Long-Distance Movement of Goods in the Mesoamerican Formative and Classic

Abstract

Many models for the development of complex societies in Mesoamerica have assigned a major role to the economic importance of long-distance trade or exchange. Consideration of the distances between major centers of the Formative and Classic indicates that basic foodstuffs could not have been profitably moved between them. The evidence for the Early and Middle Formative indicates that long-distance movement of any material of which we have evidence could not have had much economic importance. By Early Classic times higher population levels make it possible to speak of long-distance movement of goods other than food staples on a scale that could have had a significant impact on a complex society.