Andres Diaz The beginning of the field season was developed with assumptions made
from background research. It was thought that the offsite area that was
chosen at site 150 to begin my research would yield only enough material
culture to develop a control of background noise to compare to further
more promising areas in the Rancho del Rio Site. To clarify Op 150A was established with purpose of uncovering off site
behavior of a rural locale. The Sub-Operation “A” is meant
to establish a control to know what background noise to expect when looking
for off site cultural features. The intersection of lines A-B established in the initial survey (figure
1) was a natural place to begin excavations. On May 27, 2003 at the site
grid square (-1, -31) excavations began. The excavation unit itself and
the surrounding area was located on a plowed filed approximately 15 meters
south west of the furthermost southern mound of the site Rio del Rancho.
The context of the plowed field which would create vertical disparity
led me to establish lot 001 of Operation 2A to a depth of 20 cm. At that
depth the artifacts that were being found seemed to diminish. From that
point excavations moved immediately north to the surface lot (-1, -30)
on the site map. The excavation of this 1m2 unit yielded suprising different
results. The (-1, -30) exaction unit was excavated to a total of 70 cm. At 30
cm in depth certain clues became apparent that this area was not going
to provide the intended results. Beginning with a pot handle and followed
by a figurine head, the total findings in this excavation unit yielded
innumerable pot shards. At this point it was apparent that a trash midden
was being excavated. Though excited to be finding interesting artifacts,
the directed focus of the sub operation was to establish a control for
further excavations that would be off site. This in turn caused me to
change my focus of the sub operation. It was obvious that I had not reached
an adequate depth at the (-1, -31) excavation unit and had overlooked
the trash midden. These concerns were justified in Lot 02A/ 006-008 when
I came down to a level of 50 cm and found similar occupation debris such
as pot sherds, including rim and leg portions and also some obsidian and
chert flakes. I began with the intention to only dig where cultural features had perculated
to the surface and picked up in walking surveys. After finding significant
artifact quantity in the seemingly random provenience of Sub operation
A, I plan on time permitting to perform other random sub operations in
the area in addition to those begun according to previous hints of cultural
features. After determining the existence of trash midden “green” (as
to be referred to from this point forward) it was decided it would be
worthwhile to set the short term goal of determining the dimensions of
trash midden “green.” While excavating on May 29, 2003, the process of establishing off site
behaviors in this locale became even further complicated. Lot 2A/010 uncovered
the beginning of wall “Blue.” These were disconcerting results
as the original intentions to beginning of my studies would again be skewed.
At this point a Subop 150B was opened with the new goal of establishing
the relationship between trash midden green and wall blue. Subop 150B
determined in the end that the two features coexisted as remains from
both were found amongst each other. I would recommend though the reading
of pottery from lots amongst the remains of wall blue and lots at or below
a depth of 40 cm, to ensure the same type of pottery is being found. After completing excavations at Subop 150B several test pits were dug
in the SW and one in the SE quadrant to search for evidence of activity
in the periphery of Rancho del Rio site 150. These Subops (150C-E) yielded
very few results, but were useful to establish a background noise constant.
Although disappointed that those excavations did not yield any interesting
results it was noted that the importance of establishing this constant
was important. Lots from 150C,D were read but none from 150E as this test
pit yielded almost no artifacts. From this point the decision was made
to move closer to mounds in the SW Quadrant. Subop 150F and G were excavated at -1,-10 and -10,-10 respectively. Each
Sub operation began as a 1m2 excavation unit but expanded to include another
excavation unit as artifacts and features were found. In 150F evidence
of human bone was discovered and it was decided to expand to -1,-9 to
search for the burial. In retrospect the proximity of this excavation
to a mound on the site would indicate that the burial would most likely
be along the wall of the structure where burials in Mesoamerica are commonly
found. 150G resulted in a post classic feature identified in notes as
wall Evergreen. In retrospect this may in fact be a post classic platform. Fortunately the small size of the project enables the quick analysis of finds in the field. In the area of 150A, B many sherds were found that had evidence of pottery production. In addition sherds that were used as opportunistic tools, as well as disks where found in this excavation. A finding to note in particular was a multi-chamber ocarina in 150F and a possible pre-classic sherd from 150G. Further analysis of all material will enable more conclusions to be formed about Off-site activities and behaviors at Rancho del Rio site 150. |