Keeping It Coastal: Classic Period Politics Along Mexico’s Southern Gulf Lowlands

Speaker: Dr. Philip J. Arnold III

On February 24, we welcome back Dr. Philip “Flip” Arnold, to discuss Classic Period politics in the Southern Veracruz region.

Tuxtlas Statuette

The Southern Gulf Coast of Mexico is best known as home to the Formative Period (1500-500 BC) Olmecs, a precocious culture celebrated for its megalithic artwork. Less established, but no less important, are the political ebbsandflows that marked this region during the heyday of the subsequent Classic Period (AD 300-1000).This presentation charts these Classic Period developments through archaeological, iconographic, and epigraphic data. Previously identified linkages between La Mojarra Monument #1 and the Tuxtlas Statuette are further supported via more recent data from Totocapan and Matacanela, while fieldwork at Teotepec and La Perla del Golfo suggests interaction with other Classic Veracruz cultures up and down the southern Mexican Gulf Lowlands.This new understanding demonstrates that the region’s cultural character, often

La Mojarra Monument #1

Dr. Philip Arnold

attributed to outside forces such as the Lowland Maya or Teotihuacan in Highland Mexico, results instead from an autochthonous (indigenous) development. This appreciation, in turn, offers a more nuanced understanding of the unique expressions that together constitute Classic Veracruz culture.

Our speaker, Philip J. Arnold III, is a Professor of Anthropology at Loyola University Chicago. His archaeological research focuses on the political and economic development of southern Veracruz, Mexico, spanning a period of approximately 3000 years. Dr. Arnold is the author and editor of numerous publications. His most recent volume, coedited with Lourdes Budar, is Arqueología de Los Tuxtlas: Antiguos Paisajes, Nuevas Miradas (2016: Universidad Veracruzana). His faculty webpage is https://www.luc.edu/anthropology/faculty/arnold.shtml .

The CAS will meet at 3:00pm for a social period, with the lecture beginning at 3:30pm at the Evanston Public Library, 1703 Orrington. Meetings are open to the public and free of charge.