Excavation continued this week in full force. For the most part we were not interrupted by rain and everyone has been adjusting to camp life and the daily routine.

Excavation in Alegre started the week with the discovery of capstones in front of the step of the northeast building (C200B). These were drawn and removed – and the small narrow crypt was found to contain a few long bones (but not seemingly in anatomical order); a single Late Classic “perfume bottle” was encountered in the middle of the deposit. Some excavation was done in the northwest building (C200C), but most effort during the week concentrated on the northeast building. The interior of the south building (C200D) was completely removed by week’s end and yielded only a little bit of artifactual material. Similarly, the central building in Alegre (C200E) also had its interior removed during the week, resulting in the discovery of a preserved plaza floor upon which the structure had been constructed.

Investigations in Dormir concentrated on the northern and eastern building. The northern building (C200C) had its interior largely removed as well as the associated plaza; all of this effort appears to have been the result of a single construction effort. The eastern building (C200B) also had its interior and the plaza core removed, resulting first in the recovery of two deposits and then in the exposure of bedrock over most of the excavation. The two deposits that were found in C200B consisted of a small cache vessel placed in the plaza fill in front of the building and a burial crypt placed directly in front of the step area of the building; while bone was recovered, no associated artifactual material was recovered with the burial.

Excavation began in the eastern building in Sonrisa (C201B) later in the week. Looters had ripped the front of the structure off, so the front of the building was first cleaned to make sure that they had not encountered any deposits; they had not. Next, the plaza floor in front of the building was penetrated, resulting on Saturday in the recovery of two sets of finger bowls (both without fingers).

Significant effort was expanded in Renegon. The southern building (C203C) was completely excavated down to architecture, showing a two-room stone building with frontal stairway. A sherd smash was found on the plaza directly north of the lowest step (although little seemed to go together). The rear room of the building was raised and a portion of a bench was evident on the east side of the room (but not the west); no rear wall was encountered. In the front room, there is a noticeable floor patch that covers the axis of the building and suggests that the rear step-up was constructed as part of this patch. Hopefully, we will be able to check this in the coming week. The eastern building (203B) produced a total of 8 deposits during the week. The first was a constructed stone box that abutted the center of the lowest step; a small cache vessel plus a reconstructable vessel came out of the interior of this box; another alignment to the south of this box probably represents the end of a narrow burial crypt (and runs out of the excavation). At the top of front of the eastern building, capstones were encountered; removal of these exposed a small crypt that was built on a pre-existing floor; the crypt contained bone and two ceramic vessels dating to the early part of the Late Classic Period. In the rear summit of the building, an individual had been placed in the core of the building with head to the north and a footed dish on its legs. Further east of this individual, two sets of finger bowls were encountered and then a face cache containing a limestone bar, a bird, and jadeite and spondylus chips. On Saturday, a nest of finger bowls was encountered in the central summit of this eastern building. Definitely, a busy week.

Diane was also here for most of the week, arriving on Wednesday in Belize from Orlando. This trip enabled her to see first-hand what we are doing and to have an impact on excavation strategy. She left on Sunday to go back to Orlando and has been tasked with getting the project a new camera upon her return in two weeks (our trusted red camera broke on Wednesday, leaving us only with the black Nikon).

Angelica & Serenela C199E

Eric & Joey C200B

Maura & Luis Operation-200C

C203C

Erin & Rachael Work On SDC203B2

SD203B5

SDC203B8 insitu

Diane & Mahindra at Belize Airport