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111 N o t e s o f M i d d l e A m e r i c a n A r c h a e o l o g y a n d E t h n o l o g y Carnegie Institution of Washington Division of Historical Research No. 32 January 25, 1944 A Preconquest Tomb on the Cerro del Zapote, El Salvador Stanley H. Boggs humus 30 cm thick covers the flat terrain at this point and overlies a thick layer of white volcanic ash, supposedly the same as that which contained Lothrop’s (“Pottery Types and their Sequence in Salvador”) “upper level types” of pottery. Abound the tomb, the ash appeared slightly discolored, as though a small quantity of brown soil had been mixed with it at the time of the interment. The grave was a remarkably regular rectangle 175 cm long, 50 cm wide. Depth of the tomb, from top to bottom of the stones marking it, varied considerably , scaling downward from 50 cm maximum. The long axis trended northwest-southeast, head of the skeleton lying at the northwest end. There is no evidence that stone slabs formed a floor for the tomb, nor are the indications clear that a special covering was made. Over the skeleton, a fragmentary metate and several round, waterworn boulders were discovered. These, plus one slab which can hardly have formed part of the side walls, are the only signs of a roof remaining. Burial 2-42 of Tazumal, Mound 1, was somewhat analogous. The corpse was extended on its back with head to the east, and a stone structure was erected over it. Adobe was employed as binding material for the crude boulders of the cairn. Apparently this burial was made after the construction of the mound (see Boggs 1944). As may be seen in Figure 32.2, flat slabs set upright on end lined the sides as follows: one at each end, four along the northern line, three marking the southern (plus a roughly cut, flat slab of scoria). In November 1943, while engaged in cleaning the grounds immediately north of the National Museum of San Salvador, workmen accidentally discovered a small stone cyst containing a badly decomposed human skeleton and two pottery vessels. Further investigation uncovered a third vessel lying a short distance south of the tomb. Ing. don Agusto Baratta, Director of the Museum, and carefully excavated, measured, and photographed all finds. The ceramic material is at present on display in the Museum. As may be seen in Figure 32.1, the find was made slightly east of the la Avenida Sur and north of the Museo Nacional, above the right bank of the Rio Acelhuate. This area of the city of San Salvador pertains to the Barrio San Jacinto, a residential ward extending over the Cerro del Zapote, to the Cerro San Jacinto along the southeastern limits of the city proper. While San Salvador itself lies mainly on the relatively flat land of the Valle de las Hamacas, the southern wards encroach on low hills such as the two aforementioned and the Lomas de Candelaria, all of which eminences are northern, flanking members of the Pacific coastal range, in most cases thickly mantled with geologically recent falls of volcanic ash. During the past twenty-five years, topography of the Cerro del Zapote has been altered fundamentally by modern constructions, terracing, and road building. Consequently, it is impossible at this date to determine the exact relation of the tomb to the original surface. As found, the uppermost stone of the cist lay 57 cm under the surface. A stratum of Stanley H. BoggS 112 Their irregular outlines suggest that they had been used in their natural condition. Of the skeleton almost nothing remained. Long bones and those of the skull were represented by greenish brown stains in the soil which underlay the tomb. Lack of wisdom teeth and unworn condition of the others suggest a youth. From the position of the teeth relative to the bone stains, it appears probable that the corpse was buried extended on its back, and that the head was slightly elevated so that the face looked toward the southeast. Grave furniture consisted of two pottery vessels One, an incised plumbate, annular-based vase (Fig. 32.3a, e), reclined on its side between the head of the skeleton and the northwest end of the grave (Fig. 32.2b, c). This specimen measured 7.4 cm in rim diameter and...

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