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

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

doi:10.1080/15564894.2022.2162635

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 journal › Article › peer-review

2 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 language	English
Pages (from-to)	525-543
Number of pages	19
Journal	Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology
Volume	19
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2022.2162635
State	Published - 2024

Bibliographical note

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

Funding

Project funding was provided by the National Science Foundation (grants BCS-0242555 and BCS-1261514). The research reported in this paper was conducted with the permission of the Instituto Nacional de Antropolog\u00EDa e Historia of Mexico, the financial support of the National Science Foundation, and the institutional support of the University of Kentucky. Pool directed excavations at Tres Zapotes and the Tres Zapotes Regional Archaeological Survey. Tanya M. Peres conducted the faunal analysis, and Michael Loughlin co-directed the regional survey. Kyle M. Mullen provided recently processed GIS data for the northern dune areas of our survey from his PhD dissertation research. We thank the numerous crewmembers from communities in our field area and students from the University of Kentucky, the Universidad Veracruzana, and other institutions in the US and Mexico. This work could not have been carried out without them. The research reported in this paper was conducted with the permission of the Instituto Nacional de Antropolog\u00EDa e Historia of Mexico, the financial support of the National Science Foundation, and the institutional support of the University of Kentucky. Pool directed excavations at Tres Zapotes and the Tres Zapotes Regional Archaeological Survey. Tanya M. Peres conducted the faunal analysis, and Michael Loughlin co-directed the regional survey. Kyle M. Mullen provided recently processed GIS data for the northern dune areas of our survey from his PhD dissertation research. We thank the numerous crewmembers from communities in our field area and students from the University of Kentucky, the Universidad Veracruzana, and other institutions in the US and Mexico. This work could not have been carried out without them.

Funders	Funder number
Universidad Veracruzana
University of Kentucky
Michael Loughlin
Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia of Mexico
Tres Zapotes Regional Archaeological Survey
U.S. Department of Energy Chinese Academy of Sciences Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Project Oak Ridge National Laboratory Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment National Science Foundation National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center National Natural Science Foundation of China	BCS-1261514, BCS-0242555
U.S. Department of Energy Chinese Academy of Sciences Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Project Oak Ridge National Laboratory Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment National Science Foundation National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center National Natural Science Foundation of China

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 14 Life Below Water

Keywords

Gulf Coast
Mesoamerica
Olmec
foodways
settlement
water transportation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Oceanography
Archaeology
Ecology
History
Archaeology

Access to Document

10.1080/15564894.2022.2162635

Cite this

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

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.",

keywords = "Gulf Coast, Mesoamerica, Olmec, foodways, settlement, water transportation",

author = "Pool, \{Christopher A.\} and Peres, \{Tanya M.\} and Loughlin, \{Michael L.\}",

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year = "2024",

doi = "10.1080/15564894.2022.2162635",

language = "English",

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AU - Peres, Tanya M.

AU - Loughlin, Michael L.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Gulf Coast

KW - Mesoamerica

KW - Olmec

KW - foodways

KW - settlement

KW - water transportation

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

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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