Salvage Excavation of the Alamilla/Gomez Property, San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize

Location and Setting

The property is located on the Sands/Alijua Block, in the center of San Pedro Town, at the Western corner of Buccaneer and Pescador Streets (see Figure 1). The area has a long history of occupation that includes Postclassic Maya, late Spanish Colonial, British Colonial, and Modern. The island is mostly sand with a loamy sand stratum to a depth of about a meter, which overlies a white sterile sandy subsoil. The nature of sand deposits lends itself to much bioturbation and mixing, with the matrix acting as a fluid through which artifacts are free to move vertically. This, coupled with the disturbance of modern construction makes research, in essence urban archaeology, very problematic. Additionally the long history of constant occupation adds intrusions including garbage pits, post moulds, and construction-related disturbance (Pendergast and Graham 1991).

Mr. and Mrs. Alamilla, the property owners and local informants to the excavation team, provided the excavation team with a brief history of the lot’s recent occupation. When they acquired the property in the early 1980s, it was occupied by a historic home. Although they were not sure of the construction date, it must postdate the major hurricanes of 1931 and 1942 that destroyed many of the island’s structures. The home was demolished by the Alamillas after they purchased the property. A squatter known as Giovanni occupied the land during this period, and was known for his accumulation of large garbage mounds on the property. It was also rumored that he buried gold, drugs, and other valuables on the property during this time. In the mid-1990s, the HL Burger Shack, a temporary wooden structure with cement block foundation, was constructed at the NW corner of the lot, close to the intersection of Buccaneer and Pescador Streets. Presumably close to this time, water service was added to the property on the NW edge of the lot, parallel to Pescador Street. The water meter for this addition was still in place when the research was begun. Also present was a drain line running from the foundation, SW to Buccaneer Street. Our informants also recounted the construction of a septic tank in the NE corner of the lot, which was never used. A rectangular depression is readily apparent in this corner of the lot, presumably from the placement of the tank. The HL Burger Shack was torn down about a month before the salvage operation was undertaken, but most of the dry-laid cement-block foundation remained.

The lot is bounded by Buccaneer Street on the SW, Pescador Street on the NW, the Alijua Building on the SE, and Cantina Bar Building on the NE. The intersection of the streets intrudes into the lot where the drive-through of the HL Burger was located. Along Buccaneer Street is a series of 15 cm diameter posts over 2 m in height. In the N corner was a large wooden bin (originally a planter), filled with garbage when the excavation was begun. The NE side of the lot is bounded by a zinc fence with wooden posts. A cement block wall associated with the Alijua Building bounds the SE side of the lot. The entire lot was strewn with modern refuse: Belikin and Coke bottles, plastic bags and wrappers, rusty metal of unidentifiable origin, and assorted construction debris. A solitary palm tree was located just SE of the wooden bin, but it was removed after our first day of excavation. There were two large pallets of cement pavers (known locally as cobbles) and many loose blocks scattered in the NW end of the lot among debris from the HL Burger. The pallets, many of the blocks, and the wooden bin were removed near the end of excavations. Surface visibility was highly variable throughout the lot, with a concentration of grass and weeds in the SE end of the lot, but bare sand in the NW end. The large amount of refuse and construction debris served to reduce surface visibility even further.

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