Description
Since 1984 Dr. Barbara Stark has directed survey and mapping in the western Lower Papaloapan basin to investigate settlement patterns, economy, and political organization from a long-term regional perspective in south-central Veracruz.

Lowland Veracruz societies developed a distinctive variant of Mesoamerican culture and society starting around 900 B.C. and through the Classic period (A.D. 300-900). Cerro de las Mesas was the region's most preeminent center for several centuries in the Early Classic period until its replacement by new local centers during the Late Classic period (circa A.D. 900). Highland people settled in the region about A.D. 1200, approximately at the time of a striking disruption of Classic period cultural traditions. The emphasis on the elaborate ballgame complex and "laughing face" figurines came to an end in region. Analysis of settlement around Cerro de las Mesas and other centers has helped define the concept of a "capital zone" in the Blanco River delta and the spatial organization of a "garden city" urban form. Ongoing PALM research in south -central Veracruz continues to add to concepts of prehispanic land use and our understanding of tropical urbanism through time. The intensive survey techniques and system atic collections provide a basis for analysis of organization and specialization in multiple crafts over time. In particular, the cotton industry appears to have played a key role in the economic history of the region.

Systematic surface collections and some of the residential excavation collections are maintained for study at an ASU archaeological laboratory in Jalapa, Veracruz, close to the Universidad Veracruzana and the Museo de Antropología. The laboratory allows continuing access to artifacts for comparative studies and particular stylistic and compositional investigations. Other collections are curated by the Centro INAH Veracruz in Veracruz City.

Dr. Stark's projects in Veracruz have supported significant graduate student research, ranging from papers and publications to MA degrees and doctoral dissertations. Two recent examples of dissertations complementary to PALM are Michael Ohnersorgen's (ASU) investigation of the Postclassic provincial capital of Cotaxtla, subjugated by the Aztecs, and Stuart Speaker's (Tulane) research on settlement and land use in relation to soils and hydrology in the lower Blanco River delta.

Barbara L. Stark (Principal Investigator)
The team has included students and researchers from the Universidad Veracruzana, the Escuela Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Tulane University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Arizona. ASU participants are listed below:

Proyecto Arqueologico La Mixtequilla