The Early Olmec and Mesoamerica

The Material Record

Jeffrey P. Blomster, David Cheetham

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781107107670
• eBook ISBN: 9781316944349
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

The Early Formative Olmec are central in a wide variety of debates regarding the development of Mesoamerican societies. A fundamental issue in Olmec archaeology is the nature of interregional interaction among contemporaneous societies and the possible Olmec role in it. Previous debates have often not been informed by recent research and data, often relying on materials lacking archaeological context. In order to approach these issues from new perspectives, this book introduces readers to the full spectrum of the material culture of the Olmec and their contemporaries, relying primarily on archaeological data, much of which has not been previously published. For the first time, using a standard lexicon to consider the nature of the interaction among Early Formative societies, the authors, experts in diverse regions of Mesoamerican art and archaeology, provide carefully considered contrasts and comparisons that advance the understanding of the Early Formative origins of social complexity in Mesoamerica.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Table of contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• List of Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter One Materializing the San Lorenzo Olmecs
• Chapter Two Defining Early Olmec Style Pottery: Techniques, Forms, and Motifs at San Lorenzo
• Chapter Three An Early Horizon Manifestation in the San Lorenzo Countryside
• Chapter Four An Early Olmec Manifestation in Western Olman: The Arroyo Phase at Tres Zapotes
• Chapter Five Early Horizon Materials in the Greater Basin of Mexico and Guerrero
• Chapter Six Materializing the Early Olmec Style in the Nochixtlán Valley, Oaxaca
• Chapter Seven Early Olmec Style Ceramics from the Southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec
• Chapter Eight Ceramic Vessel Form Similarities between San Lorenzo, Veracruz, and Canton Corralito, Chiapas
• Chapter Nine ‘‘Olmec’’ Pottery in Honduras
• Chapter Ten Figuring Out the Early Olmec Era
• Bibliography
• Index