Excavations at Sitio Bolivar: a Late Formative Village in the Arenal Basin

86 John E. Bradley The area of the site that has been exposed by have been outside of structures but within the erosion along the lakeshore is well under 2 ha. hamlet. Direct evidence of food storage featuresis Even with relatively extensive areas eroded, the lacking, but the bell-shaped pits may have been site would be defined as a small hamlet using used for this purpose. criteria developed by Blanton [1972}. The actual Many questions remain regarding the occupa- 5 extent of the site and the total number of struc- tions at Tronadora Vieja, however, the site offers tures during each occupation is unknown. Al- some unique opportunities to study the prehis- Excavations at though the number of excavated structurehold tory of lower Central America. Future excava- units decreases through time, the limited area ex- tions should concentrate on finding areas with Sitio Bolivar: cavated and differential preservation make any in- unmixed Fortuna Phase and early Tronadora ferences regarding population changes on the site Phase deposits to determine the date of transition A Late Formative Village tenuous. from the Archaic to the Pormative. Other ques- It appears that Tronadora and Arenal phase tions concern the date of the introduction of JOHN W. HOOPES in the Arenal Basin households utilized a single, relatively small maize to the site, and the variability of construc- lea. 20 mll structure constructed of a framework tion and structurehold units during the Forma- MARK L. CHENAULT of vertical support poles, likely with a thatched tive. Tronadora Vieja has already contributed to roof. The households sometimes utilized interior the understanding of the Archaic/Formative tran- and exterior smaller structures in addition to the sition in lower Central America, and further remain structure for special purposes, possibly in- search can add to our understanding of this cru- cluding food storage or processing. Hearths were cial period of cultural change. outside of the structures, and burials appeared to INTRODUCTION Sitio Bolivar (G-164) is situated on a small point of land on the south shore of Lake Arenal. I It is 1.25 km NE of the modern town of Trona- dora (ARENAL 1:50,000: UTM 276300 m N X 436500 m E} at a maximum altitude of 565 m above sea leveltftg. 5-I). The site extends north- ward below the present surface of the lake (540 m]. It is named for Quebrada Bolivar, .t~e small drainage 350 m to the west of the site. SlUO Bolivar is currently the property of ICE; however, the site is being farmed under agreements that in- clude the planting of trees in order to control erosion. Modern agricultural activity on the property is intensive, with the principal crops being toma- toes beans, yuca {sweet manioc], and corn. The southern end of the site is marked by a stand of yuca and several citrus trees. The northern hall includes com- and beanfields, which are planted to the edge of the lakeshore. A heavily overgrown bulldozed road runs east-west across the site. Current access is via a small two-track road that leaves the main road 2.5 km east of Tronadora. The site, as defined by the extent of subsurface features on the ridge top to the south and the lakeshore margin to the east, covers an area of approximately 2.5 ha. It is situated on a landform comprising small foothills in the Arenal yalley that are dissected by a number of small drainages and that has been largely denuded for pasture. Excavations at Sitio Bolivar 88 John W. Hoopes and Mark 1. Chenault 89 -c., '. SITIO BOLIVAR GI64 4L ~'~rMel",. I -----. --- --- -~-- -------~- -~------- - -~~------+.---------~.~--- / / ,/ @Dolum N 1 o 100, 2ClO ,D 400, SOO, Meters i I /' _5-1, Figure 5-2. Site map of the ridge top portion of SWo Bolivar. Map indicating location of S' . pit near the top of the ridge overlooking the lake- to the Quebrada Bolivar and: B01f~r (G-l64) relative FIELD METHODS indicating the relative locations of Operations B, C, and Aren41. Map by!ohn Hoo e sou ern shore of Lake sh~re. Their size and location suggested prehis- E. Map by fohn Hoopes. ""', t?nc burial features. The informant also men- RECONNAISSANCE tioned that waves along the lake's edge had ~xposed whole vessels, subsequently removed by ~oopes, Matthews, and Sheets first recorded Si- Deal collectors. Mueller assessing the volcanic ttc Bolivar at the end of March 1984 during a strati h ' a ratlgrap y in the cut banks of the eroded lake- shoreline survey of Lake Arenal (Mueller 1984 i ~hore, noted a high density of artifacts embedded Chap. 3). A lowering of the lake during the drY In layers below Unit 50. season exposed deposits 10-30 m wide along the water's edge. Artifacts were scattered alOng 215 m aof sho~eI'me. Surface collection produced 271, di- SURVEY AND EXCAVATION gnosnc sherds, 23 chipped stone