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THE EARLY PRECLASSIC SEQUENCE IN THE OCOS-SALINAS LA BLANCA AREA,
SOUTH COAST OF GUATEMALA
by
Edwin M. Shook and Marion P. Hatch
Dedication
We dedicate this study with sincere appreciation to Reverend Carleton M.
Sage, S. S., formerly of the Seminario de San Jose, Solola, Guatemala, C. A. and now
residing at the St. Charles Villa, Baltimore, Maryland, U. S. A. Padre Carlos, as we
affectionately call him, not only served as a field assistant, assumed a portion of the
"Costs of the field operations, but importantly provided us with encouragement and
1timulation by his constant interest and enthusiasm.
Acknowledgments
The archaeological research in the field and the laboratory was made under
official permission granted by the Instituto de Antropologia e Historia de Guatemala
through its director at the time, Dr. Luis Lujtn Mudn'oz. Financial costs were borne
principally by the authors with welcome contributions from Rev. Carleton M. Sage,
Mr. Landon T. Clay and Mrs. Jon (Francesca) Wiig.
Jamie K. Donaldson aided us both in the field and especially in the Antigua
Laboratory. Her valued assistance included all the drawings presented in this report,
the many typings of the manuscript, the ceramic recording, and other laboratory tasks.
We are greatly indebted to Jamie for her efficient participation.
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Introduction
Studies undertaken from 1971 through 1979 by Shook and Hatch on the ceramics
of the Pacific South Coast of Guatemala, particularly those from the Ocos-Salinas La
Blanca area, suggest that a modification should be made in the generally accepted sequence
of phases for the Early to Middle Preclassic time span. This paper presents the new
information resulting from a stratigraphic test excavation at Salinas La Blanca, including
our observations on the material collected from other mounds in the immediate vicinity,
with our analysis of the ceramics. We believe the findings pertain to important problems
of early cultural development in the Pacific Coastal environment.
The initial archaeological survey of the virtually unknown coastal region
between the Naranjo and Suchiate rivers which had been conducted by Shook in 1947
brought to light many Preclassic sites (Shook 1947: 179-184) and led to Coe's interest in
investigating the site of La Victoria. This productive research at La Victoria (Coe 1961)
and the subsequent and equally valuable pioneering studies by Coe and Flannery (1967)
at Salinas La Blanca and the environs, enabled a chronological sequence for the Preclassic
on the South Coast of Guatemala to be established which then provided the framework for
the Early Preclassic of Chiapas, Mexico (e.g. , Green and Lowe 1967; Ekholm 1969).
This sequence has since then been adhered to without question by most archaeologists
involved in the studies of the Pacific coastal area. However, in archaeology there is an
ever-present risk that once a well-devised sequence has become firmly established through
publication, it can influence unconsciously and certainly unintentionally the thinking of
co-investigators to such an extent that new data from excavations may be skewed to fit
the published and accepted cultural sequence.
Shook, though admittedly biased for reasons stated below, has never fully
accepted the early chronological ordering of the archaeological sequence presented by
Coe and Flannery (1967). Despite the overwhelming amount of published and unpublished
data from extensive surveys and excavations by the New World Archaeological Foundation
in Coastal Chiapas, he believes there remain other possible explanations and ordering of
the cultural sequence in the area. This skepticism is based on the following considerations:
1.    Coe's original report on La Victoria (Coe 1961) clearly describes the
stratigraphic conditions he found at the site. Essentially, the major occupation of La
Victoria and all the mound construction examined pertain to the Middle Preclassic Conchas
Phase. This phase directly overlay and intermingled with the Early Preclassic Ocos
Phase material apparently without a defineable stratigraphic break (Coe 1961: 33, 34,
Fig. 7). The field conditions encountered and the continuity of certain ceramic types and
artifact assemblages led Coe to the logical conclusion that Conchas evolved directly
from the underlying Ocos occupation.
2.    The Ocos Phase has small handmade human, animal, and bird figurines
and whistles. These are also manufactured during Conchas Phase, possibly continuing an
uninterrupted custom or tradition from Ocos times. During both phases the figurines were
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purposefully and thoroughly broken in the same manner by the people (Coe 1961: 91).
The immense quantity of Conchas figurines is comparable only to Tlatilco in Mexico and
the Las Charcas Phase at Kaminaljuyu. The Cuadros and Jocotal Phases, originally not
identified at La Victoria, are typically without a figurine cult. It does not seem logical
to interrupt the Ocos-Conchas figurine tradition by inserting the Cuadros and Jocotal
Phases between them (an estimated span of 200-300 years), as proposed by Coe and
Flannery.
3.    The presence of solid tripod supports on many Ocos Phase tecomates,
and a hollow cylindrical foot from a bowl of the same phase (not reported by Coe, but
among his Ocos sherds in the NMAH collection at Guatemala City), and the frequent
occurrence of solid and hollow supports on Conchas Phase tripod grater bowls suggest a
continuity of the use of vessel supports from Ocos to Conchas times. The placement of the
Cuadros and Jocotal Phases, neither with evidence of vessel supports, between Ocos and
Conchas again does not seem realistic.
4.    Coe (1961: 31) states that "form continuity is a feature of La Victoria
particularly in the Ocos and Conchas Phases",, and he also points out the hopelessness of
attempting to classify by macro-inspection the paste and temper of Ocos and Conchas
pottery because of the sameness. The continuity of certain pottery types, forms, and
paste from Ocos into the Conchas Phase suggests cultural continuity. These ceramic
similarities doe not appear possible with a 200-300 year separation between the two phases
when the Cuadros and Jocotal Phases are inserted.
5.    Ocos and Conchas Phase ceramics share specific surface decorative
techniques such as broad-line and indented-line burnishing (also known as pattern burnishing),
micaceous slips, and polished black slip, sometimes with red pigment rubbed into
incised designs or matte areas to increase the contrast. These characteristics also
suggest cultural continuity between the two phases.
6.    Coe states (1961: 103) that the artifact assemblage of the Conchas
Phase, with a few important exceptions, duplicates that of the Ocos Phase. However,
the artifacts of the Cuadros and Jocotal Phases, though hardly distinctive, have little to
offer as an intervening local cultural development between Ocos and Conchas. One of
Coe's distinctions between Ocos and Conchas Phases in the artifact inventory at La
Victoria is the absence of clay napkin-ring earspools In the Ocos and the abundance of
these in the Conchas Phase. This stated exception in the artifact assemblage at La
Victoria apparently does not hold in Coastal Chiapas. Napkin-ring earspools are found to
occur abundantly in Ocos levels at Paso de la Amada (Lowe 1975: 33; Ceja 1978: Fig. 54)
and one fragment was recovered from a Barra Phase level at Altamira (Green and Lowe
1967: 126).
-        7.    The archaeological sites of Salinas La Blanca and La Victoria occupy
the same ecological zone, and are located only two kilometers apart on oppostie sides of
the Rio Naranjo. In view of the proximity of the two sites one would expect a strong
146
relationship between them. Such is indeed the case in the uppermost levels which contain
Late Preclassic (Crucero Phase) material, but the main fill of the two sites exhibits
totally different ceramic complexes. Salinas La Blanca disclosed deeply stratified refuse
from intensive human occupation associated with pottery and artifacts which constitute
the successive Cuadros and Jocotal Phases; these phases were not recognized in the La
Victoria excavations. We believe that Coe and Flannery correctly evaluate the Cuadros
and Jocotal ceramics as being distinctive and chronologically separate from the La Victoria
complex, but we disagree with the subsequent insertion of these phases between the Ocos
and Conchas Phases as proposed by these authors in their 1967 report.
During 1972-1973 Shook conducted an archaeological salvage operation which
focused mainly on the major site of La Blanca, situated on the east bank of the Rio
Naranjo, 10 kms. north and inland from the Pacific Ocean and just north of the modern
town of La Blanca. These ruins are different from those which Coe reported (19 61: 147,
Fig. 2) and named La Blanca, then later renamed Bocana (Coe and Flannery 1967: 95,
Fig. 49) after the nearby village of Bocana. The ruins of Bocana, also known locally as
L cs Cerritos, are likewise distinct from those of Salinas La Blanca which lie one kilometer
to the south, towards the Pacific Ocean. While carrying out the salvage work in the area,
Shook took the opportunity to make a small excavation at Salinas La Blanca. The site was
examined again in 1979 by Shook, Hatch and Jamie K. Donaldson during a brief field
survey of the La Blanca and Salinas Tilapa region. The results of the excavation and field
surveys provide the basis for the subject matter of this paper.
The archaeological site of Salinas La Blanca consists of two large, adjacent
mounds as reported by Coe and Flannery (Fig. 1; Coe and Flannery 1967: Fig. 4).
Depending upon the viewpoint of the investigator, the two mounds may be thought of as
comprising a single site. However, the mounds are in fact an integral part of a continuous
circle of similar mounds surrounding an extensive salt flat or "playa"t known locally as
Salinas Tilapa or Salinas La Blanca (Coe and Flannery 1967: Fig. 47). The activities of
present-day salt production, though greatly expanded since 1962, still do not extend to the
maximum area utilized for salt-making in Pre-Columbian times. The ancient salt flats
actually reached the eastern fringes of the Salinas La Blanca mounds as well as to the
fringes of other archaeological mounds along the edge of the playa. Mounds are also
distributed sporadically and irregularly within the salt flats.
The extensive explorations by Coe and Flannery (1967: 85-99) and our more
limited ones of the Salinas Tilapa salt playa indicated that there was either a huge complex
of mounds forming a single great site or that there are innumerable small sites like
Salinas La Blanca which consist of a single mound or small clusters of mounds. Until a
carefully surveyed map is available showing size, shape, height, and distribution and
relationship of archaeological structures in and around Salinas Tilapa, only generalized
statements can be made. During the 1979 field survey we briefly visited a dozen or more
mounds within and surrounding the Salinas Tilapa salt playa, including those of Salinas La
Blanca. For convenience, we have temporarily designated each mound referred to in
this study by the name of the milpero (Carlos, Alfredo, Monteroso, etc.) who today
147
utilizes it for the cultivation of corn, beans, and squash. On several mounds we collected
surface sherds, and on the Monteroso Mound a shallow test excavation was made on the
mound slope. At the Carlos Mound, where a bulldozer had cut away a section exposing
the structural fill to over 4 m. in depth, a large collection of fill sherds was recovered.
All the mounds that we examined exhibit a general similarity in appearance
and height, and seem to represent a fairly intensively occupied period devoted primarily
to the salt-making industry. The general uniformity in mound height may be a factor of
the principle of least net effort, i. e., that when a certain height was reached it became
more efficient to move to an adjacent new area than to climb to a higher point on the
accumulated mound debris. The mound patterning suggests that each location was
probably utilized by the same cultural group for some length of time, either seasonally
during the dry season to prepare and extract salt, or throughout the year. Should the
latter be the case, agriculture would have occupied the inhabitants during the wet season.
