Isla Agaltepec: Postclassic Occupation in the Tuxtla Mountains, Veracruz, México

Overview

During June and July of 2002 archaeological fieldwork was initiated at Isla Agaltepec, located in Lake Catemaco in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, México (Figure 1). This research, authorized by the Consejo de Arqueología of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), explores the character of Postclassic occupation in the Tuxtla Mountains, particularly in light of recent reconfigurations of the Tochtepec province of the Postclassic Triple Alliance (e.g, Berdan 1996; Carrasco 1999; Smith and Berdan 2003). Moreover, this fieldwork seeks to clarify the intensity of regional occupation throughout the Postclassic, given recent archaeological difficulties in identifying this presence during previous surveys in and around the Tuxtlas (e.g., Esquivias 2002; Santley and Arnold 1996; Urcid and Killion 1999).

Isla Agaltepec was first noted by Blom and LaFarge (1926:22-25), was tested in 1937 by Valenzuela (1937; 1945) and was summarized by Coe (1965). The focus of the 2002 season’s activities was twofold: (a) undertake a systematic survey of the island, including the recovery of surface artifacts from controlled collection units; and (b) document architectural construction on the site by shaving back a selection of looter’s pits to generate architectural profiles. These activities were somewhat complicated by Isla Agaltepec’s current status as a biological preserve and the sensitive ongoing studies of free-ranging howler monkeys that populate the island (http://www.neuroetologia.net/parque/index.htm). Concerns about our fieldwork’s impact on those primates resulted in several compromises regarding the size of archaeological work groups and the field methods that could be employed. Our project benefited from the cooperation of the Instituto de Neuroetología (IN) at the Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, which oversees the biological preserve. We would like to specifically thank Dr. Domingo Canales Espinosa, Director of the IN for his support of our research efforts and Blgas. Guadalupe Medel Palacios and Edith Carrera Sánchez for their assistance and collegiality while working on Isla Agaltepec.

Our fieldwork recovered 244 systematic surface collections that produced over four thousand ceramic and chipped-stone artifacts. Preliminary analysis of these materials supports a Postclassic (A.D. 1000-1521) date for Isla Agaltepec’s primary occupation; several radiocarbon samples, obtained during profiling activities, are also being assayed.

The spatial distribution of surface artifacts leads us to suspect that different occupational episodes are reflected across the island. The largest architectural complex (Area C) apparently associates with an earlier portion of the Postclassic, while a smaller pyramid-plaza complex (Area A) suggests a later Postclassic presence. A linear series of mounds (Area B) appears to be residential in nature; ceramic artifact patterns from Area B also indicate a later Postclassic date.

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