Agriculture and Monumentality in the Soconusco Region of Chiapas, Mexico
Agriculture and Monumentality in the Soconusco Region of Chiapas, Mexico
Chapter:
(p.111)
5 Agriculture and Monumentality in the Soconusco Region of Chiapas, Mexico
Source:
Early New World Monumentality
Author(s):
Robert M. Rosenswig
Publisher:
University Press of Florida
DOI:10.5744/florida/9780813038087.003.0005
Using the site of Cuauhtémoc in the Soconusco as a starting point, I examine the earliest monumental architecture in Mesoamerica. In 1600 bce, Cuauhtémoc began an 800-year occupation as a local center; yet it was only during the Conchas phase (900–800 bce) that a 5 m high mound was built at the site. The Conchas phase was also when the regional center of La Blanca was founded and a 25 m mound erected. While ambitious leaders had been competing with each other for centuries, the Conchas phase provides evidence of a new level of social stratification in the Soconusco.
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