The individual mounds appear for the most part to represent comparatively homogeneous,
single component occupations, thus providing the archaeologist with excellent material
for comparative studies. We were constantly surprised to find that even on the surface
of these mounds all the sherds usually pertained to a single ceramic phase. Material
representing not only various phases of the Preclassic was observed, but also of Late
Classic, Post-classic, and modern times.
The land to the north of the salt flats and the area beyond the flooding of sea
water undoubtedly served for agriculture as it does today, providing a basic diet of
agricultural products which was supplemented by the rich marine resources of the
immediate area. One might speculate that the majority of the sites close to the Pacific
Ocean on the estuaries, lagoons, and salt flats were occupied by small colonies of working
class people primarily for the production of salt. They may have been controlled and
administrated by a socio-political system emanating from a center established further
inland on the agriculturally rich South Coastal plain or even in the highlands of Guatemala
and Chiapas. These colonies would have been subject to the vagaries of political control
from inland people under the particular political power unit. A secondary purpose of the
colonies would be to supply fish, mollusks, and other marine food products, and perhaps
shell for lime, ornaments, and tools. The single phase occupation indicated by some
archaeological mounds and the sporadic intervals of occupation or reoccupation of others
may reflect the political fortunes of the inland power structure.
If such a model has any basis in fact, the estuary-riverine adaptation as
proposed by Coe and Flannery for the people of Salinas La Blanca becomes less
appropriate. Instead, we would have an agriculture-based society which is exploiting the
coastal resources in a much more complex system of exchange. To substantiate such a
model, we propose that the major site of La Blanca, 10 kms. inland from the sea, was
the cultural center and seat of political power for the interval represented by the Conchas
Phase. The La Blanca artifact and pottery inventory is elaborate and sophisticated. The
Carlos Mound, situated on the edge of the Salinas Tilapa salt flats, represents one of
several salt manufacturing colonies in the Tilapa-Ocos area; the fill of this mound consists
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of only utilitarian pottery (tecomates and jars) of the Conchas Phase. The obvious
explanation would seem to be that the colonists, being basically workmen assigned to the
task of salt-making, would not have had the full inventory of cult objects that is found at
their capital, La Blanca. This study and the accompanying data will be more fully
developed and represented in a forthcoming report (Shook and Hatch, ms. in prep.).
Shook's purpose in excavating the east mound at Salinas La Blanca in 1973
was to make a comparison of the stratigraphy and ceramic assemblage of the east mound
with that of the west mound excavated in 1962 by Coe and Flannery and described in their
1967 report. The west mound today reaches a height of just over 4. 5 m. above the
surrounding ground level, whereas the east mound is about 3 m. high. Both of the mounds
were undoubtedly slightly higher in ancient times but have been lowered more recently by
the construction of modern dwellings on them. The east mound has been occupied for the
past twenty years or more by the Navarijo family, and therefore we have dubbed it the
Navarijo Mound, to distinguish it from the west or "Cuadros?? mound which was occupied
by the Cuadros family when Coe and Flannery worked there.
The Navarijo Mound has been disturbed principally at the very top and along
thee northeast and southeast slopes for modern houses, corrals, and pig pens belonging
to the family (Fig. 5a). The western slope of the ancient mound appears less disturbed,
being littered with Cuadros-type tecomate sherds exposed by erosion from rains and daily
sweeping of the "front yard" by the Navarijos. Permission was most generously granted
by these people to dig in their front yard. Not only did they tolerate good-naturedly the
disturbance of their normal living caused by the excavation activity and clutter of
equipment, but they were also of considerable assistance in digging, hauling water,
washing and storing sherds, loaning tables and chairs from their meagre supply of
furniture. They succeeded in preventing the more than 130 members of the household
(counting children, dogs, cats, pigs, chickens, turkeys, parrots, and rabbits) from
falling into the deep test pit which was located directly within their normal path and
habitat.
The excavation of the Navarijo Mound consisted of a 2 x 2 m. square test pit
which was taken down in arbitrary levels of 20 cm. each to sterile clay at 2.2 m. in depth
below the surface (Fig. 2b). In general, the conditions encountered in the Navarijo
Mound were similar to those found by Coe and Flannery in the Cuadros Mound. There
was a series of horizontal pink or purple clay floors, often heavily burned to a brick red.
Tightly packed upon many of these floors were thick layers of tecomate sherds, also
heavily burned. The impression given was one of an exceedingly untidy people who were
living, cooking, eating, and breaking an incredible number of large heavy-walled
tecomates, leaving all debris scattered on the floor and walking over the trash until it
became either too uncomfortable for bare feet or the stench too unbearable. At this
point more d the local purple, pink, or grey earth was hauled up, spread over the rubbish,
and tamped to form a new and temporarily clean living level.
One small lot of charcoal was collected from the various floors in the Navarijo
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Mound test pit between levels .60 to 1. 9 m. below the surface. This charcoal sample was
submitted to the Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, Dept. of Geology at the University of
Miami, Florida. The results of the analysis, provided through the kindness of the
laboratory director, Dr. J.J. Stipp (letter, June 1, 1973), were as follows: Lab. No.
UM-101 Apparent Age: 3135 + 120 years B. P. or an age of approximately 1185 B. C.
The succession of clay floors or earth leveling making up the Navarijo Mound
began atop a sterile light grey-brown compact clay approximately 1 m. above the natural
ground level. This situation differs strikingly from the conditions encountered by Coe
and Flannery in the Cuadros Mound. There, cultural debris was found at great depths of
1. 8 m. below the natural ground level surrounding the mounds. One possible explanation
of this phenomenon may be that the earliest inhabitants for practical purposes took
advantage of the elevated remnants of an ancient river levee along the east bank of the Rio
Naranjo to live upon. Their continued occupation and the successive accumulation of
trash-earth floors eventually built up the Navarijo Mound to or near its present height
and size. It is possible that during this considerable period of occupation the course of
the Rio Naranjo may have shifted westward slightly, an event frequently happening even
today. Such a shift of the river bed would have left the Navarijo Mound separated from
the river's edge by a wide natural bench or sloping bank (Fig. 1). Habitation, then, (for
convenience to the water source) may have shifted or expanded westward to the river edge.
Here, we know from Coe and Flannery's excavations, the long occupation and accumulation
of household rubbish eventually created the west, or Cuadros, mound. Should our
interpretation be correct, it would account for the chronologically later debris occurring
in the Cuadros Mound to a depth below the 1962 water level as discovered by Coe and
Flannery. Otherwise, it is difficult to understand how the adjacent Navarijo Mound could
produce ceramics of an older occupation at a higher level than the west mound, where
Cuadros material occurred much deeper and down to the bottom of the excavations made
by Coe and Flannery.
As noted previously, the main objective of the excavation in the Navarijo
Mound was to compare the ceramic assemblage with that of the Cuadros Mound. Although
most of the fieldwork took place in 1973, it was not until 1979 that we had the opportunity
to make a close analysis of the ceramics recovered from the mound. It then became
apparent that the pottery, though closely related to the material of the Cuadros Mound,
exhibited important differences. This observation raised such vital questions to us that
we initiated further inquiry into other ceramic assemblages of the Rio Naranjo drainage,
some of these already collected by Shook and deposited for study In the Antigua laboratory.
In addition, the brief 1979 field survey of the region of Salinas Tilapa and Salinas La
Blanca served to amplify and extend the range of the laboratory samples.
From the great quantity of mounds in the vicinity of Salinas Tilapa we were
able to locate several which were associated with occupations (all clearly involved in the
activity of salt production) representing single phases which directly concerned our
study. One of these (the Alfredo Mound) had abundant Cuadros ceramic material; another
(the Monteroso Mound) had types related to Ocos ceramics; a third (the Carlos Mound) was
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entirely restricted to Conchas Phase pottery. Our Antigua laboratory material consisted
of:
1.    The stratified sample from the test pit in the Navarijo Mound at
Salinas La Blanca.
2.     Cuadros and Jocotal Phase ceramics from the Navarijo, Cuadros and
Alfredo Mounds at Salinas La Blanca.
3.    Ocos and Conchas Phase sherds from La Victoria.
4.    A very large Conchas Phase sample from controlled excavations at
the site of La Blanca.
5.    Mixed surface collections from numerous other archaeological sites
in the Pacific Coastal area, principally within the drainage of the Rios Suchiate, Naranjo,
and Ocosito or Tilapa.
The mass of pottery from these sites and the literature already published on
the South Coast of Guatemala and Chiapas provided the basis for our analysis of the
ceramic sequence of the Early to Middle Preclassic period on the South Coast.
The methodology used for .the pottery analysis is one arrived at by Shook and
Hatch in the Antigua laboratory, but is neither new nor unique in its approach. Basically,
the technique is one of pottery seriation. In briefest terms, the first step in our method
is to sort the pottery according to a simple but workable classificatory scheme in which
the basic unit is the "ware". For us, "ware" is a category of pottery held together by
consistency of paste and surface treatment, with a special inventory of vessel forms and
range of decoration. A ware may be subdivided into types, but we consider all types
within a single ware to be generically related. The ware and type categories then provide
the framework for identifying the chxonological changes according to seriation of the
vessel forms and style of decoration.
The "ware" concept is vital in pottery seriation as the investigator must be
certain that he is comparing units which are part of the same tradition and line of develop-
ment. Intrinsic to our system of analysis is the notion that pottery categories are never
static but are constantly changing through time according to influences upon the technique
of manufacture which the potter may not even be aware of. We view this pottery evolution
as a continuum in which the type, form, or style of decoration can be traced from one
extreme until it eventually develops or blends into another (unless, of course, the
sequence is interrupted). We object to the cumbersome nomenclature of the Type-
Variety classificatory system, and also feel that such a method causes the types to become
rigid and frozen in time due to the strict boundaries which are imposed to separate one
unit from another. The marginal zones and overlapping of units which actually exist and
must be recognized in order to trace the direction of change are frequently ignored in
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Type-Variety analysis, resulting in the loss of significant comparative details (For
further discussion, see Shook and Hatch 1978).
The Ceramics of the Navarijo Mound
The test excavation in the Navarijo Mound demonstrates both stratigraphically
and in ceramic content a marked change at the floor level 35 cm. below surface. The
fill above this level contained sherds which could be identified as the standard
Guamuchal Brushed tecomates characteristic of the Cuadros Phase on the Pacific Coast
of Guatemala (Coe and Flannery 1967: 28-30). No ceramics later than this phase were
encountered in the entire sample. Below the 35 cm. level there occurred a few sherds
of differentially fired white-rimmed black bowls and a great quantity of sherds from
tecomates which, in spite of several living floors, exhibit sufficient consistency and
standardization to suggest that a relatively short period of time may be represented.
