i ae . at “ihe Ach im a4 ae 2 i ‘aura — “ , i ae Hie ni ay ete 0 o ucla te tacks i me Fits Me tenstbic ks pts HAE 1 eed vere He vat 4 eats i nei es vi oe bari: 4 ney taiie rm Reig Uist Heft Has ihe ff ise A HH ays ytha a ah ne i Hoa Ae nua ee ith i} fs mi na ” bie ; 5 eee ay wo. ae i YE wt awe ees : j * E a 4 aa Meth aa ; a i ae Hebi bh eit d Aney nt, ae Ri ea Nha RR ENN oe note Bran ‘ } aia i" Hah 0 nat a oe a iat , b We ian ALC of FM es a ‘ty “U + * y Af y ah hl ip 1 : a. a rs. a> oy ; | a eG =v 2 GD tec _ BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY ~ BULLETIN 141 | Pept CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY AT CERRO DE LAS MESAS | VERACRUZ, MEXICO s PHILIP DRUCKER sy cr t 7m i _ \ e ¥ a \ i raat nw re SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY AT CERRO DE LAS MESAS VERACRUZ, MEXICO By PHILIP DRUCKER UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1943 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. - Price 50 cents LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Bureau or AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY, Washington, D. C., November 16, 1942. Sm: I have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript entitled “Ceramic Stratigraphy at Cerro de las Mesas, Veracruz, Mexico,” by Philip Drucker, and to recommend that it be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Very respectfully yours, M. W. Stiruine, Chief. Dr. C. G. ABsor, ‘ Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Mare DT hye ary he 2 Peer Ce ae ala Pray i Leaman. LATING AAT FO of eo) Tate §. Na eine : recpamcaceammtsasins | Jb oe : Na . J im pe Ae , ies +. ay 7 hi ast OOLno Ts LE: LRA ORCC RIED yi Tanae eae hee A v F ea 1 . Fs : 4 ie \ 51 SRO VERTED ' v7 ite #. teh oa pits tay Tage baling: diiisenania a dtinerod je wt at conta oils: 99 aN 3 rye & RT Gey L aio iies Fai hy erty de a G “path inalind af 26 » Boil fal i od 47 ieft be uuonst oF bit. ts aes . quelod eh amaeroiah Yo ay ; bs i vb rad ee av aa y santo = an os se Z Pn : { Wea i e ; J : i i ny ui i hy i H {5A CONTENTS PAGE GRO GIECHION era ge ae a ee Ce ST ey Wane ee meen s Nn Fa PS tk he hee 1 si eMOGAlNCeCOOT ap livers a ck oe oe semen Mie SAN oe ee ee 1 Piesmepositee soe. of. ILS MM pencsicied seer sh 5 Ae) ee Pe, SRR Sas es 4 seve ceva TONS: 2 lee eee yal 2 oats Se ee SI ee ol 5 Gorrowderlassledas Wales sk a Se ee ee ee 26 Jmpemiperad wares: =t4esis e242 ees Sat 4b heel oh eeskpe pee 27 ES Pepys NE A dese eel ea EE i 34 Polished s Brow mewArewe sh Soya ef 8 Se i Pe GE) Bed SA eee tet 40 36 Rediwares 44-844) jayyd ieee sok ee byspdascyueated iat Jeseeiicg 37 Red=-on=BrowDMw areas ws SS pga ey ey ea OY Sy 38 NEGrative:Pambediwarelsese0s: 8.0 oo a et Shen eee Ae 38 IBlackawaned semgl mise tak ih oe ee ea oe ae Ee eee hie thes 38 Black=and-Whitesware 12¢.275- befen of oigus Vat atneee sae) ge fees da Wie Waele Heber RA pes an elt 2 a 2 OPO Fee SB opto 44 Muascellaneous) Bichrome wares)? S22. 5-2 hyet e s eee 44 Stucco: Painted ‘ware. . 22522524. 2 Seek 2 ate fy eke ote bys see 45 DullhBufipRolychromefware: 25:2. 4. -.22-Seye A. 44 Bt 3 3 45 Gompligated*Polychrome; wares": 2.4! adc be ateeweperis sB tL abeeetid 48 BrowniPolychrome* wares !=_ +25 -<22222= == S22 tered pbs cee 48 Black-and=Wihite-on-Red, wares Ss f2-ecieee teks aalisb done SE eee 50 Black=on=Redeincised wares 2) 2222.2 52 Se ee 51 Red-on-Orange: Incised) wares 22... Po se eee et ek ye Se ae 54 Fine-line: Black-on-Whiterwaret fa. 445 3b i Eek ee 54 “Pam, Polycbrome; wares. Os = 20 tre Sahee Bak as rl ey ee es 54 Miscellaneous Polychrome elements.______-___---_-i2249-ee+=--245 54 Coarse’ Red-rimmed bowls). 8 22-2422. e223 be ke ee eee cee 56 Womales?) Sis aoe a es eT Dae Sots Se EE Bo ate 56 Monumental wares 2550.46 22 eee te ee ee es apr oy 57 (Plaine wares gio Se 0S es Sey Nes Bl We de wen oundepenne yaaa Jey 58 Vessels: with vertical modeled luge#}. 34 tte 8 aes Fae Eee St oe 58 Carved wane ly hs aoe BMS Pak ae ee peepee per ny yey Pa : 58 Plumbate! ware. seu 8 oe ee ROP ale eee teyegeyey S aeont ea pat plo Eel ees 59 Fine Orange wares. 202) 844s besctoge ss en ol Phy pend ping hs 59 Sie yesutee lie eS es Bite SME EA i PN a as on pte eee Bl die my Biny eabe eh a 59 Wessel'ishia pes. iia) Street se Bes Fo Sr I Cte a le te re Papsapeely El peey— pale 59 Description of vessel shapes shown in figure 12_-___________--- 60 Figurines)! 