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EARLY FORMATIVE ANTHROPOMORPHIC FIGURINES FROM LA JOYA, SOUTHERN VERACRUZ, MEXICO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2015

Philip J. Arnold III  and
Billie J. A. Follensbee
Philip J. Arnold III*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Loyola University Chicago, 1032 West Sheridan Road, Chicago, Illinois 60660
Billie J. A. Follensbee
Affiliation:
Department of Art and Design, Missouri State University, 901 South National Avenue, Springfield, Missouri 65897
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
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Abstract

This paper describes Early Formative (3250–2700 b.p., uncalibrated) anthropomorphic figurines from the site of La Joya, located in the Tuxtla Mountains of southern Veracruz, Mexico. Although recovered within the region traditionally identified as the “Olmec Heartland,” the La Joya figurine collection diverges in some fundamental ways from other published Early Formative Gulf Olmec collections. While the torsos from La Joya generally reflect the poses, postures, and costumes noted at contemporaneous sites, the La Joya figurine heads display characteristics that rarely conform to the traditional “San Lorenzo” stylistic canons. Rather, the overwhelming majority of figurine heads are similar to the Trapiche figurines from north-central Veracruz. These differences suggest that myriad intra- and interregional connections characterized Early Formative occupation along the southern Gulf lowlands. This variation also raises concerns regarding the suitability of the San Lorenzo material as necessarily “representative” of Early Formative Gulf Olmec lifeways.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , Spring 2015 , pp. 13 - 28
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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References

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