Epiclassic in Southern Mesoamerica? Tradition, Innovation, and Reaction in Pacific Guatemala

Summary

The Early Classic ascendancy of Teotihuacan was felt strongly on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala, particularly at Montana and related sites on the coastal plain of Escuintla. The Teotihuacan downfall roughly coincided with the demise of those sites, and the rise of a new dominant center Cotzumalhuapa, around A.D. 650. The process seems to parallel the emergence of Epiclassic centers in highland Mexico, and differs in many respects from the Maya Highlands and Lowlands, where there are fewer indications of major changes in the political landscape in the wake of Teotihuacan’s collapse. This paper examines two questions: How did Pacific coastal peoples respond to the demise of the highland Mexican metropolis? And how did local developments in Escuintla relate with broader Mesoamerican patterns? The archaeological record and the sculptural corpus of Cotzumalhuapa suggest adjustments that combined the maintenance and reinvigoration of coastal traditions, the adoption of innovations stimulated by Teotihuacan influence, and reactions against the former ascendancy of Teotihuacan culture in the region.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Reconsidering the "Epic" in the Epiclassic Period of Mesoamerica Part 1: Regional Interactions

Keywords

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