433 spent 4b fe cep eee abe eed eee) ype eile 63 Minor objects afi clay 222 07. oe ee eb eet eh OT ee 66 Stratigraphy ee 8 SA. ae Se 8 ee De etal gn ee oe er eT oe 69 Ware’ distributions“< "2.4 2. 0 2S) SRR Eee Sey pe alae 2 eT 69 Figurine’ straticraphy 222-2: 21s metisad -pelidd-dtme Seats rek Jee 73 Form features: 6222 de Sus ones del ea tetera os Sug pHs TT wee 73 Minor objects.oivela youd seo] to eyolelP seem pe sone ot Tins 76 Analysis'of mound materials ape" doesnt fhe al eee aot EY ee 77 Cache asscciations 22 2) 2 2! SoS algaert ad suet get) “Sate it FT ass id VI CONTENTS Stratigraphy—Continued. — PAGE Nonceramic elaments_¢ 222-2. -2ici5-- sake eee 80 Unplaced elements 2222232) 222s le 2 ee ee eee 80 Comparative analysis and chronology... 2: 2.22..2..----.22e seo 81 Bibliography i=. . e ee ee eee Si ee 87 Index. 2 elec co sk ete tee eee 89 ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES (All plates at end of book) 1. (Frontispiece.) Cerro de las Mesas Polychrome wares. Dull Buff Poly- chrome, Brown Polychrome, Black-and-White-on-Red, and Complicated Polychrome. 2. Complicated Polychrome sherds: Jar exteriors, bowl] interior. 3. Brown Polychrome bowl sherds. 4, Trade wares. 5. Trade wares. 6. Trench 30. Objects associated with burial II-18. 7. Trenches 31 and 33. a, Stucco floor, trench 31; b, buried stairway, trench 33. 8. Monumental ware from trenches 7 and 34. 9. Views of jade cache, trench 34. 10. Trenches 34, 13, 14-A, and 15. a, View of jade cache from trench 34; b, trench 13; c, remnants of “‘pipeline,’’trench 14—A; d, Plumbate vessel in intrusive pit, trench 15. 11. Trench 40. a, b, Ollas containing skulls; b shows relation to stucco layers. 12. Trench 42. 13. Burials I-1 to I-6 (a-f). 14. Burials I-7 to I-10 (a-d), I-14 (e), and I-16 (J). 15. Brown ware vessels. 16. Brown ware vessels 17. Brown ware ollas. 18. Polished Brown ware. 19. Black ware vessels. 20. Black ware vessels. 21. Stucco Painted ware from burial II-18. 22. Miscellaneous wares. 23. Plumbate whistling jar from trench 15. 24, Bottles in form of Tlalocs. Purchase collection. 25. Plain ware ollas and jars. 26. Wares and figurine molds. 27. Hand-made punctate figurines (Type I). 28. Miscellaneous type I figurines: variants, animal forms, etc. 29. Type II—A figurine heads. 30. Type IT figurines with flat bodies. 31. Type II—A figurines with flat bodies. 32. Type II figurines with hollow bodies. 33. Type II-B figurines, representing dead persons or Xipe. 34. Type II figurines, representing Tlalocs and Death’s Heads. 35. Type II figurines: variant headdresses; monkeys. 36. Type IT figurines, representing animals. 37. Variant type II figurines. CONTENTS vil . Miscellaneous type II figurines. . Type III figurines. . Figurine types. . Figurine types. 3 . Figurine types. . Type IX figurines: masks and maskettes. . Small stone objects from Cerro de las Mesas. . Monumental ware: idols. . Monumental ware: heads of medium size. . Monumental ware: idols. . Monumental ware: fragments of idols. . Figurine types. . Representative samples of figurines from trenches 30 and 33. . Representative samples of figurines from trenches 31 and 15. . Representative samples of figurines from trench 32. . Miscellaneous Upper phase features. . Stratigraphic material, trench 42. . Stratigraphic material, trench 13. . Stratigraphic material, trench 13. . Stratigraphic material, trench 13. 58. Miscellaneous stone objects. TEXT FIGURES PAGH iki Map of site of Cerro de las’ Mesas_2. 2.) = 22-222 2 2se Se i 2trenct a0; pronle, north: wall. oo. 20 See ee oe ees 8 ge tepnen sh) Plan coc ee. eek Go ee oe ek ee 10 4erenehao, protie: cant walls o8 524 0) v.c ele tose la ae ig 5. Trench 34, profile, north wall, and plan_____...-.--.--------- 12 6. Sections through area of sherd deposits_-__-_.--------------- 15 7s Preneh ta, profile, north walle! 2 oo 3022S vee eee 17 8. Trenches 14 and 14—A, and detail of floor, trench 14-_--_------ 20 @: Trench 41, profile;“west wall. 22° 2-32 222. 22s leu Gi DS eee ears 21 10. Trench 19, profile, north wall, and plan at 60 to 73 inches_------ 22 Pie rench:42, profile, west wallo--2 220.0522 h eee ee le 25 12. Form-types of Cerro de las Mesas wares--------------------- 28-29 13-21. Rims of vessel form-types a, a’, b, e, and e’______---.--------- 30 92-37... Rims.of vessel form-types ff =— 2 2.252255. 22 220 eee see 30 98st. Rims of vessel form-types hiand: 122... 22222-2222. 2.-4=22.5- 31 32-42") Rims) Of vessel form-ty pes: 7 to le. 2-22 kc oe ee Se oete Lee 31 43-54. Rims of vessel form-types m to p’____----------------------- 32 55-61. Rims of vessel form-types 7 to v’_.._..._...-----------=--4-- 32 62-72. Rims of vessel form-types aa to aa’’_______------------------ 33 fo-ol. Fy pesiol- vessel supports2 22 Ses oes er oe 33 82-90. Incised designs, Brown ware and Black ware. Simple geometric Gasp nai. Secs oo ot RS eames nal ia CN ae TON el Bia Sa 35 91-99. Incised designs, Brown ware and Black ware. Simple to com- plex geometric Cesigns.

