Reports
marinus bones discovered by the Rı́o Chiquito Project
Another Look at Bufo marinus
and the San Lorenzo Olmec1
a n n c y p h e r s , b e l e m z ú ñ i g a , a n d
a n n a d i c a s t ro
Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas,
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito
Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico. D.F. 04510,
Mexico (cyphers@servidor.unam.mx) 25 v 05
In 1968 the first archaeological discovery of marine toad
remains, Bufo marinus, at an Olmec capital (Wing 1980,
Coe and Diehl 1980) set the stage for influential recon-
structions of ancient ritual and ideology. The findings of
the Rio Chiquito Project at San Lorenzo, Veracruz,
prompted the conjecture that hallucinogenic toxins in
the toad’s skin were extracted for use in Early Preclassic
(1150–900 BC) shamanistic rites (Coe and Diehl 1980,
vol. 1:390; Wing 1980: 378, 383) and indirectly supported
toad identifications in Olmec iconography (Furst 1972a,
b, 1981; Kennedy 1982; Reilly 1989). As a web search
will show, the idea that Bufo toxins are involved in Early
Preclassic shamanism on the Gulf Coast is still widely
taught and accepted. However, recent research by the
San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán Archaeological Project
(SLTAP) casts doubt on the archaeological context of the
toad remains and, hence, on Early Preclassic exploitation
of the toad by the San Lorenzo Olmec. Our reassessment
here will also raise questions concerning the associated
human bone that has been proposed as evidence for can-
nibalism and warfare at this site.
The Olmec are often portrayed as America’s first civ-
ilization (Coe 1968). Located in the tropical Gulf Coast
lowlands, their first capital, San Lorenzo, has Early Pre-
classic occupation dating from 1500 BC. Its florescence
period has been established at 1150–900 B.C through
stratigraphic studies and radiocarbon dating (Coe and
Diehl 1980). The site is composed of a large artificial
plateau ringed by terraces and a wide occupied periphery
encircling its base (Symonds, Cyphers, and Lunagómez
2002). This plateau, once thought to be a giant bird effigy
(Coe and Diehl 1980, vol. 1:28), is cut by numerous ra-
vines fashioned by three millennia of erosion.
One of these ravines was the sole locus of the Bufo
䉷 2005 by The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Re-
search. All rights reserved 0011-3204/2005/4605S5-00010$10.00
1. We thank David Grove for his helpful remarks and the members
of the 2005 SLTAP field team, particularly Anaı́ López, for their
unwavering support. We gratefully acknowledge the valuable com-
ments and challenges provided by the anonymous reviewers.
in the late 1960s (Wing 1980). The high percentage of
toad remains (9.5%) found by that project is not matched
by the results of the SLTAP, which show a remarkable
dearth of Bufo remains despite the larger volume of its
excavations, conducted during seven consecutive field
seasons (1990–96). We considered two possible sets of
factors to account for the discrepancy between the find-
ings of the two projects: (1) functional differences among
the areas sampled and differential preservation across the
site and (2) secondary deposition, potentially a key pro-
cess because the earlier data set derives from an exca-
vation located in the bottom of the deep ravine known
as the Cañada del Macaya that runs north-south in the
southwestern section of the plateau.
In evaluating the two data sets, we find that the SLTAP
has tested a greater number and variety of ritual, do-
mestic, productive, and mortuary contexts than the Rı́o
Chiquito Project (Cyphers n.d.). Artifact preservation
varies from excellent to poor in any single area, depend-
ing on the characteristics of the buried deposit. Notably,
in the 1,400 SLTAP faunal samples there is only one Bufo
bone, found in a modern root disturbance on the side of
a ravine (Zúñiga n.d.). On the basis of the above, we doubt
that functional differences among the areas sampled and
differential preservation across the site account for such
a noteworthy disparity in the findings. The second op-
tion consists of a new evaluation of the depositional con-
text of the faunal remains from the Cañada del Macaya
and includes a consideration of formation processes and
the biological habits of this toad. We also provide new
stratigraphic information on this context from the 2005
SLTAP field season.
The point of departure for our analysis of the archae-
ological context is the late Francisco Beverido’s brief re-
