Settlement and the exploitation of aquatic resources in the Eastern Lower Papaloapan Basin, Veracruz, Mexico

Christopher A. Pool, Tanya M. Peres, Michael L. Loughlin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Research conducted since 2003 in and around the regional center of Tres Zapotes, Veracruz documents the importance of aquatic resources and transportation routes for subsistence and settlement over more than two millennia. Systematic archaeological survey over more than 400 km2 in the surrounding Eastern Lower Papaloapan Basin details a persistent focus of major settlements on streams and other bodies of water that would have provided an abundance of food and opportunities for water-born transport. Excavations at Tres Zapotes further indicate that exploitation of aquatic fauna was a significant component of a mixed subsistence strategy for the Olmec and Epi-Olmec inhabitants of the site, who obtained fish, turtles, and waterfowl from streams, lakes, estuaries and coastal marine environments over a range extending no less than 20 km from the center. Artifact inventories and landscape features further suggest an associated subsistence technology that included weighted nets and retention ponds in seasonally flooded areas.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)525-543
Number of pages19
JournalJournal of Island and Coastal Archaeology
Volume19
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

  • Gulf Coast
  • Mesoamerica
  • Olmec
  • foodways
  • settlement
  • water transportation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oceanography
  • Archaeology
  • Ecology
  • History
  • Archaeology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Settlement and the exploitation of aquatic resources in the Eastern Lower Papaloapan Basin, Veracruz, Mexico'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this