THREE

Activity Structures and Networks at Site PVN 306

Site PVN 306 is located 2 km northeast of, and outside, the Naco valley on the north bank of the Rio Chamelecon (see figure 1.2). The narrow passage the Chamelecon cuts here is bounded by steep slopes on the north and south. Site PVN 306 is bordered by the river on the south and occupies a relatively broad terrace of that watercourse, which slopes up gradually from south to north. When first investigated in 1988, Site PVN 306 was divided between cattle pasture and cultivated fields on the eastern margin of the town of Brisas del Valle. Since that time settlement has been steadily encroaching on the center.

Site PVN 306 contains 120 structures and 223 artifact scatters covering roughly 350,000 m² (35 ha; figure 3.1). The site’s center consists of two contiguous plazas running almost due east-west and measuring approximately 33 × 50 m (the western principal plaza, WPP) and 67 × 70 m (the eastern principal plaza, EPP). These spaces are delimited by some of the settlement’s largest buildings. A dense concentration of 26 surface-visible constructions extends 100 m east of the site center, while more dispersed remains spread 300 m to the north, 275 m west, and 210 m south of the principal plazas. Distinct patio groups are difficult to discern outside the site core. Plowing around Site PVN 306’s margins is partly responsible for the large number of artifact concentrations recorded here. These scatters are generally shallow middens that were likely associated with perishable buildings raised directly on ground surface. Mechanized cultivation, therefore, has both revealed and disturbed these ancient remains.

FIGURE 3.1 Map of Site PVN 306. Artifact scatters are shown in gray and retain, where relevant, their original structure numbers.

Thirty-four surface-visible structures were dug here during 1988 and 1990. In addition, nine of the artifact scatters situated away from the principal plazas and identified by dense concentrations of surface debris were probed in 1990 and reported by the excavator, L. Theodore Neff, in his MA thesis (1993). Much of what we have to say here about those middens is based on Neff’s work. Test pits measuring from 1 m to 0.5 m on a side were sunk in transects across the EPP and southwest of the WPP to determine the nature of activities pursued away from physically salient remains. An additional thirty-six probes measuring 0.5 × 0.5 m were dug in the northeast corner of the center in an area of 12,000 m² north of Suboperation 306AB and east of Str. 306-135 (“Suboperation,” a distinct unit of excavation, is hereafter abbreviated as Subop.; “Structure” is hereafter abbreviated as Str.). These tests were designed to evaluate the extent of Roble phase occupation where surface-visible evidence of settlement is lacking. During the latter work one midden (designated on figure 3.1 as 306CA/36) was recorded. A total of 647 m² was dug at Site PVN 306 during 1988 and 1990.

One outcome of these investigations was the identification of a lengthy occupation history at the center. From the Late Preclassic through Late Classic periods, settlement was concentrated in the 7,300 m² area east of the EPP. The only architecture associated with any of these early periods is limited to a few traces dating to the Late Classic. It appears, therefore, that buildings were generally modest in size throughout this lengthy span. During the Terminal Classic, far more substantial constructions were raised at the center. These stone-faced platforms and surface-level edifices remain concentrated on the eastern margin of Site PVN 306, where 21 extant buildings are crammed within the aforementioned 7,300 m². A second node of construction was new established, roughly 260 m to the west, and is composed of four stone-faced platforms (Strs. 306-1/4) clustered around a patio with a low stone terrace (Str. 306-54) situated 36 m downslope to the southwest. The extensive area intervening between these two focal points lacks any signs of Terminal Classic architecture, although trash deposits dating to the ninth to tenth centuries have been identified under portions of the EPP and the WPP. Continued renovation of existing Terminal Classic buildings continued into the Early Postclassic, with Str. 306-105 in the eastern cluster reaching its maximum height of 1.9 m either at the end of the Terminal Classic or early in the Early Postclassic (figure 3.2). By the Terminal Classic/Early Postclassic transition, therefore, Site PVN 306 consisted of two distinct centers of occupation: a densely settled eastern focus clustered around Str. 306-105 and a much smaller western patio group.

During the Roble phase, earlier constructions were largely abandoned but not dismantled, and a large site core encompassing 67 × 130 m was established in the area between the earlier architectural foci. Twenty-four buildings, among them the largest and most elaborately decorated edifices known from the center at this time, define the two adjoining plazas that comprise the architectural core. An additional 70 Roble phase structures are scattered to the north, west, east, and south of these plazas, along with 223 artifact scatters that likely mark the locations of shallow middens associated with perishable constructions. By the last Precolumbian centuries, therefore, Site PVN 306 was home to a dense agglomeration of people loosely spread out around two principal plazas. This chapter focuses on the organization of activities within that Roble phase community.

FIGURE 3.2 Section through Structure 306-105

In making those inferences, we rely on evidence provided by architecture as well as patterning among recovered cultural materials. Unlike Site PVN 144, where all of the investigated buildings were cleared laterally, excavations at Site PVN 306 tended to be limited to 1-m-wide trenches dug against surface-visible constructions. The primary goal of these probes was to recover datable remains needed to reconstruct the center’s complex history and to relate the visible edifices to that sequence. As time allowed, digging was expanded to reveal as much of a building as possible. Overall, however, information on construction forms and dimensions is much less detailed than is the case for Site PVN 144.

There are also differences in the ways cultural materials recovered from Site PVN 306 were handled vis-à-vis the procedures employed in dealing with objects retrieved from Site PVN 144. First, the processing of large quantities of items from a diverse array of investigations in 1990 precluded collecting and counting all of the numerous shells, primarily those of Pachychilus sp. (jute), recovered from middens excavated at Site PVN 306. To compensate for this loss, probes measuring 0.5 m on a side were dug in the centers of most investigated trash deposits immediately adjacent to the main trench that cut across the deposit. The matrices from the 0.5 m × 0.5 m pits were screened through ¼-inch mesh, with all of the recovered items counted and recorded. This provides the basis from which densities of shell are extrapolated in this chapter.

Second, the procedures used in analyzing chipped stone tools and debris (primarily obsidian and chert) changed somewhat during these years. The primary differences relate to assessments of use wear, obsidian sources, and the distinction between perlite and obsidian. The original analysts did not feel confident making inferences concerning the first two issues for the Site PVN 306 materials. Consequently, use-wear studies were not carried out, and sourcing was limited to a sample of twenty-two items from Site PVN 306 (twenty-one from Roble phase contexts) submitted to X-ray refraction analyses by P. Bouey at the Department of Geology, University of California, Davis (see table 7.1). As to the last point, prior to 1992 we did not differentiate between perlite, which invariably appears in Naco valley collections as small flakes and nodules, and obsidian, the latter primarily taking the form of blades and the polyhedral cores from which they were struck. Technological analyses of chipped stone tools in all years adhered to the same procedures, employing nearly identical categories and distinctions. Information relating to implement forms and manufacture is hence directly comparable across the collections. Something of the nature of the obsidian sources used can be inferred by extrapolating from the X-ray diffraction results from Site PVN 306 and comparing them to the outcomes of visual assessments made at Site PVN 144. The ratio of obsidian to perlite at the former center can be roughly approximated by equating blades with obsidian and perlite with flakes and nodules (table 3.1), a correlation that holds true at every investigated Naco valley site of all periods, including Site PVN 144. There is no way at this point to reconstruct patterns of use for lithics from the Site PVN 306 Roble phase assemblage, and this variable is not discussed further here.

TABLE 3.1 Observed distribution of lithic materials by excavated terminal debris and midden contexts

Notes: Projectile points made on blades were identified in material recovered from Str. 306-20 (1), Str. 306-79 (1), Subop. 306AC/AE (3), Subop. 306AR/BL (3), and Subop. 306BF/BS (1). They are included with the blade totals given above.

These figures are based on analyzed items, not extrapolations from processed materials.

Finally, available funds were not sufficient in 1988 and 1990 to hire enough trained laboratory assistants to process (count by material category) all of the items recovered during excavations at Site PVN 306. Consequently, only a sample of the collection units (lots) associated with particular middens and structures was processed during the 1988 and 1990 field seasons. We have therefore used a formula (summarized in table 3.2) to estimate the numbers of artifacts from different categories originally present in the sample. Although the accuracy of the specific numbers resulting from these computations is questionable, the general orders of magnitude they convey can be used with confidence in comparing overall patterns of material distribution.

ACTIVITY PATTERNING WITHIN AND AROUND THE EASTERN PRINCIPAL PLAZA

The EPP covers 67 × 70 m and is defined by thirteen structures ranging in height from those flush with modern ground surface to platforms rising to 1.33 m high. The area thus enclosed is largely devoid of visible construction save for an apparent surface-level building set west of the EPP’s center (Str. 306-25) and what we originally supposed was a low terrace (Str. 306-7) fronting the northern line of edifices. Structure 306-25 was not investigated, and Str. 306-7 turned out, on excavation, to be part of a natural south-to-north ascent unmodified by construction. Fully eight of the structures delimiting the plaza were excavated: three along the plaza’s northern line (Strs. 306-8, 306-11, and 306-22), one on the west (Str. 306-21), both of the buildings that define the patio’s southern margin (Strs. 306-124 and 306-125), and two on the east (Strs. 306-123 and 128). Digging in each case was largely restricted to narrow (1-m-wide) trenches that intersected architecture. Consequently, activity inferences are based primarily on artifact distributions supplemented by what can be discerned of construction features (table 3.2).

