Under the guidance of Dr. Karl Taube, Claudia Garcia-Des Lauriers will direct the Proyecto Arqueologico Los Horcones (PALH), which will examine the nature of cultural interaction between the Pacific Coast of Chiapas and Teotihuacan, the largest city in the New World prior to European contact during the Early Classic (AD 300-500). The project will amplify and diversify currently held ideas about interaction between Teotihuacan and other regions outside of the Teotihuacan Valley through archaeological fieldwork at the site of Los Horcones on the Chiapas Coast. The fieldwork includes limited mapping of the site, location of sculpted monuments, and a systematic investigation of surface materials through the use of shovel test pits. Based on preliminary evidence, excavations will be conducted in an effort to retrieve information on datable contexts for the various materials. Through this fieldwork strategy, PALH will address the specific guiding question: what is the nature of cultural interaction between Teotihuacan and the Pacific coast of Chiapas? In order to begin to answer this larger query, a series of more targeted questions will guide the fieldwork and subsequent analysis. These questions will largely address issues of chronology, political, economic and militaristic motivations for Teotihuacan's interest in Los Horcones and an understanding of ideological dimensions of interaction. In an effort to synthesize both economic and ideological aspects of interaction a World-Systems perspective will be used to provide organizing framework for the investigation.
PALH is situated within the larger dialogue of Teotihuacan interests in distant regions of Mesoamerica and stands to make an important contribution to this larger intellectual polemic because of its ability to provide new information about the diverse relationships which Teotihuacan had with different sites. Los Horcones was strategically located at the crossroads of trade routes that led into the Soconusco and the Pacific Coast of Guatemala. The possibility that Los Horcones played a mediating role between Teotihuacan and the Pacific Coast of Guatemala needs to be investigated empirically, but certainly the geographic location of Los Horcones is suggestive of its capacity to have served in some mediating role. Through its potential to provide new information from an intermediate region rather than simply reanalyzing existing data, PALH will make an important contribution to the study of cultural interaction during the Early Classic Period in Mesoamerica.
The Pacific Coast of Chiapas is rich in history and archaeology, but has received little attention. PALH will add to this history through its results and through incorporating the local community via the local radio station and lectures at local schools. PALH will also provide training in archaeological methods to participating students from the US and Mexico. On a broader level PALH, seeks to investigate the broader impact of cultural interaction between two distant regions, a question that is even more relevant today in the age of globalization. Certainly, it provides an important example of a community at the crossroads of trade and exchange of goods, services and ideas that was affected and affected the people they were interacting with in important ways.