. Mportant finds of Sacdount will be r 4 Eefepaclogical eae i this material Suer- ---" ions, a8. by ip hoof clearing end ba plan, thiscnecey (6.0f o 10n, th ihe an scale > fe the nology of the Cerr hele vertion! distribe | sey represented ee will be reaches res Ve 7% ——— = ee SR tatuiin In RERYE ie ste ‘tothe We 5, a Zapotes, to whick : ! i ' DamaR, a | | ae Cd Hae Fins by rhy Pa > oe tye Pe he he: The sana so gine li haat f f ahr Was 34 Mics. caclomemtine somes BS) » o Z ge ee i a $ iP anENO . re) ee ON ND Pimti, i + eh Te OTe ere-apase 41 @ . .& PO a? ee CO en » Aad OF aa Graces G © ewes OLA oiznas i erg Arata ' " » UNS (Facep ii = ao ani sb ovr0) { LAYER oF Fe SHERDS POTREROS — NO MOUNDS, NO SURFACE SHERDS CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY AT CERRO DE LAS MESAS, VERACRUZ, MEXICO By Puimire Drucker INTRODUCTION The present report is a study of the ceramics recovered by the Na- tional Geographic-Smithsonian Institution Expedition at the site of Cerro de las Mesas, Veracruz, Mexico, in 1941. Mr. Stirling, the expedition leader, has reported on the season’s work, and described the important finds of other materials (Stirling, 1941), and therefore this account will be restricted to a consideration of the pottery and the chronological sequences represented by the expedition’s collection of this material. Such a division conforms to the program of the in- vestigations, as mapped out by the leader of the expedition. The tasks of clearing and studying the stone monuments and of excavat- ing the mounds and other structures were under the direct charge of Stirling; the stratigraphic excavations in the refuse deposits were entrusted to the writer. In plan, this account will parallel that of the 1940 excavations at Tres Zapotes, to which it is similar in both subject and aim. For the sake of orientation, the site geography will be described, and followed by an account of the excavations. A third section will establish the typology of the Cerro de las Mesas wares, and a fourth will present their vertical distributions in the stratitrenches, and will define the divisions represented in the ceramic column. In a final chapter, an attempt will be made to place the Cerro de las Mesas ceramic column chronologically by means of internal and comparative evidence. THE LOCAL GEOGRAPHY The site of Cerro de las Mesas is situated in southern Veracruz in the low-lying plain bordering the Bay of Alvarado on the west (fig. 1). It lies between the Rio Blanco on the north and another stream (for which we were unable to learn any other name than “el rio”) a mile and a half to the south. The latter is a tributary of the Blanco, join- ing it not far from the bay. a OPEN PLAIN, SMALL MOUNDS ary of O ” SCATTERED oe Crt) pai ser at” et ¢ co) Fake, a) “2 & ° .O * ° m4 OMe 20 0 gee? ‘Som =, NUMEROUS SMALL MoUNOS ¢ bree (OEEP SHED DEPOSITS). te és Wa a iy vs a o Geist? ‘ LOW AREA — ’ VO MOUNDS, NO SURFACE SHEROS “ LEGEND © or © - masor mouno O = SMALL Mound » {2 ~ SMALL MouND, LocaTION APPROXIMATE 4 © - sorrow vr 3,8, eve. — mRENCHES OVE IN 194 att — EDGE OF HIGH GROUND C - CéRRO DE LAS MESAS 500 Fr. M- MONUMENT PLAzA 500 FT 506988—43 (Face p. 1) F1cuRE 1.—Map of site of Cerro de las Mesas. ae STERN 0%, 2 "Save O° --" “tase ee se Pret io « ah 40W AREA ~~ 2 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 141 The prevailing local land-form is that of the “potreros” or “cienegas,” to use the local terms, low areas that flood in the wet season, forming nearly impassable and completely uninhabitable swamps. The remainder of the year they dry out, providing rich pasture lands for the modern inhabitants. The entire structure is built-up swamp that once flanked a wider bay. Here and there are elevated areas, for the most part sandy, rising islandlike (in the wet season this is not a simile, but a reality) above the plain. These formations vary in area from several acres to several square miles. None attain