...Despite a large and growing corpus of research, the Mesoamerican Formative period remains a contested topic for American archaeology. This condition describes multiple areas of research, not least of which is the nature and significance of interregional interaction. In this introductory essay...

...Identities, Experience, and Change in Early Mexican Villages examines shifting social identities, lived experiences, and networks of interaction in Mexico during the Mesoamerican Formative period (2000 BCE–250 CE), an era that helped produce some of the world’s most renowned...

...One of the artifact categories that when studied helps provide information regarding how villagers during the Early Formative period perceived themselves, the human body, and their social identity, is clay figurines. Compared to other ceramic objects, these figurines depict physical and visual self...

...In the communities of Central Mexico during the Early Formative period (1400–800 BCE), the site of Tlatilco stands out for the abundance of materials recovered during the four major excavations. The more than 500 burials and their accompanying grave goods offer a wide possibility of studies...

...During the Middle Formative Period (ca. 900–500 BCE), several settlements were created across Mesoamerica that then developed into early cities during the Late Formative (ca. 500/400-100 BCE). One of the intriguing issues is the timing and nature of social transformations during these time periods...

...Non-normative burials are comparatively understudied for the Andean area as a whole and are almost completely unknown for the Bolivian Formative period (1300 BC–AD 200). The current research discusses a unique case from the site of Aranjuez-Santa Lucía, where an adolescent was recovered...

...The Formative period in Colima has been treated extensively in the archaeological literature, but it—particularly its Capacha phase—remains among the most misunderstood and controversial pre-Hispanic phenomena in the region. This chapter presents new data and interpretations that bolster...

... and abandonment of mounds Formative period Labor and agriculture Los Naranjos Honduras Monumentality activities associated with Plazas at Buena Vista Pyramids at Anchucaya Trigger Bruce Yarumela Honduras Agriculture adaptations of Early Formative period agriculture during Mesoamerica agriculture...

...The final centuries of the Early Formative period (the “Early Horizon,” from ca. 1400–1000 calibrated BCE), represent a time of fundamental transformations on many levels: individual identity, gender, suprahousehold and corporate groups, emerging inequality, and ontologies of human relations...

...Traditionally, the sociocultural changes of Mesoamerica’s Early Formative period (2000–1000 cal BCE), which included an increasing reliance on domesticates and the adoption of more complex modes of social organization, have been considered from theoretical perspectives focused on discussion...

...Western Mesoamerica is often left out of considerations of Formative Period Mesoamerican history and culture, due to the absence of objects in the Gulf Coast Olmec style. This chapter posits that the far western states incorporated a distinct cultural heritage, worldview, and language family from...

... of regional integration in the incipient polity that emerged at the end of the Terminal Formative period in the lower Ro Verde Valley of Pacific coastal Oaxaca, Mexico, through a comparative analysis of ritual object caches. It focuses on the site of Cerro de la Virgen to address this question from...

... research on the Mesoamerican Formative period to be informative, eclectic, variable in quality but all worthy and even exciting contributions. They include current examples of archaeological fieldwork and collections-based research employing new techniques and perspectives brought to bear on both old...