Jadeite Sources and Ancient Workshops: Archaeological Reconnaissance in the Upper Río El Tambor, Guatemala

Sitio Cerro Chucunhueso

Roughly half a kilometer east of Sitio Aguilucho, there is Sitio Cerro Chucunhueso, which is situated in the saddle of the ridge immediately southwest of the peak of Cerro Chucunhueso, the most dramatic land feature in the Quebrada El Silencio drainage (Figure 21a and Figure 21b). Sitio Chucunhueso is virtually at the same altitude as Terrace 2, the principal mound group at Sitio Aguilucho. However, whereas the principal building stones at Sitio Aguilucho were serpentine and schist, Sitio Chucunhueso is composed solely of igneous rock local to the Chucunhueso ridge. In addition, the architecture is notably different, and is composed of a complex series of stone-lined terraces and walled enclosures (Figure 41). In addition, although there is abundant cultural material on the surface of Sitio Aguilucho, including ceramics and jade working tools and debitage, very little surface material was encountered at Sitio Chucunhueso. One noteworthy exception was a large celt preform of bluish jadeite (Figure 35, shown below). Although there were local reports of archaeological remains atop the peak of Cerro Chucunhueso, no material was encountered during our project.

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