Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T00:18:17.130Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Soil Chemical Analysis of Ancient Activities in Cerén, El Salvador: A Case Study of a Rapidly Abandoned Site

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

J. Jacob Parnell ,
Richard E. Terry  and
Payson Sheets
J. Jacob Parnell
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA. E-mail: richard_terry@byu.edu
Richard E. Terry
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA. E-mail: richard_terry@byu.edu
Payson Sheets
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 USA., USA. E-mail: sheetsp@spot.colorado.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Activities performed over long periods of time tend to leave soil chemical residues as evidence of those activities. Some of the questions studied in this paper deal with the interpretive capabilities provided by chemical patterns. Soil samples from Cerén, El Salvador, a well-preserved site, were analyzed for extractable phosphorus and heavy metals. We compared in situ artifacts collected from the site with chemical signatures that indicate activity areas. We found that elevated concentrations of phosphorus were associated with food preparation, consumption, and disposal. Heavy metals were associated with the interior of the structure where pigments and painted gourds were found. In this case, where well-preserved, in situ artifacts were available for analysis, we found that chemical analysis was effective in locating human activity areas. Our findings indicate that chemical analysis can be used to guide interpretation in areas of poor artifact preservation with reasonable accuracy, and in archaeological sites that underwent gradual abandonment.

Actividades realizadas por largos períodos de tiempo tienden a dejar residuos químicos como evidencia de estas actividades. Algunos de los puntos de este estudio se relacionan con la capacidad interpretativa que los patrones químicos proveen. Muestras de suelo de Cerén, El Salvador, un sitio bien preservado, fueron analizadas para obtener fosfatos y metales pesados extraibles en ácido. Comparamos los artefactos recogidos in situ del lugar con los patrones químicos que indican áreas de actividad. Encontramos que las concentraciones elevadas de fosfatos estaban asociadas con preparación, consumo y desecho de alimentos. Los metales pesados estaban asociados con el interior de la estructura donde se encontraron pigmentos y calabazas pintadas. En este caso, cuando bien conservados, los artefactos in situ estaban disponibles para analizar, encontramos que el análisis químico era eficaz para localizar áreas de actividades predetermindas. Nuestros hallazgos indican que el análisis químico puede ser utilizado para guiar la interpretación en áreas donde los artefactos han sido pobremente preservados con una precisión razonable, y en lugares arqueológicos que sufrieron un abandono gradual.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , September 2002 , pp. 331 - 342
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Ball, Joseph W., and Kelsay, R. G. 1992 Prehistoric Intrasettlement Land Use and Residual Soil Phosphate Levels in the Upper Belize Valley, Central America. In Gardens of Prehistory: The Archaeology of Settlement Agriculture in Greater Mesoamerica, edited by Thomas W. Killion, pp. 234–262. The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.Google Scholar
Barba, Luis, and Ortiz, Augustin 1992 Análisis químico de pisos de ocupación: un caso etnográfico en Tlaxcala, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity 3:63–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bawden, Garth 1982 The Household: A Study of Pre-Columbian Social Dynamics. Journal of Field Archaeology 9:165–181.Google Scholar
Bermann, Marc 1994 Lukurmata: Household Archaeology in Prehispanic Bolivia. Princeton University Press, Princeton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bethell, Philip, and Máté, Ian 1989 The Use of Soil Phosphate Analysis in Archaeology: A Critique. In Scientific Analysis in Archaeology and Its Interpretation, edited by Julian Henderson, pp. 1–29. University of California, Institute of Archaeology, Los Angeles. Google Scholar
Bintliff, John L., Gaffney, C., Waters, A., Davis, B., and Snodgrass, A. 1990 Trace Element Accumulation in Soils in and around Ancient Settlements in Greece. In Man’s Role in the Shaping of the Eastern Mediterranean Landscape, edited by S. Bottema, G. Entijes-Nieborg, and W. van Zeist, pp. 159–172. Balkema, Rotterdam. Google Scholar
