Construction of Complex A at La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico: A History of Buildings, Burials, Offerings, and Stone Monuments (original) (raw)

In 1969, Paul Tolstoy commented that archaeological investigation at La Venta had become "a fairly long and at times tortuous story of excavation, interpretation, re-interpretation, and depredation at the famous site found by Stirling." This thesis adds to the torture by describing and illustrating the architecture, burials, offerings, and stone sculpture of La Venta Complex A in an effort to reconcile data into an accurate sequence of meaningful cultural events. The details derive from excavation reports, field notes, maps, photographs, and correspondence of the early investigators of the site. This study addressed three myopic perceptions regarding La Venta: (1) the secludedness of Complex A, in particular the Ceremonial Court, from its inception to its termination, (2) the classification and identification of real human burials in Complex A, and (3) the analytical decontextualization of objects, offerings, and monuments from connected ritual activities there. I thank the New World Archaeology Foundation (NWAF) artists, particularly Megan Wakefield and Kisslan Chan, for assistance with the illustrations and Mary Pye for her helpful comments. I am grateful to Dr. Allen Christenson and Dr. Donald Forsyth for being on my thesis committee and for being tolerant of my last minute, up to the deadline presentation and submission. I thank Evie Forsyth in the Anthropology Department and Fred Nelson for making sure I did not lose my way. My appreciation is offered to NWAF: first, for providing me a paid position and interesting work, and second, for supporting my research into the site of La Venta. Grants from the Grace Shallit Memorial Fund, the Brigham Young University Anthropology Department, and NWAF also helped fund much of my research. I thank the National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institute, for allowing me to search their tremendous collections and for providing photocopies and scans of numerous documents, photographs, and maps. I know my requests required considerable time and effort. Also, the Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institute, allowed me a glimpse into the excavation of La Venta by providing copies of Uncovering Mexico's Forgotten Treasures and Exploring Hidden Mexico. All research paled in the light of my three boys, Xavier, Fawkes, & Kian; but ultimately they made the work worthwhile. Lastly I bow to Quint, without whom I could accomplish little.