North Side of the EPP

Structure 306-8 is a low, stone-faced platform situated in the approximate center of a line of three comparably modest edifices that define the north side of the eastern principal plaza. The edifice, built over a natural south-to-north ascent, covers 5.97 m north-south, is oriented 80 degrees, and stands 0.24 m high on the north and 0.5 m tall on the south. Structure 306-8 is fronted by one stone-faced terrace each on the north and the south measuring 1.38 m and 0.88 m across, respectively. These terraces give way to a 0.12-m-high rock-faced ascent that demarcates the stone-paved summit. The latter area measures 3.71 m north-south and bears no signs of additional architecture.

A 1 × 2 m trench was sunk off the back (north) side of Str. 306-8 in search of materials associated with the use of that edifice. The slightly denser concentration of artifacts found here implies that debris associated with Str. 306-8 likely accumulated on the platform’s non–plaza-facing side. The figures given for Str. 306-8 in table 3.2 include items retrieved from the northern probe.

TABLE 3.2 Density of recovered materials per excavated square meters

Key:

cu.: copper; fig: ceramic figurine; gs: grooved ceramic sphere; pot. mold: pottery mold; sd: sherd disk; ss: stone sphere; sw: spindle whorl; ws: worked sherd Estimates for shell and bone in those middens where a 0.5 × 0.5 m control probe was dug are based on the results of that sample.

These figures are estimated using the following calculation:

Processed T = T (processed lots/all terminal debris lots)

In other words, the total recorded for an artifact class from the processed lots is equal to the estimated total (T) of all artifacts of that category times the number of processed lots divided by the total number of terminal debris lots defined for an excavation. For example:

300 sherds = T (10 processed lots / 20 total lots)

300 (20/10) = T

600 = T

This assumes that artifacts are fairly evenly distributed across all excavated terminal debris lots. Such an assumption may be valid for relatively common artifacts (especially pottery sherds, shell, and chipped stone) but is more problematic for rarer items (such as incensarios and ground stone).

FIGURE 3.3 Structure 306-21, section

Structure 306-11, an approximately 1.2-m-high platform, is 3 m east of Str. 306-8 and closes off the northeast corner of the EPP. The limited portion of this edifice’s southern (patio-facing) flank revealed in our excavations consists of a 0.57-m-high stone-faced terrace oriented 270 degrees and backed by a dense packing of cobble fill. This surface was likely covered with earth. Based on surface indications, the aforementioned terrace was probably succeeded on the south by at least one more riser leading up to the summit.

Structure 306-22 occupies the northwest corner of the EPP. It is built into low south-to-north and west-to-east natural ascents. Only a 1-m-wide segment of Str. 306-22’s eastern basal facing was exposed, revealing a 0.2-m-high wall fashioned of river cobbles set on end and aligned 138 degrees. Based on surface indications, it is very probable that the platform never stood much higher than 0.2 m on this, its upslope eastern side.

West Side of the EPP

Structure 306-21 separates the eastern and western principal plazas. A trench dug across the platform running east-west revealed three construction stages, all dating to the Roble phase (figure 3.3). The earliest version (Str. 306-21-2nd) was, minimally, 0.5 m tall and capped by a white plaster surface that was refurbished at least three times. Only 0.9 m² of the summit was exposed, and the building’s basal dimensions were not revealed. Construction of Str. 306-21-1st covered its predecessor, raising the platform’s height to 0.88 m. The building now measured 8.15 m east-west, was oriented 178 degrees, and may have been as much as 23 m long north-south (the latter estimate is based solely on surface evidence). Two stone-faced terraces, 0.6 m and 1.2 m wide, respectively, ascend the building on the east and the west, giving way to the summit. The 1-m-wide swath of Str. 306-21-1st’s superstructure that was exposed revealed a room surfaced with white plaster, open on the east overlooking the EPP, and backed on the west by a 0.2-m-high by 1-m-wide stone wall. The latter construction is sufficiently broad to have served as a support for a perishable upper wall and as a bench. The western basal terrace, facing Str. 306-19, 7 m to the west, is 1.2 m wide and surfaced with the only stone pavement known from the building. Its eastern counterpart is fronted by an earthen sloping zone capped with a 0.02-m-thick layer of white plaster. This construction rises 0.58 m over 1.16 m east to west, ascending at an angle of about 35 degrees. The final building episode attested to at Str. 306-21-1st involved raising the summit an additional 0.45 m. The new summit floor seems to have been surfaced with white plaster, although no additional signs of superstructure architecture were recognized.

East Side of the EPP

Structure 306-123 is the northern member of a pair of linked buildings that together close off the east side of the EPP (Str. 306-128 is its southern counterpart). On the surface, this edifice measures 20 m long north-south by 8 m across. Excavations here revealed a 0.64-m-high building fronted on the east and west by low (0.08- to 0.1-m-high) basal facings, made of unmodified stones, that are aligned 352 degrees. The western facing may be part of an outset construction, possibly a staircase, that projects an undetermined distance west of the main body of the platform. The eastern terrace is 0.97 m wide and is surfaced with stone. A 0.58-m-high ascent to the summit rises above this pavement and was apparently fashioned of earth capped with a single course of unmodified rocks. Excavation across the summit for 2.02 m revealed a stone floor that apparently did not continue north beyond the limits of our trench. No other summit architecture was recorded in our restricted exposure of the summit.

FIGURE 3.4 Structure 306-128, section

Structure 306-128, Str. 306-123’s southern neighbor, is built over a west-to-east rise, thus standing 0.46 m high on the west and 0.23 m tall on the east (figure 3.4). This platform measures 3.97 m east-west, is oriented 350 degrees, and—based on surface evidence—is approximately 31 m long. The summit was reached by a single ascent on the east and west. Remnants of three rooms that comprised part of Structure 306-128’s superstructure were partially exposed. These compartments are defined by stone foundations 0.14–0.26 m wide by 0.5 m high. The northernmost enclosure revealed in our excavations covers at least 2.75 × 3.02 m and is surfaced with stone. Immediately south of this room are two earthen-floored compartments set in an east-west line. The western example is 0.5 m wide east-west, while its eastern neighbor measures 1.67 m across. No built-in furniture was recorded in any of these enclosures.

South Side of the EPP

Neighboring Strs. 306-124 and 306-125 are 1 m apart and bound the EPP’s southern flank. Moving from east to west, Str. 306-124 is a 0.36-m-high platform ascended from the north, patio-facing side by two low risers oriented 270 degrees. This dyad’s basal element is 0.13 m high and consists of earth capped by a single line of stones. This element gives way after 0.2 m to a 0.23-m-tall stone facing backed on the south by a rock pavement that runs for at least 1.59 m (the summit’s southern edge was not exposed). There are no signs of superstructure construction in the small portion of the summit we uncovered; nor were any pieces of bajareque (burned fragments of clay walls) found on or near the building. Fronting the edifice on the north is a stone floor that projects 1.7 m into the EPP. Overall, Str. 306-124 was a low platform, the stone-surfaced summit of which was left open at least on the side overlooking the plaza.

FIGURE 3.5 Structure 306-125, plan

More extensive clearing of Str. 306-125 (37 m² exposed) revealed a surface-level building covering 17 m east-west by 2.6 m north-south (figure 3.5). Most of the edifice was taken up by a stone floor, encompassing 2.6 × 6.5 m, into which two square features open to the underlying earth are set. These entities are 3.2 m apart east and west of Str. 306-125’s center line and measure 0.8 × 0.9 m and 0.86 × 0.9 m, respectively. Excavation into the eastern square revealed that it was 0.08 m deep and had no formal floor. Flanking the central pavement on the east and west, and more or less even with the northern line of that floor, are two 0.19-m-high stone walls that average 0.2 m wide. These constructions extend 5.2 m east and 4.9 m west of the pavement and may have been footings for perishable upper constructions; there is no evidence that they are parts of platform facings. Whereas the western wall stops 0.35 m shy of the stone floor, its eastern analog intersects that surface 0.35 m south of its northeast corner. Located at the eastern end of the east wall and 0.42 m south of it is a 0.48-m-high stone wall. This entity seemingly defines the northern limit of a small platform 2.85 m wide east-west by at least 3.22 m long north-south (the southern facing was not encountered). Excavations were not carried far enough to see if a comparable platform was located in an analogous position south of the western wall.

In general, Str. 306-125 is a complex of at least one low platform and several surface-level constructions centered on an extensive stone surface and aligned 275 degrees. If the walls flanking the pavement on the east and west supported upper constructions, then this grouping of architectural units may have combined both spaces open to public view (i.e., the central paved area) and those to which access was blocked, at least from the plaza (i.e., east and west of the stone surface behind the aforementioned footings).

Testing in the EPP

Eight test pits were dug in three east-west lines, spaced 15 m apart, within the EPP in areas devoid of surface-visible architecture. These probes were designed to search for the existence of a plaza floor, as well as remnants from any activities performed away from physically salient constructions. No formalized surface was recorded, and no cultural remains of any sort were much in evidence. Densities of ceramics were very low, although the figures for chipped lithics were relatively high. The latter finding may point to the conduct of activities involving these tools within the plaza or, just as likely, could reflect the vagaries of sampling error. At the very least, it appears that the EPP was kept largely free of debris during its use-life.

