Creating a New World: Large-Scale Landscape Modifications at Aguada Fenix, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "2023 Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of Timothy Beach Part I" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The recently discovered site of Aguada Fenix in eastern Tabasco, Mexico, is one of the largest monumental constructions in Mesoamerica. It dates to the beginning of the early Middle Preclassic, around 1100 BC. The main complex consists of a rectangular plateau with an E-Group at its center and is delimited by 20 large edge platforms. In addition, the overall constructions and modifications at the site include another very large modified artificial mound or plateau, a series of causeways and reservoirs, and extensive water management features and shoreline alterations of a large lagoon. This complex represents an altered landscape of a scale and complexity that was previously unknown for this region. The people who built Aguada Fenix thus literally created their own environment.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)   •
• 2023 Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of Timothy Beach Part I

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36141.0