Proyecto Arqueologico La Mixtequilla

Description

Since 1984 Dr. Barbara Stark has directed survey and mapping in the
western Lower Papaloapan basin to investigate settlement patterns,
economy, and political organization from a long-term regional
perspective in south-central Veracruz.

Lowland Veracruz societies developed a distinctive variant of
Mesoamerican culture and society starting around 900 B.C. and through
the Classic period (A.D. 300-900). Cerro de las Mesas was the region's
most preeminent center for several centuries in the Early Classic
period until its replacement by new local centers during the Late
Classic period (circa A.D. 900). Highland people settled in the region
about A.D. 1200, approximately at the time of a striking disruption of
Classic period cultural traditions. The emphasis on the elaborate
ballgame complex and "laughing face" figurines came to an end in
region. Analysis of settlement around Cerro de las Mesas and other
centers has helped define the concept of a "capital zone" in the Blanco
River delta and the spatial organization of a "garden city" urban form.
Ongoing PALM research in south -central Veracruz continues to add to
concepts of prehispanic land use and our understanding of tropical
urbanism through time. The intensive survey techniques and system atic
collections provide a basis for analysis of organization and
specialization in multiple crafts over time. In particular, the cotton
industry appears to have played a key role in the economic history of
the region.

Systematic surface collections and some of the residential
excavation collections are maintained for study at an ASU
archaeological laboratory in Jalapa, Veracruz, close to the Universidad
Veracruzana and the Museo de Antropología. The laboratory allows
continuing access to artifacts for comparative studies and particular
stylistic and compositional investigations. Other collections are
curated by the Centro INAH Veracruz in Veracruz City.

Dr. Stark's projects in Veracruz have supported significant graduate
student research, ranging from papers and publications to MA degrees
and doctoral dissertations. Two recent examples of dissertations
complementary to PALM are Michael Ohnersorgen's (ASU) investigation of
the Postclassic provincial capital of Cotaxtla, subjugated by the
Aztecs, and Stuart Speaker's (Tulane) research on settlement and land
use in relation to soils and hydrology in the lower Blanco River delta.