Investigations at an Olmec Community

Significance of Research

This research is significant for its contribution to the understanding of the Olmec as well as to broader questions regarding the structure and make-up of developing complex societies. We are now able to compare domestic assemblages between different types/sizes of sites within the San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán region. This will allow us to test recent hypotheses on the nature of the San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán hierarchy including hypotheses regarding community specialization and political and economic subservience (see Symonds et al., n.d.).

These insights will lead to a greater and more complete understanding of the processes and factors involved in the rise of complex society in the New World. More broadly, the results from this research will be able to address questions as to how people adapted to tropical lowland environments.

Previous Page  |  Table of Contents  |  Next Page

Return to top of page