notable height; for the most part they rise gradually, al- most imperceptibly, from the potreros to a maximum elevation of 15 or 20 feet. Their borders are marked not by cut banks or sharp declivities, but by noticeable changes in soil type and vegetation. The soil of the low areas is black, heavy, and clayey, with a marked tendency to cracking in dry weather. Unfortunately, the writer was not able to identify the typical potrero floral assemblage properly ; the two most conspicuous members are a tall, very coarse grass known locally as “camalote,” and a thorny bush with small compound leaves called “zarza.” It is worth noting that in the course of extensive reconnaissance in the environs of the site not a trace of aboriginal occupancy was found in the potreros. The Cerro de las Mesas site occupies one of the larger of the sandy “islands.” In point of fact, it is probably more correct to say that Cerro de las Mesas is one of a series of sites distributed along the crest of an “island” 10 or 12 miles long by 2 or 3 miles wide, extend- ing from the modern village of Cocuite to Ignacio de la Llave. These sites appear as concentrations of earth mounds with their accom- panying occupational deposits. The latter are not particularly con- spicuous. If size and number of mounds and the occurrence of stone monuments are any indication, the Cerro de las Mesas group was probably the populational and ceremonial center of the region. For descriptive purposes, the site may be divided into a number of localities. The first and most striking is the Central Mound Group, consisting of several closely set high mounds and platform mounds situated so as to form a number of enclosures or “plazas.” (See fig. 1.) The tallest of the high mounds, that from which the site takes its name, attains a height of 50 to 60 feet, and is about 200 feet square at the base. The platform mounds are quite sizable structures, several hundred feet across. Their height is difficult to estimate, the more so since natural elevations may have been utilized as bases for them, but 10 to 20 feet seems about right. It should be mentioned that it is here, in the Central Mound Group, that the stone monuments occur. 1 The climate is of the “Tropical” type, with a single wet season, from June to December, and a dry season, January to May. Drucker] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 3 A quarter mile to the southwest, in and just beyond the modern village of Paso del Bote, are the outliers of another group of large mounds. These, however, are less compactly grouped than those just described; in fact, it is difficult to say if they really formed an integrated arrangement, or are independent units. In between them, and around the Central Group, are numerous small mounds, for the most part situated without apparent relation to each other or to the major features, which obscure any original systematic arrangement. To the north-northeast of the Central Group, as well, are other large mounds. North of the Central Group, and extending some distance to the west, is an open nearly level plain, on which there are but few mounds. This is the locality which proved to be the principal occupation zone of the site. It was here that the deepest and most extensive refuse deposits were found. At its western end, about a mile from the Central Group, the deposit underlies a hodgepodge of small mounds, which form the northwestern end of the site and which we may distinguish as the Small Mound Locality. These mounds range from 8 to 15 feet in height, and from 30 to 100 feet across. There are no apparent arrangements of plazas, or the like. It may be noted that these structures, like those interspersed among the large mounds, are not house mounds, in the sense of foundations for dwellings. All those investigated revealed features indicative of ceremonial func- tions. These localities complete the list of those in which explorations of importance were made in the 1941 season. To the south and east of the Central Group are numerous small mounds, with here and there a structure or group of structures of moderate size. Since however, none of these were excavated, and since intensive search disclosed no occupational deposits of consequence, these portions of the site need not be described in any detail. There remains to be considered the relationship of the site, mounds, and habitational localities to water supply. “The river,” as local