Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Ocampo Caves in Context: Agricultural Development in Southwestern Tamaulipas, Mexico

Washington University, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Abstract

Under the direction of Dr. Gayle Fritz, J. Kevin Hanselka will conduct an archaeological survey within a 3,600 ha area near Ocampo, southwestern Tamaulipas, Mexico. Evidence obtained in the 1950s from three caves in this area influenced leading regional models concerning the shift from mobile hunting and gathering to settled agricultural village life in Mesoamerica. Cave occupations represent only one aspect of a greater settlement pattern, however, and little has been done to clarify the non-cave land use activities of prehistoric peoples in the Ocampo area. Hanselka's survey will document land use and resource extraction in the vicinity of the caves. An examination of the abundant plant remains obtained from previous excavations and curated at various institutions will produce a fresh perspective on prehistoric plant subsistence in the Ocampo caves, to be compared with simultaneous changes in settlement patterns detected during the survey. From an intellectual standpoint, this research is important for several reasons. First, it will incorporate all aspects of the available plant subsistence data into a comprehensive reconstruction of plant diet in the Ocampo caves. Although archaeologists have been interested in these materials for decades, they remain largely unpublished, except in brief synthetic articles and broad overviews of the corn, bean, squash, and gourd collections. This study will draw this data together into a detailed record of the plant contents of each excavation level, to be made more readily accessible to the archaeological community. This research will also place this cave data into the context of a broader yet localized cultural system that existed outside of the caves. Regional models hold that major Mesoamerican crop plants were domesticated in widely scattered areas at different times, and were incorporated into local diets over several thousand years as they spread until fully agricultural villages were established. Prehistorians now recognize rich diversity among mixed foraging-farming systems, and that more intricate localized processes characterized the forager-farmer transition than general models address. Many past societies did not comfortably fit into the hunter-gatherer or agriculturalist categories, but instead differentially incorporated diverse gathered wild foods, managed non-domesticates, and/or domesticated foods into their local diets. Between the first appearance of domesticated plants and the first agricultural villages, such mixed, or low-level food producing, economies operated under diverse environmental and cultural contexts in Mexico. These notions demonstrate the necessity of examining agricultural development on a case-by-case basis. The present research will clarify the Ocampo low-level food production situation region in light of contemporary Mesoamerican and North American archaeology, by examining the range of settlement types and the use of diverse environmental settings in the area over time, and how or if these developments correlate with changes in dependence on wild vs. domesticated resources. As similar case studies from other localities accumulate, broader regional models of ancient Mesoamerican food production can be continuously refined. This project will also have a significance beyond anthropological research concerns. As the project will be supported by a doctoral dissertation improvement grant, it will contribute to the professional training of a graduate student who plans to go on to educate future professionals. The project will also have positive implications for the residents of communities near the Ocampo caves, as it will expand on knowledge of local heritage and patrimony, engendering a greater understanding of the Ocampo region's place in the greater context of Mexican prehistory. Much of the local populace currently earns its living through subsistence/small-scale commercial farming; these will gain an awareness and appreciation of how earlier populations met similar environmental conditions and challenges before globalization provided alternatives. The research findings will be disseminated within Ocampo and other small communities in the area for educational purposes. In addition, this research will foster future collaborative efforts between scholars in Tamaulipas and the United States.