Early Copán Acropolis Program 1998 Field Season

Documentation

During the 1998 season the documentation efforts by ECAP staff concentrated on the recording of Acropolis architecture revealed in the tunnel system, and the recording of those portable materials removed from the Acropolis excavation area to the ECAP field laboratory in the CRIA.

The architectural remains exposed by excavation are recorded by photography and scaled drawings (plans, sections, and elevations). Small samples of these features are taken for analysis to reveal composition, sources, and indications of activity or use (see Architectural Analyses). During the 1998 season the preparation of scaled architectural drawings was supported by FAMSI Grant 97003. This work was accomplished by a highly trained and skilled local staff member, Fernando López, who has worked with ECAP since its beginning in 1989. During the 1998 field season Fernando supervised a trained architectural drawer and prepared a series of master plans for each major construction phase that will be used in the creation of the final plans documenting the architectural history of the Acropolis.

Each recovered artifact, ecofact, and architectural sample is tracked on a computerized data base, using FileMaker Pro software on Macintosh platforms. The entries for each of these items provides for continuous updates of their status once they are brought to the field laboratory, including entry of the results of all analyses. In 1998 the updating of this artifact data base was supported by FAMSI Grant 97003. All artifacts from primary contexts receive additional documentation in the field laboratory, and these data form a separate artifact catalogue integrated into the ECAP computerized data base. Beginning in 1998 this artifact cataloguing effort was also supported by FAMSI Grant 97003.

The supervisor of artifact cataloguing is Ellen Bell. She is assisted by other staff members, including Eleanor Coates (photography) and Nelson Paredes (drawer). Artifact cataloguing begins with technical pencil drawings, prepared to a standard scale (usually 1:2). These drawings are rendered by Nelson Paredes, a salaried member of the ECAP staff who was trained under a previous FAMSI award (Grant 95061; Sharer, 1997a). During the 1998 field season Paredes completed a series of such scaled artifact drawings (see Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, and Figure 4). In addition, Paredes is being trained by Ellen Bell to render the final inked drawings that will be used in the published Final Reports of ECAP’s research.

Documentation continues with conventional photography of each catalogued artifact. Every catalogued artifact is photographed using both black & white and color film according to a standardized format. Most of this work is done by Eleanor Coates. During the 1998 field season most of Coates’ effort was in completing the photographic record of exposed architecture in the Acropolis tunnels, so that only a few days time could be devoted to object photography. Based on current backlog it will require about two further field seasons to complete the photographic record of ECAP’s catalogued artifacts (this work is scheduled for the 1999 and 2000 seasons).

In addition to conventional photography, all catalogued artifacts are recorded by digital photography. This aspect of documentation began in 1997, and during the 1998 season considerable progress was made by Ellen Bell, again supported by FAMSI Grant 97003. These digital images are also integrated into the computerized data base to fully illustrate each artifact.

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