TRANSISTHMIAN TIES: EPI-OLMEC AND IZAPAN INTERACTION

In 1943, Matthew Stirling (1943:72) once opined, “Izapa appears to be much more closely related to the earth-mound sites of southern Veracruz … than it does with sites in the Maya area.” Since then, scholars have postulated ties of varying strength between Late Formative polities on either side of t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ancient Mesoamerica 2018-09, Vol.29 (2), p.413-437
Main Authors: Pool, Christopher A., Loughlin, Michael L., Ortiz Ceballos, Ponciano
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ceramics
Communities of practice
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Summary:In 1943, Matthew Stirling (1943:72) once opined, “Izapa appears to be much more closely related to the earth-mound sites of southern Veracruz … than it does with sites in the Maya area.” Since then, scholars have postulated ties of varying strength between Late Formative polities on either side of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Ceramic similarities have been noted between southern Chiapas and the Gulf Coast, but discussion of Late Formative transisthmian interaction has focused primarily on sculptural similarities between Izapa and sites of the lower Papaloapan basin, including Tres Zapotes, El Mesón, and Alvarado. Indeed, Michael Coe (1965b:773) suggested that the Izapan art style may have originated on the Gulf Coast rather than on the Pacific slope. In this article, we reexamine Late Formative interaction between Izapa and Epi-Olmec polities with an expanded data set based on recent iconographic studies and archaeological investigations in and around Tres Zapotes.
ISSN:0956-5361
1469-1787
DOI:10.1017/S0956536118000123