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

by Richard G. Lesure

Overview

This volume volume sets archaeological excavations at a special-propose estuary site in coastal Chiapas, Mexico, into the larger anthropological context of the origins of agriculture and sedentary life in ancient Mesoamerica. The site of El Varal is located in the Soconusco region, a narrow strip of the Pacific coast of Chiapas and neighboring Guatemala that is sharply defined inland by the rise of the Sierra Madre escarpment. The diverse biotic zones of the area run in strips parallel to the ocean. The Varal work will be important for understandings of Early Formative social life in the region.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781931745789
Publisher:	The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press
Publication date:	12/30/2009
Series:	Cotsen Monograph Series , #65
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Richard Lesure is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

List of Tables; List of Figures; Acknowledgments; Part I: Archaeological Investigations at El Varal: Site Assemblage Variation in Early Formative Soconusco (Richard G. Lesure); Field Investigations and Materials Recovered (Richard G. Lesure); The Structure and Formation of the Vásquez Mound (Richard G. Lesure); Excavations (Richard G. Lesure); Part II: Analysis of Finds and the Issue of Intra-Site Variability: Changing Patterns of Shellfish Exploitation (Richard G. Lesure, Alina Gagiu, Brendan J. Culleton, and Douglas J. Kennett); Crab Exploitation in Early Formative Soconusco (John Dietler and Thomas A. Wake); Fishing in the Mangroves at Formative-Period El Varal (Thomas A. Wake and David W. Steadman); Macrobotanical Remains from El Varal, with a Comparison to Inland Sites (Virginia S. Popper and Richard G. Lesure); Pottery (Richard G. Lesure and Isabel Rodríquez López); Artifacts of Stone and Shell (Richard G. Lesure); Ceramic Artifacts (Richard G. Lesure); Radiocarbon Dates (Michael Blake and Richard G. Lesure ); Shellfish Harvesting Strategies at El Varal (Douglas J. Kennett and Brendan J. Culleton); Artifact Synthesis and Intra-Site Assemblage Variability (Richard G. Lesure); Part III: Inter-Site Differences: Settlement, Subsistence, and Community: Subsistence in the Estuary: Surplus Production, Expedient Meals, or Something Between? (Richard G. Lesure, Thomas A. Wake, and David W. Steadman); The Manufacture and Content of Pottery Vessels in Early Formative Mazatán (David M. Carballo, Richard G. Lesure, Jelmer W. Eerkens, Douglas J. Kennett, Stuart Tyson Smith, Hector Neff, and Michael D. Glascock (); The Organization of Salt Production: Specialization or Collection? (Richard G. Lesure); Concluding Hypothesis (Richard G. Lesure); Appendix A: Pottery Types and Forms by Lot; References; Index.