Las Bocas, Puebla, Archaeological Project

Research Background

Second Field Season, 1998

The Second Field Season of the Las Bocas, Puebla, Archaeological Project was authorized by INAH’s Archaeology Council through official communication No. C:A: 401-36/1337 of November 27, 1998, and was carried out from December 1-21, 1998.

During this field season several archaeological test units were excavated with the purpose of gaining knowledge on the contexts and the overall nature of the site, to thereafter define the potential areas where we would carry out extensive exploration during the third field season, scheduled for last year (1999), but not carried out due to the lack of financial support from INAH.

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In spite of how limited the excavations turned out to be, because of the poor budget assigned in 1998 ($23,000 pesos), and, in consequence, because of the time programmed for the original field work reduced to 21 days, the results obtained from the test excavations were highly satisfactory, and have allowed us to evaluate some of the archaeological contexts from Caballo Pintado. Thanks to these test excavations, we have succeeded in identifying different activity areas in part of what once was a Formative village (Photo 7, shown above, and Photo 8, below).

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Previous archaeological works for the survey and delimitation of the site, allowed me to evaluate the potential areas for test excavations on the field in 1998 at the site of Caballo Pintado. Thus, I was able to select an area with no looting disturbances, to later draw out a transect with three alternating pits: I, II and III (Paillés, 1999).

A 53 m long transect was set out with a 15° deviation from the north, starting at the watering channel on the northern bank of the terrace towards the slope of the hill known as El Teponaztle and to the south, along which three test units were placed at regular intervals (Photo 9).

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During the excavations and with the purpose of understanding the archaeological contexts that were gradually being revealed, Pit III was extended one meter to the south. This extension of Pit III was denominated Pit IV, in an attempt to maintain an adequate control of the archaeological materials recovered in that section. Also, Pit V was excavated towards the slope of the Teponaztle hill, with a course of 227° course from Station 1 of the surrounding polygonal with which the archaeological zone was delimited in 1997.

The results of the 1998 season are available in the Technical Report submitted to the Archaeology Council, INAH (Paillés, 1999).

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