Early Copán Acropolis Program 2000 Field Season

Analyses of Archaeological Materials

During the 2000 field season the technical analyses of all categories of archaeological materials were continued. With these efforts, FAMSI Grant 99102 directly supported the classification and sourcing of pottery, the analysis of obsidian and other artifacts, and the identification of both archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological samples. The results of these analyses, especially when combined with additional studies supported by other granting agencies, provide unique information about Early Classic Copán that is making a vital contribution to Maya studies.

The analyses of archaeological materials were conducted by different specialists working at the Centro Regional de Investigaciones Arqueológicas (CRIA) in Copán, and at laboratory facilities outside of Honduras (as in former seasons, all material samples exported from Honduras for analysis received permits from the Instituto Hondureño de Antropología e Historia). During the 2000 season the specialists who conducted their work in the field were led by Ellen Bell who continued her analysis of the ECAP artifact and pottery collections, in the latter case integrating the results of neutron activation analyses results to determine pottery sources, in addition to her work supervising the documentation program (see Documentation of Archaeological Materials). The other analysis specialists who conducted their studies in Copán were William McFarlane (Ph.D. candidate at, SUNY Buffalo), who completed an analysis of the obsidian artifacts, Cameron McNeil (Ph.D. candidate, CUNY) who is identifying pollen remains in archaeobotanical samples, and Kitty Emery (Assistant Professor of Archaeology, SUNY Potsdam) and two student assistants who began the identification of faunal remains. As in former years, in 2000 a number of laboratory analyses were conducted outside of Honduras. The archaeobotanical samples were analyzed at Fordham University (by Cameron McNeil), the Hershey Technical Laboratories (conducted by Jeffrey Hurst) and the University of Minnesota (conducted by Robert Thompson). The faunal samples are being analyzed at the zooarchaeological laboratory at SUNY Potsdam, New York.

Previous Page  |  Table of Contents  |  Next Page

Return to top of page