The largest of a number of Zapotec village communities which developed in the Pre-Classic or Formative Period in central Oaxaca, Mexico, before 1300 BC. Agriculture was practiced by 'pot irrigation', direct watering from a well. There is evidence of Olmec influence and by c 900 BC the village had grown to 20 hectares. There were small lower-class residences, public buildings, and workshops. Artifacts include debris from 'prized' minerals such as ilmenite, hematite, mica, and green quartz; as well as finished goods of Olmec origin. These suggest that San Jose Mogote was a manufacturing site of shell ornaments and magnetite mirrors and was part of an Olmec-controlled trade system.