Proyecto Río Verde, 2003: Report on Excavations at Yugüe

Operation 1

The Operation 1 excavations at Yugüe were designed to determine whether any remnants of PreColumbian activity remained at what would have been the public center of the site. The Operation 1 testing entailed shallow excavation of 66m² in three separate areas around Substructure 1 (see Figure 2). Area A was situated in the southwestern corner of Substructure 1, Area B ran along the southeastern and south central portions of Substructure 1, and Area C lay near the northeastern section of Substructure 1 just behind a modern chapel.

Area A

The Area A excavations were focused on an adobe ring (Op. 1–Feature 1) that was visible on the surface. The Area A excavations cleared an area of 7m² surrounding this surface feature. Excavations within Feature 1 revealed it to be a lime kiln excavated into Terminal Formative Period fill (Figure 3, shown above). Discussions with older members of the community revealed that this feature was historic, probably dating to between 1940 and 1960. After an historic date was confirmed for the lime kiln, excavations in Area A were stopped because it was outside the purview of the project.

Area B

Area B was excavated because a slight rise and a few stones were visible from the surface. It was hoped that Area B might represent an intact Terminal Formative structure. Shallow excavations bisecting the area were undertaken to determine the stratigraphic sequence and identify any PreColumbian features. Several intact PreColumbian contexts were revealed in this process.

Intact contexts included two partial human burials and a midden. Yugüe Burials 4 and 5 were found close to the modern ground surface and in very poor condition. Less than a meter north of Burial 5, excavation revealed a sheet midden containing Late Terminal Formative Period materials (Figure 4, shown above). This sheet midden was located between 2 and 12 centimeters below the modern ground surface, near an area of moderate modern pedestrian traffic. The midden was present over an area of approximately 18m² and contained a wide variety of artifacts and ecofacts, including: partially reconstructible vessels, sherds, obsidian prismatic blades, ash, charcoal, marine shell, animal bone, fragments of adobe blocks, figurine fragments, earspool fragments, flakes of mica, a ceramic whistle, and a greenstone fragment. Stratigraphically, the sheet midden was located just below a narrow band of modern topsoil/construction fill. The stratigraphic break was identifiable in profile by the high quantity of fine sand in the surface layer.

A final primary context of some interest was found at the very eastern edge of the Area B excavations. Excavators encountered a Late Postclassic Period (Yucudzaa Phase, A.D. 1100–1522) pit feature containing polychrome sherds of the Mixteca-Puebla style. The pit was distinguished by a dark, loamy matrix and a high density of Late Postclassic polychromes. The existence of this feature revealed the unexpected existence of Late Postclassic activity at Yugüe. The feature was clearly intrusive into the surrounding Terminal Formative deposits (Figure 5, shown below).

Click on image to enlarge.

As Figure 5 shows, the stratigraphy revealed:

Area C

Area C excavations were undertaken east of the Yugüe town chapel in order to determine whether anything remained of the Terminal Formative structure that would have existed on top of Substructure 1. The Area C excavations uncovered four very important Terminal Formative contexts: the remnants of an Early Terminal Formative adobe structure, an Early Terminal Formative burial area, a series of Early Terminal Formative ritual deposits, and a Late Terminal Formative burial area.

The earliest context in Area C was a group of linear features made of fired and hardened earth that may have been part of a structure (Figure 6). The best preserved was Op. 1–Feature 2, a 2.5m-long, 21cm-wide alignment of fired earth that was oriented 15º/195º, perpendicular to the long axis of the Yugüe mound. In several places a thin cap of red, hard-fired earth coated the vertical surfaces of the feature (Figure 7, shown above). Fragments of four additional linear features ran perpendicular to Feature 2. All were aligned between 102º/282º and 105º/285º, parallel to the long axis of the Yugüe mound. None of these alignments had foundation stones beneath them. Just to the east of Feature 2 were several fragments of a compacted earthen surface. There are two possible interpretations of these features. The first is that they represent the remnants of an Early Terminal Formative building–probably public in nature given the location, shape, and size. The second interpretation is that these features pertain to shaping and retaining the fill that constituted Yugüe’s Early Terminal Formative mound.

An Early Terminal Formative date is indicated for Feature 2 due to the presence of a group of intrusive burials and ritual deposits. Yugüe burials 3, 6, and 7 were all interred near Feature 2. A total of 22 vessels were also found near the burials, some in direct association. Most of the vessels were deposited in pairs, with a small coarse brownware jar topped by an upside-down fine brownware bowl (Figure 8, shown above). Burials 3 and 7 were adults, Burial 6 was a newborn. The interment of Burial 7 disturbed Burial 3 and intruded into Feature 2.

To the north and west of Feature 2, excavations uncovered a large ritual deposit consisting of 55 poorly-fired coarse brownware cylinders and two cooking vessels. The cylinders appear in several different strata, indicating ongoing deposition over a number of years–perhaps even centuries. Nearby were interred two large coarse brownware cooking vessels. One was capped with fragments from another coarse brownware vessel. The tops of both vessels were surrounded by burned earth and ash. When excavated in the laboratory, these vessels were found to contain marine shell.

A Late Terminal Formative Burial area was uncovered three meters west of Feature 2. The area, only 7m² in size, contained the remains of more than 40 individuals and various grave goods. The burials included individuals of all ages; both males and females were represented. The burials appear to have been interred over a number of years. Earlier interments were disturbed to make way for later ones. Several of the latest interments were found intact. Of particular interest was the interment of two adult males: one about 14.5 years of age and the other about 35 years of age (Figure 9, shown above; Arion Mayes, personal communication 2003). Both were buried extended, on their right sides with their heads to the west. It is not clear if they were buried simultaneously. The younger male was found with two particularly valuable grave goods: an unfired ceramic disk coated with a layer of plaster found just below his chin; and an elaborately incised mammal femur placed in his left hand.

Previous Page  |  Table of Contents  |  Next Page