port, unfortunately never prepared in final form, of his
work at the bottom of the Cañada del Macaya (1970:
144–51, pl. 17–23). It is complemented by provisional
information published by Michael D. Coe and Richard
A. Diehl (1980, vol. 1:90–93) and provenience records
provided in Elizabeth Wing’s (1980)faunal analysis. It
should be noted in the following discussion that, of the
units excavated in 1968 and 1969, only two cuts, located
on the east and west sides, respectively, of the ravine’s
base, yielded Bufo remains.
The Cañada del Macaya is bounded on the east and
north by the Southwest Ridge, a long peninsula of land
located in the southwest portion of the San Lorenzo pla-
teau (51 m above sea level2). The topographic map of this
ravine (Coe and Diehl 1980, vol. 1:map 1) shows a nar-
row, sloping tongue of land that bisects its interior and
at the same time is connected to the Southwest Ridge.
This topographic feature is depicted in the figure cross
section along with the position of Beverido’s Cut 1, con-
S129
S130 F c u r r e n t a n t h ro p o l o g y
ducted as part of the 1968 excavations which crossed the
feature near the ravine’s base. The cut, measuring ap-
proximately 3 # 3 m (1970:145), was located next to the
streambed on the lower east slope of the feature and was
“stepped to provide a good working surface” (Coe and
Diehl 1980, vol. 1:91). The artificial stair-step intervals
(fig. ) were assigned the letters A to E, with E being the
far western and lowest step on the ravine’s east side and
A the easternmost and highest (Coe and Diehl 1980, vol.
1:fig. 54). Also, in the same season, Cut 2, measuring 3.3
# 1.3 m (Coe and Diehl 1980, vol. 1:93), was placed on
the west slope, but it had no steps; Coe and Diehl assert
the existence of a stratigraphic correspondence between
Cuts 1 and 2 (1980, vol. 1:91, 93). In 1969 another unit,
measuring 3 # 4 m, was excavated 5–6 m above Cut 1
but produced no Bufo remains. Despite its 3-m depth, it
did not show any stratigraphic correlation with Cut 1
(Beverido 1970:186, pl. 18).
Beverido seems to have believed that the deposits he
excavated were undisturbed; however, his noticeable dis-
appointment at the lack of any stratigraphic correspon-
dence between Cut 1 and the 1969 unit (1970:186) ap-
parently did not register as a possible indication that the
Cañada strata might not be primary in nature. When Cut
1 (Beverido 1970: pl. 22, 23) is positioned on the ravine’s
topographic cross-section (see figure 1), it appears that
the excavation was likely conducted in a section of the
ravine bank that slipped downward, that is, the afore-
mentioned tongue of land. Aggravated by deforestation
Fig. 1. Cross section of the Cañada del Macaya (right) (adapted from Beverido 1970:pl. 18 and Coe and Diehl
1980, vol. 1: map 1), showing the placement of Cut 1 and auger tests #42 and #43, and (left) stratigraphic cross
section of Cut 1 (redrawn from Beverido 1970:pl. 23).
at the site, the slipping or tumbling of large chunks of
earth, called slump blocks, into ravines is unfortunately
a common event and is one that has been documented
in SLTAP excavations on such slopes.
Beverido also states that the darkness prevailing in the
20⫹-m-deep gulch due to the high, dense vegetation
made only flash photography possible (1970:144). He re-
ports that the water from the nearby spring was diverted
around the excavations to prevent wall damage. From
his vivid description of the Cañada it appears that the
setting matches the ideal habitat of Bufo marinus, a noc-
turnal creature that partially or completely buries itself
by day in soft, humid soils and at night seeks food within
a 160-m2 area of its burrow and prefers well-watered areas
for laying its eggs (Zug and Zug 1979). In the region today,
these toads inhabit humid areas around man-made wells
and springs and in shady stream-cut ravines and are most
often observed at dusk. Desiccation is the main cause of
mortality because of their inability to regulate the loss
of body water, and consequently in the dry season they
must remain near a water source. The toads’ natural
predators include turtles, snakes, and rats.
In light of the above, we examined the occurrence of
Bufo bones in Beverido’s units. The data from Wing’s
analysis of Cut 1, located on the east slope, make it clear
that all of the toad remains in this excavation unit come
2. Topographic information has been updated since the elaboration
of the San Lorenzo map by the Rı́o Chiquito Project.

