Soconusco Archaeological Project Robert M. Rosenswig, Principal
Investigator The Soconusco is the name given to the coastal
plain and piedmont between the Pacific Ocean and the Sierra
Madre mountains of southeast Chiapas and an adjacent section of
Guatemala. The focus of this paper is the southeastern half of
the Soconusco that is approximately 60 km long and 30 to 40 km
wide. This region is defined on all sides by geographic
barriers. To the southwest is the Pacific Ocean, to the
northeast are the Sierra Madre Mountains and to both the
northwest and the southeast are two large estuary-lagoon
systems: the Cantileña and Guamuchal Manchon swamps (see
Voorhies 2004: 6-13, 20-21). The relatively small area between
the two swamp systems contain the greatest concentration of
fertile land on the Pacific coast of Mexico and Guatemala and
today is used to grow a variety of fruit crops. The area to the
northwest contains poor gravelly soils with lower rainfall and
is less productive agricultural lands (Lowe 1977: 202).