ABSTRACT
The most outstanding event is the Olmec civilization of southern Veracruz that reached its cultural peak between 1100-600 b.c. The resemblances to the Gulf Coast in the Basin of Mexico refer specifically to the Olmec pottery and figurines found at San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán at this time. The Gulf Coast Olmec are represented in well-burnished, flat-based dishes that may be rocker-stamped in zoned motifs, excised, incised white wares with exterior incision; differentially fired white wares, red-on-buff painted designs sometimes combined with resist technique. A culturally distinctive element is found at Tlatilco in addition to the Olmec. This consists of tall-necked bottles, some with mid-body constrictions, stirrup-spouts, whistling jars, and a great variety of effigy vessels. Bearing westward across southern Puebla, there is a natural opening in the hills leading to Las Bocas, a site yielding Olmec-like remains at the base of a large hill or cliff at the eastern edge of the Izucar de Matamoros Valley.
