Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Anthropological Archaeology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jaa Collapse and diverse responses in the Gulf lowlands, Mexico Barbara L. Stark ⁎ , Krista L. Eschbach School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85283-2402, United States ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Collapse Reorganization Migration Mesoamerica Gulf lowlands Survey ABSTRACT Between AD 800–1000, the south-central and southern Veracruz lowlands experienced a process of collapse with depopulation that we document with data from systematic archaeological surveys and paleoenvironmental studies. The subsequent record in the Postclassic period indicates varied responses, predominantly settlement reorganization involving retrenchment to fewer settlements or highland immigration. In the latter case, we argue that collapse with depopulation has an important link to migration, providing lightly occupied or vacant lands that afford opportunities for outside migrants. The Spanish conquest and ensuing Colonial period serve as a general comparative analogy for some processes we discuss in prehispanic times for the Gulf lowlands. Unlike the Colonial period, the causes of the prehispanic Gulf collapse are not well studied, but multiple factors likely contributed. Drought and socioeconomic domino effects could explain the extensive spatial scale of collapse that we document. The dramatic, complex collapse in the southern Maya lowlands during a similar interval has dominated Mesoamerican discussions of collapse, but a wider spatial perspective indicates not only a more extensive interregional phenomenon, but also a greater diversity of responses. 1. Introduction We argue for collapse during A. D. 800–1000 over an extensive part of the Gulf lowlands of Mesoamerica, followed by reorganization or outside immigration. 1 We establish that collapse with depopulation can create opportunities for later immigrants to obtain lands and establish settlements. Evidence for collapse derives from systematic surveys that show broad-scale changes as striking and complex as coeval processes in the southern Maya lowlands. In south-central and southern Veracruz, Mexico (Fig. 1), existing polities and cultural traditions largely ceased near the end of the Late Classic period (AD 800–900) or early in the subsequent Postclassic period (AD 900–1000). Regions that reorganized with fewer, more nucleated settlements contrast with other areas that remained largely vacant. In yet another outcome, some regions were lightly re-populated by migrants from the adjacent Mesoamerican highlands during the Postclassic period (AD 900–1521) or highland immigrants joined remaining local settlements. These migrations led to cultural heterogeneity, evidenced by multiple languages and cultural diversity at some Postclassic Gulf centers. We first clarify the key concepts of collapse and migration because of their varied meanings. We draw insights from Spanish colonial stu- dies to provide the richness of a documentary example to illustrate both variety and consistencies in collapse processes and subsequent re- sponses, such as migration—in the vein of a general comparative analogy (Willey, 1953; see also Lyman and O’Brien, 2001). Colonial documentary studies also address marked native population loss, par- ticularly in lowland regions, such as the ones we study. Although some native populations continued under Spanish rule, sociopolitical dis- ruption and introduction of new colonial cultures make the Spanish case appropriate as a general comparative analogy for the processes we address, rather than a specific historical one. Colonial period disrup- tions from conquest and epidemics led to the demise of many pre-ex- isting polities and profound political reorganization resulting in vacant or greatly depopulated lands. The colonial situation created opportu- nities that migrants exploited, leading to culturally heterogeneous re- gions and settlements—analogous to earlier patterns we discuss and enlarging the range of examples of the processes of interest. Next, we summarize archaeological and paleoenvironmental information concerning Gulf collapse and related Postclassic re- sponses. A brief comparison to collapse on the Pacific coast of Chiapas and Guatemala indicates an even larger spatial scale in the coastal lowlands. The range of responses to Gulf collapse augments the picture from the southern Maya lowlands by including evidence of highland migrants to the Gulf area. In our concluding discussion we note that the sheer scale of collapse points to spatially extensive causal processes, the two most prominent being climate change and cascading socioeconomic disruptions. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2018.03.001 Received 23 August 2017; Received in revised form 24 February 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: blstark@asu.edu (B.L. Stark), Krista.Eschbach@asu.edu (K.L. Eschbach). 1 In some parts of Mesoamerica, investigators label the A.D. 800–1000 interval the Terminal Classic or Epiclassic period, but we primarily use phase names or calendar intervals. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 50 (2018) 98–112 0278-4165/ © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. T