Although these tecomates are not exactly the same as Guamuchal Brushed, they show
enough similarity to them in paste, form, and surface treatment to indicate a generic
relationship. We recognize a developmental trend within them evolving into the Cuadros
types which are present in the overlying stratum and in the lowest deposits of the adjacent
west mound excavated by Coe and Flannery at Salinas La Blanca. Thus we feel quite
certain that the lower fill of the Navarijo Mound belongs within a time just prior to the
fully developed Cuadros Phase. Because of the distinctive qualities of the Navarijo
assemblage, we consider it appropriate to identify it as a Navarijo Phase which evolves
directly into Cuadros ceramic types.
Coe and Flannery assume (Coe and Flannery 1967: 26), apparently, that the
Cuadros Phase develops directly out of an earlier Ocos complex; however it is noteworthy
that the Navarijo assemblage, obviously formative to Cuadros pottery, gives no
evidence that it derives from or has its origins in Ocos-style ceramics. The Navarijo
assemblage reflects predominantly a tecomate tradition, exemplified by large tecomates
with thick walls, but simpler and more restricted in its inventory than in later Cuadros
times. There are no figurines, thin-walled Ocos tecomates (either tripod or unsupported),
everted or beveled rim bowls, iridescent paint, rocker or shell-edge stamping. There
is only one unusual example of a jar, and one example of a tecomate with zone burnished
specular hematite red slip. In other words, the sample lacks the tradition of a figurine
cult, elaboration of vessel forms, and sophistication in surface manipulation that
characterized the Ocos Phase on the South Coast of Guatemala. This observation strongly
suggests that the Ocos Phase is a product of a completely different line of development
which does not lead forward into the Cuadros complex, and may not even be chronologically
earlier.
Because of the standardization reflected in the tecomates of the Navarijo
assemblage, we have lumped the great majority into a single basic unit which we call
Salinas Ware. This ware continues as the most common ceramic category at Salinas
Tilapa through Cuadros and Jocotal times, the basic unit being held together by
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similarities in paste and surface manipulation, and an emphasis on the tecomate form.
During the Navarijo Phase the ware Is virtually restricted to the tecomate form, usually
bearing a red slip or wash. In the subsequent phases the tecomate continues to predominate,
usually with unslipped or unwashed surface, but new forms appear. The chronological
differences that are manifest in the ware become phase diagnostics, and therefore we
subdivide Salinas Ware into Navarijo Type, a Cuadros Type, and a Jocotal Type.
Salinas Ware
I. Type: Navarijo
Discussion: Of the total 220 rim sherds recovered from the Navarijo test
excavation, 200 are from tecomates, and of these 196 belong to Salinas Ware (Fig. 2a).
Although there is a slight variation in surface finish among the tecomates, the over-
whelming majority exhibit an apparent red tecomate tradition. These tecomates have a
red surface achieved by one of the following methods: (1) red-fired paste; (2) reddish-
orange wash; (3) reddish-orange slip. The techniques may overlap, i. e., a red-fired
paste may also have a red wash, a thicker reddish-orange wash becomes a slip, etc.
In vessel form, decoration, and visible paste composition they are indistinguishable.
Paste: The paste composition (unfortunately we have not had the means for
technological analysis of the paste) appears to be the same for all tecomates of this ware.
It is well-fired, of medium texture, slightly gritty or sandy to the touch, with abundant
visible fine quartz and black glassy crystals, occasional white particles, and larger
ferruginous Inclusions. Sporadic gold platy flecks of mica show on the surface and reflect
the light. The paste color normally ranges from yellowish-brown to grey-brown to pinkish-
red, sometimes almost lavender, throughout the section. The reddish-fired paste is
common in the sample, but whether this is a deliberate effect or accidental is uncertain.
The color runs slightly more to the browns and the texture may be somewhat coarser and
less hard-fired than Salinas Ware tecomates of the Cuadros and Jocotal Phases.
Surface finish: All over well-smoothed, probably wet-wiped, before adding
decoration to the exterior. The interior of the tecomate bears only occasional traces of
smoothing by fingers, rag, or fine-edged tool. On tecomates which lack either slip or
wash, the surface is the same color as the paste. Others may bear on the exterior a
thin reddish-orange wash or thicker red-orange slip which contrasts with the brown or
grey paste color, but In all cases the surface is left with a matte finish. The red-orange
wash is often so thinly applied that the paste color shows through in some areas; it may
wear off in the weathering process but characteristically does not peel or flake. The slip
is the same color as the wash, but is thick and opaque and less resistant to weathering,
readily peeling off in large flakes. These slipped tecomates do not survive beyond the
Navarijo Phase, whereas those with thin red-orange wash continue to be represented in
the Cuadros and Jocotal Phases, and may even be the antecedent of Red Unburnished
tecomates and jars of the Las Conchas Phase (Coe 1961: 63).
A. Vessel Form: Tear-drop shaped tecomates (see Fig. 3a for hypothetical
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reconstruction of this form). These have a rounded lower body from which the wall slopes
inward and upward to a direct rounded or flattish rim, giving the vessel a "tear-drop"
shape. On the exterior the wall curves smoothly up to the rim; on the interior the wall
turns upward abruptly from the rounded body and then rises steeply to the rim. On the
interior the wall is thickest at the junction with the body, thinning again as it meets the
insloping rim. The manufacture technique was apparently to position the fingers vertically
against the interior of the orifice, pressing the thumb along the rim exterior (Fig. 2c).
Circumscribing the orifice in this manner would cause a steep interior wall below the
rim, the soft clay mounding up at the fingertips where the body expands outward to the
globular lower section. Simultaneously, the opposite hand would press on the wall
exterior to control the smooth slope upward to the direct rim.
A few examples of a somewhat similar tecomate form with upsloping rim are
illustrated for the Ocos Phase (Coe 1961: Figs. 15, 16), the Barra Phase in Chiapas
(Lowe 1975: Figs. 16, 19), and for the Burrera Phase at Santa Cruz (Sanders 1961: Figs.
16, 19), but in each case the paste and style of surface treatment is distinct from
Navarijo Ware.
Total: 108 rims
1. Decoration: None (Fig. 3a). It is possible, however, that some vessels
may have had a horizontal tool-indented fillet, as these are present on a number of body
sherds. We suspect that they go with Vessel Form B, but the lack of whole vessels
causes some uncertainty.
Total: 59 rims
2. Decoration: A shallow groove encircles the orifice .5 to 1 cm. below the
rim on the exterior (Figs. 2f, g; 5b). This groove was applied before wet-wiping or
adding the wash or slip. Occasionally there may be a second encircling groove 4.5 to
6 cm. below the upper one. One example has a slightly curved groove (probably one of a
continuous series) connecting the upper and lower horizontal grooves. There is apparently
no other decoration on these tecomates, other than the possibility of a tool-indented
fillet as in Decoration 1.
Total: 48 rims
3. Decoration: (Figs. 2e; 5c). One unusual example is of red-fired paste
and has a slightly upturned direct flat rim with sharp upper and lower lip. The wall is
thickest at the flattened edge, then thins toward the body. The vessel is undecorated
except for an encircling row of spaced jabs 3 cm. below the rim on exterior; the jabs
give the effect of a series of low short vertical ridges about 1 to 1. 5 cm. apart. In
paste composition, color, and surface finish the example is identical to others of Salinas
Ware of the Navarijo Phase.
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B. Vessel Form: (Fig. 2h-l). Globular tecomates, most with an encircling
raised convex zone 3 to 5 cm. below the rim, giving a "complex" profile. The raised
band varies from 3. 5 to 6. 5 cm. in width. The form is similar to or the same as that of
Guamuchal Brushed tecomates of the Cuadros Phase at Salinas La Blanca (Coe and Flannery
1967: Fig. 12). The rim is direct rounded to thinned, in some cases slightly upturned,
but in other instances the upper wall curves inward directly to the rim from the shoulder or
convex bulge without change of direction. In most cases there is some thickening or
swelling of the wall on the interior below the rim as seen in Vessel Form A, but
occasionally the wall is of uniform thickness and terminates in a direct rounded or
blunt rim. All have brushed or brushed-and-impressed decoration applied to the raised
convex zone.
The examples recovered from the upper 35 cm. of the Navarijo test cut
probable qualify as Uuamuchal Brushed tecomates, and certainly they exhibit a later
stage in the development of the complex profile tecomate than those of the lower mound
fill. It is always difficult to decide where to draw the boundary line when one is working
with a continuum in a gradually changing sequence; it is thus a moot question as to
whether these tecomates define the end of the Navarijo Phase or the beginning of the
Cuadros Phase. At the present time we have opted to keep them at the end of the
Navarijo sequence, within Salinas Ware Type I, in this way holding all the mound contents
together as one complex and unit of time.
The tecomate form with complex profile seems to have evolved from and
gradually replaced the tear-drop form, as the latter is no longer manifest in the fully
developed Cuadros Phase at Salinas La Blanca. We suspect that the desire for brushed
and impressed decoration on the tecomate shoulder led directly to the evolution of the
complex profile. The decoration was probably applied to the soft clay on the exterior
by an instrument held in one hand, while the fingers of the other hand pressed upward
against it from the interior of the tecomate, the thumb being braced on the rim exterior
(Fig. 2d). As the entire orifice of the pot continued to be manipulated in this manner, the
pressure on the interior against the decorating tool would result in the low encircling
raised and impressed band or bulge that is seen on this form. The thumb on the rim
exterior would inadvertently pull downward on the rim while acting as a leverage against
the upward thrust of the fingers. Such a process would have quickly eliminated the
upturned rim of Vessel Form A and would explain its rapid disappearance after Navarijo
times. Furthermore, the pressure between the thumb and fingers would cause a thinning
of the rim towards the lip while the soft clay on the underside of the orifice mounded into
the curvature of the hand and the fingers pushed upward on the wall interior. The
reai It would be the swelling and thickening of the wall interior below the rim as is
characteristic of Vessel Form B and Cuadros Phase tecomates. The technique is not far
removed from that described for Vessel Form A, and would appear to be derived from it.
The difference lies mainly in that for Vessel Form B the position of the fingers is more
horizontal and they extend further into the vessel interior.
Toward the end of the Cuadros Phase and during the ensuing Jocotal Phase
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the tecomate with complex profile gradually evolves into a simple globular form, On
these the wall is of even thickness and terminates in a direct rounded or blunt rim (Coe
and Flannery 1967: Fig. 13). By this time the manufacture technique of Vessel Form A
appears to have been dropped and forgotten. To achieve the evenly rounded from, the
method would be to exert uniform pressure on the fingers in smoothing over the interior
and exterior, resulting in a wall of consistent thickness. The pinched or thinned rim
with interior swelling would give way to a direct rounded or blunt rim by the process of
circumscribing the interior edge of the orifice with thumb or finger. Such a form is
typical of tecomates of the Jocotal Phase and in the succeeding Conchas Phase the
tecomates commonly have a direct flat rim with sharp upper and lower lip (Coe 1961:
Fig. 24k; Shook and Hatch, ms. in prep.), probably due to more pressure being applied
to the fingers as they circumscribe the orifice.
