CURRENT RESEARCH IN THE PLEISTOCENE
Vol. 27, 2010
Archaeology: Latin America
Late-Pleistocene/Early-Holocene Tropical Foragers of Chiapas, Mexico: Recent Studies Guillermo Acosta Ochoa ➤ Keywords: Southern Mexico, tropical environments, early foragers Here we present the first results of an archaeological field study, which began in 2004, to define the early occupations of the tropical and subtropical zones of southeastern Mexico. Excavations from 2005 to 2009 have focused on three caves in Chiapas with pre-pottery occupations: Santa Marta, La Encañada, and Los Grifos (Figure 1A). The last two show similarities with fluted-point sites such as Los Tapiales in Guatemala. Particularly at Los Grifos two fluted points
Figure 1A.
Study area.
Guillermo Acosta Ochoa, Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cubículo 013, México; e-mail:
[email protected]
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Archaeology: Latin America
have been identified, a Clovis (or clovisoid) and a fishtail, which make the site the first with such characteristics in Middle America. Santa Marta, on the other hand, not only exhibits lithic material of expedient technology but also milling stones and botanical samples, which indicate incipient horticulture starting at the end of the Pleistocene. Previous dates for Los Grifos of 9540 ± 150 (I-10762), 9460 ± 150 (I-10761) and 8930 ± 150 (I-10760) RCYBP (García-Bárcena 1980; Santamaría 1981) suggest its fluted-point occupation occurred during the earliest Holocene. However, the earliest occupations of the area do not correspond to fluted point sites, but with caves like Santa Marta with expedient lithic artifacts and elements of broad-spectrum subsistence. The initial levels at this rockshelter are Pleistocene in age (XVII stratum), with dates around 10,460 ± 50 RCYBP (Beta-233470), and 10,055 ± 90 RCYBP (UNAM 07-22). The upper levels of stratum XVI are dated to the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, between 9950 ± 60 (Beta-233475) and 9800 ± 50 RCYBP (Beta-233476) (Table 1). Table 1.
Late-Pleistocene/Early-Holocene dates of Santa Marta and Los Grifos, Chiapas, Mexico. 14
Lab. number
Material
Context
Santa Marta
Beta-233470 AMS UNAM-07-22
Celtis seed
Capa XVII 10,460 ± 50 Nivel 1 Contacto Capas 10,055 ± 90 XVI-XVII Capa XVI, nivel 6 9950 ± 60
11,266–11,840 Acosta 2008
Capa XVI, nivel 1
9800 ± 50
11,260–11,170 Present study
Santa Marta Santa Marta
charcoal
C Date
CALYBP (2σ) ■
Cave
Reference
12,680–12,110 Present study
charcoal
Santa Marta
Beta-233476 AMS Beta-233475 AMS I-9260
charcoal
Capa XVI
Santa Marta
I-9259
charcoal
Capa XVI
Santa Marta
charcoal
Capa XI, nivel 1
Santa Marta
Beta-233470 AMS I-8955
9330 ± 290 10,511–10,574 García-Bárcena y Santamaría 1982 9280 ± 290 9672–11,241 García-Bárcena y Santamaría 1982 8740 ± 50 9910–9950 Present study
charcoal
Capa XV
8785 ± 425 8773–10,889
Los Grifos
I-10762
charcoal
Los Grifos
I-10761
Los Grifos
-
1989 Los Grifos
I-10760
Santa Marta
■
Below fishtail occupation charcoal Below fishtai occupation Obsidian Below fishtail hydratation occupation charcoal
Over fishtail occupation
11,690–11,230 Present study
García-Bárcena y Santamaría 1982 9540 ± 150 10,485–11,233 Santamaría 1981 9460 ± 150 10,299–11,182 Santamaría 1981 9330
Santamaría y García-Bárcena
8930 ± 150 9555–10,378
Santamaría 1981
Calibrated with Calib 6.0.1
The lithics of Santa Marta are manufactured on local flint, mainly on flakes with marginal retouch (Figure 1B). Starch grains and microscopic signs of usewear on stone tools indicate they were used to work plant fiber, principally woods of mesophiles and the tropical rainforest. Faunal remains indicate that the collection of freshwater jute-snails (Pachychilus sp.) was an important subsistence activity. Small and mediumsized animals like deer (Odocoileus and Mazama), peccary (Dicotyles), and rabbit (Silvylagus), as well as snakes (Crotalus), iguanas (Iguana), and tortoises
CRP 27, 2010
ACOSTA OCHOA
A
B
C
D
E
F
H
I
K
N 0
5
3
J
L
M
O
P
cm
G Figure 1B.
Lithics.
(Kinosternon) were the most important hunting prey. Megafaunal remains were not found. Santa Marta’s paleoethnobotanical results (Acosta 2008) provide evidence of the presence of milling stones with microfossil remains (starch grains) of Zea in levels around 9800 RCYBP, while Zea pollen (introduced teosinte is suspected) is present in the sedimentary record starting with Pleistocene levels (between 10,460 ± 50 and 10,050 ± 90 RCYBP), along with cocoa pollen (Theobroma sp.), green tomato seeds (Physalis sp.), nance seeds (Byrsonima crassifolia), and figs (Ficus cooki). Pollen analysis in association with macrobotanical flotation results suggests that, along with species inhabiting perturbed areas, there are several groups of forest species, including mesophile (Alnus), tropical rainforest (Theobroma), and deciduous forest (Ficus, Byrsonima). These results suggest the possibility that specific tropical areas were altered as scattered orchards, where wild and semidomesticated species could spread out (horticulture). This process has now been detected in other tropical areas in Colombia (Gnecco and Aceituno 2004) and Ecuador (Piperno et al. 2000). Nevertheless, Santa Marta appears to precede both of them by at least half a millennium, but further investigation is required. This study has been possible thanks to the support of Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica (PAPIIT-UNAM), a Ph.D. grant from Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT), and donations from the Foundation for The Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies (FAMSI).
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Archaeology: Latin America
References Cited Acosta, G. 2000 La cueva de Santa Marta y los cazadores-recolectores del Pleistoceno final - Holoceno temprano en las regiones tropicales de México, Ph.D. Dissertation. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. México. García-Bárcena, J. 1980 Una Punta Acanalada de la Cueva de Los Grifos, Ocozocoautla, Chis. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México. García-Bárcena, J., and D. Santamaría 1982 La Cueva de Santa Marta Ocozocoautla, Chapas. Estratigrafía, Cronología y Cerámica. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México. Gnecco, C., and F. J. Aceituno 2004 Poblamiento Temprano y Espacios Antropogénicos en el Norte de Suramérica. Complutum 15:159–61. Pérez, P. 2009 Análisis de huellas de uso y residuos orgánicos en materiales líticos de la cueva de Santa Marta, Chiapas. Bachelor Dissertation, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México. Piperno, D., T. Andres, and K. Stothert 2000 Phytoliths in Cucurbita and Other Neotropical Cucurbitaceae and their Occurrence in Early Archaeological Sites from the Lowland American Tropics. Journal of Archaeological Science 27:193–208. Santamaría, D. 1981 Preceramic Occupations at Los Grifos Ro. ckshelter, Chiapas, México. In X Congreso UISPP, edited by J. García-Bárcena and F. Sánchez, pp. 63–83, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México.
