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Robert Wauchope spent two months of excavation at Zacualpa for the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1935. His investigation established the first archaeological sequence based on stratigraphy and comparative typology for this region of the central highlands of Guatemala. Wauchope returned in 1947 for another brief field season. The results were later published by the Middle American Research Institute at Tulane University. 29.1. ROBERT WAUCHOPE Zacualpa YB 35:128–130, 1936 Investigations at Zacualpa, in the Department of Quiché, were carried on by Mr. Wauchope from No29 .0. Zacualpa 517 vember 27, 1935, to March 5, 1936. Mr.A. L. Smith and Dr. Ricketson accompanied him on preliminary trips to Zacualpa early in November and the Chairman spent two weeks there in February. The excavations were undertaken at the suggestion of Dr. S. K. Lothrop, who visited the place in 1933, and who has in press a publication on the results of his study of collections made by “pot-hunters” in this and other parts of the Department. The most significant of the pottery and artifacts described by Dr. Lothrop are believed to have come from two tombs at Zacualpa. It was hoped that additional material would be obtained through excavation. The project fell in line, also, with the Division’s general program for an archaeological survey of the Guatemala highlands. The season’s work consisted of: 1. Excavation of Group C, an assemblage of low mounds located on the terrace thought by Dr. Lothrop to have contained the looted tombs; 2. Excavation of a pottery-yielding section of the barranca which cuts into the north margin of Group A; 3. The drawing of a plane-table map of all T H E C A R N E G I E M A Y A 518 ZACUALPA mounds in that part of the Zacualpa valley known as LaVega.Duringhistwoweekvisit,theChairmanmade further examination of the barranca, excavated a cache of vessels in a low terrace between Groups A and C, recorded all artifacts for the forthcoming publication onZacualpa,andcollectedsurfacesherdsfrommounds in the vicinity of La Vega. On their preliminary visit to Zacualpa, Messrs. Smith and Wauchope mapped a small group of mounds on the plateau across the river west of the modern town. In April Mrs. Ricketson began a study of the ceramic material recovered. Group C lies on a terrace near the southwestern margin of the valley; it comprises several, long, low, rectangular mounds surrounding a small plaza. Three of these were excavated. C-I, at the north corner of the terrace, exhibited five periods of growth. The first construction in C-I was probably the earliest in Group C, for the assemblage of its three small platform substructures and the manner in which rubbish had accumulated around them, indicate that they formed an independent nucleus from which the group of mounds later developed. Although the pottery has not yet been fully studied, the apparent absence of Plumbate Ware and animal-head legs from the first three periods of C-I, and their occurrence in all phases of the other mounds, confirm the architectural evidence. The outstanding pieces found in this mound were a large polychrome jar containing a cremation and some finely carved bones; a large incensario with spiked rim, twisted handles, traces of blue paint, and a well-molded human head with applied necklace, earplugs ,andforeheaddecorationofintertwinedserpents. From the general appearance of the pottery, artifacts , and building construction of C-I, it seems likely that the platforms were for ceremonial use, while a series of adjacent rooms, which presented corresponding periods of occupation, were residential. The unit may have been the home of a person of consequence for it was more pretentious than the average housemound and was advantageously located not far from the three main ceremonial centers of the city. C-II,atthewestcorneroftheterrace,alsopresented five periods of development. This mound again afforded excellent opportunity for stratigraphic study and yielded a far richer collection of ceramic material. The deposits of the earlier periods were marked by thick charcoal-bearing rubbish deposits, while those of later periods contained five cremations, four of which had been deposited in jars. These conditions suggest that C-II in its earliest stages was a house site with rubbish dump, which was burned and subsequently used as a crematory cemetery. The late intrusive cremation at C-I was probably contemporaneous. The ceramic material from C-II presents a few outstanding features: abundance of Plumbate Ware of severaltypes ,andofafinely(tuff?)temperedorangeware; several types of animal-head...

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