Brown, Linda, and Sheets, Payson 2001 The Material Correlates of Village Ceremony: Two Ritual Structures at the Cerén Site, El Salvador. In Fleeting Identities: Perishable Material Culture in Archaeological Research, edited by Penelope Drooker, pp. 114–134. Occasional Paper No. 28, Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Google Scholar
Carr, Christopher 1984 The Nature of Organization of Intrasite Archaeological Records and Spatial Analytic Approaches to Their Investigation. In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 7, edited by Michael B. Schiffer, pp. 103–221. Academic Press, New York. Google Scholar
Cavanagh, W. G., Hirst, S., and Litton, C. D. 1988 Soil Phosphate, Site Boundaries, and Change Point Analysis. Journal of Field Archaeology 15:67–83.Google Scholar
Coultas, C. Lynn, Collins, Mary E., and Chase, A. F. 1993 Effect of Ancient Maya Agriculture on Terraced Soils of Caracol, Belize. In Proceedings of the First International Conference on Pedo-Archaeology, edited by J. E. Foss, M. E. Timpson, and M. W. Morris, pp. 191–210, vol. No. 93-03, University of Tennessee Special Publication.Google Scholar
Craddock, P. T., Gurney, D., Pryor, F., and Hughs, M. 1986 The Application of Phosphate Analysis to the Location and Interpretation of Archaeological Sites. Archaeological Journal 142:361–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dauncey, K. D. M. 1952 Phosphate Content of Soils on Archaeological Sites. Advancement of Science 9:33–37.Google Scholar
Deetz, James J. F. 1982 Households: A Structural Key to Archaeological Explanation. American Behavioral Scientist 25(6):717–724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drennan, Robert D. 1988 Household Location and Compact Versus Dispersed Settlement in Prehispanic Mesoamerica. In House and Household in the Mesoamerican Past, edited by Richard R. Wilk and Wendy Ashmore, pp. 273–293. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. Google Scholar
Dull, Robert A., Southon, John R., and Sheets, Payson 2001 Volcanism, Ecology and Culture: A Reassessment of the Volcán Ilopango TBJ Eruption in the Southern Maya Realm. Latin American Antiquity 12:25–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunning, Nicholas P. 1993 Ancient Maya Anthrosols: Soil Phosphate Testing and Land Use. In Proceedings of the First International Conference on Pedo-Archaeology, edited by John E. Foss, M. E. Timpson, and M. W. Morris, pp. 203–211, vol. 93-03, University of Tennessee Special Publication, Knoxville.Google Scholar
Eidt, Robert C. 1984 Advances in Abandoned Settlement Analysis: Application to Prehistoric Anthrosols in Columbia, South America. Milwaukee: The Center for Latin American Studies, University of Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Entwistle, Jane A., Abrahams, Peter W., and Dodgshon, Robert A. 1998 Multi-Element Analysis of Soils from Scottish Historical Sites: Interpreting Land-Use History Through the Physical and Geochemical Analysis of Soil. Journal of Archaeological Science 25:53–68.Google Scholar
Fernández, Fabián G., Terry, Richard E., Inomata, Takeshi, and Eberl, Markus 2002 An Ethnoarchaeological Study of Chemical Residues in the Floors and Soils of Q’eqchi’ Maya Houses at Las Pozas, Guatemala. Geoarchaeology: Anlnternational Journal, 487–519.Google Scholar
Gerstle, Andrea 1992 Excavations at Structure 10, Joya de Cerén (operation 8). In Investigations at the Cerén Site, El Salvador: A Preliminary Report, edited by Payson Sheets and Karen Kievet, pp. 30–54. Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Boulder. Google Scholar
Goffer, Zvi 1980 Color: Pigments and Dyes. In Archeological Chemistry. John Wiley & Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Gurney, D. A. 1985 Phosphate Analysis of Soils: A Guide for the Field Archaeologist. Technical Paper No. 3. Institute of Field Archaeologists, Birmingham.Google Scholar
Hammond, F. W. 1983 Phosphate Analysis of Archaeological Sediments. In Landscape Archaeology in Ireland, edited by T. Reeves-Smyth and F. W. Hammond, pp. 47–80. British Archaeological Reports, vol. 116, Oxford. Google Scholar
Hayden, Brian, and Cannon, Aubrey 1983 Where the Garbage Goes: Refuse Disposal in the Maya Highlands. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 2:117–163.Google Scholar
