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Early Formative Platforms at Paso de la Amada, Chiapas, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Richard G. Lesure
Richard G. Lesure*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1553
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Abstract

Recent excavations have revealed Early Formative platforms at the site of Paso de la Amada on the coast of Chiapas, Mexico. Platforms supported large, perishable structures up to 22 m long. These structures were not arranged in plaza groups or ceremonial precincts, but were scattered across the site. One of their functions may have been to control or integrate social units within the village, such as neighborhoods or lineages. It remains uncertain, however, whether these large buildings were residences for high-status families or public buildings shared by neighborhood members. From 1400 to 1250 B.C. a number of contemporary platforms probably served similar functions at the site, each in a separate segment of the community. Increasingly, however, these functions were centralized at a single large structure (Mound 6). This centralization persisted until 1100 B.C., when Mound 6 was abandoned and segmental social units emerged once again.

Excavaciones recientes han detectado plataformas del Formativo Temprano, en el sitio de Paso de la Amada en la costa de Chiapas, México. Hechas de barro sin uso de piedra, las plataformas soportaron estructuras grandes y perecederas, hasta de 22 m de largo. No se colocaron las plataformas ni en grupos ni en recintos ceremoniales, sino de una manera dispersa por todo el sitio. Una de sus posibles funciones era controlar o integrar unidades sociales formadas por varias unidades domésticas, quizás barrios o linajes. Queda incierto, sin embargo, si las estructuras grandes fueron las casas de familias de alto rango, o si fueron edificios públicos compartidos por los miembros de los barrios. De 1400 a 1250 a.C. algunas plataformas contemporáneas probablemente tuvieron funciones semejantes en el sitio, posiblemente indicando una organización segmental. Sin embargo, las funciones anteriormente replicadas en varias estructuras grandes fueron centralizadas cada vez más en una sola estructura (el Montículo 6). Esta centralización persistió hasta 1100 a.C., cuando se abandonó el Montículo 6, y surgió de nuevo una organización segmentaria.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , September 1997 , pp. 217 - 235
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1997

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References

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