from step E, the section closest to the surface and near
the ravine’s base. There are only two toad bones from
Cut 2 (in stratum h), in contrast to the 80 bones in Cut
1.
Coe and Diehl’s main argument for the primary de-
position of these remains is based on the stratigraphic
correspondence between Cuts 1 and 2 (1980, vol. 1:91,
93, fig. 55), which unfortunately is not documented by
published photographs and cross sections for the western
cut. If their interpretation is correct, then a similar con-
centration of toad bones could be expected in the cor-
responding strata in Cut 2, but this is not the case. This
inconsistent distribution suggests an alternative propo-
sition—that the toad remains were later inclusions in
the proposed slump block. If this were the case, mixing
of archaeological materials, such as pottery, would be
expected to be perceived during laboratory analyses, but
complete ceramic data have not been presented for the
Cañada del Macaya work.3
Our reexamination of the Cañada del Macaya topog-
raphy and excavations reveals a difficult excavation lo-
cated in a complex depositional zone affected by dra-
matic formation processes. From the above analysis we
believe that these excavations were located in an area of
secondary deposition composed of slump and slopewash.
This, along with the striking distribution of faunal re-
mains close to the surface, suggests the possibility that
Bufo marinus bone fragments may not date to Early Pre-
classic times.
Our argument is supported by certain paradoxes in the
original data set that Wing’s adept analysis (1980:378,
383) could not ignore: (a) given the presence of dangerous
toxins from Bufo’s parotid glands, which act as cardi-
otoxins, convulsants, vasoconstrictors, and hallucino-
gens, there is a surprising association of food and poi-
sonous toads; (b) the frequency of disarticulated toad
bones, 9.5% of the total faunal remains, is unusually
high compared with the rest of the site; and (c) there is
an absence of the bone damage and modification com-
monly associated with human activity.
Overall, these expert observations tend to negate any
ancient human intervention with regard to these re-
mains, although the lack of articulated remains is a point
emphasized by Coe and Diehl (1980, vol. 1:390) in sup-
port of the exploitation of toads by humans. In this re-
spect, consideration of the Cañada’s characteristics is
important for an understanding of the possible causes of
this disarticulation. First, it has soft sediments which
are continually affected by rain, slopewash, and biotur-
bation, and second, it shelters the toad’s natural preda-
tors, which, in order to enjoy its preferred, less noxious
body portions, assist in disarticulating its corpse.
Our reassessment of the previous work in the Cañada
is not limited to a simple armchair evaluation. In the
2005 SLTAP field season we tested the proposition that
3. An unusual vessel fragment with fine cross-hatch incising from
the Cañada del Macaya is dated to the San Lorenzo phase by Coe
and Diehl (1980, vol. 1:184, fig. 156); however, we suspect that it
could be later in date.
Volume 46, Supplement, December 2005 F S131
the work had been conducted in a slump block. Bucket
augers were used to register the stratigraphy on the
tongue of land. One auger test, #43, was located at 32 m
above sea level and 30 cm east of the highest corner of
Beverido’s Cut 1, and the other, #42, was positioned at
42 m above sea level. Importantly, the stratigraphic con-
tinuity observed in more than 40 auger tests, placed at
20 m intervals, performed on the top of the Southwest
Ridge provides a reliable baseline for examining the pos-
sibility of redeposition in the adjacent Cañada. Of these,
test #40 is closest to #42 and #43.
These tests provide key evidence that the Cañada de-
posits do not constitute primary deposition. First, they
indicate that the strata in the proposed slump block in
the Cañada do not match those of the contiguous South-
west Ridge (see table 1). Despite their proximity, auger
test #43 and Beverido’s Cut 1 show no correspondence
in the cultural strata. Noticeably absent from #43 are the
red floors (strata d and g). Test #43 produced some strata
similar to those of the ridgetop tests, particularly #40,
but each stratum below the humus zone shows some
mixing with others. The mixed nature of deposits in Bev-
erido’s Cut 1 is also visible in the photograph published
by Coe and Diehl (1980, vol.1:fig. 55). Second, none of
the cultural strata observed in tests on the top of the
ridge (51 m above sea level) reach 19 m below the surface,
the altitude of the highest corner of Cut 1 (equivalent to
32 m above sea level). The maximum depth of the ridg-
etop cultural strata is 17.45 m below the surface (33.55
m above sea level), and in auger test #40 archaeological
material is present to 12.15 m below the surface (38.85
m above sea level). Third, the soil types and depths of
strata bearing cultural material that were registered in
test #42 do not correspond to those observed in the tests
on the top of the ridge. In addition, they present a high
degree of mixing, likely caused by slump action and ero-
sion, as well as loam and gravel slip faces.
In sum, on the basis of the auger tests and stratigraphic
correlation with the whole Southwest Ridge we have
little doubt that the tongue of land in the Cañada is a
slump block and that the strata excavated by Beverido
are not primary in nature. The stratigraphic correspon-
dence between Cuts 1 and 2 emphasized by Coe and
Diehl (1980, vol. 1:91. 93) in support of primary depo-
sition resulted from the stream cutting through the
slump block.
The excavations that produced the Bufo marinus re-
mains are relevant to another concern in Olmec archae-
ology, that of Early Preclassic cannibalism at San Lor-
enzo. The human bones reported as evidence of
cannibalism because of cut marks, heat exposure, inten-
tional fractures, and evidence of blows (Wing 1980:386;
Coe and Diehl 1980, vol. 1:390) have the same archae-
ological context as the toad remains4.) One of the ex-
4. Pertinent proveniences for the human bone are Cut 2, stratum
h, and Cut 1, step E, strata h, sur, and d. Toad bones were docu-
mented for all of these strata as well as stratum f. A number of
difficulties arose from attempting to understand these field pro-
veniences. For example, the stratum-sur designation for step E
shows no clear relation to the cross section. Its meaning is un-
the cut.
however, this may not preclude its presence in another portion of
appear in the east wall of step E in the cross section of Cut 1;
known. Another unclear point regards stratum d, which does not