Kent, Susan 1984 Analyzing Activity Areas: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of the Use of Space. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Kent, Susan 1990 Domestic Architecture and the Use of Space: An Interdisciplinary Cross-Cultural Study. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Kent, Susan (Editor) 1987 Method and Theory for Activity Area Research: An Ethnoarchaeological Approach. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Kroll, Ellen M., and Price, T. Douglas (Editors) 1991 The Interpretation of Archaeological Spatial Patterning. Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Lambert, J. D. H., Siemans, A. H., and Arnason, J. T. 1984 Ancient Maya Drained Field Agriculture: Its Possible Application Today in the New River Floodplain, Belize. Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment 11:67–84.Google Scholar
Lewis, R. J., Foss, J. E., Morris, M. W., Timpson, M. E., and Stiles, C. A. 1993 Trace Element Analysis in Pedo-Archaeology Studies. In Proceedings of the First International Conference on Pedo-Archaeology, edited by John E. Foss, M. E. Timpson, and M. W. Morris, pp. 303–314. vol. No. 93-03, University of Tennessee Special Publication, Knoxville. Google Scholar
Linderholm, Johan, and Lundberg, Erik 1994 Chemical Characterization of Various Archaeological Soil Samples Using Main and Trace Elements Determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry. Journal of Archaeological Science 21:303–314.Google Scholar
Lindsay, W. L., and Norvell, W. A. 1978 Development of aDTPA Test for Zinc, Iron, Manganese, and Copper. Soil Science Society of America Journal 42:421–428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lippi, Ronald D. 1988 Paleotopography and Phosphate Analysis of a Buried Jungle Site in Ecuador. Journal of Field Archaeology 15:85–97.Google Scholar
Manzanilla, Linda (Editor) 1987 Cobá, Quintana Roo: análisis de dos unidades habitacionales Mayas. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico.Google Scholar
Manzanilla, Linda 1996 Corporate Groups and Domestic Activities at Teotihuacan. Latin American Antiquity 7:228–246.Google Scholar
Manzanilla, Linda, and Barba, Luis 1990 The Study of Activities in Classic Households: Two Case Studies from Coba and Teotihuacan. Ancient Mesoamerica 1:41–49.Google Scholar
McManamon, Francis P. 1984 Discovering Sites Unseen. In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 7, edited by Michael B. Schiffer, pp. 223–292. Academic Press, New York. Google Scholar
Middleton, William D., and Douglas Price, T. 1996 Identification of Activity Areas by Multi-Element Characterization of Sediments from Modern and Archaeological House Floors Using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy. Journal of Archaeological Science 23:673–687.Google Scholar
Olson, Gerald W. 1983 An Evaluation of Soil Properties and Potentials in Different Volcanic Deposits. In Archeology and Volcanism in Central America: The Zapotitán Valley of El Salvador, edited by Payson D. Sheets, pp. 52–61, University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parnell, J. Jacob 2001 Soil Chemical Analysis of Activity Areas in the Archaeological Site of Piedras Negras, Guatemala. Unpublished M.S. Thesis, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.Google Scholar
Parnell, J. Jacob, Terry, Richard E., and Nelson, Zachary 2002 Soil Chemical Analysis Applied as an Interpretive Tool for Ancient Human Activities at Piedras Negras, Guatemala. Journal of Archaeological Science, pp. 379–404.Google Scholar
Proudfoot, B. 1976 The Analysis and Interpretation of Soil Phosphorous in Archaeological Contexts. In Geoarchaeology, edited by D. A. Davidson and M. L. Shakley, pp. 93–113. Duckworth, London. Google Scholar
Sánchez, A., Canabate, M. L., and Lizcano, R. 1996 Phosphorous Analysis at Archaeological Sites: An Optimization of the Method and Interpretation of the Results. Archaeometry 38:151–164.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert S., and Hirth, Kenneth G. (Editors) 1993 Prehispanic Domestic Units in Western Mesoamerica: Studies of the Households, Compound, and Residence. CRC Press, Boca Raton.Google Scholar
Schiffer, M. B. 1987 Formation Processes ofthe Archaeological Record. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Scudder, S. J., Foss, J. E., and Collins, M. E. 1996 Soil Science and Archaeology. In Advances in Agronomy, edited by Donald L. Sparks, pp. 1–76. Academic Press, San Diego. Google Scholar
Sheets, Payson D. 1979a Environmental and Cultural Effects of the Ilopango Eruption in Central America. In Volcanic Activity and Human Ecology, edited by Payson D. Sheets and Donald K. Grayson, pp. 525–564. Academic Press, New York. Google Scholar