Summary

The EPP was apparently home to several networks: those localized within specific houses erected on its north, east, and west margins and a household that incorporated these residents within a larger web focused on the central plaza. The house-based nets were created on a daily basis by members’ regular interaction in the course of their coordinated pursuit of domestic tasks involving moderate to large quantities of ceramics and chipped lithics (table 3.2). The preponderance of ceramics at Structures 306-123 and 306-128 (148.4 and 169.9 pieces/excavated m² [p/em²], respectively) hints at a focus here on behaviors in which pottery serving and storage vessels played significant parts. It is possible that differences in the frequencies of jars and bowls in the small analyzed samples signal a greater emphasis on storing comestibles among the northern buildings and on serving food and liquid along the plaza’s eastern flank (table 3.3). Ritual activity, signaled by the distribution of incense burners, was seemingly conducted at low levels of intensity in most of these residences save Str. 306-21, where no such objects were identified. Food processing, especially of meat, as well as consumption apparently occurred on and around Strs. 306-8, 306-11, and 306-21 but not at Strs. 306-123 and 306-128.

The fact that residents of these houses were incorporated into a household is indicated by the mutual arrangement of their domiciles around a central plaza. Proximity ensured daily interactions among participants in the oft-repeated enactment of the same round of activities that employed identical elements of material culture. These connections among household members may have been reinforced through activities conducted in special-purpose buildings. Structures 306-22 (on the north) and 306-124 and 306-125 (on the south) share two features: they lack clear signs of domestic activity and were open to view from the plaza. The actions that transpired within these settings are unclear. Still, whatever they were was meant to be viewed primarily, perhaps exclusively, by those living within the EPP. This emphasis on household engagement in the actions staged in Strs. 306-22, 306-124, and 306-125 suggests that they constituted common projects, participation in which enhanced feelings of unity among those occupying the plaza and their sense of distinction from others residing elsewhere in the settlement.

TABLE 3.3 Bowl/jar percentage distributions from Roble phase contexts at Site PVN 306

ACTIVITIES WITHIN AND AROUND THE WESTERN PRINCIPAL PLAZA

The WPP is much smaller than its eastern analog, covering approximately 33 × 50 m. The ten buildings that delimit this space are generally modest in size, ranging from terraces around 0.2 m high on the north to Str. 306-21, which stands 1.33 m tall, on the plaza’s east flank. Six areas identified as structures from surface remains were excavated here: Strs. 306-19, 306-20, and 306-174 within the plaza; Str. 306-17 on the WPP’s south margin; Str. 306-182 on the plaza’s west edge; and Str. 306-83, 10 m southwest of Str. 306-17 off the WPP’s southwest corner. Structures 306-83 and 306-182 turned out, when cleared, to be trash deposits produced by activities conducted within the WPP and not on and around any specific building. The descriptions in this section are organized by structure, followed by a synopsis of the material derived from the two trash deposits.

Structure 306-17, together with Str. 306-18, 4 m to the east, defines the southern limit of the WPP. This round platform was ascended by three stone-faced and stone-surfaced terraces rising 1.03 m to the stone-paved summit (figure 3.6). An earthen sloping zone, capped by a 0.01-m-thick layer of white plaster, blankets the basal riser (figure 3.7). It is canted up at an angle of roughly 45 degrees, extends 0.45 m beyond the basal terrace, and runs up to and abuts the second ascending terrace. A staircase set flush with the building’s basal line occupies most of Str. 306-17’s northeast quadrant facing toward Str. 306-19, 12 m distant within the plaza (figure 3.8). The staircase consists of three stone-faced and stone-surfaced steps and narrows from 2.58 m across at the base to 1.52 m at the point where it intersects the summit. The latter surface, together with most of the building’s south side, was heavily disturbed by looting prior to investigation in 1988. Based on the surviving evidence, we infer that Str. 306-17 had a diameter of 8 m and an open summit unencumbered by foundation walls and built-in furniture. The one item that might have originally stood here was a carved stone monument found lying facedown on the aforementioned floor (figure 3.9).

Near the end of its use-life, the basal sloping zone was covered by an apron composed of schist slabs blanketed by a thin coating of white plaster. This addition slopes up at an angle of 30 degrees, covering the first basal terrace and abutting the second ascending terrace. Passage over the renovated sloping zone was then negotiated by stepping on a 0.2-m-high unmodified stone set in line with the northeast stairs and projecting 0.47 m north of the apron.

Structure 306-19 occupies a position slightly south and east of the WPP’s center, about 20 m south of Str. 306-20. Excavations here revealed at least three construction phases, each of which yielded a distinctive building form unmatched in the known architectural corpus for Site PVN 306 (figure 3.10). The initial version consists of a small central platform measuring 1.65 m on a side and standing 0.62 m high. The diminutive earthen-floored summit is bounded by a 0.1-m-high cobble wall but is otherwise featureless. Eight stone-faced, white-plastered arms project in pairs 1.1–1.2 m from each side of the core (figure 3.11). These arms are 0.6–0.76 m high by 0.47–0.64 m wide and are separated by 0.85–0.95 m. The resulting structure is roughly circular and has a diameter of 3.5 m.

FIGURE 3.6 Structure 306-17, plan

During the next phase, the core platform was raised to 0.8 m high and somewhat enlarged, now measuring 1.65 m × 1.88 m. The summit was still delimited by a low stone wall, although that wall now stood 0.3 m tall. Located in the center of this space is a pit measuring 0.2 × 0.51 m and at least 0.46 m deep. This declivity is bounded on the south and the east by three large rocks and may have been a socket designed to hold the base of a monument, although no sign of one was found on Str. 306-19. The pairs of adjoining arms on each side of the core were now linked, thus transforming eight narrow spokes into four broader ones. The construction joining each pair stood 0.4 m high, thus leaving the original arms protruding about 0.2 m above the additions. The enlarged spokes were blanketed with white plaster, some sections of which were refurbished at least five times. Structure 306-19 retained its original diameter of 3.5 m.

The core platform was apparently not modified during the final building episode, and the spokes projecting from it were little altered. The principal change involved the addition of an earthen construction that extended 1.7–2.7 m out and away from the edifice’s perimeter. This new element was capped by plaster and sloped up toward the projecting spokes (figure 3.12). At first, those spokes probably continued to rise as much as 0.5 m above the surrounding apron. As more plaster levels were added during subsequent resurfacings (36 separate layers were counted in one well-preserved location), only 0.34 m of the original eastern arm could still be seen, and the southern spoke no longer protruded above the addition. Two stone steps were built atop the plaster-coated apron against Str. 306-19’s southeast face, apparently providing a way to access the summit over the addition. These steps narrow from their base as they ascend the building; the lowest course is 1.5 m long, while the second ascending riser covers 0.57 m. One consequence of the transformations visited on Str. 306-19 was to convert it into a roughly oval construction, the perimeter of which defines a space measuring 6.9 m × 9.9 m.

FIGURE 3.7 Structure 306-17, section

FIGURE 3.8 Structure 306-17, photograph of the northern steps and bordering terraces

FIGURE 3.9 Monument 1; found atop Structure 306-17

FIGURE 3.10 Structure 306-19, plan

The forms assumed by Strs. 306-17 and 306-19 in their various iterations stand out from the corpus of known Roble phase architecture in the Naco valley. Both are circular to oval in shape and lack clear signs of substantial superstructure architecture. Structures 306-17 and 306-19 also share a marked paucity of associated remains. The frequency of artifacts in each case is among the lowest recorded at Site PVN 306, suggesting that both buildings were kept fairly clean during their use-lives. It is very likely, in fact, that much of the debris encountered in Strs. 306-182 and 306-83 initially resulted from behaviors conducted on and around Strs. 306-17 and 306-19. This is especially the case for Str. 306-83, which lies immediately south of Str. 306-17.

FIGURE 3.11 Structure 306-19, photograph showing the exposed terminus of one of the building’s projecting spokes

Structure 306-20 sits within the WPP. Unlike its southern neighbor, however, Str. 306-20 is a stone-faced, rectangular platform standing 0.6–0.91 m high, oriented 260 degrees, and covering 4.14 m (north-south) by 15.2 m (east-west; figure 3.13). The summit is demarcated on the north by a single steep ascent from the plaza, while on the south it is fronted by a 0.4-m-high stone-surfaced terrace. The latter construction measures 1.4 m across and was covered by a white plaster floor, the preserved remnants of which are 0.08 m thick. A 0.51-m-high stone-faced ascent rises above the southern terrace and leads to the earthen summit, which measures 1.76 m north-south. There was no evidence of stone foundations or other superstructure architecture within the 1-m-wide swath we cut across the summit’s approximate center. Although portions of the east and west basal facings were exposed, we did not pursue excavations far enough in these areas to determine how these walls related to the summit.

Structure 306-174 lies 12 m north of Str. 306-17 and about the same distance west of Str. 306-19 within the WPP. It appeared on the surface to be a roughly circular rock concentration set flush with the plaza and measuring 2 m in diameter. Limited excavations here revealed a loose concentration of stones covering 2.9 m east-west and extending no more than 0.35 m below modern ground level. Structure 306-174’s behavioral significance is unclear; it seems highly unlikely that its constituent rocks fell from other architecture (the closest of which is roughly 6 m distant) or arrived at their final resting place by natural means. Instead, Str. 306-174 was apparently a very casually built circular stone surface embedded within the ancient earthen plaza. Like Structures 306-17 and 306-19, this construction appears to have been regularly swept clean.

FIGURE 3.12 Structure 306-19, section showing details of multiple plastering

FIGURE 3.13 Structure 306-20, plan

The Str. 306-182 midden is a 0.04- to 0.1-m-thick deposit of densely packed cultural material (figure 3.14). This lens extends for 2.52 m west, from near the edge of the plaza up onto the natural ascent that delimits the WPP on this side. The debris is unassociated with any known construction; it likely contains material generated during the course of activities conducted in the WPP.

