The Early Izapa Kingdom: Recent Excavations, New Dating and Middle Formative Ceramic Analyses

Abstract

Izapa is famous for its monumental architecture and extensive corpus of carved stelae dated to the Late Formative Guillén phase (300–100 calb.c.). The site was first established, however, as the capital of a kingdom during the second half of the Middle Formative period (750–300 calb.c.). Little is known of the first centuries of the site's occupation or how this early kingdom coalesced with Izapa as its capital. In 2012, the Izapa Regional Settlement Project (IRSP) excavated 21 test units and ran 10 radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates in order to begin correcting this lacuna. These excavations were the first at the site to screen soil matrices and recover artifact samples that can be quantitatively analyzed.We undertook excavations in areas north and south of Group B, the original center of Izapa. This work dates the northern expansion of the site's main platform (under Mound 30a) to the Terminal Formative Itstapa phase (cala.d.100–300) that resulted in a doubling of the platform's size. Further, we documented that there were three distinct construction episodes in the Terminal Formative expansion and that a central staircase and ramp were built of stone during the second episode. Buried below the Terminal Formative platform expansion was a white clay surface built during the Escalón phase (750–500 calb.c.) and used through to Guillén times. At the long, linear Mound 62 that defines the eastern edge of Izapa's site core, we documented two episodes of Guillén-phase monumental construction. Buried below this construction fill at Mound 62, a hearth feature and stone alignment are dated to the late Middle Formative based on radiocarbon assays and the results of ceramic analysis. Excavations at Mound 72 and 73 documented that Izapa's E-Group (newly recognized with lidar [light detection and ranging] data) was established in the late Middle Formative period and then significantly augmented during the Guillén phase. The architectural program at Izapa saw its apogee during the Late Formative period, but was first established during the preceding centuries of the Middle Formative. Ten new AMS dates confirm the dating of the Escalón, Frontera, and Guillén phases to 750–100 calb.c.Ceramic analysis allowed us to differentiate quantitatively between midden deposits and construction fill through the site's occupation and to recognize domestic versus public spaces during the first centuries of the Izapa kingdom's coalescence. We identify late Middle Formative period middens based on the high density of ceramics in addition to good surface preservation of sherds and a lack of temporal mixing of types. The designation of high-artifact density middens contrasts with the contents of Late and Terminal Formative construction fill with lower ceramic sherd densities and mixing of temporally diagnostic types. Off-mound contexts (where construction fill was mined) had even lower ceramic densities than construction fill and the sherds were very eroded. Analysis of ceramic remains from late Middle Formative period midden deposits also allowed us to infer differences in public and domestic areas of the site during the first centuries of its occupation. Formal and metric variables from these ceramic assemblages identify dish-to-jar ratios that differentiate domestic contexts (with an assortment of vessel forms) from more publically oriented areas of the site (with more serving dishes). The differential distribution of rim diameters of fancy and plain dishes allows us to identify areas of Izapa where domestic activities predominate and indicate that more publically oriented feasting practices occurred at the site center near the main pyramid (Mound 30a) during the late Middle Formative period.

Late Formative Flooding of Izapa After an Eruption of Tacaná Volcano

“…The mud deposit of the San Antonio lahar, which occurred between 30 b.c.-a.d. 80 during the Hato phase, is located somewhere between these Middle and Terminal Formative layers. We suggest that the grey layers documented by Rosenswig et al (2018) in Mound 30 may be volcanic material related to the flood event. A careful analysis of this material may be needed.…”

“…Lowe et al (1982) concluded that, during the Hato phase, Izapa halted its constructional growth and that this cessation of construction activity in the ceremonial center coincided with its partial abandonment. As Rosenswig et al (2018) clarify, however, certain limited yet impressive modifications to the ceremonial center, especially to the northern side of the Mound 30 platform, continued during the Terminal Formative period Itstapa phase (Figure 2a). These alterations of the Middle and Late Formative center were linked to a refocusing of construction activity to the Group F area north of the ceremonial center (Rosenswig and Mendelsohn 2016).…”

“…Occupation began at the site during the Early Formative period, with significant monumental construction beginning in the Middle Formative period, when the core of Mound 30a was built (Rosenswig et al 2014). The San Antonio eruption that occurred between 30 b.c.-a.d. 80 ( Figure 2b; Table 1) must have had a profound effect on the evolution of the site and the region, because it flooded Izapa at a moment when the site had become the most important polity in the Soconusco (Rosenswig et al 2018).…”

Introducing Izapa

“…and a.d. 400, concentrated on the centuries following Izapa's Formative-period apogee and the disruption caused by the Tacaná eruption. In her contribution to this Special Issue, Mendelsohn (2018) presents excavation data from the area south of lower Izapa and questions Lowe et al's (1982:139, 194) hypothesis that the Hato phase witnessed an intrusion by an outside ethnic group. She proposes, instead, that increased participation in trade networks for elite goods and a transformation in the institution of kingship at Table 1), which is consistent with the Hato phase lasting from 100 b.c.…”

“…Sediment core data presented by Neff et al (2018) also indicate that mangrove wood was being burned for fuel during the Bermudez complex. Occupation in the estuary then decreased significantly during the Terminal Formative Soledad phase (a.d. 0-250), when Izapa was experiencing volcano-induced political problems (Macias et al 2018;Mendelsohn 2018).…”