fied cranial fragments with eroded edges as redeposited

amining physical anthropologists, Sergio López, classi-

S132 F c u r r e n t a n t h ro p o l o g y
table 1
Depths of the Types of Soil in Auger tests #40, 42, and 43 and in Beverido’s Cut 1.

Auger Test #40 Auger Test #42 Auger Test #43

(E0311866, N1960901) (E0311853, N1960866) (E0311845, N1960840) Beverido’s Cut 1

Soil Type Depth (m.a.s.l) Soil Type Depth (m.a.s.l) Soil Type Depth (m.a.s.l) Soil Type Depth (m.a.s.l)

humus 51.00–50.82 humus 42.00–41.70 humus 32.00–31.94 a, humus 32.00–31.42

yellow–brown loam 50.82–50.10 yellow-brown loam 41.70–41.55 yellow clay 31.94–30.35 b, not described 31.54–31.08
yellow clay 50.10–48.40 bentonite 41.55–41.50 brown clay 30.35–29.78 c, not described 31.25–30.62
dark gray clay 48.40–46.41 yellow-brown loam 41.50–41.47 grayish brown loam 29.78–29.63 d, red floor 30.98–30.57
yellow clay 46.41–46.31 yellow clay 41.47–41.41 yellow clay 29.63–28.35 e, not described 30.96–29.94
dark gray clay 46.31–45.78 yellow-brown loam 41.41–41.07 mudstone (sterile) 28.35–28.15 f, organic material& 29.94–29.53
light brown sand
pinkish sand 45.78–45.59 yellow clay 41.07–39.37 g, red burned floor 29.58–29.34
bentonite floor 45.59–45.46 sand and gravel 39.37–39.30 h, organic material/ 29.48–28.81
dark brown loam
dark gray clay 45.46–44.95 yellow clay 39.30–39.17 i, lutite (sterile) 28.85–28.42
pinkish sand 44.95–44.80 black clay 39.17–39.13
yellow clay 44.80–44.50 dark brown silty loam 39.13–39.10
dark gray clay 44.50–43.64 light brown silty loam 39.10–39.07
green clay 43.64–43.00 yellow clay 39.07–36.93
blue clay 43.00–42.65 green clay 36.93–36.57
green clay 42.65–41.45 dark gray clay 36.57–36.34
black clay 41.45–41.14 blue clay 36.34–36.15
green clay 41.14–41.08 dark gray clay 36.15–33.95
other clear evidence for cannibalism at San Lorenzo.
the above, it is worthy of note that, to date, there is no
cast on their San Lorenzo–phase date. As a corollary to
human bones are redeposited materials, then doubt is
which supports our contextual evaluation. If the worn
materials (apud Beverido 1970:149), an observation

