Overview of Archaeological Investigations in the Middle Usumacinta Region

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Preclassic Maya Social Transformations along the Usumacinta: Views from Ceibal and Aguada Fénix" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Middle Usumacinta Archaeological Project started investigations in the Department of Tabasco, Mexico, in 2017. Its main objectives are to examine the relationship between the residents of the Maya lowlands and those of the Olmec region and to trace social change during the Preclassic period. The research began with the analysis of LiDAR data obtained by the Mexican governmental institution of INEGI for the entire study area of roughly 3000 km2. An area of 110 km2 was selected for a higher-resolution LiDAR survey. We identified the site of Aguada Fénix, which contained a large platform and other formal ceremonial complexes of the Middle Preclassic period, which we called the Middle Formative Usumacinta pattern. In the 2017 and 2018 season, we conducted excavations at Aguada Fénix and La Carmelita. These data show that the Middle Usumacinta region participated in active inter-regional interaction during the Middle Preclassic period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Preclassic Maya Social Transformations along the Usumacinta: Views from Ceibal and Aguada Fénix

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23993