Dedicated To: DR. RICHARD E. W. ADAMS, 1931-2015
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Dedicated to: DR. RICHARD E. W. ADAMS, 1931-2015 This volume represents research conducted in the 2014 field season. It goes to press, however, in the Fall of 2015. It is with great sadness that we received word of the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Dr. Richard E. W. Adams (June, 2015). Dr. R. E. W. Adams was the founding Director of the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project (PfBAP). With project roots in Adams’ Rio Azul Project (1983- 1987) and Ixcanrio Project (1990-1991), the PfBAP began with its first season in 1992. Dr. Adams served as Project Director through the 1994 season and as he retired from fieldwork, he was named Director Emeritus, a title he greatly enjoyed and appreciated. The project field camp, as it grew and became a more permanent facility, was named the R.E.W. Adams Archaeological Research Facility… simply referred to today as Adams’ Camp. All of us working with the PfBAP owe a tremendous debt to Dr. Adams, intellectually for his ideas and suggestions as well as a historical debt for incorporating many Tikal techniques and Altar de Sacrificios methods from his own experiences. In many respects, we carry on with his ideas and methods. Every season since 1994 he would inquire as to our findings, our interpretations, and our plans for the next season. Ever supporting of the PfBAP, he was always complementing the various researchers and students that chose to include the PfBAP as part of their Maya experience and wishing us a most successful field season. Dr. Richard E. W. Adams --- Thank you very much for all you’ve done and so generously shared with us all. You are greatly missed! RESEARCH REPORTS FROM THE PROGRAMME FOR BELIZE ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT, VOLUME NINE Edited by: Brandon S. Lewis Santa Monica College & Fred Valdez, Jr. The University of Texas at Austin Contributors James E. Brady Eric J. Heller Michael Stowe Nicholas Brokaw Kristie Hollon Ty Swavely Marisol Cortes-Rincon David M. Hyde Bruce Templeton Robyn Dodge Krystle Kelley Tawny Tibbits Stacy Drake Anastasia Kotsoglou Rissa M. Trachman Anne-Marie Fraley Brandon Lewis Debora Trein Toni Gonzalez Erik Marinkovich Fred Valdez, Jr Kacey Grauer Melanie Saldaña Cristina Verdugo Zack Hall Ann M. Scott Sheila Ward Theresa Heindel Adam Solano Stanley Walling Kimberly Wren Occasional Papers, Number 19 Center for Archaeological and Tropical Studies The University of Texas at Austin 2015 OCCASIONAL PAPERS SERIES EDITORS Fred Valdez, Jr., The University of Texas at Austin David M. Hyde, Western State Colorado University Contents Background and Introduction to the 2014 Season of the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project Fred Valdez, Jr. and Brandon s. Lewis ................................................................ 1 Overview of the 2014 La Milpa Archaeological Field Season Brandon s. Lewis .................................................................................................. 7 Excavations at Structure 3: A Large Maya Temple at La Milpa Debora Trein, Kacey Grauer, and Anne-Marie Fraley ...................................... 15 Results of the 2014 Excavations at Structure 3 and Surrounding, La Milpa, Belize Debora Trein ...................................................................................................... 43 Research Report on the 2014 Exacavations at Hun Tun: Operation 7 Robyn L. Dodge .................................................................................................. 69 The 2014 Season of Survey and Excavation: La Milpa North, NW Belize Eric J. Heller, Anastasia Kotsoglou, and Theresa Heindel ................................ 75 Summary Report on Archaeological Investigations at The Medicinal Trail Community: The 2014 Season David M. Hyde, Krystle Kelley, Michael Stowe, Zack Hall, Kristie Hollon, Kimberly Wren, and Stacy Drake ....................................................................... 97 Summary Report of Field Investigations at Dos Hombres, The 2014 Season Rissa M. Trachman .......................................................................................... 109 RB 73 Settlement Results Marisol Cortes-Rincon, Erik Marinkovich, and Ty Swavely ............................ 113 A Preliminary Assessment of Cave 1 at the Site of Chawak But’o’ob James E. Brady, Ann M. Scott, Melanie Saldaña, Toni Gonzalez, Adam Solano, Cristina Verdugo, and Stanley Walling ............................................................ 119 The Maya Forest Project, RBCMA, Belize: The 2014 Field Season Nicholas Brokaw, Sheila Ward, Stanley Walling, and Marisol Cortes-Rincon................................................................................................... 137 Geochemical Sourcing at PfBAP Tawny Tibbits ................................................................................................... 