people refer to it, is the nearest present-day stream. It lies a good mile and a half from the southern edge of the site. The Rio Blanco passes several miles to the north. In short, there is no close running water, at least in the dry season. Modern inhabitants depend upon wells that tap the shallow water table. Along the northwestern end of the site, however, runs an old partially filled stream bed. Half or three-quarters of a mile west of the Central Mound Group, the bed angles southeastward cutting through the site. It is probable that during at least a part of the site’s history this channel bore the water of “the river” within more convenient distance, and that not until later times did the flow break through to the lower potreros to the south where it now runs. After the epochs of construction, borrow 4 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buut. 141 pits provided watering places in the wet season. A large one, at the south end of the Central Mound Group, is said to contain water all through the dry season in normal years. (It was full in February of 1940, when Stirling first inspected the site. Im 1941 it was dry, pre- sumably because of the unusual dryness of the year 1940.) Other smaller pits are to be found here and there on the site, and are par- ticularly numerous in the Small Mound Locality in the northwest. However, the excavations in the occupational zone give evidence that in the earliest periods the topography of the site differed somewhat, and that probably springs and trickles of water, if not streams, were close at hand. THE DEPOSITS To complete the picture of the site, it is necessary to discuss the nature of the formations in which and on which cultural remains occur. The matrix of materials recovered from mound excavations, being sec- ondary or redeposited mix apparently of the same nature as the pri- mary deposit, needs no special consideration. Reference, therefore, is to the primary refuse deposits in the open plain to the north and northwest of the Central Mound Group. The basic structures of the site have been referred to briefly. The “island” on which it is situated is composed principally of ight sandy soil. Although the present surface in the occupational locality is nearly level, it was not alwaysso. The sandy soil, or rather soils, occur in layers which vary in thickness and inclination. 8 II-2 |_---- (6 ye. sa SOA ts Sag WER al aa Se Ore et aR ee eee Ble LAs ee rE | eee CTE OE RROREE Bey Sie ae IK Fee twee Jae Lee ee ee eS ee eee 0 ee (G1 jets Ae put ted et ascot ad River clamshell near mouth_-_-_-_------_- JD Sy Sees ee Se ee eee Red-painted marine shell near head; 7 pottery vessels; ? 1 figurine; 5 marine shells; 1 jade bead; 1 perforated canine tooth. MEAD Ne She od, ie eee ere eo ee River clamshell over mouth __-------_--- Wy Ke LETS, ea dn eS large pottery vessel222/_ =! Sash) =" Face covered with lime and red paint. — TES eis ae BRE Es een Bale ek ___| 2 jade ear plugs; 10 jade beads; 10 beads | Bones covered with red of black substance (wood?); 1 carved paint. jade ornament; 1 canine tooth. Op eae eee ee 1 pottery vessel (possibly belongs to II-8?). JOT STO a ee es PE eg ee ene 1 miniature pottery vessel; 5 jade ob- jects; 2 shell beads; 1 turquoise (?) bead; 1 black bead. TRU |= ee. 7 SOY 2 spherical stone objects; 1 bone awl; 1 necklace of canine teeth. i II-12 | In pottery vessel with | Pottery container, shell, and piece ofred | ‘“‘Burial’”’ . consisted of cover. (hematite) paint. sawed-off ‘facial por- tion of skull. IDES BM See pe eme eee. § Se aa 2iPOtLeLy. .VeSselS=225 22.2 ao eo Re II-14 | In pottery vessel____----__- Pottery contaimersé © = 9 Ro ee Do. ID Eee: ae eee ee: Se eee INGNG 22. se Pear SEG ke ok eae II-16 | In pottery vessel_____-______ Pottery container... ee Do. IJ-17 | In pottery vessel with | Pottery container_-__--.---.