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Review
Author(s): William T. Sanders
Review by: William T. Sanders
Source: American Antiquity, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Apr., 1956), pp. 436-437
Published by: Society for American Archaeology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/277343
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436
AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
[ XXI, 4, 1956
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REVIEWS
437
relationship to Mamon-Chicanel; Upper Tres Zapotes Yucatan. Data are rapidly accumulating to suggest that
in the Lowland areas of Mesoamerica true urban centers
has highly specific relationships to Teotihuacan 4. He
and nucleated settlements were rare.
argues, therefore, that Middle Tres Zapotes must be
Early Classic. Wauchope, on the other hand, dates at
WILLIAM T. SANDERS
least part of this period as Preclassic on typological
Harvard University
grounds, a dating which involves dangerous assumpCambridge, Mass.
tions. The reviewer discovered a site in the upper
Tonala drainage with typical Middle Tres Zapotes potCurrent Reports, Numbers 1-24. Edited by H. E. D.
tery and classic baby-face figurines in association with
POLLOCK.
Carnegie Institution of Washington, DepartLate Classic Maya figurines of the Jaina type. The
ment of Archaeology, Cambridge, 1952-55. Issued in
Olmec art style and probably the ceramic types as well,
parts. Illus.
evidently enjoyed a huge time span in at least part of
This series, under the editorship of H. E. D. Pollock,
the Olmec area.
is devoted essentially to the Carnegie Institution's recent
Drucker finds that with the exception of the Mexican
work at the late Postclassic site of Mayapan in Yucatan.
Highlands the often discussed extensive diffusion of the
Designed to disseminate the data and results of each
Olmec art style to other areas is of the generic type
season's work as rapidly as possible, its tone is prelimand, thus, very difficult to assess chronologically. He
inary, factual, illustrative, and specialized. Each paper,
rejects outright many published examples of the style.
offset printed and issued separately, represents the reEspecially important is his rejection of pieces from
sults of a single project. Jones's highly detailed map
Monte Alban and Highland Guatemala. He considers
(Report No. 1) of the walled city is essential to an
the concept of the Olmec as a Mesoamerican "Cultura understanding of the pattern of excavations so far unMadre" unacceptable. Rather, he views the Olmec as dertaken. The titles of these reports plainly illustrate
one of many vigorous regional styles in Mesoamerica,
the Institution's interests. Much time has been spent
one which had its roots in the Preclassic, reached
on distinguishing between lay and ceremonial structures
and on archaeological analyses of their variations and
fluorescence during the Early Classic, and was replaced
functions. Inasmuch as the site consists of over 4000
by highland cultures in Late Classic and Postclassic
buildings and platforms, this has been an enormous
times.
undertaking. House mounds and property boundary
The relationship between Tlatilco and La Venta, is a
walls
have been studied with great care because of their
most difficult problem for there are stylistic relationships
crucial role in urban analysis. Interest has also centered
of a very specific nature. Drucker feels that the style
on Tabasco, the apparent source of an important potrepresented by the Tlatilco figurines is closest to Middle
tery found at Mayapan. Many sites in Quintana Roo
Tres Zapotes. The chronological position of Tlatilco in
have been visited and excavated in an attempt to clarify
the Valley of Mexico is certainly Preclassic, but Middle
the late period of Yucatecan prehistory on as broad a
Tres Zapotes is Early Classic. Drucker postulates 2
scale as possible. Further work at Chichen Itza and
possibilities: (1) Since the Valley was culturally back- various Puuc sites has been oriented
to sequential and
ward, Middle Tres Zapotes is in part Preclassic -an
cultural problems encountered at Mayapan.
which
be
can
worked both ways; (2) Olmec
argument
To date 24 reports have been issued: 1, Map of the
plastic style actually fluoresced in the Early Tres Zapotes
Ruins of Mayapan, Yucatan, Mexico by Morris R. Jones;
period which is still incompletely defined. In support 2, The Great Wall of Mayapan by Edwin M. Shook;
of the first possibility he emphasizes the marginal loca3, Residential Property Walls at Mayapan by William
tion of the Valley. This is hardly a tenable position.
R. Bullard, Jr.; 4, Excavations in House Mounds at
Moreover, this solution to the problem of Olmec-TlaMayapan by Karl Ruppert and A. L. Smith; 5, Cenote
tilco relationships means rejection of Teotihuacan 3 as X-Coton at Mayapan by Robert E. Smith; 6, Chacchob,
Yucatan by H. E. D. Pollock and Gustav Str6msvik;
a chronological marker. A third possibility is that the
7, Archaeological Reconnaissance in Tabasco by Heinstyle developed in an area of tropical fauna in Morelos
rich Berlin; 8, A Portal Vault and Temple at Mayapan
and southern Puebla and diffused to the Valley and
southern Vera Cruz where it reached secondary cli- by Str6msvik; 9, Some Small Ceremonial Structures of
maxes. In the homeland and in the Valley it was early Mayapan by Robert M. Adams, Jr.; 10, Excavations in
House Mounds at Mayapan: II by A. L. Smith and
replaced by Regional Classic cultures, whereas in the
Ruppert; 11, The X-Coton Temples at Mayapan by
coastal area it persisted into the Classic.
12, Cenote Exploration at Mayapan and TelShook;
One of the interesting by-products of Drucker's cechaquillo by R. E. Smith; 13, Boundary Walls and
ramic testing is the data on settlement pattern. He
House Lots at Mayapan by Bullard; 14, Three Temples
points out that the long time range and the uneven,
and their Associated Structures at Mayapan by Shook;
sparse distribution of sherds indicate that La Venta was
15, The Northern Terminus of the Principal Sacbe at
not a town but a ceremonial center with a small resiMayapan by Pollock; 16, A Round Temple at Mayapan,
dent population. The reviewer found a similar pattern
Yucatan by Shook; 17, Excavations in House Mounds at
in the Middle Grijalva basin and on the East Coast of
Mayapan: 11 by Ruppert and A. L. Smith; 18, Explora-
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