Western Lower Papaloapan Archaeology (Veracruz, Mexico)

This monograph is a revision of Barbara Stark's dissertation. It addresses primarily excavations on Patarata Island, located in the mangrove swamp at the mouth of the Papaloapan River, Veracruz, Mexico. It was published in 1977 but is out of print. (Prehistoric Ecology at Patarata 52, Veracruz, Mexico: Adaptation to the Mangrove Swamp. Vanderbilt University Publications in Anthropology 18.)

The monograph analyzes pottery from Patarata 52, Veracruz, Mexico. (1989 Patarata Pottery: Classic Period Ceramics of the South-central Gulf Coast, Veracruz, Mexico. Anthropological Papers 51. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.)

The monograph analyzes residential excavations in the Mixtequilla area of Veracruz, Mexico. (2001 Classic Period Mixtequilla, Veracruz, Mexico: Diachronic Inferences from Residential Investigations, ed. by B.L. Stark. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, Monograph 12, The University at Albany, N.Y. )

These scans are of the original field and laboratory records from excavations in 1968-1969 on Patarata Island, Veracruz, Mexico, reported in a monograph published by Vanderbilt University.

This is Kevin Johns' masters paper. It addressees ball courts using data from Barbara Stark's Proyecto Archaeologico La Mixtequilla in the western lower Papaloapan basin. The MA title is "Courting Power: The Role of the Ballgame in the Western Lower Papaloapan Basin, Veracruz, Mexico."

Title: " The role of domestic prismatic blade use in the social development of La Mixtequilla, Veracruz, Mexico." The master's research evaluated the degree of use wear on a sample of prismatic blades from the region.

Neil Miller's masters' paper, "Figurines and Middle to Late Postclassic Changes in the Western Lower Papaloapan Basin (A.D. 1200-1521)," examines figurine styles for the Mixtequilla area, Cotaxtla, and the Central Highlands during the Late Postclassic period to evaluate evidence of different identities.

A program of augering residential mounds preceeded the selection of mounds for residential test excavations. These pdf files have the data forms and associated notes related to the auger testing, done in 1987.

Residential mound excavations during 1987 were recorded with forms, and artifacts from the excavations were recorded on forms.

These are pdf files of the original survey feature/collection forms. Each survey feature was recorded on a form and assigned a unique number, and, if the feature was collected, that number pertains to the surface collection. Some features have more than one collection, in which case additional feature/collection numbers were assigned. Rarely numbers were subsequently de-assigned, and might then be assigned to a different feature/collection later, but occasionally numbers were not used...

These pdf files show forms for fields where survey was conducted and the locations of features/collections within the field, along with vegetation and other observations. These files are only available with special permission because those from seasons when global positioning equipment was used have UTM coordinates. Those from survey using aerial mosaics sometimes show roads or towns identifiable on maps.

These laboratory forms record figurine classifications.

These pdfs contain the original laboratory coding forms for a variety of miscellaneous artifacts, such as spindle whorls, incensarios, colanders,clay balls, and other unusual ceramic forms. Artifacts related to ceramic production are included.

Obsidian coding forms from the PALM regional survey and associated notes. The obsidian coding was directed by Lynette Heller.

These archival forms recorded pottery types and attributes for survey collections. Some show updates or corrections when pottery was reexamined, but a few updates were made directly on electronic database or excel files.

A.J. Vonarx recorded attributes of chert bifacial artifacts, apparently all are projectile points.

A.J. Vonarx recorded attributes of obsidian bifacial tools. All appear to be projectile points.

Description of how the image archive is organized.

This document introduces the project, funding sources, history, personnel, and publications. It serves as an introduction to the other closely related projects in the Western Lower Papaloapan Archaeology Collection.

This file lists and defines the attributes used by AJ Vonarx in coding obsidian and chert bifacial tools from PALM survey. This file is only partially complete at the time of upload.

This document file describes the variables in the mndallto02.xls file.

This file consists mainly of information recorded by Lynette Heller concerning the variables employed in obsidian analysis, with later clarifications by Barbara Stark. It included two addenda, one by Lynette Heller grouping codes according to production technology, and the other noting some special circumstances affecting a few obsidian collections. The obsidian files from PALM 1 and PALM2 are not constructed the same way (PALM 2 is non-relational), and the obsidian coding is not thoroughly...

These notes address the variables used in Oralia Cabrera's reanalysis of spindle whorls in 2000. It includes variables recorded previously.