Alison Diefenderfer The majority of the work I did at Operation 150 (RDR) dealt with the
sub-operation denoted in the field notes as ZH. This sub-operation was
excavated with the primary goals of (1) exposing the stratigraphy of soil
down to sterile level so that finding floor levels in the other structures
might become easier, and (2) exposing a suspected courtyard region. By
the end of two days working in my own sub-operation with one Honduran
worker assisting, I had achieved the first goal. As this paper will show,
the second goal was not so easy to accomplish. In the initial surveying of Operation 150, it was suggested that a courtyard
might have existed in the middle of three large mounds (later denoted
as sub-operations ZA, ZD, and ZE) in the northeast quadrant of the excavation
site. This would make sense given prior excavation knowledge in the Mesoamerican
region. Often, the courtyard was in a central location and the residences/buildings
had entrances leading to the courtyard. At the very least, excavating
in between these mounds would be useful for reconstructing the stratigraphic
levels of the soil (i.e. transitions from topsoil to high mineral content
soil), since the central location I would later excavate was relatively
level and had few tree roots in the way of excavation (note: the roots
would also alter the soil levels). The actual provenience for sub-operation ZH’s first lot was 21.5
m East, 6 m North on the grid coordinate system (the group measured this
on the first week of the field school). This provenience was picked arbitrarily
with the sole intent being to excavate the middle region. The first seven
lots were cleared in a downward direction in order to see all levels of
soil (with 150ZH/001 having a range of 0-10 cm BGS and 150ZH/007 having
a depth range of 60-70 cm BGS). Prior to excavation, I did not know how
deep I would have to go in order to get to sterile soil. The findings from these seven lots were quite useful to the group, because
surface level was found to be between 30 and 35 cm BGS. In total, four
noticeable soil changes occurred. There was a brown level until about
20-25 cm BGS, a gray and mineral rich layer from around 25 cm to 35 cm,
a white layer (likely structure level) from 35 cm BGS to 45 cm BGS, and
a second brown layer from 45 to 70 cm BGS. Until 30 cm BGS, few (if any)
artifacts were excavated. Most of the finds were modern detritus like
Styrofoam, glass shards, and even a Christmas tree light. From 30 to 50
cm, numerous pottery sherds (mostly tertiary debris), some black obsidian,
chert, and animal bones were found. This shows occupation of the area,
even if it turns out in later excavations to be found that 150ZH is not
a courtyard. Lots 007 through 047 were a combination of expansion into likely courtyard
area and a test of patience. Part way through excavation (around Lot 016),
it was found that not only had the grid system been off, but also the
successive lots were not in a straight line. Therefore, my goal of exposing
the courtyard region gained a corollary of keeping consistent in archaeological
technique. In this report as well as my notes, the finalized corrections
of the grid coordinates are used. Unless there was a piece of lodged pottery to excavate or a profile to
draw that necessitated the extra depth, Lots 007 through 047 ranged from
0 to 30 cm BGS. The soil and artifact layers were found to be fairly consistent
in depth across the sub-operation and were even comparable to the layers
found at both sub-operations ZE and ZF. A few structure rocks were found
on the outer perimeter, but it might be fallout tumble from ZD’s
wall. One interesting find was a fairly intact pottery piece in 150ZH/035.
In this lot, there were also several pottery handles excavated. This might
indicate a pottery production site is in the vicinity of ZH. A suggestion
would be for next year’s group to excavate some units in the coordinate
area (22.5,6) and move in the direction of sub-operation ZF. There were
soil samples taken from 150ZH/035 as well that might be able to lend insight
into what this area was being used for. In short, several things can be deduced from the work I have done with 150ZH/001-047. With a basic knowledge of the soil changes, next year’s group can better plan their excavation strategies. Secondly, from just the soil changes, some things might be able to be deduced about times of inhabitance at Operation 150. The mineral rich layer of soil might indicate a period when the land was overgrown and the white layer appears to indicate inhabitance of this particular site near Pueblo Nuevo. Lastly, there were no structures found in 150ZH. Nor was an inordinate amount of evidence of a courtyard found this year. Therefore, I am not entirely sure if 150ZH was actually the courtyard. Very little can be deduced about the local history (beyond general assumptions) until further analysis of the material found is completed. However, so far many similarities in pottery and artifacts indicate a connection amongst the peoples of the three sites worked on so far (Las Canoas, El Coyote, and RDR). |