Total: 88 rims
Decoration: Most tecomates of Vessel Form B have a smooth rim band 3 to
5 cm. wide (usually closer to 5 cm.) with an encircling groove just below the rim on the
exterior. All have a band of brushed or brushed-and-impressed decoration which is
applied directly to the raised convex zone. The brushing and impressing contrasts
somewhat with that of Guamuchal Brushed decoration of the Cuadros Phase in that there
is less variety and the impressed decoration is deeper and coarser, obviously applied
while the clay was still very wet and pliable. The decoration consists of the following:
1.    Brushing, usually vertical or slanted (Fig. 5p). Brushing is some-
times, but not always, accompanied by impressed decoration as described below.
2.    Basket (?) impression, or braided fibers wrapped around a paddle
(Fig. 5d, e). One example (Fig. 5d) differs from others of Vessel Form B in having a
narrow rim band of specular hematite purplish-red paint extending from the inner lip
down to an encircling groove 1 cm. below the rim on the exterior. The surface below the
rim band bears no slip or wash, being the deep brown color of the paste.
3.     Sets of deeply incised lines on the brushed band (Fig. 5f).
4.    Multiple jabs by tool or finger, or spaced diagonal rows of jabs on the
brushed band (Fig. 5g-o).
5.    Finger-punching from the interior to form a small protrusion or bulge
on the exterior which may then be pinched to form shallow depressions in the protrusion
(Fig. 5q-s). In some cases the bulge is modeled to form a monkey or bird face positioned
horizontally on the vessel shoulder (Fig. 5t).
6.    Body sherds show that commonly there is a horizontal encircling or
partially encircling tool-indented fillet appliqued on the vessel shoulder (Fig. 5u, v).
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C. Vessel Form: Bowls (Fig. 2m). All examples of bowls of Salinas Ware
in the Navarijo Mound came from the upper 20 cm. of the test cut, associated with
tecomates which are in the process of becoming or have already evolved into Guamuchal
Brushed types. It is thus probable that the bowl form in Salinas Ware is associated with
the beginning of the Cuadros Phase.
Two bowls (five sherds) have a flat base with straight-flaring wall to direct
flat rim. One is all-over smoothed; the other is smoothed on the interior while the
exterior is left with a rasped surface.
The two remaining sherds come from bowls similar to the above in form but
there is a low flat bolster 1 to 2 cm. wide on the exterior of the rim. Both are smoothed
on the interior, the wall exterior below the bolster left with an intentionally roughened
or rasped surface.
Total: 7 rims
Specular Hematite Red Slipped Tecomates
Discussion: This category is represented by two rims only in the Navarijo
sample, one of these being very weathered. They do not qualify as Salinas Ware and
therefore have been assigned a separate classification, but without sufficient information
for a ware definition.
Paste: Similar to that of Salinas Ware of the Cuadros Phase, being of
medium texture, very hard-fired, and compact. The color is light brown to greyish,
one rim having a thick medium-grey core. There are abundant fine quartz and mica
particles with occasional larger ferruginous inclusions.
Vessel Form: (Figs. 3b; 5w). Both rim sherds present are from tear-drop
shaped tecomates similar to Vessel Form A of Salinas Ware during the Navarijo Phase.
The wall is thick (1. 2 to 2.0 cm.) and rises steeply from a globular lower body to a direct
thinned rounded rim. The wall thickens slightly on the interior below the rim, then thins
again as it begins the expansion of the globular lower body.
Surface finish and decoration: The tecomate is all-over well-smoothed,
probably by fingers or rag, the interior being slightly less so than the exterior. There
is a thick specular hematite red slip over all the exterior, lapping over the rim down
5 to 6 cm. on the interior. The slip on the interior of the orifice is applied more thinly
than on the exterior and appears in fine horizontal strokes which sometimes barely cover
the surface. The better preserved example shows zone burnishing of the slip, the zoned
areas outlined by shallow grooves which do not penetrate the slip. A burnished band
extends from the inner lip of the rim down to 4 cm. on the exterior, and below is an
encircling row of burnished semi-circles, the upper edge of the curves lying 1. 5 cm.
below the rim band. The area between the burnished semi-circles is left with a matte
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surface, causing the visual illusion of the burnished zones to appear darker than the un-
burnished areas. There is no other decoration.
Total: 2 rims, 2 bodies
Cream-Orange Slipped Ware
Discussion: This is a tentative ware designation which includes two tecomates,
two restricted orifice bowls, and one unusual jar form. All forms and surface treatment
differ radically from Salinas Ware vessels of the Navarijo Phase. Sherds of this ware
were recovered as deep as 100-120 cm. below surface in the Navarijo Mound test cut.
Cream-Orange Slipped Ware may have some relationship to Conchas White-
to-Buff (Coe and Flannery 1967: 42), but the sample is insufficient to make adequate
comparisons. Similarities between the two are restricted to the slip quality which is
thick, highly polished, sometimes micaceous, and uneven in color. The forms represented
are not characteristic of the white slipped wares of Chiapas, Salinas La Blanca, or La
Victoria.
Paste: Color is brown to reddish-brown to dark grey from firing. The texture
is medium, sandy in consistency, with abundant visible quartz and mica particles and
occasional larger white lumps and ferruginous inclusions.
Surface finish: All vessels represented are well-smoothed, slipped, and
burnished on the exterior; the interior is cursively smoothed and left unslipped. The
slip, which is highly resistant to weathering, is uneven in color and tends to be streaky
and cloudy, ranging from light orange to cream to buff to white. It is usually thickly
applied and polished to a low gloss. In some cases, but not always, there are fine mica
flecks in the slip.
A. Vessel Form: Globular tecomates (Figs. 3c; 5x). These have a rounded
body, the wall curving to a direct thinned rim. The wall is lightly thickened on the interior
below the rim. The form of the base is uncertain. One example has an encircling groove
1 cm. below the rim on exterior, applied after slipping but before polishing. The other
has two parallel encircling pre-slip grooves, the first being . 8 cm. below the rim, the
second 1 cm. below it. No other decoration is present.
Total: 2 rims
B. Vessel Form: Restricted orifice bowls (Figs. 3d; 5y). The form is
globular, the wall curving evenly to an exteriorly bolstered rim with thinned lip. The
bolster is 2. 5 cm. in width and tapers to the thinned edge of the rim, so that it is triangular
in crcz-s-ction. The better preserved example is undecorated. The other example has
an encircling incised line 1 cm. below the rim on exterior.
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A similar form is illustrated for differentially fired black and white bowls
at Trapiche in Veracruz (Garcia Payon 1966: 88).
Total: 5 rims, 4 bodies
C. Vessel Form: Jar (Figs. 3e; 5z). The single rim is from a jar with a
tall narrow neck to a direct rounded rim. The vessel approaches the bottle form. The
non-micaceous well-polished white-to-orange slip extends from 2 cm. below the rim on
the interior over all the exterior. There is no decoration.
Total: 1 rim, 1 body
Differentially Fired White-and-Black Ware
Discussion: In the sample from Navarijo Mound this ware consists entirely
of open bowls with a white rim and black lower wall and base, the color difference a
result of firing.
Differentially fired white-and-black pottery comprises a strong and lengthy
tradition in Mesoamerica. On the South Coast of Guatemala the style is confined to the
Early Preclassic, but apparently survives into the Late Protoclassic (Istmo Phase) at
Chiapa de Corzo, Mexico (Lowe and Agrinier 1960: Fig. 55a). There is an obvious need
for a detailed study of this pottery style in order to distinguish the various wares and
direction of change through time in vessel form and manufacturing technique. At this
writing we lack the necessary analytical data to determine ware categories and therefore
hold all differentially fired black and white pottery together as a single unit, regardless
of the particular effect achieved by the controlled smudging and oxidation in firing.
White rimmed black bowls are generally considered to be part of the Olmec
horizon style. However, our studies at La Blanca (Shook and Hatch,i ms. in prep.)
indicate that white rimmed black bowls do not occur in the Olmec-related Conchas Phase,
although differential firing is a common techinque in one of the black wares. White rimmed
black bowls, classified as Pampas Black and White are well-represented during the
Cuadros and Jocotal Phases at Salinas La Blanca (Coe and Flannery 1967: 33), Izapa
(Ekholm 1969: 39), and Altamira (Green and Lowe 1967: 108). Bowls with white interiors
and black exteriors, identified as Morena Black, occur during Cuadros and Jocotal
Phases at Salinas La Blanca (Coe and Flannery 1967: 32) and Izapa (Ekholm 1969: 41);
at Altamira (Green and Lowe 1967: 108) these bowls are apparently included with Pampas
Black and White. Coe (Coe and Flannery 1967: 32) recognizes the presence of Morena
Black pottery at La Victoria during the Conchas Phase (called Ocos Black in Coe 1961:
71). Both Coe and Ekholm observe a close relationship between Morena Black and Pampas
Black and White pottery. Ekholm also considers Coapa Black and Cambil Black at Izapa
to be close relatives of Pampas Black and White and Morena Black (Ekholm 1969: 41).
One suspects some overlapping between these types as well as intersite variations.
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Paste: Very fine, homogeneous in texture. Color ranges from white or
light tan to grey to jet black, due to firing. Fine white particles are visible in the black
fired sections, fine black ones on the white areas. Some examples show abundant tiny
flecks of mica (?) or talc (?) on the surface which glisten in the light.
Vessel Form: (Fig. 3f, g). All examples are from open bowls with flat
base and flaring wall to direct flat rim with sharp interior and exterior lip. Most
examples have a straight flaring wall, but a few have a slightly curved wall, and one has
an outcurving wall.
Surface finish and decoration: All examples are unslipped. Some vessels
are all-over well-smoothed and burnished on both interior and exterior (Fig. 5aa) while
others are well burnished on the interior and down to 1. 3 to 2. 0 cm. below the rim on
the exterior. On the latter the polished area on the exterior is zoned by an encircling
incised line; below this the surface is left with an intentionally roughened or rasped
texture. One example has curvilinear lines incised into the rasped zone (Fig. 5bb).
This ware typically shows orange streaks on the white surface, possibly
deliberately caused during the manufacture of the vessel by applying a liquid organic
substance which functioned as a kind of negative painting.
Total: 8 rims, 5 bodies
The Ceramics of the Cuadros Phase
Our observations on the ceramic complex of the Cuadros Phase are based on
the study published by Coe and Flannery of Salinas La Blanca (1967), and our ceramic
sample of 144 sherds collected in May of 1979 from the Alfredo Mound at Salinas Tilapa.
Cuadros Phase Guamuchal Brushed tecomate sherds are absent in the main fill of the
Navarijo Mound, although a small quantity recovered from the upper 35 cm. of the test
cut and surface of the Navarijo Mound are similar enough to indicate that they have already
evolved into the Cuadros types. It is evident that Cuadros Phase ceramics follow the
Navarijo types and derive directly from them.
We are of the opinion that the earliest ceramics of the Cuadros Mound at
Salinas La Blanca probably date from a time well into the Cuadros Phase, and for the
pottery description the publication by Coe and Flannery is sufficient. Our comments are
limited to the development we see within Salinas Ware and to those aspects which we
feel might explain, alter, or amplify what is known of the phase.
