Proyecto Río Verde, 2003: Report on Excavations at Yugüe

Research Methods

The site of Yugüe lies on the Río Verde’s floodplain approximately 2.5 kilometers east of the Río Verde, 3.75 kilometers southeast of Río Viejo, and 7.5 kilometers north of the Pacific Ocean. Today, Yugüe is home to a modern hamlet of 12–15 residences. The core of ancient Yugüe is a 9.75 hectare earthen occupation platform that rises up to 10 meters above the surrounding floodplain. Generally rectangular in shape, the Yugüe platform is approximately 300 meters long (E–W) and 150 wide (N–S), its long axis is approximately 105º/285º (Figure 2) (Joyce 1999:50). Excavation data indicate that the Yugüe platform was built in the early Terminal Formative Period Miniyua Phase (150 B.C.–A.D. 100), although a smaller platform may have been subsumed by Terminal Formative Period construction (Barber n.d.).

The Yugüe platform supported three earthen substructures. The largest of these, Substructure 1, comprised the north-western apex of the platform. Substructure 1 has been considerably disturbed by 20^th century building activities. The summit of Substructure 1 is now home to the Yugüe community’s chapel as well as the remnants of an older chapel that was destroyed in an earthquake. The portion of the platform surrounding Substructure 1 was clearly an area of considerable importance to the PreColumbian inhabitants of the site. In addition to being the highest part of the site, the perimeter of the platform surrounding Substructure 1 was delimited by retaining walls made of massive granite slabs. About 62 meters to the east of Substructure 1 sits Substructure 2. Substructure 2 is the smallest of the three substructures but also the best preserved. Substructure 3 lies approximately 25 meters south and east of Substructure 2. An abandoned 20^th century house sits near the top of Substructure 3. The construction of this house was extremely destructive to Substructure 3, essentially leveling much of its western side.

In order to study the Terminal Formative Period occupation of Yugüe, shallow horizontal excavations were undertaken on Substructures 1 and 2. Operation 1 entailed the excavation of materials on and near Substructure 1. Despite the obvious modern disturbance of Substructure 1, it was deemed necessary to at least test the area to determine whether any PreColumbian materials remained in this architecturally elaborate area of the site. As excavations revealed, a number of very important materials had survived the 20^th century construction. Operation 2 consisted of excavation on and near Substructure 2. Prior to excavation, Substructure 2 was believed to be a residence. Its small size and its prominent placement near the summit of the platform suggested that it was home to some of Yugüe’s PreColumbian elite. In addition, it was presumed that Yugüe was not a large enough site to have more than one area of ritual and public focus. The Operation 2 excavations quickly proved this presupposition to be incorrect when the ephemeral remains of a public area were revealed.

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