Baking Pot Codex Restoration Project, Belize

Excavation of the Artifacts

The excavation of Tomb 2 was overseen by Carolyn M. Audet, field director for the Baking Pot Archaeological Project. With the removal of fill dirt in the chamber, Artifacts R and T were exposed as concentrations of paint fragments on the floor surface of the tomb, at the southern and northern ends of the burial respectively. Artifact S was found as a collection of loose fragments inside ceramic vessel #8 at the southern end. These items were excavated after a telephone consultation with Harriet F. (Rae) Beaubien on 28 July 2002. Artifact R was removed using a block-lifting technique. A tree root encountered in the sub-floor soil matrix disrupted the block, so it was removed in two segments (Portions A and B). The crumbly soil matrix prevented Artifact T from being lifted in a block; the paint fragments were separated and stored in a container. In the case of Artifact S, the paint fragments no longer retained any orientation and were simply removed for storage in another container. These items were transported from the site to the BVAR Laboratory in San Ignacio for safekeeping.

With the successful acquisition of funding from the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI) [Audet 2003], Audet and Beaubien established a collaboration through the Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education [SCMRE]. Under the aegis of SCMRE’s Archaeological Conservation Program, Beaubien and post-graduate fellow, Claudia G. Chemello undertook the conservation and technical analysis, respectively, of archaeological remains of the painted/decayed artifacts.

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