FIGURE 3.14 Sections of the middens originally designated Structure 306-182 (Subop. 306K) and Structure 306-164 (Subop. 306R)

The density of pottery sherds in the Str. 306-182 trash deposit is particularly high (116.3 p/em²; table 3.2), exceeding the limits recorded at all other investigated locations in both principal plazas except Strs. 306-123 and 306-128 in the EPP. Unfortunately, the small sample size of form-classified rims does not provide a strong basis for inferring the activities in which these pottery containers were employed (table 3.3). The inferred frequency of incensario fragments (4.4 p/em²) is remarkably elevated and is unmatched in any of the other Roble phase analyzed collections at the center save that from Str. 306-86 (but see later discussion). The figures for chipped lithics fall toward the middle of the distribution for this artifact class as seen at other Site PVN 306 structures (1.6 p/em²). Interestingly, the complete absence of faunal remains bespeaks the relative unimportance of these food sources, or at least their processing, in the events from which this detritus was derived. The few fragments of bajareque included in the sample may point to the presence of perishable constructions within the plaza; alternatively, some elements of collapsed superstructures from the surrounding buildings may have inadvertently been swept up in the trash.

Structure 306-83 is another trash deposit, this one situated off the southwest corner of the WPP approximately 10 m southwest of Structure 306-17. The Structure 306-83 trash covers 22.57 m east-west by at least 16.1 m north-south and is 0.09–0.5 m thick, thinning out to the south and east from its approximate center. As discussed earlier, given that “Str. 306-83” is not associated with any known building and adjoins the WPP’s southwest corner, the detritus recorded here likely resulted from activities conducted within that plaza.

The Str. 306-83 trash is distinguished by high concentrations of ceramics and chipped lithics (219.6 p/em² and 10.5 p/em², respectively; table 3.3), both of which exceed even the densest concentrations of these materials recorded in either of the principal plazas. In fact, the figures for ceramic fragments coincide with the low end of density measures for middens located outside the architectural core. Incensario pieces are relatively common here (1.7 p/em²), exceeding concentrations everywhere in the EPP and WPP except those attested to at Str. 306-182. Unlike the latter trash deposit, however, excavations at Str. 306-83 yielded relatively large quantities of faunal bones and shell (10.6 p/em² and 35.4 p/em², in turn). These latter measures are the highest obtained within principal plaza contexts. The few bajareque pieces identified in the Str. 306-83 materials may have been derived from perishable buildings within the plaza or from superstructures originally perched atop platforms that define the WPP.

The contents of the Str. 306-83 trash deposit point to the processing and consumption of fairly large quantities of comestibles within the WPP. The vast majority of the form-classified pottery rims were derived from bowls (85%, N=128), implying that serving food and drink was a major component of the behaviors pursued in the adjacent plaza (table 3.3). The retrieval of substantial quantities of shell and animal bones amplifies this picture somewhat, suggesting that some extraction of meat from these sources also took place in or near the WPP. The absence of grinding implements within the assemblage, however, indicates that the preparation of grain for consumption almost certainly occurred elsewhere. The analyzed segment of the lithic assemblage is about evenly divided between obsidian blades and flakes, the latter probably of perlite (60 blades, 63 flakes; table 3.1). Some of these tools may have been fashioned in the plaza; identified in the assemblage were one polyhedral core and two nodules, probably of perlite, the latter likely used in fabricating casual flake implements using the direct percussion method. It appears, based on the information gleaned from these analyses, that the WPP served as a focus for gatherings in which sizable quantities of food were processed and consumed. During these events stone tools were also fashioned, possibly in support of the food-processing tasks noted earlier. Religious paraphernalia, in the form of incense burners, was well represented, suggesting that the aforementioned prosaic activities occurred in association with those devoted to propitiating and celebrating sacred forces.

Summary

The WPP is distinguished from its eastern neighbor by the relative absence of residential constructions and a proliferation of special-purpose architecture. Structures 306-17, 306-19, and 306-174 all exhibit unusual circular to oval forms and yielded very few artifacts of any sort. This combination of features implies that these edifices were not domiciles but were kept especially clean and reserved for activities that fell outside the norm of daily prosaic chores. The nature of these behaviors is indicated by the trash deposits associated with the WPP (Strs. 306-83 and 306-182). Both of these debris collections are characterized by relatively high concentrations of incensario fragments, suggesting that religious observances were an important element in the activities pursued within the WPP. More prosaic tasks, involving the use of large quantities of chipped stone and ceramic containers, were also pursued here. The preponderance of bowls within the relatively large collection of form-coded rims from Str. 306-83 points to the significance of food serving in this round of behaviors. The Str. 306-83 trash also indicates that meat was processed to some degree within the plaza, possibly using stone implements knapped in that same area. Structures 306-17, 306-19, and 306-174, therefore, as well as their immediate environs, were seemingly foci for large-scale feasts and religious observances. Unlike the EPP, which was primarily devoted to residential tasks, the WPP was a place of gatherings in which most of Site PVN 306’s population took part. The relative ease with which the WPP could be entered along its north, west, and south flanks supports this view.

The array and frequency of cultural materials found in the course of excavating Str. 306-20 differ significantly from the patterns recorded for Strs. 306-17, 306-19, and 306-174. Here, the density of ceramic fragments is far higher (25.6 p/em²), falling easily within the range identified for the putative residences that define the EPP. All of the eight form-classified rims are from bowls, providing tentative evidence that most of the vessels used here were employed in serving comestibles. Similarly, pieces of incense burners (0.2 p/em²) are comparable in frequency to those identified for the EPP’s domiciles. The retrieval of shell and faunal remains also points to the processing and consumption of at least some food here, although the absence of grinding implements does not support the preparation of grain at the edifice. Chipped lithics are unusually well represented at Str. 306-20 (4 p/em²), registering some of the highest densities outside midden contexts at Site PVN 306. Examples of the obsidian blade core industry are well represented here (13 blades and 1 polyhedral core fragment; table 3.1). The remaining fourteen items are flakes, probably of perlite. At the very least, it is clear that Str. 306-20 was not kept nearly as clean as were Strs. 306-17 and 306-19.

Structure 306-20 might have been a residence in which domestic activities involving pottery containers, incensarios, and meat derived from animals and snails were pursued at moderately low levels of intensity. The building’s location within the WPP is at odds with such a view, however. In fact, much of the debris found around Str. 306-20 might have resulted from activities conducted in the surrounding plaza and not specifically on the edifice itself. The materials recovered while clearing the platform generally match those found in the Str. 306-83 debris, including one polyhedral obsidian core and an elevated density of chipped stone tools for a main plaza context. It is possible, therefore, that the Str. 306-20 materials constitute detritus from behaviors enacted in the WPP that was never swept up and jettisoned off the plaza’s southwest corner.

Taking these factors into account, we do not believe Str. 306-20 was a residence. Instead, it may have been a community building analogous to Strs. 144-8 and 144-18, which were also associated with a locale that hosted large gatherings (see chapter 4). Whatever might have transpired in Str. 306-20, its location within the WPP strongly implicates it and the behaviors it housed with the activities enacted in that extensive open space.

Contrasts in the contents of the Str. 306-83 and Str. 306-182 deposits deserve further attention. Whereas both contain large quantities of ceramic and incensario pieces, the latter has much higher densities of incense burner fragments, whereas the former yielded shell and animal bones completely absent in the Str. 306-182 materials. It would appear that trash generated by activities conducted in the WPP was segregated; that is, material deposited on the plaza’s west margin was largely free of organics but high in ritual paraphernalia, whereas detritus jettisoned beyond the plaza was much richer in faunal remains but somewhat poorer in objects used in religious devotions. The significance of this discrepancy is unclear. The western edge of the plaza may have been associated with the sacred and thus been seen as a place where items linked to that realm could be disposed of appropriately. The contents of the Str. 144-19 deposit on the western edge of that site’s main plaza (see chapter 4) follow the same pattern, as does the location of ritual venues west of the EPP at Site PVN 306. Debris more closely tied to the prosaic realm, such as shell and animal bones, might have been viewed as potentially contaminating the sacred domain if included with ritual items. Whatever the fate of these interpretations, the distinctions between the Strs. 306-83 and 306-182 deposits may suggest that “trash” continued to have cultural significance even after its deposition.

ACTIVITY PATTERNING SOUTH OF THE PRINCIPAL PLAZAS

This area is characterized by a fairly dense concentration of irregularly arranged buildings that lack clear patio foci or any signs of mutual orientation. Three constructions were investigated here, Strs. 306-72, 306-78, and 306-86, none of which was sufficiently well preserved to warrant horizontal clearing. One midden was also investigated (Subop. 306AL/BQ).

Architectural Excavations

Structure 306-72, approximately 160 m south/southeast of the EPP, is located in the midst of four neighboring buildings that average 3.5 m apart. The platform measures 1.64 m north-south, stands 0.37 m tall, and consists of a stone hearting bounded by casually fashioned rock facings. The earthen-floored summit shows no evidence of superstructure construction.

Structure 306-78 is approximately 46 m north of Str. 306-72. As with its southern counterpart, Str. 306-78 sits near the center of a concentration of buildings that lack any apparent formal organization. The nearest constructions are 5 m and 3 m to the west and the east, respectively. Structure 306-78 rises 0.54–0.61 m, covers 2.76 m east-west, and has an apparently featureless earthen summit. The stone hearting is retained by casually fashioned rock facings that rise directly to the summit. No clear orientation could be discerned from the poorly preserved remains of either Str. 306-72 or 306-78.

