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Archaeology of the Gulf Coast of Mexico

Culture Areas and History of the Gulf Coast of Mexico

From Nicoletta Maestri

Map of Mesoamerica and the Gulf Coast of Mexico

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The Mesoamerican region of the Gulf Coast of Mexico include the states of Veracruz, Tamaulipas, part of the state of Puebla, Hidalgo, and San Luis Potosi, and the northern portion of Tabasco.

Geographical Setting of the Gulf Coast

Environmentally, this region is characterized by tropical forests, coastal plains and mountain ranges. The most salient elevations are the Sierra de Otontepec, the Pico de Orizaba and Los Tuxtlas mountains. The Gulf coast counts on one of the most extensive system of navigable rivers, like the Coatzacoalcos and the Papaloapan. These waterways and the sea represented main communication routes. Coastal and riverine environments, such as estuaries, mangrove swamps and lagoons, provided a wide array of resources through mollusk gathering, fishing, waterfowls and mammals hunting.

Gulf Coast Culture Areas

In terms of temporal and geographical development, it is possible to identify four main centers of cultural areas: the Olmec, whose culture developed between 1500 and 400 B.C. in southern Veracruz and northwestern Tabasco; the culture of Central Veracruz, between 100 B.C. and A.D. 900; El Tajin, site that developed in northern Veracruz and dominated the Gulf coast from AD 900 to 1200 and, finally, the Totonac and Huastec cultures which flourished in the Gulf Coast in the Postclassic, until its conquest by the Aztec first and later the European arrival.

Paleoindian and Early Formative Cultures of the Gulf Coast

First evidence of human occupation of the Gulf coast dates back several millennia. By the third millennium B.C. several permanent villages arose, whose inhabitants collected seashells, hunted land mammals and probably had some cultivated species. The village of Santa Luisa, the Barí sites and the early phases of San Lorenzo are examples of these mainly egalitarian settlements.

Olmec Culture

By 1500-1200 B.C. the site of San Lorenzo show the first signs of social differentiation and the emergence of the Olmec culture. The Formative period (1200 – 400 B.C) coincides with the agpogee and the decline of the Olmec culture. However, the name ‘Olmec” defines a cultural tradition and style, but not an ethnic group.

Learn more about the Olmec Civilization.

The Classic Period and The Culture of Central Veracruz

By 200 B.C. a new cultural tradition emerges in Central Veracruz, around Los Tuxtlas, the Papalopan basin and la Mixtequilla region.

This tradition is characterized by the emergence of small villages and larger centers with public architecture, long platforms and ball courts.

Archaeological evidence suggests that in the Classic period this region had intense contacts with Teotihuacan, the metropolis of Central Mexico. A center that benefited from these contacts was Cerro de Las Mesas.

In the Tuxtlas region, the most important site was Matacapan, a large settlement, probably founded by people migrated from Teotihuacan. The site presents both material and architectural elements that link it to the metropolis of Central Mexico.

El Zapotal is the largest site in the Mixtequilla region. Here, many burials were found along with images of the death god and examples of the typical smiling figurines, hallmarks of Classic period Veracruz.

El Tajin and the Culture of Northern Veracruz

Archaeological evidence of settlements in Northern Veracruz dated to the Formative and is characterized by a typical ceramic and material style called Remojadas. An important site of this period is Chalahuites, whereas the important center of El Tajin shows little evidence of occupation during the Formative period.

The site of El Tajin developed in north-central Veracruz at the end of the Classic period, but reached its apogee between A.D. 900 and 1200, during the Epiclassic, when it became the most powerful center of the region

Learn more about El Tajin

The Totonac and Postclassic Veracruz

The Totonac seem to have arrived in central Veracruz around AD 1200, when El Tajin was in decline.

By 1300, the Totonac were organized in small independent states, whose capitals were Cempoala, and Quiahuiztlan. These cities had administrative buildings, elite residences with elegant gardens and running water.

The Totonacapan, the region of the Totonac, had intense commerce relations with distant areas such as the Yucatan peninsula and Puebla and there are signs of frequent warfare throughout the period.

Learn more about Cempoala (Zempoala) the Totonac capital

The Huasteca

The Huastec were an ethnic group who spoke a Maya language, their region, the Huasteca, lies between northern Veracruz and southern Tamaulipas. In the Postclassic period, this region was organized in independent polities ruled by a leader who resided in the main center.

The Aztec had strong trading relations with the Huastec, who provided marine resources, salt, fur, feathers, and cotton cloths. The region became a tributary of the Aztec empire under Moctezuma I (ca 1460), in the Late Postclassic.

Sources

This glossary entry is a part of the About.com guide to Mesoamerica, and the Dictionary of Archaeology.

Adams, Richard E. W. , 2005 [1977], Prehistoric Mesoamerica. Third Edition. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman

Diehl, Richard, 2010, Death Gods, Smiling Faces and Colossal Heads: Archaeology of the Mexican Gulf Lowlands, FAMSI, (Accessed 11/19/2010)

Ochoa, Lorenzo, 2001, The Gulf Coast, in Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia, edited by Susan Toby Evans and David Webster, Garland Publishing Inc., New York, pp. 448-451.

Pool, Christopher A., 2006, Current Research on the Gulf Coast of Mexico, Journal of Archaeological Research, Vol. 14, num. 3, pp.189-241.