Tres Zapotes (Mexico) - Olmec Capital City in Veracruz

Tres Zapotes (Mexico) - Olmec Capital City in Veracruz Tres Zapotes (Tres sah-po-tes, or three sapodillas) is an important Olmec archaeological site located in the state of Veracruz, in the south-central lowlands of the Gulf coast of Mexico. It is considered the third most important Olmec site, after San Lorenzo and La Venta. Named by archaeologists after the evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Tres Zapotes flourished during the Late Formative/Late Preclassic period (after 400 BC) and was occupied for almost 2,000 years, until the end of the Classic period and into the Early Postclassic. The most important findings at this site include two colossal heads and the famous stela C. Tres Zapotes Cultural Development The site of Tres Zapotes lies on the hillside of a swampy area, near the Papaloapan and San Juan rivers of southern Veracruz, Mexico. The site contains more than 150 structures and about forty stone sculptures. Tres Zapotes became a main Olmec center only after the decline of San Lorenzo and La Venta. When the rest of the Olmec culture sites started to wane at around 400 BC, Tres Zapotes continued to survive, and it was occupied until the Early Postclassic about AD 1200. Most of the stone monuments at Tres Zapotes date to the Epi-Olmec period (which means post-Olmec), a period that began around 400 BC and signaled the decline of the Olmec world. The artistic style of these monuments shows a gradual decline of Olmec motifs and increasing stylistic connections with the Isthmus region of Mexico and the highlands of Guatemala. Stela C also belongs to the Epi-Olmec period. This monument features the second oldest Mesoamerican Long Count calendar date: 31 BC. Half of Stela C is on display in the local museum at Tres Zapotes; the other half is at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. Archeologists believe that during the Late Formative/Epi-Olmec period (400 BC-AD 250/300) Tres Zapotes was occupied by people with stronger connections with the Isthmus region of Mexico, probably Mixe, a group from the same linguistic family of the Olmec. After the decline of the Olmec culture, Tres Zapotes continued to be an important regional center, but by the end of the Classic period the site was in decline and was abandoned during the Early Postclassic. Site Layout More than 150 structures have been mapped at Tres Zapotes. These mounds, only a handful of which have been excavated, consist mainly of residential platforms clustered in different groups. The residential core of the site is occupied by Group 2, a set of structures organized around a central plaza and standing almost 12 meters (40 feet) tall. Group 1 and the Nestepe Group are other important residential groups located in the immediate periphery of the site. Most Olmec sites have a central core, a downtown where all the important buildings are located: Tres Zapotes, in contrast, features a dispersed settlement model, with several of its most important structures located on the periphery. This may have been because most of those were constructed after the decline of Olmec society. The two colossal heads found at Tres Zapotes, Monuments A and Q, were not found in the core zone of the site, but rather in the residential periphery, in Group 1 and Nestepe Group. Because of its long occupation sequence, Tres Zapotes is a key site not only for understanding the development of the Olmec culture  but, more generally for the transition from Preclassic to Classic period in the Gulf Coast and in Mesoamerica. Archaeological Investigations at Tres Zapotes Archaeological interest at Tres Zapotes begun at the end of the 19th century, when in 1867 the Mexican explorer Josà © Melgar y Serrano reported seeing an Olmec colossal head in the village of Tres Zapotes. Later on, in the 20th century, other explorers and local planters recorded and described the colossal head. In the 1930s, archaeologist Matthew Stirling undertook the first excavation at the site. After that, several projects, by Mexican and United States institutions, have been carried out at Tres Zapotes. Among the archaeologists who worked at Tres Zapotes include Philip Drucker and Ponciano Ortiz Ceballos. However, compared to other Olmec sites, Tres Zapotes is still poorly known. Sources This article has been edited by K. Kris Hirst Casellas Caà ±ellas E. 2005. El Contexto arqueolà ³gico de la cabeza colosal Olmeca Nà ºmero 7 de San Lorenzo, Veracruz, Mà ©xico. Bellaterra: Universitat Autà ²noma de Barcelona.Loughlin ML, Pool CA, Fernandez-Diaz JC, and Shrestha RL. 2016. Mapping the Tres Zapotes Polity: The Effectiveness of Lidar in Tropical Alluvial Settings. Advances in Archaeological Practice 4(3):301-313.Killion TW and Urcid J. 2001. The Olmec Legacy: Cultural Continuity and Change in Mexicos Southern Gulf Coast Lowlands Journal of Field Archaeology 28(1/2):3-25.Manzanilla L and Lopez Lujan L (eds.). 2001 [1995]. Historia Antigua de Mexico. Mexico City: Miguel Angel Porrà ºa.Pool CA, Ceballos PO, del Carmen Rodrà ­guez Martà ­nez M, and Loughlin ML. 2010. The early horizon at Tres Zapotes: implications for Olmec interaction. Ancient Mesoamerica 21(01):95-105.Pool CA, Knight CLF, and Glascock MD. 2014. Formative obsidian procurement at Tres Zapotes, Veracruz, Mexico: implications for Olmec and Epi-Olm ec political economy. Ancient Mesoamerica 25(1):271-293. Pool CA (ed.). 2003. Settlement Archaeology and Political Economy at Tres Zapotes, Veracruz, Mexico. Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.Pool CA. 2007. Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.VanDerwarker A, and Kruger R. 2012. Regional variation in the importance and uses of maize in the Early and Middle Formative Olmec Heartland: New archaeobotanical data from the San Carlos homestead, southern Veracruz. Latin American Antiquity 23(4):509-532.

