essay
Formative period settlement patterns in the Río Amatzinac Valley
ancient chalcatzingo • Austin • Published In 1987 • Pages: 343-367
By: Hirth, Kenn.
Abstract
Hirth provides analysis of the results of an intensive site survey of the Río Amatzinac Valley of Morelos State, Mexico, utilizing the Formative period data presented in Document 39. Early Formative period Amate phase (3500-3100 B.P.) occupation appears without evident precedent, and although oriented toward an agricultural economy it retains Archaic patterns of seasonal gathering-hunting camps. Although public architecture is evident at the Olmec-influenced site of Chalcatzingo, the dominance of this center truly becomes apparent during the early Middle Formative period Barranca phase (to 2700 B.P.), with large-scale terracing and irrigation works indicating direction and control over ceremony and intensified agricultural production by an elite, concurrent with decreased emphasis on the pre-existing broad-spectrum subsistence economy as indicated by abandonment of settlement in agriculturally marginal areas. With a near tripling of population during the Middle Formative period Cantera phase (to 2500 B.P.) Chalcatzingo emerges as a true regional center, and land use intensifies with settlement re-expanding into areas marginal for agriculture. Chalcatzingo loses its central importance in the Late Formative period during which evidence for ties with the Olmec core area on the Gulf Coast declines drastically. The document concludes with a consideration of evidence for revolutionary socioeconomic changes that appear to have taken place in the valley during the Formative period. The notably precocious rise of the highland regional center of Chalcatzingo with public/ceremonial architecture may be attributable in part to stimulus diffusion from the coastal Olmec core area.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2000
- Region
- Middle America and the Caribbean
- Sub Region
- Central Mexico
- Document Type
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Leon G. Doyon ; 2007
- Field Date
- 1972-1976
- Coverage Date
- 3500 BP-1850 BP
- Coverage Place
- Río Amatzinac Valley, Morelos State, Mexico
- Notes
- Kenneth G. Hirth
- For bibliographical references see Grove: 1987 (Document 3)
- LCCN
- 85022673
- LCSH
- Olmecs