------------- Do. cover. II-18 | Tightly flexed, right side, | 11 pottery vessels; 56 shell beads; 3 In center of primary N. Skull detached, in ornamented shells; 5 jade objects; 1 mound. (See Stirling, front of body; mandible carved turtle shell; 7 shell ‘‘rattles’’; 1941, pp. 283-286; and also separate. (Decapi- 1 plain stone yoke; 2 figurines; quan- pl. 6 of this bulletin.) a Secondary bur- tity of red paint. ial?). II-19 |_---- C0 fu es ae ee Se ee 2 pottery vessels; 2 shell ornaments | In primary mound. clamshells; red paint; 1 bone bead; : ; rodent incisors. II-20 | Semiextended; skull miss- | 1 pottery vessel--_----------------------- In primary mound. ing. 1 Burials of this series are distinguished by the index numeral IT. 2 The vessels will be described and classified under ‘‘Ceramic associations” in table 12, p. 79. It will be necessary to relate the pottery specimens to the ceramic column from the stratitrenches to resolve this point. Trench 31 was laid out to cross section a small mound in: the large plaza west of the Cerro de las Mesas. It was 15 feet wide and ex- tended clear across the mound in an east-west direction. The com- pleted section of the mound indicated that it, as in the preceding case, consisted of two parts: a small primary mound and a secondary en- largement. No burials were encountered. At the base of the mound, about 72 inches below the crest, and toward the western end of the cut, was a well-preserved stucco floor, a half to three-quarters of an inch thick, 6 feet 3 inches wide by 14 feet 8 inches long (fig. 3; pl. 7, a). 506988—43 9 “ 10 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buu 141 The front (west) edge supported three rectangular niches, the rear edge was plain. In the middle of the rear edge was a basin-shaped depression 1 foot in diameter. The floor in front of this pit showed evidence of burning, and the earth underneath was baked to a bright red color. A very similar floor was found in a mound of the Small Mound Locality in the northwest part of the site (trench 14). Beside the basinlike depression stood a flat-bottomed cylindrical pot of ill- fixed coarse paste, which contained a heterogeneous assortment of ma- rine shells, bits of coral, a fragment of fossilized bone, etc., and a jade bead. Stirling remarks that the contents, aside from the bead, looked like the results of a souvenir hunter’s half hour on the beach. This was the only complete vessel recovered. Scattered through the mound mass above the floor were numerous sherds of a large appar- ently zoomorphic pottery figure, and nearer the center of the mound were remnants of another. Wo wc. (ore Sa os 229 Primary Mound fo) ae move PLAN Figure 3.—Trench 31, plan. A small cross-trench was put down 72 inches below the floor of the main trench. A few sherds were found throughout the depth of this cut. Trench 32 was a cross section through another small mound, in the large plaza about 120 feet northwest of trench 31. It was laid out 18 feet wide. This mound, like the preceding, contained but little in the way of structural features. Just east of the center of the mound, the poorly preserved remnants of a floor of clay and stucco (a stucco cap?) were found. The plan of the structure could not be defined. A large incensario, or the stand of one, was found near the west end of the trench. It had been coated with white-stucco, and dec- orated in red, pink, and black. With it were 6 fire-blackened jade beads and a number of pieces of mica. Two burials were found, the first (II-21) being about 36 inches below the crest of the mound, and the second (II-22) in the east edge about 24 inches deep. II-21 DrucknrR] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 11 was extended, and accompanied by a small pottery vessel. [1-22 was badly disturbed. It had no mortuary offerings. A cross-trench was sunk below the base of the mound. Sherds from it were segregated from those of the mound mass, and desig- nated by the number of the cut, 32-B. Trench 33 was a cut 20 feet wide driven into the north end of a large flat-topped mound at the south end of the great plaza of the Central Mound Group (fig. 4). It was not carried through to the heart of the structure, but, in the 30-some feet of its horizontal ex- tent, revealed at least two successive enlargements of the mound. The earlier faces of the structure were equipped with broad stair- ways (the width of the trench at least), constructed of hard-packed clay (pl. 7,5). The steps are noteworthy for their regularity, vary- ing but slightly from an average rise and tread of 15 inches. Three burials were uncovered in the course of this excavation. The first two were bundle burials, a type unique at the site. Both were very shallow, and may well have been late intrusions into the N<— —*§S ¢ Fieurn 4.