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Article: Domesticating an ancient 'temple town.' (excavation at La Venta site in Mexico)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- October 15, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1988 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Domesticating an ancient 'temple town'
Many anthropologists have assumed that the vast temples and ceremonial structures attributed to the Olmec society, which flourished in Mexico's gulf coastal lowlands between 1150 and 500 B.C., were occupied by a small group of priestly elites who ruled over farmers in surrounding areas. According to this view, people occasionally assembled in the ceremonial centers fore religious function and to perform labor for the elites.
But the "ceremonial center" model is wrong, at least at one major Olmec site, say William F. Rust and Robert J. Sharer of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In the Oct. 7 SCIENCE, ...