Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 October 2008
Analysis of Early Formative ceramics from the site of Paso de la Amada, on the coast of Chiapas, Mexico, yields a refined sequence for the period 1400–1000 b.c. A simple key has been developed to classify midden assemblages. Its utility for creating chronologically sensitive groupings is confirmed by multidimensional scaling of 32 units. The refined ceramic sequence provides a basis for investigating short-term sociopolitical dynamics during the Early Formative period.