Archaeological settlement patterns - the ways in which ancient people distributed themselves across a natural and cultural landscape - provide the central theme for this long-overdue update to our understanding of the Mexican Gulf lowlands. Olmec to Aztec offers the only recent treatment of the ancient Gulf lowlands that considers the entire prehistory of the region - from the second millennium B.C. to A.D. 1519 - instead of focusing on a single time period or culture group.

Olmec to Aztec is a crucial resource for archaeologists working in Mexico and other areas of Latin America. Its contributions help dispel long-standing misunderstandings about the prehistory of this region and also correct the sometimes overzealous manner in which cultural change within the Gulf lowlands has been attributed to external forces.

This important book clearly demonstrates that the Gulf lowlands played a critical role in development and change in ancient Mesoamerica, not only during the earliest Olmec periods but throughout the entirety of pre-Columbian history.