artifacts, eight t The specific goals of subsurface testing at the site groundof stone artifacts ' and one small fragIDen.a__ were (1J to determine the nature of the disturbed a greenstone pendant. Approximately 140 IU" stone features on the upper part of the site, and cracked cooking stones were recovered. These, to- (2l to determine whether there was a functional gether with a high proportion of monochrome ce- dOff1 erence between the features on the shoreline ramics, suggest the remains of domestic activities. :;-d thos~ on top of the small knoll. G,ur ~or~g ~t the time of the initial reconnaissance, a 10- ypothesls was that the shoreline, with ItS high ca1mfOnnant (Abel Gutierrez) showed roe a large percentage of monochrome ceramics and large number of round boulders in and around a looter's ,. ",'-, .~,;iM',_, Excavations at Sitio Bolivar 91 90 fohn W. Hoopes and Mark L. Chenault quantity of thermally fractured debitage, was a TABLE 5-] domestic activity area. while the hilltop, with STRATIGRAPHIC UNITS IN OPERATION D large stone features and evidence of looting, was Depth Characteristics LAKE ARENAL mainly the locus of funerary activities. We used a manually operated posthole digger to 0-30cm Mixed, containing Units 10 and 20, identify buried features and to determine the ex- corresponding to the modern tent of artifact distribution, digging small holes cultivation zone ~ 30-50cm Unit 30i dark gray, sandy, and friable every 10 m along two 70 ill transects. Cultural 50-60cm Units 40/41. Yellow/gray sandy stratum • materials appeared in nearly every posthole, indi- 6O-70cm Unit 50, dark gray to black soil LARGE • iIJ;- A9 • cating a continuous distribution of artifacts to the W • • 70-90 em Lighter horizon, Units 52/53 HEARTHS north and west of the site datum. Although some 90-105 em Dark, clay-laden, with small white and • STRUCTURE SMALL material was as shallow as 30 em, we located the yellowish particles. Unit 54, possibly • • • • STRUCTURE majority of artifacts between 90 and 110 em be- mixed with eroded Unit 55 • @ Black, clay-laden. Probably Unit 60 and low the present ground surface (Fig. S-2). 105-115 ern • • • compressed lower strata, overlying the A8 • • • A18 Aguacate Formation \ POSSIBLE LAKESHORE INVESTIGATIONS WINOBREAK Sheets and Mueller directed investigations along Black-an-Red, Mojica Impressed (Corrida and ~e modern lakeshore at the northern end of the Arrastrada varieties), Guinea Incised, Los Herms- ROCK o 0123415 SIte, They included excavation of a 2 m x 4 m ~ nos Beige and Los Hennanos Beige: Cervantes POSTMOLD. test unit (~peration D, Fig. 5-3) and the cleaning Variety-all of which date to the latter portion METERS N an~ mapping of several features exposed by wave of the Late Arenal Phase (cal AD 300-600; acnon. Chap. 1O). We found no ceramics from earlier or Figure 5-3. Figure 54. later phases and there was little apparent tempo- ~ketch map of the lakeshore portion of Sitio Bolivar, A jirepit located between the circular domestic OPERATIOND ral variation within individual ceramic types. indicating features exposed by wave action. The map structures in Figure 5-3. Fire-cracked cooking stones are indicates the relative locations of two circular structures, visible in a matrix of charcoal and burned clay at the base of the feature. A posthole of what may have been a Operation D was placed next to in situ deposits with two large iirepits between them. Three postholes windbreak is visible as a dark circle in the upper right 10 an .eroded se~tion of the lakeshore that had LAKESHORE FEATURES near the hearths may represent traces of a windbreak. comer. Photograph by Payson Sheets. Map by Brian McKee. a .partlcularly high density of surface artifacts As noted earlier, the rise and fall of the lake be- Given the domestic character of the lakeshore tween wet and dry seasons dissects Sitio Bolivar assemb~age, we hoped that this operation would ~aterally at the water's edge. When the water level reveal mtact domestic features and Id tr ti hi provt e a IS low, the shoreline exposes a section of cultural S a igrap IC cut with which we could d t . the a .. f e errrune deposits as much as 30 m wide. Although the ere . ssocranons 0 cultural materials d hr units. an tep a sion of softer strata is severe, harder strata such as the Aguacate Formation and portions of over- cera:nic and lithic artifacts were present in lying tephra layers survive. Inthese we found sev- Operanon D but we cultural fea~res. howev~~co~ntered no intact eral well-preserved archaeological features. provide a contin~ous strati a e .excav~tion did The lakeshore features consist of the following present gro d tf gr phic section from (in the order of their discovery]." un su ace to the '1 Formation [Unit 651 Th ~ten.e Aguacate A6II: A short, outflaring-necked.

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