Society for American Archaeology Beginnings of Village Life in Eastern Mesoamerica Author(s): Rosemary A. Joyce and John S. Henderson Source: Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Mar., 2001), pp. 5-23 Published by: Society for American Archaeology Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/971754 . Accessed: 13/11/2013 20:17 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Society for American Archaeology is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Latin American Antiquity. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 136.159.235.223 on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 20:17:59 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions - BEGINNINGSOF VILLAGELIFE IN EASTERNMESOAMERICA RosemaryA. Joyce and John S. Henderson Excavations in northernHonduras have produced evidence of initial village life that is among the earliest cases documented in Mesoamerica. Settlement beginning prior to 1600 B.C., the production of sophisticated pottery by 1600 B.C., and integra- tion in economic exchange networks extending into Guatemala and Mexico by 1100-900 B.C. (calendar ages), are all consis- tent with patterns recorded in the Gulf Coast, Central Highlands, and Pacific Coast of Mexico. Supported by a suite of 11 radiocarbon dates, these findings overturn traditional models that viewed Honduras as an underdevelopedperiphery receiv- ing delayed influencesfrom Mexican centers. Gracias a las excavaciones que se han realizado en el norte de Hondurasse han recuperadoevidencias de los orfgenes de la vida aldeana en la region, que se cuentan entre los casos mas tempranosen Mesoame'rica.Los inicios de los asentamientosenfechas anterioresa 1600 a.C., la produccionde ceramica elaborada hacia 1600 a.C. y la integraciona redes de intercambioeconomico que llegaban hasta Guatemalay Me'xicoalrededor de 1110-900 a.C. (anos calendaricos), son consistentes con los patrones que se han registradoen la costa del Golfo de Mexico, el altiplano centralmexicano y la costa del Paeffico,en particular el Soconusco. Con base en la posicion estratigr4ficade los artefactosy 1I fechas de radiocarbono,se definencincofases tempranasque abar- can desde fines del periodo Arcaico (Sauce), el FormativoTemprano (Barahona, Ocotillo, Chotepe) y principios del Formativo Medio (Playa). Con estosfundamentos, se cuenta con evidencias contrarias a los modelos tradicionales, en los que se conside raba que Honduras era una periferia subdesarrolladade centros ubicados en Mexico desde donde llegaban con retraso infuen- cias culturales. Excavations in several locations in Mexico In contrast,with the exceptionof isolatedreports have producedsignificant information about of early occupations in sites scattered along the earlystages of the developmentof village life PacificCoast in Guatemalaand E1 Salvador (Arroyo in Mesoamerica.Research at sites on Mexico's Gulf 1995; Blake et al. 1995), no comparablebody of Coast (Coe and Diehl 1980; Grove 1997; Rust and information has been developed for eastern Sharer1988), Central Highlands (Flannery and Mar- Mesoamerica, the region east of the Isthmus of cus 1994; Niederberger1976), and Pacific Coast Tehuantepecwhere societies of the Classic Maya Soconuscoregion (Blake et al. l995; Blakeand Clark worldlater took shape.With the reevaluationof the 1993; Clarkand Gosser 1995; Lesure 1997, 1998), extremely early dates reportedfor Cuello, a site has producedconsistent chronologies that place the located in the Maya lowlands of Belize (Andrews transitionto settled village life between 3000 and andHammond 1990), ceramic chronologies for east- 1800 B.C. In each of theseregions, early villages are ernMesoamerica extend back only to approximately markedby the constructionof perishablehouses, the 1200 B.C. (Sharer1989). use of pottery vessels, reliance on agriculturefor With excavations beginning in 1994 at Puerto subsistence,and participation in economicexchange Escondido(CR-372), a site nearthe Caribbeancoast networks,especially for the acquisitionof obsidian, of Honduras(Figure 1), we have producedthe first the volcanicglass thatprovided the fundamentalraw documentedcontinuous sequence of earlyoccupation materialon whichMesoamerican societies relied for in easternMesoamerica. At PuertoEscondido, strat- sharp-cuttingtools (Voorhies1996a, 1996b). ifieddeposits 3.5 metersdeep have now yielded a suite Rosemary A. Joyce * Departmentof Anthropology,University of California,Berkeley, California94720 John S. Henderson * Departmentof Anthropology,Cornell University,Ithaca, New York 14853 Latin AmericanAntiquity, 12(1), 2001, pp. 5-24 Copyright(B)2001 by the Society for AmericanArchaeology