Cerro de las Mesas
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Cerro de las Mesas (Spanish, "hill of the altars") is an archaeological site in Veracruz, Mexico. It was a prominent regional center from 600 BCE to 900 CE, and a regional capital from perhaps 300 CE to 600 CE.[1]
Located some 50 km (30 miles) due south of the city of Veracruz, Cerro de las Mesas is on the west edge of what had been the Olmec heartland. Rising to prominence after the decline of the Olmec culture, some researchers consider Cerro de las Mesas, along with similar sites like La Mojarra and Tres Zapotes, to be centers of a successor culture to the Olmecs, one that itself gave way to "Classic Veracruz" in the 3rd century CE.[2] The influence of Teotihuacan appears in the archaeological record during this period.
The site contains hundreds of artificial mounds, many grouped around a man-made lagoon. Cerro de las Mesas is also home to many stelae, several of which contain portraits. Four of these stelae -- 5, 6, 8, and 15 -- contain what are likely to be instances of Epi-Olmec script.[3].
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Coe, Michael; Snow, Dean; Benson, Elizabeth; (1986) Atlas of Ancient America; Facts on File, New York.
- Diehl, Richard A. (2004) The Olmecs: America's First Civilization, Thames & Hudson, London.
- Justeson, John S., and Kaufman, Terrence (2001) Epi-Olmec Hieroglyphic Writing and Texts.
- Stark, Barbara L., (2001), "Cerro de las Mesas (Veracruz, Mexico)", in Evans, Susan, ed., Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America, Taylor & Francis, London.