Structures 306-72 and 306-78 share generally similar, if indistinct, architectural forms and yielded comparably small numbers of cultural materials (table 3.2). They each, for example, are characterized by some of the lowest densities of ceramics recorded anywhere at Site PVN 306 (5 p/em² and 1.2 p/em², respectively). Organic remains, specifically shell and animal bones, were also not recorded here, nor were fragments of wattle-and-daub. Excavations at Str. 306-78 did encounter some pieces of incense burners (0.6 p/em²), although their density did not exceed measures noted at most other constructions within the settlement; no such objects were found at Str. 306-72. Chipped lithics are relatively rare at the two buildings, comprising 1.3 p/em² at Str. 306-72 and 0.2 p/em² at Str. 306-78. Overall, the paucity of material remains noted for these buildings matches most closely the pattern recorded for Strs. 306-17, 306-19, and 306-174 in the WPP. What little can be discerned concerning the forms of these edifices does not, however, replicate the distinctive appearances of the last three edifices. Structures 306-72 and 306-78, therefore, stand out in their form and artifact patterning from all other recorded Roble phase constructions at the center, but whatever purposes they served are maddeningly vague. They may represent ritual foci analogous to their equally clean WPP counterparts. The apparent open nature of their summits (tentatively supported by the absence of bajareque in the collections), taken together with the substantial appearance of both buildings (as measured by local standards), weakly supports such a view.

Structure 306-86 is about 120 m west of Str. 306-78 and 98 m south of Str. 306-17 in the WPP. This building is near the middle of a set of constructions that form a rough northwest-southeast–trending line extending over approximately 130 m. Excavations here revealed a poorly preserved platform that stood 0.3–0.43 m high and covered 3.72 m east-west; surviving constructions were not sufficiently preserved to infer their orientations. Single basal facings fashioned of unmodified stones rise directly to the earthen-floored summit, which lacks any signs of superstructure architecture in the 1-m-wide area exposed that runs across the summit’s full east-west extent. A complete incensario, lying facedown, and a stone sphere measuring 0.1 m in diameter were found within 0.1 m of each other—3.22 m east of, and 0.54 m downslope from, Str. 306-86 (figure 3.15). These items were apparently recovered where they were originally left sitting on ancient ground surface and are not parts of a trash deposit.

What we can discern of Str. 306-86’s architecture is not diagnostic of the uses to which it was put. Materials associated with the edifice, however, generally resemble in range and density those found at residences elsewhere throughout the settlement. This is especially the case for pottery sherds and chipped stone (36.6 p/em² and 2 p/em², in turn), with concentrations of both falling within the range identified at Strs. 306-8, 306-11, and 306-21. The distribution of form-codified rims within the small analyzed sample (N=14) suggests that these ceramic fragments were derived in roughly equal numbers from bowls and jars. Recovery of some shell and animal bones from Str. 306-86’s environs also points to meat processing, albeit on a fairly small scale, in the immediate area. Structure 306-86’s assemblage, however, is distinguished by its unusually high concentration of incensario fragments (7.9 p/em²), which are nearly twice as common as in the next largest collection, Str. 306-182 in the WPP. Most of these pieces are from the one incense burner found lying east of the building. If this vessel is treated as one unit of measurement, then the density of incensario fragments is reduced to 0.7 p/em². Although this no longer represents the highest concentration of incense burner remains, the figure is still fairly substantial by the standards of Site PVN 306. The small stone sphere found near the aforementioned incensario also sets Structure 306-86’s assemblage apart from others at the center. The behavioral significance of this locally unique artifact is unclear, although its close association with an incense burner in a seemingly undisturbed context points to its use as ritual paraphernalia.

Structure 306-86 may well have served as a residence, based on its general form and associated ceramics, lithics, and faunal remains. The unusually high concentration of incense burner pieces near the building, especially the largely intact spiked incensario and stone ball, points to its occupants’ conduct of religious observances at levels of intensity greater than those recorded elsewhere outside the WPP. These rites were possibly concentrated east of Str. 306-86.

FIGURE 3.15 Structure 306-86, photograph of the in situ deposit containing a nearly complete spiked incensario and stone sphere

Midden Excavations

Suboperation 306AL/BQ was dug across the approximate center of an artifact scatter situated approximately 65 m south of Str. 306-125, on the southern border of the EPP. This concentration occupies an area largely devoid of even the hint of surface-visible architecture, with the closest known building roughly 28 m to the south. Digging here revealed a pit, measuring 2.94 m across by 0.59 m deep at its center, filled with a dense concentration of cultural material set in a fine-grained, dark gray soil (figure 3.16). The declivity’s base is uneven, but the two exposed sides slope up smoothly and continuously.

The Subop. 306AL/BQ deposit yielded densities of ceramics that fall toward the lower end of the range defined for excavated middens beyond the site core (521.8 p/em²); recorded concentrations of chipped lithics here are also near the bottom of that continuum (18.7 p/em²; table 3.2). Concentrations of shell and animal bones, although high by the standards of principal plaza constructions and trash collections (780 p/em² altogether), are again near the tail end of the distribution for middens situated outside the WPP and the EPP. Incensarios (3.1 p/em²) and ground stone implements (5.3 p/em²), on the other hand, are more common in the Subop. 306AL/BQ assemblage than is the case in all but the Subop. 306AB/AD trash deposit north of the site core.

The materials retrieved from the Subop. 306AL/BQ trash pit reflect the practice of a wide array of activities in the immediate area at moderately high levels of intensity. The preponderance of bowls among the form-classified rims in the collection suggests that most of the pottery vessels represented in the assemblage were used in food serving rather than storage (table 3.3). The grinding stones found here, along with fairly high concentrations of shell and bone, point to the processing nearby of at least some of the comestibles these bowls contained. Obsidian blades as well as more casually fashioned flakes of chert and, most likely, perlite were employed in some of these tasks (table 3.1). Percussion flakes dominate the chipped stone assemblage (82% of the analyzed collection, N=34), implying that these implements were better suited to the chores pursued in the area, that those conducting such tasks did not have easy access to blades, or both. The relatively high concentration of incense burner pieces in the assemblage hints at the importance of religious observances in the activities pursued nearby. This view is supported by the recovery in Subop. 306AL/BQ of one of the few, and among the largest, ceramic figurines recovered from the settlement. Insofar as these distinctive human effigies were used in rituals, the item found here points to the conduct of religious observances that employed a relatively diverse array of ritual items.

Summary

Excavations conducted south of the principal plazas indicate the presence of at least one residence (Str. 306-86) and three possible ritual foci (Strs. 306-72, 306-78, and, more certainly, an area immediately east of Str. 306-86). The one trash deposit excavated here (Subop. 306AL/BQ) also yielded a locally high concentration of ritual paraphernalia in the form of incense burners and a fired clay figurine. The evidence pointing to religious activity in southern Site PVN 306 is less clear than it was in the WPP. Taken together, however, data in hand suggest that at least some areas south of the site core served as venues for the conduct of rites at variable scales. The contents of the Subop. 306AL/BQ trash pit may even point to the enactment of some of these observances within the context of feasts. The high proportion of bowls, likely used in food serving, among the form-coded pottery rims from the Subop. 306AL/BQ assemblage tentatively suggests such an interpretation, as does the presence of food-processing equipment and faunal remains in this collection. There may have been several centers for celebrations of the sacred at Roble phase Site PVN 306, intermingled among which were houses of various sizes.

FIGURE 3.16 Section through the Subop. 306AL/BQ midden

ACTIVITY PATTERNING WEST OF THE PRINCIPAL PLAZAS

Construction here is widely and fairly evenly dispersed, with no obvious patio groups. The two Roble phase edifices investigated in this zone are Strs. 306-15 and 306-79, while one midden was excavated as part of Subop. 306BV.

Architectural Excavation

Structure 306-15 is approximately 10 m northwest of Str. 306-182 and an equivalent distance off the northwest corner of the WPP. Excavation here revealed a 1-m-wide swath of the building’s south facing. This stone wall, oriented 84 degrees, is 0.21 m high by 0.97 m wide and either retains the hearting of a low platform or is the foundation delimiting the perimeter of a surface-level building; surface indications tend to favor the latter interpretation.

Not enough of Str. 306-15 was exposed to permit inferences of activity patterning based on its architecture. Similarly, the paltry numbers of artifacts analyzed from this building do not provide a strong basis for advancing arguments concerning the construction’s use (table 3.2). The extrapolations of artifact diversity and density presented in table 3.2 are founded on a very small sample, the representativeness of which is uncertain. Bearing that caveat in mind, it is interesting that Str. 306-15 yielded significant quantities of ritual gear in the form of at least two incensario fragments and one figurine. The densities of these objects presented in table 3.2 must be treated with a good deal of caution. Still, given the relative rarity of such items in most Site PVN 306 assemblages, their presence in the small studied collection associated with Str. 306-15 very tentatively suggests that the building served as a venue for religious devotions possibly conducted at levels of intensity that exceeded those observed in most other parts of the settlement. This edifice, and its associated activities, may represent a westward extension of the rites conducted within the WPP.