141 i Archaeological Artifact Photography (or How to Create Your Own Jungle Studio) Bruce Templeton .............................................................................................. 149 APPENDIX 1: Data (Geochemical Sourcing at PfBAP) ................................................ 157 APPENDIX 1: Ptotos (Geochemical Sourcing at PfBAP) ............................................. 159 ii BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION TO THE 2014 SEASON OF THE PROGRAMME FOR BELIZE ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT* Fred Valdez, Jr., The University of Texas at Austin Brandon S. Lewis, Santa Monica College INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The research region in northwest Belize for The Programme for Belize Archaeological Project (PfBAP) is known as the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area (RBCMA; see Figure 1). The property is owned and managed by Programme for Belize and the contiguous land holding currently stands at 260,000 acres. The PfBAP has been remained active with yearly (seasonal) research on the RBCMA since 1992. The research interests have also maintained a summer program in collaboration with The University of Texas at Austin Summer Archaeological Field School since 1994. All research conducted by the PfBAP is under permit issued annually by the Institute of archaeology, NICH, Belmopan, Belize. The PfBAP research includes pre-Maya data extending from the Paleoindian and Archaic Periods as well as post-Maya historic activities. Although the historic period findings may include Maya populations, the post- Maya reference here refers to the presence of non-Maya materials. The most of the PfBAP research has focused on Maya society beginning ca. 1000 BC and until abandonment of the local settlements. In addition to site-specific research, much of the PfBAP’s investigations have been in survey and mapping as a regional research interest. Archaeological investigations at specific sites such as La Milpa and Dos Hombres represent large site research while the PfBAP is adding to the prehistoric record through many small site investigations, such as Medicinal Trail and Hun Tun, among others. Through extensive and continuing research, the PfBAP intends to provide a regional perspective concerning the interaction between large sites, small settlements, and the many complex features that connect them all. RESEARCH METHODS (Research Design) The PfBAP, as a regionally-focused research program, maintains several significant goals. Among the interests of the PfBAP from the 2014 season’s studies are: 1) defining regional patterns of cultural development and decline (and/or fluctuations); and 2) defining major research interests/problems concerning ancient Maya Civilization (and Maya archaeology). We believe that Maya archaeology may help understand certain processual and cultural- historical questions about the prehistoric Maya. To view the prehistoric Maya from its urban centers to the supporting villages and structures is an opportunity provided by the PfBAP’s regional approach. Our approach may provide a more comprehensive view of how Maya Civilization may have operated in both positive and troubled venues. 1 Valdez and Lewis As an umbrella organization, the PfBAP allows for many research interests. Each "independent" project or research interest may have a particular research/theoretical agenda, but one that articulates with the broader goals of the PfBAP. Many perspectives and interests about ancient Maya life are reflected in the papers assembled in this volume. Figure 1. Map of PfBAP Research Area. 2 Background and Introduction REVIEW OF THE 2014 INVESTIGATIONS This introductory chapter provides a quick summary and comment to contextualize the volume. Colleagues operating under the PfBAP as well as graduate student dissertation research are among those responsible for the research reports contributed to this volume. The archaeological research herein reported was completed under a permit issued by the Institute of Archaeology, NICH, in Belmopan, Belize. The research investigations under the PfBAP in the 2014 season were quite varied (as usual), from large sites studies to the most modest of remains. Investigations at the site center of La Milpa, as well as areas often referred to as support or rural settlements, offer views of the ancient Maya from diverse perspectives. The La Milpa site center are investigations are represented by Trein at Structure 3 (see Figure 2); Lewis and others at several residential groups east and west of the South Acropolis. The referenced “support locations” are medium to small sites within the La Milpa "influence" such as Dodge’s research at the Hun Tun site; La Milpa North investigations are delivered by Heller and Co.; and Hyde and Co. present a summary of research