Is it agriculture yet? Intensified maize-use at 1000 cal BC in the Soconusco and Mesoamerica

Rosenswig, Robert M.; VanDerwarker, Amber M.; Culleton, Brendan J.; Kennett, Douglas J.

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2015.06.002

Cited by 36 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 80 publications

(111 reference statements)

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“…The Olmec cleft head indexes maize agriculture, which became more established at sites across Mesoamerica around 1000 cal b.c. (Rosenswig 2010:219;Rosenswig et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pottery Trade and the Formation of Early and Middle Formative Style Horizons as Seen From Central Mexico

Stoner

Nichols

2019

Ancient Mesoam

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We explore the relationship between long-distance pottery trade and the formation of Early and Middle Formative style horizons in Mesoamerica. A sample of 1,154 ceramics mostly from Early and Middle Formative contexts in the central Mexican highlands was irradiated at the University of Missouri Research Reactor with a subsample (n = 313) for petrographic analysis. We conclude that: (1) most sites and regions display more than one process for making pottery; (2) there is a small amount of intraregional exchange among central Mexican sites, with the southeastern Basin of Mexico making the largest portion of pottery intended for trade within the region; and (3) interregional imports found at several sites likely come from the metamorphic region of southwestern Puebla with smaller numbers imported from the southern Gulf Coast, Morelos, and possibly Oaxaca. The trend over time from Early Formative to the end of the Middle Formative is one of decreasing intensity of long-distance interaction and decreasing geographic range of trade. These two trends contribute to the regional divergence of ceramic styles that peaks by the Late Formative in Mesoamerica.

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“…The Olmec cleft head indexes maize agriculture, which became more established at sites across Mesoamerica around 1000 cal b.c. (Rosenswig 2010:219;Rosenswig et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pottery Trade and the Formation of Early and Middle Formative Style Horizons as Seen From Central Mexico

Stoner

Nichols

2019

Ancient Mesoam

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“…Reliance on maize agriculture intensified in the region by 1000 b.c. (Rosenswig et al 2015) and by the Late and Terminal Formative periods (300 b.c.-a.d. 250) salt extraction between the coastal zone and the northeast of the Río Cahuacán increased (Neff 2014). Agricultural and economic endeavors are intimated in the imagery on stelae from the site of Izapa, which were carved during the Guillén phase, now placed at 300-100 cal b.c.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Formative Flooding of Izapa After an Eruption of Tacaná Volcano

et al. 2018

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Between the years of 30 b.c. to a.d. 80, during the Late Formative period, the site of Izapa was flooded by lahars associated with an explosive eruption of the San Antonio volcano (part of the Tacaná Volcanic Complex). Computer simulations suggest that hot pyroclastic flows did not impact Izapa directly, but did impact the region considerably, filling and clogging the Cahuacan and Mixcun rivers with hot debris. The material was quickly saturated by heavy rains and, as the water from the rivers overtopped the obstruction, remobilized in the form of a hot mixture of mud and water known as a lahar (or flood of volcanic origin), which flowed down through the piedmont zone along the Cahuacan, Mixcun-Suchiate, and Izapa rivers. At Izapa, the flood took the form of a 6-m catastrophic wave of mud and water that likely destroyed crops and caused many causalities, surrounding the architectural mounds at Izapa with a muddy landscape. The floods also dramatically affected the rivers downstream, undoubtedly wreaking serious damage to the transport and trade of goods along the coast.

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“…The rarity of Late Archaic archaeological sites in the rest of the southern Maya lowlands is understandable because these groups practiced agriculture within a broader huntingcollecting subsistence pattern and were probably mobile. This type of mixed subsistence (which combines collecting or foraging of wild resources with low-impact food production in small gardens with varied domesticated plant species) has been explored in much more detail beyond the Maya region [15,[40][41][42]. Any settlements pertaining to these horticulturalist-foragers or collectors would be small-scale, seasonal, and ephemeral.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Killion [40], Arnold III [41], and Rosenswig [15,42] explain that the lack of settlements is due to the mixed subsistence pattern of these Late Archaic peoples whose mobility and low impact on the environment make them close to archaeologically invisible. These authors also suggest that such mixed subsistence continued much longer than previously believed, probably until the beginning of the Middle Preclassic c. 1000 BC when Mesoamerican peoples finally began to practice more intensive agriculture with maize as its staple.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These authors also suggest that such mixed subsistence continued much longer than previously believed, probably until the beginning of the Middle Preclassic c. 1000 BC when Mesoamerican peoples finally began to practice more intensive agriculture with maize as its staple. This transformation of the Mesoamerican subsistence system with maize as the central staple may have been predicated on the evolution of much more productive corn strains [15,41,42].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Earliest Maya Farmers of Peten: New Evidence from Buenavista-Nuevo San José, Central Peten Lakes Region, Guatemala

Castellanos

Foias

2017

Journal of Anthropology

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The origins and cultural affiliations of the first sedentary agricultural and pottery-producing communities in the southern Maya lowlands remain hotly debated. Here, we describe the discovery of a new early farming settlement at the small site of BuenavistaNuevo San José on Lake Peten Itza in northern Guatemala. Evidence for a pre-Mamom occupation (1000-700 BC) at this site was found in the deepest fill layers overlying bedrock, including pottery diagnostic of this time period and the remains of a postin-bedrock dwelling. Because the evidence for this early settlement is from secondary contexts and because four radiocarbon dates cover a broad chronological range, the best evidence for the pre-Mamom occupation consists of the ceramics recovered in the excavations. The closest links of the pre-Mamom pottery at Buenavista-Nuevo San José are with the Eb complex at Tikal and the Cunil complex of Cahal Pech, Belize, suggesting strong interactions between these early groups. The discovery of preMamom pottery at Buenavista also suggests that the early farmers were more widespread than previously suggested. Furthermore, the presence of Olmecoid symbols incised on the pre-Mamom pottery at Buenavista-Nuevo San José indicates that these early communities were immersed in broad pan-Mesoamerican spheres of interaction.

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Is it agriculture yet? Intensified maize-use at 1000 cal BC in the Soconusco and Mesoamerica

Cited by 36 publications

References 80 publications

Pottery Trade and the Formation of Early and Middle Formative Style Horizons as Seen From Central Mexico

Pottery Trade and the Formation of Early and Middle Formative Style Horizons as Seen From Central Mexico

Late Formative Flooding of Izapa After an Eruption of Tacaná Volcano

The Earliest Maya Farmers of Peten: New Evidence from Buenavista-Nuevo San José, Central Peten Lakes Region, Guatemala

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