The Piedras Negras Project: Preliminary Report of the 2000 Field Season

In the Land of the Turtle Lords:
Archaeological Investigations at Piedras Negras, Guatemala
Stephen Houston, Héctor Escobedo, Mark Child, Charles Golden, Richard Terry, and David Webster

Acknowledgments

Our permit for work at Piedras Negras came from the Instituto de Antropología e Historia de Guatemala, much-facilitated by the division of Monumentos Prehispánicos, where Gustavo Amarra was our Inspector. Transport of Panel 15 to safety in Guatemala City, and for eventual placement in the Museo Nacional, came about because of crucial help from the Ministra de Cultura y Deportes, Licda. Otilia Lux de Cotí, her excellency, Prudence Bushnell, the ambassador of the United States to Guatemala, the Rector of the Universidad del Valle. Ing. Héctor Centeno, and military personnel of the United States embassy. Financial assistance for this rescue effort came from the Defensores de la Naturaleza, whose selfless efforts, directed by Lic. Oscar Núñez (Director) and Maestra Marie Claire Paiz (Park Director of the Parque Nacional Sierra del Lacandón), have helped preserve the natural environment and cultural treasures of Piedras Negras. The project received generous donations from Ken Woolley and Spence Kirk of Salt Lake City, as well as funds from a variety of foundations: the National Geographic Society, the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI), the Ahau Foundation, the National Science Foundation (to Child for Doctoral Improvement Grant, to Terry and Houston for soil studies), the Fulbright Fellowship Program (Fulbright [Golden] and Fulbright-Hayes [Child]), the Heinz Foundation, the Rust Fund of Brigham Young University, the Albers Trust of Yale (O’Neil), the Owens Fund of Harvard University (Jackson), along with research funds from Dean Clayne Pope, through Houston’s University Professorship, and from Vice President Gary Hooper of Brigham Young.

Field staff included veterans from previous seasons and some welcomed new faces. Senior staff remained Houston (Brigham Young University), Escobedo (Universidad del Valle), Webster (Pennsylvania State University), and Terry (Brigham Young University). Junior staff included: Josh Anderson (Brigham Young University), Lic. Ernesto Arredondo (excavation, Universidad del Valle), Rachel Cane (mapping, University of California, Berkeley), Jessica Child (excavation, SUNY-Albany), Mark Child (Field Director, excavation, Yale), Fabián Fernández (soil studies, Brigham Young University), James Fitzsimmons (excavation, Harvard), Alejandro Guillot Vassaux (excavation, Universidad del Valle), Lilian Garrido (excavation, Universidad de San Carlos), Charles Golden (excavation, University of Pennsylvania), Zachary Hruby (Project Artist, lithics/photography, University of California at Riverside), Heather Hurst (Project Architect, drafting/architecture, no affiliation), Sarah Jackson (excavation, Harvard), Chris Jensen (flotation/labwork, Brigham Young University), Amy Kovak (excavation, Pennsylvania State University), René Muñoz (ceramic analysis/lab management, University of Arizona), Timothy Murtha (mapping, Pennsylvania State University), Zachary Nelson (excavation, Brigham Young University), Megan O’Neil (photography/architecture, Yale University), Jacob Parnell (soil studies, Brigham Young University), Fabiola Quiroa (excavation, Universidad del Valle), Andrew Scherer (osteology, Texas A and M University), and Marcelo Zamora (excavation, Universidad del Valle). Visitors provided counsel, company, and, on occasion, help with equipment. From Palenque came Chris Powell, Ed Barnhart, Kirk Straight, and Kirk French, with additional assistance from the ever-collegial Chato and Alfonso Morales; William Sanders and Elliot Abrams visited from Pennsylvania State and Ohio University, respectively. In Guatemala City, Mary Jane Acuña (Universidad de San Carlos), Lilian Garrido (Universidad de San Carlos), Mónica Pérez (Universidad del Valle), Fabiola Quiroa (Universidad del Valle), and Lic. Luis Romero (Universidad de San Carlos). Many thanks to Simon Martin and David Stuart for discussion on historical issues.

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