Evidence of Ancient Trade in Mexico

This is an interesting article subject wise, but even more interesting is that all of the archaeologists mentioned in the article are women.

From ArtDaily.org
August 21, 2010
Finding Reveals Contact Between Teotihuacan and Costa Grande Region

MEXICO CITY.- Nearly 6,000 fragments of Teotihuacan-style ceramics, more than 1,400 years old, were found recently in Costa Grande Region, in Guerrero, by specialists of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

The finding reveals that Prehispanic groups such as Tepoztecas, Cuitlatecas and Tomiles that dwelled the area had relations with Teotihuacan, and not only Mezcala groups as thought before.

“Fragments of vessels and flat bowls with finger support, some of them with the Tlaloc effigy and theater censers of a Teotihuacan style never seen before in Guerrero were found”, explained the archaeologist Rosa Maria Reyna, who explored with Elizabeth Galeana the El Embarcadero Archaeological Site, where the finding took place.

“This finding opens new interpretations about the relations of Teotihuacan people with other cultures, and at the same time, promotes research of cultures and archaeological sites in Costa Grande, one of the less studied regions of Guerrero”, mentioned the archaeologist.

Announced by the archaeologist at the 4th Table “Anthropological and Historical Knowledge of Guerrero”, taking place until August 21st 2010 in Taxco, Guerrero, she remarked that the discovery of these ceramic pieces that date from Early Classic period (250-650 AD) reinforce the few evidence had until now that confirmed that Costa Grande Region had commercial and cultural relations with Teotihuacan since an early age.

“We knew that Teotihuacan maintained economic and cultural interaction with Mezcala culture –settled between 150 and 650 AD- by the greenstone masks found at Teotihuacan, but there was no evidence of interaction with other populations settled in what today is Guerrero”.

After laboratory studies practiced by archaeologist Gabriela Escamilla, it was determined that 20 per cent of ceramics found in El Embarcadero, located in the municipality of Coyuca de Benitez, has a Teotihuacan style not known in Guerrero, “which indicates a very close relation between this coastal settlement and Teotihuacan”.

The Guerrero INAH Center archaeologist commented that in other Costa Grande sites such as Soledad de Maciel and Tambuco, Teotihuacan-style ceramics were found in recent years, but theater censers have only been discovered at El Embarcadero.

She also mentioned that studies also indicate that many of the objects found were not imported from Teotihuacan, but made in Costa Grande following the Teotihuacan style.

Finally, Rosa Maria Reyna pointed out that archaeological explorations conducted until now at El Embarcadero indicate that Teotihuacan influenced the ceramic production but not its architecture, since no monumental structures were constructed.