeology and Political Economy at Tres Zapotes, Veracruz, Mexico

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American Studies
Archaeological Method and Theory
Archaeology of the Ancient Americas
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Product details

  • ISBN 9781931745079
  • Weight: 331g
  • Dimensions: 215 x 278mm
  • Publication Date: 01 Jul 2003
  • Publisher: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA
  • Publication City/Country: US
  • Product Form: Paperback
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A dual strategy of systematic interval transect sampling and full-coverage survey of architectural features and artifact concentrations permits an evaluation of the relative effectiveness of these commonly employed methods. Auger testing in floodplain areas yielded evidence of extensive buried deposits. Distributional analysis of the surface and subsurface data documents the site's growth and decline from 900 BC to AD 900 in radiocarbon years and confirm that Tres Zapotes achieved its apogee during the Late and Terminal Formative periods (400 BC--AD 300). An attribute analysis of burned earthen artifacts discriminates between daub and probable kiln remains, helping to define ceramic production loci. Interpretive chapters discuss the organization of ceramic and obsidian craft production, concluding that craft activities were mainly household based with little elite control over production. The concluding synthesis argues for weak centralization of authority of Tres Zapotes and highlights variability in the political and economic processes affecting forms of urbanism in the lowlands of Mesoamerica.
Christopher A. Pool is associate professor of anthropology and past director of the Latin American Studies Program at the University of Kentucky.