Exchange and Interaction in Proto-Mesoamerica: A Comparison of Late Archaic and Early Formative Interregional Networks

Summary

Across much of Mesoamerica, the transition from Archaic to Formative occurred essentially simultaneously at 1800±100 BC. The earliest sedentary, ceramic-using villages occurred in clusters, but the clusters themselves were widely dispersed. They appeared in a variety of environmental settings, and they were surrounded by lands that were either empty or still inhabited by low-visibility/low-density populations. Given such patterns, it is far from obvious what factors would explain the simultaneity of the transition from Archaic to Formative. The goal of this paper is to assess the promise of one idea: that the transition to sedentism and pottery use was at least in part the product of intensified long-distance interaction and exchange in the later Archaic. The research involves assembling evidence on the presence, frequency, and source of artifacts of non-local origin at Archaic and Early Formative sites (obsidian is a significant but not exclusive focus of attention). Assemblages will be assigned as appropriate to four periods: Early-Middle Archaic (prior to 3500 BC), Late Archaic (3500-1900 BC), Initial Early Formative (1900-1400 BC), and Late Early Formative (1400-1000 BC). Is there evidence for heightened interactions during the later Archaic? How do Late Archaic interregional networks compare to those of the Initial Early Formative?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 18738