Tepeaca Kiln Project

Excavations

A total of six units were excavated involving three kilns and three areas associated with kilns on the Cerro Tlaquexpa hillside. Five units were placed within the limits of PAT site 623 and one was placed in PAT 621; PAT site numbers were used to designate these excavations. All were within 700 m of the road between San Felipe Tenextepec and San Lorenzo. From a number of contexts, ceramic and limestone samples were taken for INAA analysis at the Smithsonian Institution.

Operation 621-A

This excavation consisted of a 3 × 1 m unit situated approximately equidistant (20 m) from kilns K37 and K39 in an area with dense mounded limestone rubble at the surface (Figure 4, shown above). The excavation proceeded to tepetate, encountered throughout the pit first in the northern area (at approximately +10 cm, relative to the datum) and eventually in the southern area (at approximately -10 cm). The natural/cultural stratigraphy is divided into two contexts:

1. Lot a; silty-sandy earth several cm thick (10yr 4/1), 45-28 cm to 38-23 cm above the datum; root zone, but otherwise appears to be same matrix as context [2]; very rich in ceramics; limestone chunks frequent; ceramic material both Formative and Postclassic.

2. Lots b, c, d, e, f; appear to be continuous with context [1]; silty-sandy earth 19-46 cm thick (10yr 4/1), 38-23 cm above to 10 cm below datum; all lots were very rich in ceramics; limestone chunks frequent; lot b contained a very minor presence of Postclassic Period ceramic material, otherwise apparently entirely Middle Formative.

Operation 623-A

Suboperation A-1 consisted of a 2 × 2 m unit directly above and approximately to the east of kiln K1, at the edge of a large earth island on the exposed tepetate (Figure 5, shown above). The surface of the island within the unit ranged from 2 cm below the datum (situated near the northeast corner) at the northeast corner to approximately 50 cm below the datum in the southwest corner. The unit was eventually excavated to 80 cm throughout (Figure 6, shown above). The cultural/natural stratigraphy in the unit is divided into four contexts:

1. Lots a, b, c, d, g, i; 2-15 cm of loose earth (10yr 5/2) of the root zone, 2-62 cm below datum; cultural material dates to the Classic, Postclassic, Colonial, and possibly Formative periods.

2. Lots f, h, j, k; 12-23 cm of silty, more compact earth (5y 2.5/2), 2-48 cm below datum; cultural material is reflective of Classic Period occupation, although some Postclassic and Colonial material was uncovered; chunks/masses of lime common.

3. Lots e, l, m, n, o; 15-42 cm of looser silty earth (5y 4/2), 17-68 cm below datum; cultural material is reflective of Classic Period occupation, although there appears to be significant mixing in lot e (Postclassic and Colonial material found) possibly at least in part due to the significant root intrusion in the northwest corner of unit; chunks/masses of lime common.

4. Lot p; 8-34 cm of sterile tepetate with frequent veins of lime (10yr 4/4 with white streaks), 68-80 cm below datum.

Suboperation A-2 consisted of the northern one-half of kiln K1 lying just off the western edge of the large earth island (below Suboperation A-1). A few meters further west lies a small channel formed by local seasonal run-off. The ground surface within the portion of the kiln wall visible above ground is 131-161 cm (sloping away from the island) below the datum. Ultimately, the excavation proceeded to the base of the kiln, 311 cm below the datum (Figure 7, shown above). Beginning at a depth of about 260 cm, excavation was conducted only in the eastern half of the unit (a one-quarter section of kiln). The walls of the kiln are comprised of highly oxidized tepetate (reddish-orange in color) approximately 20 cm thick. The floor of the kiln is composed of oxidized or blackened tepetate with frequent white (lime) inclusions. The fill within K1 is a combination of alluvium resulting from the actions of the ephemeral stream that runs today just to the west and soil eroding from the island itself. Chunks of limestone were common throughout. The natural stratigraphy is divided into five contexts:

1. Lots a, b, c; 10-40 cm of silty, sandy earth of the root zone (10yr 3/2), 131-185 cm below datum.

2. Lots d, e, h, i, j, l, n, o; 40-60 cm of clayey soil (10yr 2/1), 169-231 cm below datum; generally in center of the kiln.

3. Lots f, g, k, m, p; 36-78 cm of sandy soil, 147-245 cm below datum; ranges from courser/more frequent chunks of oxidized tepetate (10yr 2/1 with reddish inclusions) in the western area of kiln to somewhat finer earth (5y 3/1) in eastern area; essentially wraps around central, more clayey soil in center of kiln; some deposits of sand were also found in southern area of this context approximately 220-240 cm below the datum.

4. Lots q, r, s, t, u, v; very sandy soil about 100 cm thick (10yr 3/3) in the excavated one-quarter area taken to the kiln base, extending 211-306 cm below the datum; extends down to oxidized/blackened tepetate near the kiln wall and context [5] in the center of the kiln; limestone chunks are frequent throughout as are masses of lime near and on the kiln floor.