The 6 Types of Togas Worn in Ancient Rome

The 6 Types of Togas Worn in Ancient Rome The Roman emperor Caesar Augustus referred to his own Roman citizenry as the toga-clad people- and with reason. While the basic style of a toga- a shawl draped over the shoulder- was worn by the ancient Etruscans and, later, the Greeks, the toga went through several changes before finally becoming the classic Roman item of clothing. Toga A Roman toga, simply described, is a long piece of fabric draped over the shoulders in one of several ways. It was usually worn over some kind of tunic or other undergarments, and it might be pinned in place by a fibula, a Roman brooch shaped like a modern safety pin. if the toga was decorated at all, the decoration had some symbolic connotations and the toga was arranged to make sure that the design was clearly visible to other people. The toga was an article of clothing that had stately symbolism, and according to the Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE), it was the earliest dress of both Roman men and women. It can be seen on statues and paintings from as early as 753 BCE, during the earliest years of the Roman Republic. It was common until the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 CE. Togas worn in the earlier years were quite different from those worn at the end of Roman times. Changes in Style The earliest Roman togas were simple and easy to wear. They consisted of small ovals of wool worn over a tunic-like shirt. Virtually everyone in Rome wore a toga, with the exception of servants and slaves. Over time it grew in size from just over 12 feet (3.7 meters) to 15–18 ft (4.8–5 m). As a result, the semicircular cloth grew more and more cumbersome, difficult to put on, and just about impossible to work in. Typically, one arm was covered with fabric while the other was needed to hold the toga in place; in addition, the woolen fabric was heavy and hot. During the time of Roman rule until about 200 CE, the toga was worn for many occasions. Variations in style and decoration were used to identify people with different positions and social status. Over the years, however, the impracticality of the garment finally led to its end as a piece of daily wear. Six Types of Roman Togas There are six main types of Roman togas, based on their coloration and design, each representing a specific status in Roman society. Toga Pura:Â  Any citizen of Rome might wear the toga pura, a toga made of natural, undyed, whitish wool.Toga Praetexta:Â  If a Roman were a magistrate or a freeborn youth, he might wear a toga with a woven reddish-purple border known as a toga praetexta. Freeborn girls may have worn these as well. At the end of adolescence, a free male citizen put on the white toga virilis or toga pura.Toga Pulla: If the Roman citizen were in mourning, he would wear a darkened toga known as a toga pulla.Toga Candida:Â  If a Roman became a candidate for office, he made his toga pura whiter than normal by rubbing it with chalk. It was then called toga candida, which is where we get the word candidate.Toga Trabea:Â  There was also a toga reserved for elite individuals that had a stripe of purple or saffron, called a toga trabea. Augurs- religious specialists who watched and interpreted the meanings of natural signs- wore a toga trabea with saffron and purple stripes. The purple and white striped tog a trabea was worn by Romulus and other consuls officiating at important ceremonies. Sometimes the property-owning equite class of Roman citizen wore a toga trabea with a narrow purple stripe. Toga Picta:Â  Generals in their triumphs wore toga picta or togas with designs on them, decorated with gold embroidery or appearing in solid colors. The toga picta was worn by praetors celebrating games and by consuls at the time of the emperors. The imperial toga picta worn by the emperor was dyed a solid purple- truly a royal purple.