The Pomoná Kingdom and its Hinterland

Javier Rojo Gómez

Searching for a sizeable site that may have been located in higher land, we surveyed the lands belonging to the ejido of Javier Rojo Gómez that lie along the foothills located 4 km to the east of Panhale. Although most of the land here is currently used for cattle grazing, these foothills are characterised by well-drained fertile soils, where maize and sugar cane are also extensively cultivated. The presence of these well-drained soils suggests that the area could have also represented the favoured lands for agriculture in pre-Hispanic times. With the assistance of local informants we surveyed an area of approximately 200 hectares finding only two small mound groups that had no formal layout. The first group consisted of a small mound of about 3 m in diameter and about 2.5 m at its highest point. The mound was built out packed red clay and river gravel and it was partially destroyed when it was bulldozed to extract fill material for the nearby dirt road. The possibility then, that other mounds were completely destroyed by the heavy machinery should be considered, although judging by the surrounding remains there is little evidence that would suggest that the site might have been much bigger. At about 100 m to the northwest of the mound lies a natural elevation of about 70 m in diameter and 6 m high that was reconditioned as a habitation mound. From this, just a few ceramic shards were collected from the surface. The second mound group was located 500 m to the west; it consists of three low mounds that rise less than 1 m above the surface of a small flat top hill.

Although in general terms the visibility was poor, we collected more surface materials at this site than at El Faisán. Interestingly enough amongst the surface materials collected, we also recovered some flint flakes and fragments of flint bi-facials. The proximity of the limestone cliffs, where various possible quarries can be seen along the faults of the hills, may indicate that apart from the agricultural activities the inhabitants of these mound groups may have been involved in the mining and production of stone tools.

Soil Analysis

An important aspect of the 2001 field season was to begin the study of the paleo-environment of the Pomoná hinterland. On this basis, along with the archaeological survey of the area the basic landscape units were identified and an edaphological catena was surveyed. The catena is a soil sampling method useful to approach the different landscape units of the studied area considering the topographical, hydrological and geological characteristics. The catena consisted in the excavation of seven 1 × 1 m² pits aligned along a transect. Soil analysis are being carried out using standard procedures that consist of determining the characteristics of soils such as colour, texture, density, moisture and structure, pH, conductivity and content of organic matter. Seven pits were excavated and their profile was described and registered. A total of 25 sample bags were collected from the different soil horizons. The results of this analysis will be complemented during our next field season with the excavation of more pits and the recovering of soil cores for pollen analysis.

The catena resulted in the identification of four different soil classes. (1) The mountain ranges and gullies that are characterised by Lithosols with less than 10 cm deep. In terms of agricultural productivity these soils are considered of poor quality. Nevertheless, as we observed, the yield of these soils is big enough to warrant the effort of cultivating the land. (2) Along the margins of the Usumacinta we found partially developed soils, or Cambisols. These soils can be of higher agricultural value, although the seasonal fluctuations of the river make them of limited availability. (3) Further from the river, along the coastal plain grey clayish soils or Gleysols, are more abundant. Of all the soils present in the survey area, these are the most productive agricultural soils. However except for the foothills, they are also subject to seasonal flooding. (4) The natural elevations along the plain are characterised by Regosols. These are shallow soils located atop unconsolidated river cobbles. These are also the soils where we found for most of our archaeological sites, thus seemingly representing the preferred choice for habitation purposes.

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