Voted Off the Olmec Island: Remote Sensing and Regional Reconnaissance Surrounding La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico

Summary

This paper reports on the first stage of a regional settlement study initiated in 2016 by the Proyecto Arqueológico La Venta (PALV). Previous work beyond the primary site core of La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico has primarily focused on a limited subset of regional features. PALV’s inaugural season of field reconnaissance, alongside analysis of 5-meter resolution LiDAR and historic aerial photos, demonstrates that Formative and Post-Classic period occupations beyond the main La Venta "island" were likely more extensive than previously documented. This work is improving chronological and spatial resolution on the cultural trajectory of the Gulf Coast, enabling improved comparative analyses of emergent social complexity in Mesoamerica more broadly. Going forward, this multi-year project will draw upon a broader range of techniques, including geological coring and ground-based remote sensing, to produce a comprehensive model of settlement in La Venta’s poorly understood hinterland. The expanded catalogue of archaeological sites in this region will also serve to help protect heritage from ongoing oil prospection and pipeline production by PEMEX.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14734