Structure 306-79 lies roughly 50 m west/southwest of the WPP in an area largely devoid of contemporary architecture; the closest recognized constructions are 20 m to the north and 40 m to the east. Structure 306-79 is a stone-faced platform standing 0.27–0.34 m high, oriented 265 degrees, and measuring 4.8 m × 14.75 m (figure 3.17). The summit covers an estimated 70.8 m², was seemingly paved with a layer of small stones, but lacked clear evidence of a superstructure. The retrieval of wattle-and-daub fragments from the building’s environs may point to the former existence of a perishable building set atop the platform, albeit one without clear stone foundations.

FIGURE 3.17 Structure 306-79, plan

The array and density of cultural materials retrieved during the investigation of Str. 306-79 suggest that it served as a fairly substantial residence. The density of ceramics is on the low end for domiciles at Site PVN 306 (22 p/em²), although far greater than the systematically cleaned surfaces and environs of what were arguably ritual constructions (such as Strs. 306-17, 306-19, and 306-174 in the WPP; table 3.2). Jars dominate the small sample of pottery rims identified as to form (table 3.3). If this pattern is representative of vessel categories in the overall collection, it would suggest that storage, rather than serving, of food and drink dominated the uses to which vessels were put at this edifice. The recovery of one grinding implement along with moderately dense concentrations of faunal remains (mostly Pachychilus sp. shells, 3.4 p/em²) implies that a diverse array of food was processed at this building. The density of chipped stone falls toward the upper end of the observed range for residences at the center (2.3 p/em²) and is composed in nearly equal parts of obsidian blades (16, of which one was converted into a projectile point) and flakes (19, two of chert and the rest probably derived from perlite; table 3.1). The low density of incensario pieces in the Str. 306-79 assemblage (0.1 p/em²) closely parallels measures from other domiciles.

Structure 306-79, therefore, seems to have been a sizable residence at which a variety of domestic tasks (food processing, storage, some food serving) and ritual observances (represented by the few fragments of incense burners) were conducted. The latter rites were pursued at low levels of intensity.

Midden Excavations

Suboperation BV is a 1 m × 2 m trench dug into the estimated center of an artifact concentration located 10 m south of Str. 306-79 and about 75 m southwest of Str. 306-17 on the south edge of the WPP. Digging here confirmed the existence of a midden that, in this case, included a dense concentration of cultural debris set in sandy silt that grades from gray to tan with increasing depth. The deposit is 0.11–0.18 m thick and slopes up over the natural ascent of the land from west to east. A series of four test pits (each measuring 0.5 m on a side) was dug in a line extending 90 m southwest of Subop. 306BV to determine the extent of the midden (the latter tests are designated Subop. 306BZ). No signs of the trash deposit were encountered in these probes.

The range of cultural materials retrieved during the course of digging Subop. 306BV generally matches that found in other middens (table 3.2). The density of ceramic sherds (346 p/em²), for example, falls toward the lower end of the continuum noted at excavated trash deposits outside the site core. As was the case in most Site PVN 306 Roble phase middens, the greater prevalence of bowls vis-à-vis jars in Subop. 306BV suggests that serving comestibles loomed larger than their storage in the activities pursued here (table 3.3). The chipped stone density is also near the bottom of the range for middens at the settlement (21.5 p/em²), and, as was the case at Subop. 306AL/BQ, obsidian blades (17) are outnumbered by percussion flakes of chert (3) and what is likely perlite (21; table 3.1). The frequency of incense burners is somewhat elevated (2.5 p/em²) but does not exceed the figures recorded for the Subop. 306AL/BQ and 306AB/AD middens. What is striking about the 306BV collection is the near-total absence of shell and animal remains. Processing of these meat sources was seemingly not a major part of the behavioral round pursued here.

Overall, it appears that the material recovered from Subop. 306BV was used in tasks that included food serving, some storage, and the possible processing of comestibles (represented by the chipped lithics) that did not include, to any great extent, faunal sources. Rituals were pursued somewhere in the vicinity of this deposit, apparently at a relatively high level of intensity. The few fragments of wattle-and-daub found in Subop. 306BV might have derived from surface-level structures undetected on ground surface.

Summary

The area west of the principal plazas seemingly provided venues for the conduct of both residential and ritual activities. Structure 306-79 is the clearest example of the first set of behaviors, although it, too, yielded evidence for the conduct of at least some religious devotions on a small scale. Structure 306-15, as noted earlier, weakly suggests that rituals conducted in the WPP might have continued westward beyond that space. The debris retrieved from Subop. 306BV reflects a mix of domestic and ritual behaviors in which serving and, to a limited degree, processing comestibles occurred in association with rites that employed fairly large numbers of incense burners.

ACTIVITY PATTERNING EAST OF THE PRINCIPAL PLAZAS

This area is characterized by an extremely dense packing of architecture that extends for roughly 100 m east of the EPP. Most of the buildings investigated here (Strs. 306-105, 306-106, 306-110, 306-121, 306-152, and 306-159) were erected and used during the Terminal Classic and Early Postclassic, having fallen into disuse by the Roble phase. Our attention at this point focuses on excavated remains that clearly pertain to the last of these intervals.

Architectural Excavations

Structure 306-130 was mapped as a low terrace facing west toward the northeast corner of the EPP. Structure 306-120, which closes off the northeast corner of that plaza, is 5 m west of Str. 306-130. Excavations here revealed a 0.48 m high by 1.7 m wide stone wall raised atop the crest of a gradual west-to-east natural ascent. Backing this construction to the east is the unmodified earth of the original ground surface. Structure 306-130, therefore, seems to have been a terrace designed to slow erosion down the east-to-west slope; the locally unusual thickness of the one exposed wall likely reflects the need to maintain the construction’s stability in the face of that erosion. A bajareque fragment retrieved from Str. 306-130 very tentatively points to the erection of a perishable building atop the rise fronted by this stone-faced terrace.

The range and density of artifacts found on and around Str. 306-130 match those measures recorded for other Roble phase residences at the center (table 3.2). The inferred concentration of pottery sherds is at the high end of the distribution for this variable among domiciles (96.6 p/em²), whereas the figures for chipped lithics and incensarios are toward the middle of that range (4.4 p/em² and 0.2 p/em², respectively). Too few rims were categorized as to their forms to advance an interpretation of activity patterning based on this data class. The analyzed stone tools and debris primarily appear as flakes (11), probably perlite, with only one obsidian blade in the study collection (table 3.1). The complete absence of faunal remains and ground stone implements suggests that food processing was not a significant part of the residents’ daily round.

Midden Excavations

Suboperation 306AR/BL was dug to investigate a low earthen rise situated on the eastern margin of Site PVN 306, approximately 100 m east of the EPP. This eminence, sitting on the edge of an east-to-west ascent, itself rises about 0.8 m on the east and 0.42 m on the west and is shaped in the form of a crescent open on the southwest, where roughly 30 m separates the ends of the arc. Excavations within Subop. 306AR did not clearly determine whether the C-shaped rise was the product of cultural or natural processes. By the Roble phase, however, the summit and slopes of the eminence supported a sustained human occupation. An extensive but shallow (0.28-m-thick) midden, characterized by a high density of cultural materials set in a fine-textured, gray-brown soil, was found extending over an estimated 5.1 × 6.2 m of the summit and adjoining slopes (figure 3.18). There is no evidence that this trash was ever contained within a pit; instead, it seems to have been spread in a fairly continuous sheet. Located 0.2 m west of the exposed limits of the trash deposit is a concentration of bajareque measuring 1.1 m east-west by at least 1 m north-south (the northern and southern limits of the deposit were not uncovered). Although no clear architectural features were noted here, this concentration of burned daub may pertain to a surface-level structure fashioned of perishable materials and located in the immediate area. The equivalent stratigraphic positions of the trash and bajareque concentration, coupled with their propinquity, strongly suggest that those using the putative wattle-and-daub building contributed to the debris found in the adjoining midden.

The variety and density of cultural material found in the course of excavating Subop. 306AR/BL generally match those noted at other trash deposits south and west of the principal plazas (Subops. 306AL/BQ and 306BV; table 3.2). Ceramic densities are high (692 p/em²) but do not match the very elevated figures noted in the northern middens (Subop. 306AB/AD, AC/AE, AX/BK, and BF/BS). The overwhelming preponderance of bowls among the form-coded rims of pottery vessels points to the importance of serving comestibles in the immediate area (table 3.3). Storage in ceramic jars seems to have been of less significance in the suite of behaviors conducted here. Pieces of incense burners are well represented in the assemblage (1.9 p/em²), although their frequency falls out toward the middle of the range noted for Site PVN 306 Roble phase middens. Members of another artifact category with potential ritual connotations, figurines, are also found here in low numbers (0.3 p/em²).

As was the case for pottery fragments, the density of chipped stone tools and debris in the Subop. 306AR/BL trash (16.1 p/em²) parallels that seen at the two excavated debris concentrations south and west of the principal plazas and is lower than the very high figures recorded for this data class in the northern middens (save for Str. 306-164). What truly distinguishes the Subop. 306AR/BL assemblage is the very high numbers of obsidian blades (254) vis-à-vis flakes of both chert (13) and possibly perlite (39; table 3.1). This ratio of 4.9:1 dwarfs that seen among all other analyzed collections from the site. One reason for this discrepancy may be the relatively large number of polyhedral blade cores (7) recovered from the Subop. 306AR/BL debris (table 3.1). Blade knapping may well have been one specialty of those who jettisoned their trash in the investigated area. Identification of two small perlite (?) nodules and one nucleus of chert in the collection also suggests that tools were made here using these materials, employing a relatively simple, direct percussion technology. In addition to the manufacture of stone implements, the recovery of two ceramic molds for shaping bowls points to the fashioning, in low volumes, of pottery vessels somewhere nearby.

