book chapter

Human ecology and Olmec civilization

In the land of the Olmec2 • Published In 1980 • Pages: 139-152

By: Coe, Michael D., Diehl, Richard A..

Abstract
Beginning with a review of cultural precedent, and of the environmental factors for the Río Coatzacoalcos Basin as presented in Coe: 1980 (Document 45), Coe and Diehl proceed to calculate carrying capacity of the region for the height of Olmec occupation during the San Lorenzo phase. From those figures, and with some reference to mostly indirect archeological evidence, they deduce the Olmec subsistence strategy for the region. The authors conclude with an evaluation of various models for the rise of social inequality so strikingly evident at the dominant cultural center of San Lorenzo, finding control of access to a limited amount of river levee land for maize production to have been a likely principal factor.
Subjects
Theoretical orientation in research and its results
Comparative evidence
Classes
Chief executive
Functional and adaptational interpretations
tradition
Olmec
HRAF PubDate
2000
Region
Middle America and the Caribbean
Sub Region
Central Mexico
Document Type
book chapter
Evaluation
Creator Type
Archaeologist
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Leon G. Doyon ; 2007
Field Date
unknown
Coverage Date
3500 BP-2900 BP
Coverage Place
Río Coatzacoalcos Basin, southern Veracruz State, Mexico
Notes
by Michael D. Coe and Richard A. Diehl
For bibliographical references see document 44: Coe and Diehl
LCCN
79017167
LCSH
Olmecs/San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán site/Coatzacoalcos region, Mexico--Social life and customs