—Trench 338, profile, east wall. mound. II-23 consisted of the incomplete remains of two individ- uals. With it were two pottery vessels and a small black-painted ball of pottery. II-24 appeared to consist of a single individual, and was accompanied by a small crude pottery vessel. Burial II-25, 44 inches below the front crest of the mound, was also unique, con- sisting of cremated bones in a small well-baked pit. Above the pit was an ash area 6 feet across. Apparently, after the cremation the pit had been covered and a large bonfire built over it. Trench 34 was laid out 20 feet wide to give an east-west section of the sizable mound just behind (east of) the monument plaza. When abandoned it had reached a depth of 180 inches below the crest of the mound, with a basal length of 102 feet. This was the trench which produced the tremendously rich jade cache described in detail by Stirling (1941, p. 292 ff.). The trench, although it did not reach the original ground surface, revealed a section of some complexity. The mound had undergone numerous alterations and enlargements during the period of its use - 12 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buun. 141 (fig. 5). Three floors of burned earth were uncovered under the mid- dle of the mound, at 30 inches, 38 inches, and 50 inches. Under the third floor were approximately 45 burials in groups of 3 to 8. The skulls were piled together, and the bodies in some instances radiated out from the pile of skulls and in other cases were scattered about pro- miscuously. The bones were very badly decomposed. Only 2 had any sort of accompanying objects—a large jade bead each. The type of cranial deformation common at the site was noted in all the skulls that were not crushed by the overburden. Some had notched, filed teeth, including one case of a 4-year-old child. Below the level of the burials, a lot of 5 cylindrical flat-bottomed pots of thick poorly fired black paste was found. On the west side of the trench, below the present sloping front of the mound, another series of floors occurred. Beneath a burned earth floor there were 2 floors of stucco, 1 very thin and crumbling, the other thick and well-defined 3 inches deeper. Two —™~E yj —— PROFILE - NORTH WALL 7 7 Ue PLAN Ficurn 5.—Trench 34: Profile (north wall) and plan. a, Jade cache; b, Painted stucco fragments; c, large idol and pedestal; d, stueco floor (and stairway) ; e, burned clay floors ; f, stucco-faced wall; g, pit filled with secondary or disturbed burials; h, miscel- laneous floors. bays or niches broke the front and rear edges. In front of the floor a series of stucco-faced steps descended to the west (toward the Monu- ment Plaza) On the steps were several lots of fragments of large figurines, a pile of hollow arms and legs, and below the steps a circle of these objects around a large pot, or, more likely, pedestal of a large idol (pl. 8, ¢, 7). The pedestal was fitted with a lid with a round hole in the middle, and contained the fragments of a figurine in the form of the body of a flat flabby old male. Below these pieces was the more than life-sized bearded head (pl. 8, e). To the east of the stucco platform occurred a number of flat-based concave-walled tripod vessels, with open bowls as lids. These did not seem to be associated with burials. Each contained several va- DRucKER] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 13 rieties of sea shells, coral, Panama-shell ornaments, sea borer, sand dollar, shark teeth, a fossil, and a large jade bead. One had five jade beads and a Panama shell carved in the form of a face. East of the stucco floor a stucco-capped wall crossed the trench. Two feet below the top at the east base of this wall was encountered an enormous quantity of coarse White-slipped sherds of more than life-size figures. A group of three child burials was found. One, with filed lower front teeth, had with it a vessel containing a cylin- drical stone bead, two Panama-shell ornaments, a sand dollar, and several other marine shells. The eastern end of the trench cut through a trench or pit which appeared to belong to the same level as the better preserved of the stucco floors. The pit was filled with nondescript mix and great quantities of human bones. It was not possible to determine whether these were secondary burials or whether the dirt collected for filling the pit came from an ancient cemetery. At a point approximately 96 inches below the crest of the mound and 20 feet down the slope, just under the stairway, occurred several areas of what appeared to be layers of paint. The largest was roughly rectangular, 1 foot 8 inches wide by 2 feet 7 inches long. We at first considered the material to be remnants of codices, but later revised our opinion, in view of the complete absence of any traces of backing. In all probability, the find represents a painted struc- tural feature, perhaps a wall or the front of a collapsed clay altar.