This content downloaded from 136.159.235.223 on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 20:17:59 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 6 LATINAMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 12s No. 1s2001 Figure 1. Eastern Mesoamerica. of 11 radiocarbondeterminations thatprovide abasis mound showed that these deposits consisted of a forcomparison with Mexican Pacific coast sequences sequenceof floors,burials, and pit features,some of beginriingbefore 1600 B.C. (calendarage). which were associated with pottery of types pro- duced duringthe Late andTerminal Classic periods Puerto Escondido (ca. A.D. 45s 1000). Our initial excavationsdocu- The Puerto Escondido site consisted originally of mented the foundationsof a cluster of rectangular four extensive, low, earthenmounds located on a buildings,with 20 associatedburials placed adjacent tributaryof theChamelecon River, the smallerof two to buildingfoundations and in abandonedpits. This riversforming the lower Ulua Valley in Honduras. residentialoccupation of the moundcan be datedto Excavationsat PuertoEscondido began as an effort the earliestpart of the Uluaphase (ca. A.D. 45(}650) to document the nature of the site before it was by associatedpottery, particularly the assemblages destroyedby a housingdevelopment. The sequence preservedin filled, abandonedpits. of radiocarbondates reportedhere comes from one The sedimentsinto which the foundationwalls, of the two earthenmounds that have been the focus burials,and pits of the earlyUlua periodoccupation of our excavationssince 1994. were dug provedon excavationto date to the previ- Priorto our work,earth moving for construction ously identifiedMiddle Formative Playa phase (ca. had removedmore thana meterof depositfrom the 900-400 B.C.). These Playa phase depositscapped mound. The face of the bulldozercut throughthis a long sequence of remains dating to the Early This content downloaded from 136.159.235.223 on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 20:17:59 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions X/ ] r j RAP ^ g r _ - b Joyce and Henderson] BEGINNINGSOF VILLAGE LIFE IN EASTERNMESOAMERICA 7 \ --::XjSt tV -( a < I v w f Jcv t d l xa E , jr \ - e 5 cm g burnishedzones 2 E B h b redpaint S! F , Figure 2. Barahona-phase pottery from Puerto Escondido. Formative(ca. 160>900 B.C.), a periodpreviously area excavationof selected Formativeperiod fea- undocumentedin the region.The continuousnature turesprovided information about the use of the area. of these Formativeperiod deposits, including the Potteryrecovered from the stratigraphicunits was presenceat the base of the deposit of a component assignedto types based on a combinationof origi- lackingpottery, makes the radiocarbon dates reported nal vessel shape,characteristics of the clay mixture, herethe first evidence from eastern Mesoamerica that andtreatment of the surfaceof the vessels. Ourpre- is comparableto Mexican sequencesof Archaicto liminaryceramic analysis for the EarlyFormative is EarlyFormative period occupations. basedon detailedrecording of a stratifiedsample of morethan 7,000 sherds.This comparesfavorably to Depositional Sequence the stratifiedmidden used to anchorthe authorita- Excavationof a 2 m by 2 m unit to sterilesoil pro- tive sequence for Early FormativeOaxaca? which vided the basis for identifying the depositional containedapproximately 5,000 sherds(Flannery and sequencefor theFormative period. Additional wide- Marcus1994). Although we havenot yet completed This content downloaded from 136.159.235.223 on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 20:17:59 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions LATINAMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 12, No. 1, 2001 2 m unit reachedthis level), we suggest that it rep- resents late Archaic use of the area,before pottery was adoptedin the region.The majorityof the obsid- ian flakes?produced through percussion, were made frommaterial available from outcrops located within 60 km. A small proportionof the flakes was made fromobsidian derived from La Esperanza,in south- ern Honduras. BarahonaPhase The Barahonaphase is markedby the earliestpot- teryyet identifiedat the site. Barahonadeposits con- sist of a series of surfacescovered by thin layersof debrisand riverine sediments. Post-holes from con- structionof perishablebuildings were encountered on severalof thesesurfaces. Fragments of bone,shell, chipped stone, and pottery were contained in the debrisbetween surfaces. Figure 3. Barahona- and Ocotillo-phase pottery from Puerto Escondido. The early pottery(Figures 2 and 3) consists of finelymade, thin-walled vessels