Salinas Ware
IH. Type: Cuadros
Discussion: We have incorporated within Salinas Ware of the Cuadros Phase
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the Guamuchal Brushed, Mendez Red-rimmed, and probably Mapache Red-rimmed
tecomates (the latter are not present in our sample from Salinas Tilapa), as described
by Coe and Flannery for Salinas La Blanca. These tecomates appear to be of similar
paste, surface treatment, and general vessel form as Salinas Ware tecomates of the
Navarijo Phase, but there are important differences, as explained below. Absent from
Salinas Ware during the Cuadros Phase are tear-drop shaped tecomates, all-over
reddish-orange slip, and basket-impressed decoration. Additions to the ware at this
time are bowls, jars (possibly coming late in the phase), new modes of decoration, and
certain form modifications.
Paste: Same as that described for Guamuchal Brushed tecomates (Coe and
Flannery 1967: 28), and very similar to that of Navarijo Phase Salinas Ware, but
typically harder fired and greyer in color. Occasionally it is fired to a pinkish or reddish-
orange, as in the Navarijo Sample, and frequently there are large firing clouds.
Surface finish: The same as that described for Guamuchal Brushed
tecomates, being all-over well-smoothed except for the brushed zone, and more
carefully finished on the exterior than on the interior. The surface is characteristically
unslipped but occasional examples show a thin all-over reddish-orange wash, as is
common in the Navarijo Phase. About one-third of the tecomates collected from the
Alfredo Mound have a red painted rim band.
A. Vessel Form: Same as that described for Guamuchal Brushed tecomates.
These are generally of complex profile with an encircling brushed and impressed raised
zone below a smoothed rim band 2 to 4 cm. in width. The rim is thinned to rounded
with a slight thickening or swelling below it on the interior. For probable technique of
manufacture, see discussion under Salinas Ware of the Navarijo Phase, Vessel Form B.
The form of Cuadros Phase brushed tecomates is in some cases the same as
Vessel Form B of the Navarijo Phase Salinas Ware, but during the phase there is an
evolution toward flattening of the convex zone and a narrowing of the rim band which now
frequently bears red paint over the whole width of the band. The rim band on Navarijo
Phase tecomates is typically 4 to 5 cm. in width, whereas the majority of those from
the Alfredo Mound average 2 to 3 cm.
We perceive three stages in the evolution of the complex profile tecomate
during the Cuadros Phase. During state 1 the rim may be slightly upturned, the rim
band is 4 to 5 cm. in width, and below it the convex zone rises abruptly (Coe and
Flannery 1967: Fig. 11, Plates 7b, e, 8i, j, l) as seen on Vessel Form B of the Navarijo
Phase (Fig. 2h, j, 1). In state 2, whic h is more common during Cuadros times, the rim
continues directly from the convex zone; on these the smoothed rim band is narrower
and is only separated from the brushed zone by an incised encircling line (Fig. 3h, i, j;
and Coe and Flannery 1967: Figs. 10a, c, f, 12e, f, h, Plates 7f, k, 8a-q). In stage 3
the convex zone is completely lost, its former presence only being recalled by two
encircling incised lines which frame a lightly brushed band (Fig. 4a, b; Coe and Flannery
161
1967: Plates 9d, lib). Such tecomates of simple globular profile and with cursive brushing
are found at the end of Cuadros and beginning of the Jocotal Phase.
According to the above reasoning, the profile of Mapache Red-rimmed tecomates,
Nonspecular Variety (Coe and Flannery 1967: Fig. 9, Plate 12a-j) places them as a late
arrival during the Cuadros Phase. Coe (Coe and Flannery 1967: 26) believes that these
evolve directly from Mapache Red-rimmed Specular Hematite Variety tecomates of the
Ocos Phase. Both variations are absent from the Alfredo Mound sample. We suspect
the style of the Nonspecular Variety is a later development during the Cuadros Phase
and, if derived from the Ocos variety, this source is probably located outside of the
Salinas Tilapa area.
Decoration: All tecomates of Vessel Form A have an encircling incised line
just below the rim on exterior; those of the developmental states 2 and 3 (described
above) have a second encircling incised line just above the brushed band. Brushing is
done in a horizontal or slanted direction, sometimes horizontally on the convex zone,
slanted on the shoulder below it. In contrast to the decoration of the Navarijo Phase
which was apparently applied to the surface when the clay was still very soft and wet,
during later Cuadros times the decoration, though still crisp and distinct, is often impressed
more lightly, probably applied to the clay when dried to a harder consistency.
About a third of the tecomates collected from the Alfredo Mound have a
non-specular red rim band, the red paint extending from the lip of the rim down to the
upper framing line of the brushed zone. These are probably the same as those identified
by Coe and Flannery as Mendez Red-rimmed tecomates (Coe and Flannery 1967: 27).
These red-rimmed tecomates do not occur in our sample from the Navarijo Mound nor in
our Jocotal sample from the west (Cuadros) mound at Salinas La Blanca.
Impressed decoration on the brushed zone occurs as follows:
1. Multiple continuous incised slant lines parallel or in herring-bone
pattern (Fig. 6e-g).
2. S-shaped incised lines or arcs alternating with sets of slant lines
(Fig. 6a-c).
3. Punctates, multiple or in slanted rows, or in a row just below and
parallel to the upper framing line of the brushed band (Fig. 6h-l).
4. Triangular zones of rocker-stamping on the brushed band (Fig. 6d).
5. Finger-pressing from the interior to form a protrusion or bulge
which may be modeled to form an animal or bird face (Fig. 6m).
An appliqued tool-indented fillet may occur on the shoulder, either encircling
162
the vessel or placed as a short horizontal strip which in some cases turns at a right angle
to terminate at the convex zone (Fig. 6n; Coe and Flannery 1967: Plate 80, p, r).
Total: 107 rims, 12 bodies
B. Vessel Form: Jars (Fig. 4c, d). It appears that wide-mouthed jars
begin in the Cuadros Phase, where the form is rare; they become more common in the
Jocotal Phase. The two examples from the Alfredo Mound indicate that they have evolved
out of the tecomate form. Both of these have an insloping neck, 3 to 4 cm. high, to a
direct rounded rim. The neck turns upward from an encircling incised line, one
example having a row of punctates below the line and cursive brushing on the shoulder
as seen on the tecomates (Fig. 60). The implication here is that the rim band of the
tecomates has simply been pulled upward to form a necked jar. The plain example has
a tool-indented fillet encircling the shoulder.
There are few jars described by Coe and Flannery for the Cuadros Phase at
Salinas La Blanca. One low-necked jar is illustrated in Pampas Black and White pottery
(Coe and Flannery 1967: Fig. 15j; we identify Fig. 15k as a restricted orifice bowl).
Two are listed for Pacaya Red pottery, and one of these is illustrated (Coe and Flannery
1967: Fig. 16h). Two jars with rather high, narrow necks are illustrated in Tilapa Red-
on-White pottery (Fig. 18f, h). During the Cuadros Phase at Altamira the jar form is
not found except in Cuchilla White pottery (Green and Lowe 1967: 110). At Izapa, jars
also appear to be rare during the Cuadros Phase (Ekholm 1969: 36-51).
Total: 2 rims
C. Vessel Form: Open bowls with flaring wall to direct rim, flat base (Fig.
4e). In Salinas Ware the bowl form probably begins in the Cuadros Phase. The only bowl
sherds recovered from the Navarijo Mound were in the upper 35 cm. of the cut,
associated with tecomates that may already be evolved into Guamuchal Brushed types.
Bowls of the Navarijo and Alfredo Mounds are of typical Salinas Ware paste,
sometimes fired to reddish-orange or pinkish-red. All have a straight-flaring wall to a
direct flattish-rounded rim. The interior is well-smoothed but unburnished; the
exterior is cursively smoothed or left with a rasped surface. There is no decoration, but
some examples appear to have a very thin milky-white wash on the interior.
Total: 5 rims, 2 bodies
Differentially Fired Black-and-White Ware
Discussion: This category shows considerably more variation than was
exhibited in this ware during Navarijo times. It is possible that more than one ware is
represented, as about half of the sherds are of medium-textured sandy paste like that of
Salinas Ware, while the rest are of fine paste more typical of Differentially Fired
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Black-and-White Ware of the Navarijo Mound. All examples are less carefully made and
finished than was characteristic of the Navarijo sample. It may be that the finer paste
examples are imports and the others made locally. In general the pottery is comparable
to Pampas Black-and-White and Morena Black examples at Salinas La Blanca (Coe and
Flannery 1967: 33), Altamira (Green and Lowe 1967: 108), and Izapa (Ekholm 1969: 39).
For further discussion of this ware, see Navarijo Phase section.
Paste: Ranges from fine and homogeneous, to medium-coarse with conspicuous
white sandy grains and occasional red ferruginous inclusions. In all cases there are fine
gold platy flecks of mica which show on the surface and reflect the light.
Surface finish: These bowls are usually unslipped, although there are a few
exceptions. All are well-smoothed and burnished on the interior. The exterior is either
cursively smoothed with strokes remaining evident, or fairly well-smoothed but left
with a fine rasped texture.
Vessel Form and Decoration: Most examples come from open bowls with
flaring wall to direct rim (Fig. 4f, g); in all cases the base is flat. Some coarser
paste examples have a straight-flaring to slightly curved wall to a direct rounded or
thinned sharp rim (Fig. 4h). These bowls are unslipped, and differential firing has
produced a white rim on interior and exterior, the lower wall being dark grey to black.
Some finer paste examples have a vertical to straight-flaring or slightly curved wall to
a direct rounded rim. The curved wall example has a white rim; the other bowls are
black on the interior and white or white-and black on the exterior. Two examples of the
latter have an encircling press-incised line 3 to 3. 5 cm. down from the rim on the
exterior, and one of these has press-incised slant lines below the encircling line (Fig. 6p).
Also represented are bowls with vertical to straight-flaring wall to an exteriorly
thickened or bolstered rim (Fig. 4i). The top of the rim is flat with sharp or sharp-
rounded inner lip and a thickened rounded bolster on the outer edge of the rim. Two of
these have a finely incised line encircling the flat rim . 5 cm. from the inner lip.
Another example has on the exterior thickening deep finger-depressions spaced 3 cm.
apart. A slightly aberrant example has a slightly thickened flat rim with sharp inner and
outer lip, with finger-depressions on the outer lip (Fig. 6q); the bowl interior has a thin
reddish-orange wash. Both coarse and fine paste is represented, and on all differential
firing has resulted in black clouds and blotches.
One final example is of a bowl with straight-flaring wall to a direct rounded
rim. On the interior there is a burnished streaky grey slip which extends over the rim
down 3 cm. on the exterior; below the wall is left roughly smoothed and unslipped. The
firing is uneven, but the greyish-white slip gives the effect of a white rim on the exterior.