Sheets, Payson D. 1979b Maya Recovery from Volcanic Disasters: Ilopango and Cerén. Archaeology 32(3):32–42.Google Scholar
Sheets, Payson D. 1982 Prehistoric Agricultural Systems in El Salvador. In Maya Subsistence: Studies in Memory of Dennis E. Puleston, edited by Kent V. Flannery.pp. 99–118. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Sheets, Payson D. 1992 The Cerén Site: A Prehistoric Village Buried by volcanic Ash in Central America. Case Studies in Archaeology Series. Harcourt Brace Custom Publishers, Fort Worth.Google Scholar
Sheets, Payson D. 1994 Tropical Time Capsule: An Ancient Village Preserved in Volcanic Ash Yields Evidence of Mesoamerican Peasant Life. Archaeology July (July):30–34.Google Scholar
Sheets, Payson D. 2000 Provisioning the Cerén Household: The Vertical Economy, Village Economy, and Household Economy in the Southeastern Maya Periphery. Ancient Mesoamerica 11:217–230.Google Scholar
Sheets, Payson D., Beaubien, Harriet F., Beaudry, Marilyn, Gerstle, Andrea, McKee, Brian, Miller, C. D., Spetzler, Hartmut, and Tucker, David B. 1990 Household Archaeology at Cerén, El Salvador. Ancient Mesoamerica 1:81–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simmons, Scott, and Villalobos, Susan 1993 Landscape Archaeology in Operation 8: Between Household 1 and the Structure 10 Patio. In Preliminary Report of the Cerén Research Project, 1993 Season, edited by Payson D. Sheets, and Scott E. Simmons, pp. 31–45. University of Colorado, Boulder. Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 1987 Household Possessions and Wealth in Agrarian States: Implications for Archaeology. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 6:297–335.Google Scholar
Smyth, Michael P. 1990 Maize Storage Among the Puuc Maya: The Development of an Archaeological Method. Ancient Mesoamerica 1:51–69.Google Scholar
Terry, Richard E., Hardin, Perry J., Houston, Stephen D., Jackson Mark, W., Nelson, Sheldon D., Carr, Jared, and Parnell, Jacob 2000 Quantitative Phosphorus Measurement: A Field Test Procedure for Archaeological Site Analysis at Piedras Negras, Guatemala. Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 15:151–166.3.0.CO;2-T>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tringham, Ruth 1991 Households with Faces: The Challenge of Gender in Pre-historic Architectural Remains. In Engendering Archaeology: Women and Prehistory, edited by Joan M. Gero, and Margaret W. Conkey, pp. 93–131. Blackwell, Oxford. Google Scholar
Vázquez Negrete, Javier, and Velázquez, Rodrigo 1996a Análisis químico de materiales encontrados en excavación, dos casos: porta-incensarios tipo Palenque y cinabrio usado en practicas funerarias. In Eighth Palenque Round Table, 1993, edited by Martha J. Macri and Jan McHargue, pp. 103–106. The Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, San Francisco. Google Scholar
Vázquez Negrete, Javier, and Velázquez, Rodrigo 1996b Caracterización de materiales constitutivos de relieves en estucos, morteros, y pintura mural de la zona arqueológica de Palenque, Chiapas. In Eighth Palenque Round Table, 1993, edited by Martha J. Macri and Jan McHargue, pp. 107–112. The Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, San Francisco. Google Scholar
Webster, David, Gonlin, Nancy, and Sheets, Payson D. 1997 Copan and Cerén: Two Perspectives on Ancient Mesoamerican Households. Ancient Mesoamerica 8:43–61.Google Scholar
Wells, E. Christian, Terry, Richard E., Jacob Parnell, J., Hardin, Perry J., Jackson, Mark W., and Houston, Stephen D. 2000 Chemical Analyses of Ancient Anthrosols in Residential Areas at Piedras Negras, Guatemala. Journal of Archaeological Science 27:449–462.Google Scholar
Wilk, Richard R., and Ashmore, Wendy (Editors) 1988 Household and Community in the Mesoamerican Past. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Wilk, Richard R., and Rathje, William L. (Editors) 1982 Archaeology of the Household: Building a Prehistory of Domestic Life. In American Behavioral Scientist, 6 ed. vol. 25.Google Scholar
Woods, William I. 1977 The Quantitative Analysis of Soil Phosphate . American Antiquity 42:258–252.Google Scholar
Zier, Christian J. 1992 Intensive Raised-Field Agriculture in a Posteruption Environment, El Salvador. In Gardens of Prehistory: The Archaeology of Settlement Agriculture in Greater Mesoamerica, edited by Thomas W. Killion, pp. 217–233. The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa. Google Scholar