Chiapa De Corzo

A site on the Grijalva River in Chiapas, Mexico, with one of the longest occupational sequences in Mesoamerica, c 1500 BC to the present. It flourished in Late Pre-Classic to Early Classic times with adobe construction, ceramics and figurines, and then pyramids dating to 550 BC and residential complexes of cut stone to 150 BC. The style and iconography of certain artifacts indicate contact with Izapa and Kaminaijuyu in the Late Pre-Classic. Hundreds of broken sherds tell of trade contact with sites in the Penen, Monte Alban, and Teotihuacan in the Early Classic.

Located on the banks of the Grijalva River in the central depression of the state of Chiapas, Mexico, Chiapa de Corzo has one of the longest occupational sequences in Mesoamerica. Although it spans the period C1500 bc to the present, it is most interesting for its coverage of Late Pre-Classic to Early Classic times. Evidence of construction (adobe fragments), utilitarian ceramics and figurines occur at the earliest level; pyramids date to 550 bc and residential complexes of cut stone to 150 bc. The site is particularly notable for its record of constantly changing external influences. Elements of style and iconography in certain artefacts indicate contact with Izapa and Kaminaljuyu in the Late Pre-Classic. Hundreds of broken sherds found in Mound 5 tell of trade contact with sites in the Peten, Monte Alban and Teotihuacan in the Early Classic. Deliberate destruction of Mound 5 occurred in AD 500 and was followed by a brief period of abandonment. Reoccupation appears to have been by an entirely new group, possibly the Zoque.