5. Lot w; high charcoal content 4-7 cm thick (N 2.5/), 306-311 cm below the datum; removed from circular pit (approximately 160 cm in diameter) dug into the center of the floor of the kiln as part of kiln construction (Figure 8, shown below).

Charcoal from lot w was radiocarbon-dated to A.D. 1913±50 (uncalibrated). Thus, the kiln is not at all associated with the prehispanic (Classic Period predominating) site excavated above in 623-A-1, although this site was undoubtedly the source of much of the fill within the kiln. At least some of the larger chunks of limestone (one was 50 cm on its long axis) probably lined the edges of the original kiln opening and subsequently tumbled into the kiln after it went out of use. Thus, the kiln was essentially a cylindrical pit almost 3 m in depth. It was into the prehispanic site that the historic lime kiln (K1) was constructed early in the 20^th century probably in association with construction or renovation at a nearby hacienda, the ruins of which lie approximately 400 m to the southeast (bricks were found as part of context [4] identical to those of the hacienda).

Operation 623-B

This operation was the excavation of an oval pit kiln (approximately 2 × 2.5 m), designated K50 (Figure 9, shown above), in a 2 × 2 m unit. A small section of the kiln edge was visible at the surface. On the surface of the mounded limestone rubble, sherds dating to the Postclassic Period were found. A pile of limestone rubble filled the kiln to a height of 31 cm above the level of the tepetate. The level of the tepetate ranged from +5 cm in the northeastern corner of the unit to -28 cm in the southeastern corner (measurements relative to the datum). The dish-shaped pit was dug directly into the tepetate substrate down to a depth of approximately 40 cm (55 cm below the datum) at the center; the walls of the pit were lined with large pieces of limestone (Figures 10 and 11, shown below).

The fill within the pit was mostly limestone chunks (some over 40 cm on their longest axis) together with silty to clayey-silty soil. The fill can be divided into two contexts:

1. Lots a, b, c, d, e; 55 cm of mostly limestone rubble (the size of which increased with depth) together with medium to dark brown silty soil (from 24 cm above to 31 cm below the datum); a small amount ceramic material was recovered. In lot b was found a Terminal Formative-Classic Period rim sherd.

2. Lots f, g; 24 cm of mostly limestone rubble together with darker, somewhat more clayey silt (31-55 cm below the datum); more frequent charcoal and lime pieces than matrix above.

K50 is interpreted as having functioned as a lime-processing kiln. Charcoal recovered in lot f was radiocarbon-dated to 1000 B.C. (1200-850 B.C. at 95% probability), lying on the cusp of local Early and Middle Formative periods. The Terminal Formative-Classic sherd found in lot b, the virtual entirety of which lay above (and outside of) the pit itself, is therefore an intrusive element along with probably most or all of the soil recovered with the limestone rubble (believed to have been deposited as a single event).

Operation 623-C

This 1 × 3 m unit was excavated a few meters to the southwest of the 623-B unit (K50) in limestone rubble similar in character to that of 623-B, although no kiln rim was visible at the surface (Figure 12, shown above). Limestone chunks in addition to some charcoal and lime pieces were found throughout. This area may have been associated with the operation of nearby K50. The stratigraphy is divided into two contexts:

1. Lots a, e; 10-20 cm thick top layer of sandy-silt soil/rubble (2.5 4/1), 28 cm above to 31 cm below the datum; a small amount of Postclassic Period ceramics was recovered.

2. Lots b, c, d; sandy-silty 30 cm thick (8 cm above to 22 cm below the datum); small amount of Classic and Postclassic ceramics recovered; somewhat more lime and charcoal pieces than above.

Operation 623-D

This excavation consisted of a 1 × 2.5 m unit that bisected K51, an approximately circular (2 × 2 m) lime pit kiln excavated directly into the sloping tepetate of Cerro Tlaquexpa (Figures 13 and 14, shown above). Most of the kiln rim was visible at surface. No material was recovered on the surface of this site, but it is very similar in character to K50 (and many of the other apparent lime kilns) in that it consists mainly of mounded limestone rubble (approximately 25 cm above the level of tepetate and 15 cm below the datum at its highest point). The fill within the pit was comprised mostly of limestone chunks (and masses of lime) together with sandy-silty soil (Figure 15, shown below).

Several carbon samples were recovered, but none has been analyzed to date. The excavation continued to the tepetate floor of the kiln 105 cm below the datum at its deepest at its eastern edge (the furthest down slope). In its center, the floor of the kiln lies approximately 55 cm below the level of the tepetate (100 cm below the datum). Although some changes in soil color and texture were evident, the limestone rubble fill in the pit is believed to have been deposited in one event designated context [1]:

1. Lots a, b, c, d, e, f; sandy-silty earth approximately 75 cm thick at its maximum, 25-105 cm below the datum; frequent limestone chunks getting larger with increasing depth (one was 45 × 45 × 20 cm).

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