This is clearly a marginal example and may be an early example of Ocos Grey (Coe and
Flannery 1967: 46) which is common during the succeeding Jocotal Phase.
Total: 14 rims, 1 body
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Tilapa Red-on-White Ware
Discussion: One sherd only of this ware was recovered from the Alfredo
Mound; although slightly different in its style, we believe it probably belongs to Tilapa
Red-on-White pottery as identified and described at Salinas La Blanca (Coe and Flannery
1967: 38). The ware is poorly represented in all of our samples from the South Coast
of Guatemala, and it is apparently also rare at Altamira (Green and Lowe 1967: 110).
We suspect it appears in late Cuadros times.
The single example (Fig. 6r) from the Alfredo Mound is from a globular
tecomate with direct thinned rim. The paste is very fine, compact, and hard-fired;
paste color is medium brown to grey with very fine white lumps and glassy particles,
combined with a few slightly larger ferruginous inclusions. The exterior bears a thin
white low-burnished slip and over this is painted a red rim band, also low-polished,
extending from the lip down 3 cm. in width. Within the red band and 1 cm. below the rim
is a deep V-shaped encircling pre-slip groove.
Total: 1 rim
The Ceramics of the Jocotal Phase
Our study of the Jocotal Phase is based on our sample (approximately 200
sherds) in the Antigua laboratory from the upper levels of the west (Cuadros) Mound, and
on the ceramic analysis of the site published by Coe and Flannery (1967). We are in
agreement with them that the complex evolves directly out of the Cuadros Phase and
develops into the Conchas Phase on the South Coast of Guatemala. The Jocotal complex
is adequately described by those authors, but of particular interest to us is the continued
evolution within Salinas Ware.
The Jocotal Phase in the Rio Naranjo drainage is estimated (Coe and Flannery
1967: 68) to be of fairly short duration, about 50 years in length. If this is true, the
phase exhibits for so brief time unusual vigour and rapid change. It may have endured
longer in other regions of the South Coast of Guatemala and Chiapas where the Conchas
Phase is absent. In the Rio Naranjo drainage Salinas Ware during the Jocotal Phase shows
clear evidence of evolution into pottery types of the Conchas Phase.
Salinas Ware
m. Type: Jocotal
Discussion: During the Jocotal Phase there is a continued emphasis on the
tecomate form, now mainly of simple globular profile and with a marked loss of interest
in surface decoration. Certain jar and bowl forms are also included.
165
Paste: Identical in texture, visible composition, color, and firing to that
of Salinas Ware during the Cuadros Phase.
Surface finish: Like this ware during the Cuadros Phase, the tecomates are
all-over smoothed but left unslipped, although a few bear a thin reddish-orange unburnished
wash on the exterior. Bowls are well-smoothed on the interior, the exterior only
cursively smoothed or left with a rasped texture. Some bowls appear to have a very thin
streaky white wash or slip.
A. Vessel Form: Tecomates of simple profile, globular to sub-globular in
form (Fig. 4j - o). These are the same as Suchiate Brushed tecomates (Coe and
Flannery 1967: 30). The body is rounded with the wall curving or rising smoothly to a
direct rounded or blunt rim. The wall is characteristically of even thickness, the convex
bulge is no longer present, and there is no swelling of the wall below the rim on the
interior. For probable technique of manufacture see Vessel Form B of Salinas Ware
during the Navarijo Phase section.
Decoration: As noted above, there occurs during the Jocotal Phase a loss of
interest in decoration on tecomates. Brushing continued below the rim on the exterior,
as in the Cuadros Phase, but it is lightly and cursively applied and may go several
directions (vertically, horizontally, slanted) within the same area. The brushing often
extends almost to the rim edge or within one or two centimeters of it, in which case the
area may be lightly burnished with long horizontal strokes left plainly visible (Fig. 6s, t).
The encircling incised line seen during the Cuadros Phase just below the rim on the
exterior is usually absent, and in some cases the second line just above the brushing is
also lacking. The phase witnesses the loss of the red-painted rim band, incised decoration
over the brushing, and finger-punching from the interior. Occasionally there is punching
from the exterior by finger or by a large hollow reed-like implement (Fig. 6u). Some
examples have a row of gashes to simulate an encircling tool-indented fillet (Fig. 6v) on
the shoulder, or an appliqued fillet to imitate a horizontal or undulating strip of cord with
one end hanging down vertically (Coe and Flannery 1967: Plate 16d - f).
Total: 84 rims, 22 bodies
B. Vessel Form: Jars (Fig. 4p). These are not common, but when present
the form has a straight vertical neck (up to 6 cm. in height) with a direct rounded rim.
There is no decoration, though some examples bear traces of dull red paint on the neck
exterior, suggesting a relationship to Conchas Red Unburnished jars of the Conchas
Phase (Coe 1961: 63).
Total: 2 rims, 1 body
C. Vessel Form: Open bowls with straight-flaring wall to direct flat or
rounded rim; base is flat. These bowls are very similar to Salinas Ware bowls of the
Cuadros Phase. In some cases there is a thin streaky white wash on the interior, while
166
on others there is a low-burnished thin white slip. A number of the bowls are decorated
by an encircling lightly incised line .5 to .7 cm. below the rim on the interior.
It is probable that the white slipped bowls are early examples of Conchas
White-to-Buff pottery (Coe 1961: 64). In this case it is hard to determine where to
draw the boundaries, for in paste and form and in having the roughened exterior the
bowls qualify as Salinas Ware, yet on the basis of the white slip other students would place
them in Conchas White-to-Buff. However, we feel such a placement is premature, and
prefer to reserve the term "Conchas White-to-Buff" for the pottery when it has already
developed the characteristics which define the Conchas Phase, i.e., a highly polished
thick white micaceous slip over the interior and exterior of bowls, and more specialized
inventory of bowl forms.
Total: 42 rims, 14 bodies
Differentially Fired White-and-Black Ware
Discussion: This ware resembles the coarser paste examples associated
with the Cuadros Phase, and may be the same as Pampas Black and White pottery at
Salinas La Blanca (Coe and Flannery 1967: 33), Izapa (Ekholm 1969: 39) and Altamira
(Green and Lowe 1967: 108).
Paste: Medium-coarse, sandy texture with tiny white particles and mica
flecks which show on the surface. The color is black or whitish-tan according to the
firing effect.
Surface finish: All vessels are unslipped, but are moderately to well burnished
on the interior. The exterior is left rough or smoothed but unburnished. Most are fired
to show a distinct white rim; one example has a black interior and a light exterior which
is coated with a thin, streaky white wash.
Vessel Form: All examples are of open bowls with straight-flaring wall to
direct flat or flattish-rounded rim, and flat base. The form is similar to the flaring-
wall bowls of the Cuadros Phase.
Total: 8 rims
The Monteroso Mound
The Monteroso Mound, named after its owner who cultivates a milpa on it, is
situated on the northeasterly edge of Salinas Tilapa immediately adjacent to other mounds
around the salt flat. Despite its proximity to the Alfredo Mound (Cuadros Phase) on one
side and the Carlos Mound (Conchas Phase) on the other, it exhibits a contrasting ceramic
assemblage. Although time did not permit a controlled test excavation, we were able to
167
put in a cut on one side of the mound slope in order to obtain a sub-surface sample. The
tecomate sherds from the fill appear to be identical in nature to most of the large quantity
we collected from the surface.
The sample from the Monteroso Mound consists of a few sherds of thin-walled
tecomates and a large amount of thicker-walled tecomates which appear to be directly
related to them in style, and may be derived from them. The thin-walled tecomates are
identical to those classified as Michis Thin tecomates of the Ocos Phase at Izapa (Ekholm
1969: 27) and Altamira (Green and Lowe 1967: 104). A few sherds of the same type were
found at El Balsamo (Shook and Hatch, ms. in prep.), at Monte Alto in the Department of
Esquintla and at La Blanca and other sites in the Rio Naranjo drainage (Shook and Hatch, ms.
in prep.), always in mixed deposits with presumable later material.
During our studies of the ceramic sequence of the South Coast of Guatemala,
we have long been interested in a particular ware which occurs as occasional sherds within
Early but especially in Middle Preclassic assemblages. The distinguishing feature of bowls
and tecomates of this ware is the combination of very fine, hard-fired paste, thin-walled
vessels, with fine press-incised line decoration, sometimes so lightly applied that it is
barely visible. The ware is usually associated with well-polished slips, specular hematite
red paint, and a developed inventory of bowl forms. Michis Thin tecomates are definitely
members of this potteiy style and thus we have assumed that the ware pertains to the
Ocos Phase. All tecomates of the Monteroso Mound are apparently related to this tradition.
Thin-walled tecomates, like Michis Thin, are present but the majority range to medium
and thick-walled tecomates also bearing the characteristic press-incised line decoration.
In fact, within this lot a continuum can be observed from thin to thick-walled tecomates
(or vice versa). We suspect that this sample may demonstrate a continuous development
from the thin-walled, fine-paste tecomates into a coarser paste, thick-walled tradition
wherein the press-incised decoration is ultimately dropped at the end of the sequence.
This hypothesized evolution resembles the trend recognized in the Cuadros-Jocotal Phases
which sees a gradual loss of interest in surface manipulation on tecomates, the end
product being a plain, globular, thick-walled tecomate with direct blunt rim, the form
typical of the Conchas Phase.
A puzzling aspect of the sample from the Monteroso Mound is the frequency of
jar rims on the mound surface; these are different from the tecomates in paste and
surface treatment. Although the test cut provided only a limited sample, no jar rims came
from the deeper mound fill. These jar rims are similar to ones found in surface
collections which include Jocotal material from other sites in the general area. Character-
istically at Salinas Tilapa the necked jar replaces the tecomate form after the Conchas
Phase (which has both forms).
Monteroso Ware
Discussion: Because of the internal consistency exhibited by the tecomates
from the Monteroso Mound in paste, form, and style of decoration, and the contrast with
those of Salinas Ware, we have assigned them to a category which we call Monteroso Ware.
168
Paste: Fine textured, very dense, compact, and hard-fired. Under a hand
lens can be seen abundant tiny black crystals, and less frequent quartz, ferruginous
inclusions, and mica flecks. Paste color is characteristically light greyish-tan, but
ranges to the pinks and greys from firing.
Surface finish and Decoration: See below under Vessel Form.
A. Vessel Form: Globular tecomates (Fig. 4q-aa). The body is rounded
with the wall curving evenly to a direct rounded rim or rim with sharp upper lip and
rounded lower lip. Typcially the diameter of the orifice is less than those of tecomates
of the Cuadros and Jocotal Phases. Several examples are thin-walled (Fig. 6w),
comparable to Michis Thin tecomates at Izapa, but are smaller in size. The exterior is
all-over well-smoothed, while the interior is cursively smoothed only. Most tecomates
have a burnished band 4. 5 to 5 cm. wide extending from the lip of the rim down the body
exterior; the area below this is left unburnished and very frequently bears an orange-red
or reddish-brown wash. The burnished band is sometimes painted with a pinkish "iridescent"
paint (Fig. 6y). In other cases the paint is dull red, purplish-red, or orange, but in
every case, whether paint is present or not, the burnishing of the rim band causes it to
appear a brighter color than the unburnished lower section. The burnished band commonly
has a thin, even press-incised line encircling the wall 1 to 1. 5 cm. below the rim
(Fig. 6z-cc); occasionally there are two encircling lines, one just below the rim and
the other 2. 5 to 3 cm. below it (Fig. 6x).