FIGURE 3.18 Section through the Subop. 306AR/BL midden

The density of shell and animal remains within the Subop. 306AR/BL midden, as extrapolated from the findings in the 306BL probe (7,728 p/em² in all), is remarkably elevated. These figures exceed the top limits of the northern middens, where faunal remains tend to be very common, and dwarf the levels of this data class reconstructed for the investigated southern and western trash deposits. Clearly, processing meat was a central activity pursued by those living and working in the immediate vicinity of the Subop. 306AR/BL deposit. Just as obviously, the processing of food using grinding stones is not well represented here.

Debris jettisoned in the 306AR/BL area seems to have resulted from a variety of tasks, including the manufacture in significant numbers of stone tools within several different traditions, employing distinct sets of raw materials; small-scale fabrication of pottery vessels; serving and, to a lesser extent, storing comestibles; processing meat from shellfish, snails, and other animals at a high level of intensity; and the consistent, if not intense, conduct of religious rituals employing incensarios and figurines. The processing of grains on grinding stones, if it occurred at all, was not a major part of the activities that generated this trash.

Summary

It appears that by the Roble phase, residents of Site PVN 306 were using the area east of the principal plazas as both residences and work areas. Structure 306-130 fits fairly well within the first category based on analyses of its associated cultural material and what little we can discern of the building’s architecture. Material recovered from the extensive Subop. 306AR/BL deposit points to the performance of a wide array of behaviors in this area, ranging from specialized production of stone tools and pottery to the conduct of ritual, meat processing, and food serving. Recovery of the remains of a perishable structure off the west edge of the aforementioned trash deposit implies that the people responsible for these activities lived nearby.

The behaviors outlined here occurred in areas immediately surrounding the densely settled nucleus of the center’s Terminal Classic settlement. The buildings that comprise the latter zone were largely left untouched throughout this late period. Exceptions include the interment of seven individuals along the margins of Strs. 306-106 (1 burial), 306-110 (3 burials), and 306-121 (3 burials). Dating the latter burials is made difficult by the total absence of included grave goods. Their stratigraphic positions, well above the bases of Terminal Classic construction, strongly imply that the interments long postdated the original use of these edifices. It appears, therefore, that the core of the Terminal Classic site was converted in part into a necropolis by the Roble phase.

ACTIVITY PATTERNING NORTH OF THE PRINCIPAL PLAZAS

Excavations north of the site core that pertain to the Roble phase investigated trash deposits unassociated with surviving architecture. All told, six of these middens were studied in an area stretching for 200 m east-west, beginning at “Structure 306-164” on the west, and for 280 m north of the principal plazas.

TABLE 3.4 Frequency of polyhedral obsidian, percussion chert, and “perlite” cores recovered per excavated square meters

Midden Excavations

Five of these deposits appeared on ground surface as distinct artifact concentrations that generally measure 6 m in diameter. Each such deposit was investigated by digging a 1 m × 2 m trench across its approximate center, coupled in four cases with a 0.5 m × 0.5 m probe sunk next to the original excavation to obtain a controlled sample of the midden’s contents. These investigations (Subop. 306AB/AD, 306AC/AE, 306AX/BK, 306BF/BS, and 306BI) each revealed trash deposits composed of dense concentrations of cultural materials packed within 0.19–0.5 m of gray to dark brown soils. No clear pits were identified. The sixth midden identified during survey was originally thought to have been a low platform (Str. 306-164), although digging here proved otherwise.

Structure 306-164 lies approximately 280 m north of the site core in the midst of a widely scattered collection of what we initially took to be low platforms with ill-defined boundaries. Typical of this loose aggregation, Str. 306-164 measures 6 × 10 m and rises about 0.1 m above the surrounding ground surface. Excavations here in 1988 revealed that the slight eminence that distinguished this locale from its environs was the result of trash accumulation. A 1-m-wide trench cut into the east side of the diminutive rise revealed a midden at least 0.85 m thick that ran, minimally, for 3.84 m east-west (time did not permit identifying the deposit’s full depth or western limit; figure 3.14). This debris was contained by a pit dug into the underlying soil. The trash eventually overtopped the boundary of the declivity on the east. Densities of cultural material declined consistently over the exposed 3.16 m east of, and away from, the pit.

The last excavation discussed here is Subop. 306CA/36. This test pit, covering 1.25 m², was sunk in the center’s northeast quadrant where there was no clear surface evidence of occupation. Although the 35 other probes dug as part of this effort yielded only scattered Roble phase materials, Subop. 306CA/36 revealed a dense concentration of cultural remains indicating the presence of a previously unrecognized midden. The deposit extended to 0.2 m below modern ground surface and was found throughout the trench.

There is little doubt that these excavations encountered the remains of purposefully created trash deposits. These debris concentrations vary in several significant ways, however. Suboperations 306AB/AD, 306AC/AE, and 306AX/BK are all characterized by very high densities of ceramics, chipped lithics, and faunal remains (table 3.2). Suboperations 306BF/BS, 306BI, 306CA/36, and Str. 306-164 yielded much lower concentrations of these materials. Such discrepancies may hint at variations in the numbers of people depositing trash within these middens, the use intensities of ceramics, lithics, and faunal remains being equal among the diverse locales. Alternatively, there may have been differences in the extent to which pottery containers, stone tools, shells, and bone were employed in the actions pursued by equivalent numbers of individuals scattered across Site PVN 306’s northern reaches. At present, both possibilities are equally likely.

The proportions of bowls among the form-classified rims in each instance range from 57 to 90 percent, with all but Subop. 306AX/BK having figures for bowls above 70 percent (table 3.3). The serving of comestibles seems to have loomed larger than storage of food and liquids in the activities in which these ceramic vessels were employed.

The chipped lithic assemblages of Subops. 306AB/AD, 306AC/AE, 306BF/BS, 306BI, and Str. 306-164 were dominated by obsidian blades, with ratios ranging from 1.8:1 to 15.7:1 of blades to chert and perlite (?) flakes; excavations at Str. 306-164 retrieved 12 blades and no flakes of any material (table 3.1). This pattern is reversed in the Subop. 306AX/BK collection, where flakes outnumber blades by a ratio of 1.6:1. Polyhedral obsidian cores are found in Subop. 306AB/AD and Str. 306-164 (1 each), Subop. 306BI (2 examples), and Subop. 306AX/BK (3 specimens; table 3.4). This pattern implies that blades were knapped in numerous places throughout northern Site PVN 306. Interestingly, the presence and frequency of blade cores do not necessarily correlate with locales where blades were concentrated; Subop. 306AX/BK yielded the largest quantity of cores from a northern midden but is the only known instance from this area where flakes outnumber obsidian blades. The 2 chert cores found at Subop. 306AX/BK and the 1 retrieved from Subop. 306BI indicate that percussion flaking of this material was pursued, in some cases within the same general areas where blades were fashioned.

The very large numbers of shell and animal remains recovered from Subops. 306AB/AD, 306AC/AE, and 306AX/BK point to the processing of meat in sizable quantities in each case. Excavations in Subops. 306 BF/BS and 306BI and Str. 306-164 yielded significant but much smaller concentrations of these materials. The Subop. 306CA/36 deposit, on the other hand, contained very few faunal remains. Nonetheless, it appears that throughout most known portions of northern Site PVN 306, meat was extracted from shellfish, snails, and other animals in significant quantities. Variations in the densities of these materials may reflect differences in the numbers of people involved in such chores, the levels of intensity at which these tasks were conducted, or both.

The frequencies of incense burners vary somewhat among the investigated assemblages, ranging from 1 to 3.1 p/em². These distinctions do not correlate with density measures for other artifact classes. For example, Subop. 306BF/BS evinces relatively low concentrations of pottery sherds, chipped lithics, and faunal remains and yet has one of the highest densities of incense burner fragments. Structure 306-164 exhibits a similar divergence in density measures. It seems unlikely, therefore, that differences in incensario frequencies are merely products of the quantities of artifacts found in various middens. More likely, the observed distinctions reflect variations in the intensities at which religious rites employing incense burners were conducted. Figurines are found in three of the seven excavated northern middens, their frequencies not correlating in any clear way with those of incensarios.

Grinding stones are spottily represented in the investigated middens; they appear in two of the analyzed assemblages, where their densities range from 0.4 p/em² (Subop. 306AC/AE) to 3.1 p/em² (Subop. 306AB/AD). As was the case with incensarios, the appearance and density of grinding implements do not co-vary with the frequency of other, more common material classes such as ceramic sherds, chipped lithics, and faunal remains. Preparing grains using grinding stones was therefore apparently a task pursued at varying levels of intensity across northern Site PVN 306.

The recovery of wattle-and-daub fragments in four of the investigated northern middens likely points to the presence of buildings fashioned of this perishable material somewhere in the vicinities of Subops. 306AB/AD, 306AX/BK, 306CA/36, and Str. 306-164. We cannot rule out the possibility that similar constructions were also originally found near the other studied trash deposits, with remains of the buildings simply never having been preserved by burning. The extant evidence therefore implies that at least some, probably all, of the northern middens were initially associated with constructions.

