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TRANSISTHMIAN TIES: EPI-OLMEC AND IZAPAN INTERACTION

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2019

Christopher A. Pool ,
Michael L. Loughlin  and
Ponciano Ortiz Ceballos
Christopher A. Pool*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506
Michael L. Loughlin
Affiliation:
Cardno, Louisville, Kentucky 40223
Ponciano Ortiz Ceballos
Affiliation:
Instituto de Antropología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa 310, Jalapa Enríquez Centro, Jalapa Enríquez, Veracruz, C.P. 91030, Mexico
*
Email correspondence to: capool0@uky.edu
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Abstract

In 1943, Matthew Stirling (1943:72) once opined, “Izapa appears to be much more closely related to the earth-mound sites of southern Veracruz … than it does with sites in the Maya area.” Since then, scholars have postulated ties of varying strength between Late Formative polities on either side of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Ceramic similarities have been noted between southern Chiapas and the Gulf Coast, but discussion of Late Formative transisthmian interaction has focused primarily on sculptural similarities between Izapa and sites of the lower Papaloapan basin, including Tres Zapotes, El Mesón, and Alvarado. Indeed, Michael Coe (1965b:773) suggested that the Izapan art style may have originated on the Gulf Coast rather than on the Pacific slope. In this article, we reexamine Late Formative interaction between Izapa and Epi-Olmec polities with an expanded data set based on recent iconographic studies and archaeological investigations in and around Tres Zapotes.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 29 , Special Issue 2: Recent Research on Izapa Archaeology and Iconography , Fall 2018 , pp. 413 - 437
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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References

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