DEBRIS FLOWS AND THEIR CULTURAL IMPACT IN THE SOCONUSCO REGION OF MEXICO

In 1794 the capital of the Soconusco province was moved from Escuintla to Tapachula. The reason for this change was a storm with strong winds that caused severe damage to Escuintla’s commerce and harm to its population. These “strong winds” likely referenced a strong hurricane that hit the area. Two hundred and eleven years later, another hurricane, Stan, provoked similar destruction in many parts of Tapachula. Given that hurricanes and other natural hazards are annual events in southern Mexico and Central America, one is led to ask, did previous hurricanes cause similar damage to ancient population centers of the Soconusco? What other geological hazards could cause large-scale destruction in the region? How have human activities interacted with natural hazards, accelerating or preventing possible disasters?

These questions are relevant because the Soconusco mangroves and coastal plain demonstrate clear evidence for the transition to sedentism, as well as for the early emergence of complex societies. Thus, it is important to understand to what degree similar catastrophes may have impacted these developments. This paper is divided into two sections. First, I will summarize the effects of Hurricane Stan in the Soconusco, specifically in the basin of the Coatan River. Through analysis of social and physical characteristics of this hurricane, we can understand how economic activities triggered the necessary conditions for a disaster to occur and how this process deeply impacted all aspects of the regional society. Analysis of Hurricane Stan has provided an inductive model for detecting previous disasters in the region. Based on this analysis, in the third section of this paper I will compare the sedimentation patterns left by Hurricane Stan, with those that buried Cantón Corralito, a thriving archaeological site in the western margin of the Coatan River between 1600-1000 B.C. With this, I make an argument for the occurrence of an early disaster in the same hydrological basin later impacted by Hurricane Stan.