While the overall importance of the Olmecs has long been recognized, very little is archaeologically known about them and the two sites which have been excavated are both located along the Gulf coast of Mexico. The adjacent Tuxtla Mountains have both fertile well drained soils. They also served as the source for the basalts used for the monumental sculpture, elite tombs and utilitarian ground stone artifacts at Gulf Olmec centers. With the exception of Dr. Arnold's reconnaissance, very little archaeological work has been focussed on the Olmec in this region. At La Joya Dr. Arnold has discovered a large site which dates to the early Olmec period and therefore has the potential to shed light on the rise of this culture.
Several goals guide the excavation and subsequent analyses.
Dr. Arnold wishes to focus on households and to determine how individual households were organized and how they changed over time. He will also characterize subsistence strategies and land use practices which the La Joya residents employed and finally will investigate how utilitarian craft objects were produced. Together these data will provide information on how La Joya people related both to each other and to their environment. To accomplish this goal Dr. Arnold will combine both survey and excavation. This will allow him to plot the distribution of sites over the landscape and to determine the context of several of these.