THE FORMATIVE TO CLASSIC PERIOD TRANSITION AT IZAPA: UPDATES FROM THE IZAPA HOUSEHOLD ARCHAEOLOGY PROJECT

Abstract In southern Mesoamerica, the period between 100b.c.anda.d.400 saw both the apogee and fall of several powerful Formative-period cities. Previous reports have suggested that conquest from the southeast may have prompted a unique decline at Izapa around 100b.c., when many neighboring cities were prospering. Over the last five years, new archaeological data has emerged for the Formative to Classic period transition at Izapa. The present work summarizes these updates and highlights recent deposits excavated during the Izapa Household Archaeology Project. These updates raise questions about the Hato-phase intrusion hypothesis proposed by Lowe and colleagues (1982). I close with an alternative proposal that, beginning around 100b.c., increased network participation and a change in the institution of kingship produced some of the dramatic changes in ceramics and burial patterns observed at the site.