black clay 41.08–40.91 blue clay 33.95–33.36

blue clay 40.91–40.80 mudstone (sterile) 33.36–33.10
black clay 40.80–40.71
gray clay 40.71–40.10
green clay 40.10–39.82
dark gray clay 39.82–39.61
green clay 39.61–38.85
blue clay(sterile) 38.85–38.78
gray sand(sterile) 38.78–38.77
green clay(sterile) 38.77–38.00
blue clay(sterile) 38.00–37.93
green clay(sterile) 37.93–37.20
mudstone (sterile) 37.20–37.05

Cannibalism and warfare, which were considered to-
gether by Coe and Diehl (1980, vol.1:392), are potentially
separate issues in that human sacrifice and ritualistic
cannibalism may not always have been related to war-
fare, an activity regularly promoted as the hallmark of
social complexity. Although the inference that the Cañ-
ada’s human remains indicate warfare during the site’s
florescence (Coe and Diehl 1980, vol. l:392) currently
appears unjustifiable, we do not reject all evidence for
warfare at San Lorenzo. Some sculptures may depict
weapons (as in San Lorenzo monuments 78, 83, and 91
[see Cyphers 2004:145, 149, 159]) and related events (as
in Tenochtitlán Monument 1 [see Coe and Diehl 1980,
vol. 1:392]).
To summarize the discussion presented above, we be-
lieve that the chronological assignment of the Cañada
del Macaya bone remains to the San Lorenzo phase is
questionable. Insofar as toad remains come only from
ravines, their stratigraphic position in the Cañada del
Macaya seems to indicate the secondary deposition of
the bones of modern toads living and dying in their pre-
ferred habitat. Given the absence of toad bones in pri-
mary deposits in the SLTAP sample and their predomi-
nant distribution in the exterior portion of Cut 1, it
seems highly unlikely that Bufo marinus was exploited
for its toxins by the San Lorenzo Olmec.
The present reanalysis of an archaeological context
and its associated materials should not be taken as the
basis for a total rejection of Preclassic toad iconography.
Its convincing identification in Middle Preclassic art is
complemented by persuasive interpretations based on
ethnographic analogy and comparisons with increasingly
prominent later representations (see Coe 1989:72; Furst
1968, 1981; Kennedy 1982; Reilly 1989), such as those
at Izapa. At the same time, we believe that toads, al-
though depicted in Early Preclassic figurines from the
Pacific Coast (Lesure 2000), are not unequivocally iden-
tifiable in Gulf Coast stone monuments (or figurines, for
that matter) from the same period.
While these findings certainly suggest a revision of the
traditionally accepted Early Preclassic use of hallucino-
genic toad toxins to induce shamanic trances, they do
not negate the existence of early shamans or religious
specialists at San Lorenzo. Compelling indicators of ec-
static, cultic experience include fantastic human-animal
figures made of stone that depict a transformation pro-
cess (Reilly 1996); nevertheless, evidence supporting the
identification of the kinds of hallucinogens that might
have been employed to induce this transformation pro-
cess is lacking. Even though some transformation figures
may be contextually linked to maximum rulership at San
Lorenzo, it remains to be demonstrated whether the rul-
ers’ preeminence and authority were indeed founded on
exclusive ritual access to the supernatural sphere via al-
tered states of consciousness provoked by the ingestion
of hallucinogens (see Clark 1997 for a similar view based
on different data).
For the moment, we hope that our revisionist per-
spective on archaeological data will open the way for
Volume 46, Supplement, December 2005 F S133
further critical inquiries about the Olmec in which taph-
onomic and formation processes pertinent to the inter-
pretation of archaeological contexts assume a funda-
mental role.
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