The Beginnings of Mesoamerican Civilization Inter-Regional Interaction and the Olmec

Mesoamerica is one of several cradles of civilization in the world. In this book, Robert M. Rosenswig proposes that we understand Early Formative Mesoamerica as an archipelago of complex societies that interacted with one another over long distances and that were separated by less sedentary peoples. These early 'islands' of culture shared an Olmec artistic aesthetic, beginning approximately 1250 BCE (uncalibrated), that first defined Mesoamerica as a culture area. Rosenswig frames the Olmec world from the perspective of the Soconusco area on Pacifica Chiapas and Guatemala. The disagreements about Early Formative society that have raged over the past thirty years focus on the nature of inter-regional interaction between San Lorenzo and other Early Formative regions. He evaluates these debates from a fresh theoretical perspective and integrates new data into an assessment of Soconusco society before, during, and after the apogee of the San Lorenzo polity.

Part I. An Early Formative Mesoamerican Problem: 1. Introduction; 2. Knowledge in an archipelago of complexity; 3. Mesoamerica's first style horizons and the 'Olmec problem'; Part II. Archaeological Data: 4. Settlement patterns and architecture; 5. Diet, food processing and feasting; 6. Representations and aesthetics; 7. Inter-regional exchange patterns; Part III. Deriving Meaning from the Archaeological Record: 8. Data and expectations; 9. Conclusions.

Robert M. Rosenswig is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the State University of New York, Albany. He has directed archaeological fieldwork in Mexico, Belize, and Costa Rica and has published numerous articles on the origins of agriculture and the development of socio-political complexity in Mesoamerica.