Some of the tecomates have no burnished rim band; most, if not all (some
examples are too weathered to discern) have a reddish-brown or orange-red wash over
all the exterior. These unburnished examples characteristically have no press-incised
line decoration (Fig. 6dd, ee). One exception has an encircling line 4. 5 cm. below the
rim and below this are criss-crossed press- incised lines (Fig. 6ff), as seen on Monte
Incised Pottery at Altamira during the Barra Phase (Green and Lowe 1967: 103; Lowe
1975: 23).
We believe that we have in this sample from the Monteroso Mound an
evolutionary development from the Ocos-style thin-walled tecomate into a thicker-walled
one which still retains the burnished and painted rim band and encircling press-incised
line. At the end of the sequence the burnished band and encircling lines seem to be dropped.
The final product is a plain globular tecomate with all-over reddish-brown to orange-red
unburnished wash, which in some cases is indistinguishable from Conchas Red Unburnished
tecomates of the Conchas Phase at La Victoria (Coe 1961: 63). The pattern thus implies
a generic evolution in the tecomates of the Ocos types into the standard utilitarian form of
the Conchas Phase. If so, it suggests that the Monteroso sample links the Ocos and
Conchas Phases, and also that the Monteroso sample is contemporaneous, at least at
some point, with the Jocotal Phase from which Conchas ceramic types are also derived.
Total: 185 rims, 217 bodies
169
B. Vessel Form: Although bowls are rare in the sample, various forms are
represented. One has a curved wall from a flat base with rounded wall-base junction
(Figs. 4bb, 6gg). The orifice is slightly restricted, with direct rounded rim. The vessel
is all-over smoothed and bears a thin orange-brown slip which is low-burnished. Just
below the rim on the exterior is an encircling narrow pre-slip groove, and on the wall
below it are vertical grooves 6 cm. apart. Two bowl body fragments have a flat base
with sharp wall-base junction and are all-over slipped red and burnished. One of these
shows encircling parallel chamfering on the exterior.
Total: 1 rim, 3 bodies
Ware Unidentified
Discussion: The surface of the Monteroso Mound was scattered profusely
with sherds from Monteroso Ware as well as many from other unrelated types, some
of which seem to hold together as a ware. The chronological placement of this ware is
uncertain, although it is obvious that they are later in date than the Monteroso tecomates
from the mound fill. Among the other sherds from the mound surface, some could be
recognized as at least Late Preclassic in date. However, because of the presence of
what appears to be a local utilitarian ware whose date and exact relationship to other
known wares is uncertain, we offer a brief description of it below.
Paste: Medium coarse, very sandy, with abundant tiny black particles,
white quartz crystals, and a sprinkling of micaceous flecks. The color is predominantly
pink to pinkish-orange but grades to yellowish-tan throughout the section.
Surface finish: The surface was cursively smoothed with the ridges and
striations left by the horizontal tool strokes being very apparent, especially on jar necks.
The vessels are apparently unslipped, or there may have been a thin slip the same color
as the paste which has been lost through weathering.
Vessel Form: Wide-mouthed jars (Fig. 4cc). The neck is slightly flaring,
4 to 6 cm. in height, with a direct rounded to thinned rim. From the base of the neck
the body rounds to (probably) a globular form. There is no decoration present.
Total: 14 rims
The Placement of the Ocos Phase, and Conclusions
Most Mesoamericanists at the present time appear to accept the chronological
placement of the Ocos Phase prior to and formative to the Cuadros Phase. The ceramic
assemblage from the Navarijo Mound at Salinas La Blanca gives new evidence to the
contrary, for this material clearly antedates and anticipates the development of the Cuadros
types. This fact indicates that they cannot possibly be derived from an Ocos antecedent,
170
as the Navarijo ceramics show no affiliation with the Ocos style. The tear-drop shaped
tecomate which is so definitely a part of the Navarijo complex may have a slight
counterpart in forms of the Barra Phase in Chiapas, although the wares are entirely
different and unrelated. The early radiocarbon date for the Navarijo Phase (approximately
1200 B. C.) hints that it may possibly overlap with the end of the Barra Phase.
Although much remains to be learned about the Ocos Phase, there seems little doubt
that in Chiapas it postdates the Barra complex and has some generic relationship to it.
Barra Phase Cotan Grooved Red ceramics, for instance, show continuity and evolution
into Ocos forms and types (Lowe 1975: 33); the type is considered the direct antecedent
of Ocos Specular Red pottery (Lowe 1975: 25).
Although we have not yet had access to all of the reports currently in press
by Ceja regarding studies undertaken at Aquiles Serdan, it appears that the Navarijo
Phase is not present or not yet recognized in Chiapas, and that the Cuadros Phase may
have arrived there already fully developed. Tecomates with complex profile, the hall-
mark of the Cuadros Phase, are fairly common at Izapa (Ekholm 1969: 36), but are
rare at Altamira (Green and Lowe 1967: 106) and at Chiapa de Corzo during the Cotorra
Phase (Dixon 1959: 4-19). The implication is that these Early Preclassic tecomates in
Chiapas belong to the late Cuadros and Jocotal Phases. Interestingly enough, tear-drop
shaped tecomates are found in the Burrero Phase at Santa Cruz (Sanders 1961: Figs. 16,
19), but they contrast markedly from those of the Navarijo Mound in style of decoration.
The Altamira test cuts (Green and Lowe 1967; Lowe 1975) repeatedly show
Jocotal occupation debris mixed with Ocos Phase ceramics. This is explained by the
authors as either indicating a hiatus in occupation between Ocos and Jocotal times, or
that the Cuadros material was cleared away before Jocotal construction activity began.
Nevertheless, the evidence indicates that clear-cut Cuadros levels are absent in the
stratigraphy. Sherds of Guamuchal Brushed tecomates barely appear, while Barra and
Ocos sherds continue in all cuts mixed with Jocotal types almost to the surface. These
are explained (Green and Lowe 1967: 58, 93) as "carry-ups" or secondary deposition
caused by selectivity due to their unusual attractiveness (and Cuadros sherds less so?).
An alternative explanation is to accept some contemporaneity between Jocotal and Ocos,
as even the authors admit. The work at Aquiles Serdan currently in press may clarify
the picture as, according to Lowe (1975: 18), it has an extraordinarily dense "early
Olmec horizon which is primarily Cuadros Phase" directly overlying an Ocos level.
The site of Izapa contains Ocos, Cuadros, and Jocotal sherds in the mound fill, but the
lack of stratigraphy renders it impossible to determine the relationship between them
and the relative chronologies.
Lowe (1971: 221-223) speaks of an ?0cos horizon" which underlies and forms
much of the foundation for the development of Olmec society in the Greater Isthmus Area
(southern Veracruz, western Tabasco, southeastern Oaxaca, and southern, perhaps also
central Chiapas). However, a serious problem exists in the definition of an Ocos
horizon style, as its chronology and internal development is not yet understood. The
usual identification of Ocos or Ocos-like complexes often appears to be based on the
171
presence of thin-walled tecomates. As far as can be determined at present, on the South
Coast of Guatemala Ocos-style tripod tecomates with iridescent painting have so far been
found only at La Victoria (Coe 1961). In Chiapas they are present at Paso de la Amada
(Ceja 1978: Fig. 40). Bowls with crenelated rims appear at La Victoria and Izapa; thin-
walled tecomates have a wider distribution. It is not yet possible to determine which of
these distinctive traits is earlier or later, whether they appear only briefly and locally,
how long the "horizon" may endure, etc.
In reference to investigations made by Sisson in the Chontalpa region of
Tabasco, Lowe (1971: 221) alludes to "deep pre-Olmec" deposits which contain some Ocos-
like traits. The actual report by Sisson (1970: 44) indicates that a few Ocos-like sherds
were present in collections obtained from the surface of sites in the area and on this
basis an "earlier Ocos-like" phase was postulated. While the assumption is very likely
valid, it remains to be tested. The earliest phase actually excavated by Sisson included
brushed tecomates and differentially fired black and white pottery, as well as plain and
dentate rocker stamping, traits which he considered to have close affiliations with ceramics
of the Bajio and Chicharras Phases at San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan, Veracruz. These phases
at San Lorenzo were found by Coe overlying the Ojochi, or earliest, phase at the site
which contained pottery described (Coe 1970: 22) as a "country cousin" of the Ocos ceramics,
being similar but lacking certain distinctive Ocos decorative traits. It is difficult to
determine from Coe's and Sisson's reports how closely the ceramics are allied to Ocos,
Cuadros, and Jocotal types. The information is also insufficient to verify the presence of
an Ocos horizon below the Olmec-related occupation in the region.
To recapitulate somewhat on points touched upon in the Introduction to this
paper, it seems worth mentioning again that at the site of La Victoria on the South Coast
of Guatemala, Coe (1961) found the Ocos complex directly beneath Conchas Phase ceramics,
whereby he concluded that there was an uninterrupted development from the one into the
other. After his work at Salinas La Blanca, he proposed (Coe and Flannery 1967: 21)
that there was a 200-300 year hiatus between the two phases, although the gap does not
appear in the stratigraphy. The hiatus was proposed to allow time for the Cuadros and
Jocotal occupations which were considered to follow the Ocos Phase. Sherds of Cuadros
and Jocotal were alleged to actually have been present in the La Victoria sample, but
being unrecognized at the time, were said to have been lumped in the general category of
Victoria Coarse pottery. A close inspection of the La Victoria report in light of the later
corrections (Coe and Flannery 1967) reveals that there are virtually no ceramics which
are diagnostic of the Cuadros Phase represented in the sample. There are no Guamuchal
Brushed or Mapache Red-rimmed tecomates, Nonspecular Variety, or tecomates of
complex profile. Suchiate Brushed tecomates (Jocotal Phase) are present (Coe 1961: Fig.
52a) in the Conchas Phase levels, as would be expected. Ocos sherds appear mixed
likewise in the upper levels, which Coe (Coe and Flannery 1967: 21) attributes to redeposition.
The important point here is that, as at Altamira, Ocos and Jocotal sherds appear mixed
together, whereas Cuadros Phase material is absent.
