Local symbols and regional dynamics: The Jaguar Head Core Zone in Southeastern Mesoamerica during the Late Preclassic

The Jaguar Head Core Zone in Southeastern Mesoamerica is an original proposal that allows exploration of local symbols and regional dynamics as complementary processes in the formation of early complex societies by examining how several sculptural traditions can be used to illuminate the dynamics of social life during the Late Preclassic period. The core zone is defined by the geographical distribution of a monumental tradition originally identified by Francis Richardson in his 1940 article Non-Maya Monumental Sculpture of Central America. The Jaguar head monumental tradition consist of stylized faces carved in the round and distributed mainly in the modern territories of western El Salvador encompassing an area of some 3000 sq km to the east of the Paz River. In light of new evidence, the Jaguar Head monumental tradition is proposed as the representation of a magico-religious behavior described by many authors as shamanism. The evidence considered here shows that the Jaguar Head sculptural tradition emerges during the Late Preclassic period, and is coeval with the centralization of political power in a regional scenario of early states and early rulership cults that rise through localized strategies for power legitimization. A transition from non-institutional belief systems into an early state religion is described as the process that precedes the emergence of regional capitals along Southeastern Mesoamerica. The jaguar head core zone represents the opportunity to document social change and local contributions to a regional canon