El Gigante Rock Shelter: Archaic Mesoamerica and Transitions to Settled Life

Regional Surveys and Sondage Testing

A regional perspective on rock shelter use is critical to our understanding of cultural adaptation to this area. A much stronger description of the diversity and differentiation arising after the Paleoindian period, and a more solid definition of the Archaic can be made if we incorporate evidence from multiple sites. A total of 33 archaeological sites were identified by the Proyecto El Gigante in 1998 (Figure 1).

We had hoped to find multiple sites with which we could "replicate" a sample drawn from El Gigante. The testing largely resulted in the negative. With the exception of a single site, Cueva Salitre (#33), no other sites were identified as containing intact, archaeological deposits of comparable age or preservation to El Gigante.

Surface collections were made at all sites visited during the survey, however, these materials remain unanalyzed. These included predominantly flaked lithics, and occasionally ceramics. Assemblages from various time periods represented in the excavated sample from El Gigante will eventually be compared with the surface collections of the region.

Based on the survey sample, ten sites were targeted for a testing program in 2000. These sites are highlighted on the Regional Map (Figure 1). The ten sites were selected based on their artifactual constituents and geomorphology. The auger-bored sondages were performed at: Grutas Guanizalez, Site 07 and 09 of the El Gigante complex, Cueva de los Murcielagos, Site 12, La Cueva Pintada, Cueva Salitre, Site 32, and Cueva del Chayo. The tenth site, Cuevas de Quiala, could not be reached because of high water in the river, and remains untested.

All sites were mapped with a tripod-mounted Brunton compass and 30 m tape (see site maps). Site area was calculated from the maps drawn in the field to include the entire usable space in the cavern out to the drip line across the mouth of the cave. Auger holes were placed randomly in a ratio of 5 to every 100 m-sq. of site area, with an additional 2 per 100 m-sq. of "choice" placements. Sondage materials were examined in 10 centimeter intervals to the depth of bedrock by screening through 1/8 in. hardware cloth.

Most of the randomly placed test cores resulted in <10 cm of depth and were sterile. Test holes that yielded artifacts generally did so in the first 30 cm and consisted of fragmented undiagnostic ceramic sherds. No cultural deposits were found below 50 centimeters in depth in any of the rock shelters with the exception of one (see Appendix I: Cueva El Salitre).

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