Doctoral Dissertation: Early Formative Pottery Production and Exchange in Southern Mesoamerica with Special Reference to the Gulf Coast

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Under the direction of Drs Hector Neff and Michael O'Brien, Mr. Sergio Herrera will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. The goal of his work is to gain understanding of, what archaeologists term, the "Olmec phenomenon." The Olmec culture flourished on the Gulf Coast tropical lowlands of Mexico and reached its cultural apogee between 1200-900 BC. The largest site, San Lorenzo was surrounded my many smaller ones indicating a ranked hierarchical system. Large dirt filled architectural features, monumental stone sculptures, wealth differences among inhabitants and evidence of expert craftsmanship all point to a centrally organized stratified society. Some of the well known sculptures which include monumental heads, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures are estimated to weigh between 20 and 40 tons. The Olmec are important because they are the first society in Middle America to reach this level of complexity and this provided the foundation on which Mayan and other later civilizations arose. While archaeologists have gained insight into social organization within the Olmec Gulf coast heartland, their influence further away is poorly understood. Exotic materials found at the site indicate extensive trade networks and Olmec style ceramics have been found as far distant as the Valley of Mexico. Some archaeologists see these ties as evidence for direct Olmec influence over a very broad area while others argue that the concept of "Olmec" is too narrowly defined, and that it is in fact a generalized widespread phenomenon with no real Gulf Coast core. Mr. Herrera will address this issue through a compositional and petrographic analysis of pottery from a number of widely spread sites which exhibit Olmec influence. Neutron activation analysis will provide trace element data; in conjunction with similar information from clay sources it should be possible to determine whether the Olmec materials were produced locally or carried from the San Lorenzo region over long distances. On the basis of such analyses it is possible to determine the degree of economic centralization. This, in turn, reflects broader social factors. This research is important because it will shed new light on the rise of civilization in Middle America. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and assist in training a promising young scientist.