Another observation on the La Victoria sample seems important. Coe (Coe and
172
Flannery 1967: 26) restricts Mapache Red-rimmed tecomates, Specular Hematite Variety,
to the Ocos Phase, but believes that those of Nonspecular Variety, which are diagnostic
of the Cuadros Phase, develop directly from them. Our study of the Navarijo and Alfredo
Mounds suggests that tecomates with red rim bands are a development late in the Cuadros
Phase. Rather than evolving directly from the Ocos type, it seems more likely that red
rim bands on tecomates are a result of style sharing between Ocos and late Cuadros
peoples. If this is so, it would indicate that the Ocos complex is vigorous and alive
during the later part of the Cuadros Phase.
In our studies at Salinas Tilapa it was observed that the ceramics of the
Monteroso Mound suggest evolutionary development from Ocos-style tecomates into
Conchas Red Unburnished tecomates of the Conchas Phase. Such a development parallels
the evolution from Jocotal ceramics into those of Conchas as seen in Conchas White-to-
Buff pottery. Thus contemporaneity between at least the end of the Ocos Phase and the
Jocotal Phase is implied in the Monteroso sample.
An Interesting note on the possible contemporaneity of the Ocos and Jocotal
Phases is to be found in the Izapa study. Ekholm (1969: 55) assigns Siltepec White pottery
to both the Ocos and Jocotal Phases. It is not explained why the category is not represented
in Cuadros Phase ceramics, presumably because sherds of this type were not found in it.
A time gap in manufacturing the pottery seems unlikely, and again some relationship or
overlapping between Ocos and Jocotal Phases is implied.
A comparison of Ocos traits with those of other phases on the Pacific South
Coast of Guatemala and Chiapas points up some important differences. Ocos ceramics
appear to derive, in part at least, from certain types of the Barra Phase. A generic link
between the two phases seems realistic in Cotan Grooved Red pottery, and in the preference
for thin-walled globular tecomates and restricted orifice bowls with decoration by fine
press-incised lines. With Cuadros, Ocos shares certain decorative techniques such as
stamped (rocker and dentate) and impressed decoration, and bowls with exteriorly
thickened rim. With the Jocotal Phase the two have in common the globular tecomate form
(of simple profile), and a developed inventory of bowl forms which include beveled and
everted rims. The relationship of both the Cuadros and Jocotal Phases with Ocos ceramics
thus seems to be one of style-sharing, rather than generic. Stronger ties, however, are
implied in the similarities between Ocos and Conchas complexes, such as the general
sophistication in ceramic technology, complex inventory of vessel forms, footed vessels,
highly polished slips (sometimes micaceous), the use of napkin-ring ear spools, and the
figurine cult. The ancient purpose of figurines is not understood, but there can be little
doubt that they represent a belief system. Such systems are traditions by definition,
extremely conservative and difficult to change. It is virtually inconceivable that such a
tradition could exist (with the accompanying traits), be dropped for 200-300 years during
the Cuadros and Jocotal Phases, to be re-adopted almost fanatically again in the Conchas
Phase which is itself a product of a long period of local and steady evolution.
The evidence suggests that Barra-Ocos is a tradition that developed in the
173
Chiapas region, possibly at the same time that Cuadros is becoming evident in the Rio
Naranjo drainage as well as elsewhere, perhaps, on the South Coast of Guatemala. We
propose that these two traditions are different and develop independently until about the
middle of the Cuadros Phase, when there occurs some cultural exchange which shows up
in stylistic similarities in the ceramics. The interchange becomes stronger and more
vigorous during the Jocotal Phase, with Jocotal being the more dominant of the two in
most areas. However, in the Rio Naranjo drainage there appears to occur an actual
fusion, the nature of which is not understood, between the Ocos and Jocotal complexes
which we believe is directly related to the sudden and splendid florescence of the Conchas
complex. Elsewhere, the Jocotal Phase shows evidence of a smooth development into
other complexes, e. g., into the Duende Phase at Izapa and into the Balsamo Brown Ware
complex at the site of El Balsamo, Department of Esquintla (Shook and Hatch 1978).
Such a hypothesis eliminates the need to assume that most areas of the South Coast of
Chiapas and Guatemala were abandoned during the Conchas Phase, as is shown on
current phase chronology diagrams (e.g. Ekholm 1969: 19).
The Ocos complex is difficult to comprehend and fit into the chronology of
Mesoamerica, and we do not pretend to have sufficient information to supply definite
answers. The matter needs careful and thorough study. Nevertheless, we believe that
the Navarijo complex and the Salinas Tilapa mounds have provided useful information
for redefining the Early Preclassic sequence and ceramic complexes on the South Coast
of Guatemala. It is hoped that this report will point out the necessity for further inquiry
and investigation.
The proposed alignment with the Altamira sequence is as follows:
Period              Salinas La Blanca     La Victoria       Altamira
(Green and Lowe 1967;
Lowe 1975)
Late Preclassic       Crucero              Crucero           Crucero
Middle Preclassic     Conchas              Conchas
Early Preclassic      Jocotal              Ocos              Jocotal
Cuadros                                Ocos
Navarijo                               Barra
174
References Cited
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1978   Paso de la Amada. Tesis, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico.
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1961   La Victoria, an early site on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala. Papers
of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 53.
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1970  The archaeological sequence at San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan, Veracruz.
Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research
Facility No. 8. Berkeley.
Coe, M.D.
and K. V. Flannery
1967  Early cultures and human ecology in South Coastal Guatemala.
Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology Vol. 3. Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D. C.
Dixon, K.A.
1959   Ceramics from two Preclassic periods at Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas,
Mexico. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation No. 5.
Ekholm, S. M.
1969
Garcia Payon, J.
1966
Green, D. F. and
1967
Mound 30a and the Early Preclassic ceramic sequence of Izapa,
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Prehistoria de Mesoamerica. Excavaciones en Trapiche y Chalahuite,
Veracruz, Mexico, 1942, 1951, y 1959. Cuadernos de la Facultad de
Filosofia, Letras, y Ciencias Vol. 31.
G. W. Lowe
Altamira and Piedra Parada, Early Preclassic sites in Chiapas,
Mexico. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation No. 20.
Lowe, G.W.
1971   The civilizational consequences of varying degrees of agriculture and
ceramic dependency within the basic ecosystems of Mesoamerica.
Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research
Facility No. 11. Berkeley.
1975 The Early Preclassic Barra Phase of Altamira, Chiapas. Papers of
the New World Archaeological Foundation No. 38.
175
Lowe, G. W., and P. Agrinier
1960   Mound 1, Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, Mexico. Papers of the New
World Archaeological Foundation No. 8.
Sanders, W.T.
1961   Ceramic stratigraphy at Santa Cruz, Chiapas, Mexico. Papers of
the New World Archaeological Foundation No. 8.
Shook, E. M.
1947 Guatemala Highlands. Carnegie Institution of Washington Year Book
No. 46. Washington, D. C.
Shook, E. M. and M. P. Hatch
1978   The ruins of El Balsamo. Journal of New World Archaeology Vol. m,
No. 1. University of California, Los Angeles.
Sisson, E.B.
1970   Settlement patterns and land use in the Northwestern Chontalpa,
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et. al. No. 6. Philadelphia.
176
,Figure 1: Plan and section of Salinas La Blanca. The plan, slightly modified, is taken
from Coe and Flannery 1967, Fig. 4 and shows the probable form of the west
mound during the Cuadros, Jocotal and Crucero Phases. The section illustrates
the postulated conditions of the site from the earliest Navarijo Phase
occupation.
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FIGURE 1
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Figure 2 (continued):
c.   Hand Position i
Salinas Ware,
of pressure).
d.   Hand Position i
Salinas Ware,,
of pressure).
e.   Salinas Ware,
f, g. Salinas Ware,
h-l. Salinas Ware,
m. Salinas Ware,
Ei
in Manufacture of Vessel Form A,
Navarijo Type (arrows indicate direction
in Manufacture of Vessel Form B.
Navarijo Type (arrows indicate direction
Navarij o Type ,
Nav~arijo Type,,
Navarijo Type,,
Navarijo Type,,
A-3.
A-2.
B.
C.
10
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182
Figure 3:  a.  Hypothetical Reconstruction of Vessel Form A,
Salinas Ware, Navarijo Type.
b.   Specular Hematite Red Slipped Tecomate.
c.   Cream-Orange Slipped Ware, A.
d.   Cream-Orange Slipped Ware, B.
e.   Cream-Orange Slipped Ware, C.
f,g. Differentially Fired White-and-Black Ware bowl,
Navarijo Phase.
h-j. Salinas Ware, Cuadros Type, A.
}               '~~~ ~    ~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~i." 19cm
Di. 18 cm.          Di. 11 cm.    _   _ D; . 32 cm.       _ -      Di. 34 cm.
d              |       e                      f
h
FIGURE 3
i
j
184
Figure 4:
a, b.
c, d.
e.
f-i.
Salinas Ware, Cuadros Type, A.
Salinas Ware, Cuadros Type,, B.
Salinas Ware,, Cuadros Type, C.
Differentially Fired White-and-Black Ware bowl,
Cuadros Phase.
Salinas Ware, Jocotal Type, A.
Salinas Ware,, Jocotal Type, B.
i -0.
P.
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Figure 4 (continue'
q-aa.
bb.
cc.
I):
Monteroso Ware, A.
Monteroso Ware, B.
Ware Unidentified, Jar.
I
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w
a-
186
The Navarijo Mound looking Northeast.
Salinas Ware, Navarijo Type, A-2.
Salinas Ware, Navarijo Type, A-3.
Salinas Ware, Navarijo Type, B-2.
Salinas Ware, Navarijo Type, B-3.
Salinas Ware, Navarijo Type, B-4.
Figure 5:
a.
b.
C.
d,e.
f.
g-k.
0
Uj
Ix
Figure 5 (continued):
l-o.   Salinas Ware, Navarijo Type, B-4.
p.     Salinas Ware, Navarijo Type, B-1.
q-t.   Salinas Ware, Navarijo Type, B-5.
u, v.  Salinas Ware, Navarijo Type body sherd.
w.     Epecular Hematite Red Slipped Tecomate
x.     Cream-Orange Slipped Ware, A.
y.     Cream-Orange Slipped Ware, B.
z.     Cream-Orange Slipped Ware, C.
aa,bb. Differentially Fired White-and-Black Ware bowl,
Navarijo Phase.
\ _S I : 4
aS
a-c. Salinas Ware, Cuadros Type, A-2.
d.   Salinas Ware, Cuadros Type, A-4.
e-g. Salinas Ware, Cuadros Type, A-1.
h-l. Salinas Ware, Cuadros Type, A-3.
m.   Salinas Ware, Cuadros Type, A-5.
n.   Salinas Ware, Cuadros Type body 3herd.
O.   Salinas Ware, Cuadros Type, B.
p, q. Differentially Fired White-and-Black Ware bowl,
Cuadros Phase.
r.   Tilapa Red-on-White Ware Tecomate.
::                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~a
0
Figure 6:
LU
M
0
Figure 6 (continued):
s-v.   Salinas Ware, Jocotal Type, A.
w-ff. Monteroso Ware, A.
gg.    Monteroso Ware, B.
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