The spinning of thread, as indicated by the presence of spindle whorls, was recorded at Subops. 306AB/AD and 306AX/BK, with by far the greatest concentration recognized at the former location (2.7 p/em²). Admittedly, spindle whorls are rare components of Roble phase Site PVN 306 assemblages. Further excavation at places where they were not identified might therefore have turned up at least a few examples. Based on the data in hand, however, it appears that thread preparation and probably weaving were variably practiced across northern Site PVN 306; in those spots where they were conducted, spinning and weaving were not pursued at equal levels of intensity.

Other uncommon artifact categories are variably attested to in the excavated collections, including net weights (found in Subops. 306AC/AE [2.7 p/em²] and 306AX/BK [0.4 p/em²]) and sherd disks (identified only in Subop. 306AB/AD [0.4 p/em²]). The behavioral significance of these items is unclear, although sherd disks may also have been used as spindle whorls.

Summary

The behavioral significance of material derived from the excavated middens depends on how these deposits were originally implicated in the rounds of activities pursued in northern portions of the settlement. The discontinuous nature of the artifact scatters, of which the investigated trash deposits are just seven examples, suggests that the excavated middens were not parts of a continuous sheet of debris. Rather, each seems to have been a relatively discrete unit of trash disposal. The relatively shallow nature of these debris levels (0.19–0.85 m thick, with all but Str. 306-164 falling within the 0.19–0.5 m range) hints at their formation over relatively short periods of time. It may well be that whatever happened at these distinct locales did not long endure.

A major question that arises is whether the studied deposits were linked to specific residences or represented debris generated by specialized activities conducted away from domiciles. No in situ remains of domestic architecture were identified on the surface or in excavations. As noted earlier, the few wattle-and-daub pieces retrieved from four of the middens point only to the presence of perishable constructions in their immediate vicinities; they do not indicate the dimensions and functions of these putative buildings. Similarities in the materials recovered from the excavated deposits do imply that much the same general range of activities was pursued in each known case. The nature of these items, mostly utilitarian ceramics and stone tools as well as the remains of meat processing, tentatively suggest that they were employed in domestic chores associated with individual houses. At present, the most likely interpretation is that each of the investigated trash collections was the product of behaviors conducted in discrete residential units, the architectural manifestations of which did not survive.

All concentrations of cultural material identified on the surface of northern Site PVN 306 could therefore represent the locations of specific houses. Not all of them need have been contemporary; the shallowness of the studied middens suggests that house groups did not remain in one spot throughout the entirety of the center’s Roble phase. Hence, the northern part of the settlement may have been characterized by a shifting landscape of domestic groups residing in perishable structures and engaging in much the same array of tasks.

There was some variation in how intensely these shared behaviors were pursued and even in the nature of the activities conducted. This interpretation is implied by variations across trash deposits in the frequencies of the most commonly found materials (pottery sherds, chipped lithics, and faunal remains). These distinctions imply that the intensity of settlement and actions involving ceramic vessels, chipped stone implements, and meat differed significantly over the investigated area.

Throughout northern Site PVN 306, however, the serving of comestibles in pottery bowls seems to have been a very significant activity. Only in the area of Subop. 306AX/BK was the proportion of jars and bowls nearly equal (comprising 43% and 57% of the form-classified rims, respectively). Samples of rims coded by vessel shape are large enough in each case to warrant confidence in the results. Similarly, in the analyzed chipped lithic collections, blades are almost invariably the most prevalent tool form; Subop. 306AX/BK once again is the sole contradictory case. In the absence of use-wear studies, we cannot discern in what tasks the blades, as well as flakes, were employed. What we can say is that obsidian blades were generally available to all those living in this area, and, insofar as blades and flakes were used for different purposes, those tasks associated with the former tools predominated throughout northern Site PVN 306.

Variations in the observed concentrations of incense burner pieces among the investigated deposits hint at some possible differences in the performance of religious rituals in this portion of the settlement. There is no clear correlation between the prevalence of incense burners and the locations where they are found; high densities are not identified, for example, close to the principal plazas or to each other. Incensario frequencies also vary independently of density measures for other artifact classes. It therefore seems unlikely that figures for these ritual objects are solely a function of the number of people who used them. Consequently, it appears that religious devotions were not conducted at the same levels of intensity throughout northern Site PVN 306.

Evidence for manufacturing tasks is also variably expressed across the excavated middens. Signs of obsidian blade knapping were noted at Subops. 306AB/AD, 306AX/BK, 306BI, and Str. 306-164, where fragments of polyhedral cores were recovered. Suboperations 306AX/BK and 306BI also yielded evidence, in the form of chert cores, for fashioning flake tools by the direct percussion method. The identification of ceramic spindle whorls in the Subop. 306AB/AD and 306AX/BK assemblages indicates that at least some steps in the weaving process were pursued in the environs of these deposits. Specialized production tasks were therefore widespread, if not quite ubiquitous, throughout northern portions of the center during the Roble phase, and there were differences in the intensity and array of these tasks pursued by those who tossed debris in specific middens.

GENERAL SUMMARY

The basic social networks identified at Roble phase Site PVN 306 encompass numerous houses, at least one household composed of large residential platforms, and a community that includes the site and its immediate environs. The house is the most widespread and smallest of these webs. Members in each such net lived in discrete constructions and cooperated in comparable activities using the same forms of material culture. To be sure, the architectural foci of these interactions varied considerably, from buildings raised atop platforms to constructions set directly on ground surface. Nevertheless, an equivalent array of behaviors using similar items of material culture was performed in each of these settings, although there were some differences in the scales and intensities of these activities. For example, the processing of meat and grain was seemingly less significant in houses bordering the EPP than it was in other domestic webs at Site PVN 306. Such variations in site-wide patterns of activity distribution may point to some level of behavioral segregation with, in this case, the messier aspects of food preparation relegated largely to areas outside the one known household.

Evidence for specialized manufacture was even more spatially restricted. Diagnostics of obsidian blade production, the fashioning of flake tools from chert and perlite cores, and, to some extent, spinning/weaving and pottery production are unevenly distributed among excavated residences. This pattern implies that houses were differentiated to some extent by their varied participation in craft manufacture. An implication of this finding is that these small-scale domestic units were dependent on each other for goods their members did not produce. Webs of economic exchange therefore cross-cut domestic networks centered on specific houses. We return to these issues in chapter 7.

The one recorded household centers on the EPP, where several residences bound a formally defined plaza. This entity incorporates the largest, most impressively decorated domiciles known from the center. The network linking occupants of the EPP was encouraged by their proximity to each other and was enacted through common engagement in tasks conducted within the plaza. A sense of unity was likely enhanced by cooperation in daily chores using identical materials, along with participation in activities pursued in special-purpose structures at least witnessed by those with access to the plaza. The paucity of incensarios associated with the latter edifices suggests that the behaviors they hosted were not overtly couched in a sacred context.

Houses and households, in turn, were linked into broader networks. One such web involved the exchange of specialized products among artisans resident in some houses with consumers living in others. Participation in rituals was another means of forging ties that cross-cut physically localized nets. The widespread distribution of incense burner fragments among houses of all sizes and locations within Site PVN 306 points to the performance of religious devotions in most, probably all, houses and households. In fact, general participation in these observances was probably one of the common projects through which intra-house and intra-household unity was enacted. Variations in incensario frequencies might point to distinctions in the intensity and frequency with which religious observances were carried out among domestic groups. Whereas members of all these entities used much the same ritual paraphernalia in, presumably, much the same ways, a few houses might have served as foci for more intense or frequent enactments of religious performances. The houses associated with Subops. 306AB/AD, 306AL/BQ, and 306BF/BS, therefore, may have been centers for religious activities to a much greater extent than were their compatriots. These data suggest that some houses were foci of ritual activity in which members of other social units participated periodically.

Operating at a larger scale, specialized ritual constructions that define the WPP apparently served as a nexus that unified all residents of Site PVN 306 and possibly those living in the center’s immediate vicinity. Here, Strs. 306-17, 306-19, and 306-174 are distinguished from all other constructions at the Roble phase center by their circular to oval forms and lack of clear domestic debris. The first two edifices are also the most elaborately decorated buildings at Site PVN 306; their surfaces are covered with, in some cases, multiple coats of plaster, and their tops are capped with stone monuments. The kinds of activities conducted around these buildings are suggested by the nature of the trash deposits found off the WPP’s west and southwest sides. This mix of ritual paraphernalia, production debris from making stone tools, and materials associated with food serving (ceramic bowls and faunal remains) points to the WPP as a venue where manufacturing, feasting, and celebrations of the sacred were synthesized. The easily accessible WPP, therefore, apparently served as a locale in which large segments of the settlement’s population periodically congregated to reinforce commitment to each other and to the community-wide network of which they were a part through common participation in rites of worship, consumption, and production. Structure 306-20 may have hosted gatherings of community leaders who coordinated such events.

In essence, the same basic sets of activities were instrumental in forging networks at Roble phase Site PVN 306 at all scales. Members of specific houses and households ate and worshipped with other members of their domestic webs. These processes of consumption and communing with the sacred were among the projects through which each network’s existence was enacted. Similarly, residents of the center gathered in the WPP to instantiate the interpersonal ties that comprised a site-wide web by engaging in these same tasks, involving much the same array of goods but on a larger scale. This is not to say that Site PVN 306 was a homogeneous community during the Roble phase. Rather, the center’s inhabitants of all ranks used similar behaviors as tropes by which to create, reproduce, and emotionally strengthen the unity of social webs that operated at multiple spatial scales. These efforts did unite members in distinct networks despite the differences that separated them in other contexts. We consider these differences in chapters 6–9.