* The dozen or so layers of paint were directly one on top of the other. The weight of the overburden had not only completely crushed and cracked the delicate substance, but had driven clods and pebbles completely through it, making it impossible to recover anything but small fragments. The paints appeared to be of the same origin as the “stucco” paints applied to some of the vessels from the grave lots in trench 30. Bright red, green, and white served as base or background colors (each in a different layer), and as well for what appeared to be small-element designs painted on them. Black was frequently used to outline the design elements. A few traces of a dark purplish-blue paint were noted. Beneath the paint areas were masses of human bone, apparently secondary burials, portions of which extended into and through the paint. In removing the north wheelbarrow ramp in the northwest corner of the trench some heavy incensario fragments were encountered. Under these and a heavy, rough slab of cement was a cache of about 800 objects of jade,* including many large circular earplugs, figurines, gorgets, tubes, beads, etc. These exhibited a wide variety of style 3 Compare the fresco decoration of Cempoala, in Seler, 1915, pp. 145 ff. *This find has been described in detail by Stirling (1941, pp. 292 ff.). 14 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buun, 141 and material: “Olmec” faces, danzantes, axes, canoes, “Oaxaca cir- cles,” and similar objects in almost infinite variety. The only objects in the lot not of jade were a stone monkey figure painted red, 16 inches high and 7 inches wide; a small standing human figure of black stone; and a stone turtle painted red. A celt and a sphere were made of translucent green alabaster. The bottom of the cache was 6 feet below the surface and no in- dication of an intrusive pit was visible (pl. 8, ¢, e, f). Trenches 2, 4, 10, 11, 13, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 28, 24, 25, and 26 com- pose a system of excavations designed to test thoroughly the sherd- bearing zone in the level open plain to the north of the Central Mound Group. The first four (2, 4, 10, and 11) were laid out at random; 2, 4, and 10 were test pits 5 by 15 feet in horizontal dimen- sion; 11 was started as a stratitest, 10 by 40 feet, but abandoned at the conclusion of the 24- to 36-inch level. Trench 13 was laid out 10 feet north-south by 40 feet east-west, adjacent to trench 10, and was dug as a stratitest, in 12-inch levels. The remaining trenches of the system were tests laid out at 100-foot intervals on the north-south and east-west axes of a datum set up at the southwest corner of trench 13. These last were all 6 feet wide by 10 feet long. The sketch map (fig. 1) shows the relationships of the units of this system. The results of these cuts (excepting, for the moment, the stratitest) have been summarized in the comparison of former and present land- scapes in the discussion of the deposits. A more detailed account will be given here coupled with a series of diagrams. The most note- worthy fact is that the sherd-bearing horizon varied considerably, and irregularly, in depth at the points tested. The preoccupational landscape differed from that of the present day as the result of con- tinued soil deposition. The level plain of today, whose monotony is interrupted only by man-made earth-mounds, is superimposed on an ancient rolling landscape. The following tabulation of trench depths will make this point clear (the sequence of trenches is from north-south, and east-west, along the axes laid out from the datum at the southwest corner of trench 138) : Mazimum depth Marimum depth of sherd-bearing of sherd-bearing Trench No. soil (inches) Trench No. soil (inches) NIN ee ute SRN: ae Re a M1021, Bree 2B st eh) ek 1100-116 ANE Raha ANG Bi DB gd!” 48-53 71 ENS 5 ENE SS Reee Peet 2 99-128 7A ge SI aye a ae Ee 27-32 Dageoey) See teat tie ee ake 47-48 1 {a eae SOR Se ra ee 40-122 ie ae eae ae 40-122 OR Ss Ce eee as ee 1385-145+ jf Phe SWE Set ic ih gs pha 2 50-56 7 GN RY sae ae i ee 54-657 Ws [Sli oer ee ee 30 s 753 SAI aes U2 ae rae! MEL 60-61 1 Q-42 inches sterile. 30-36 to 40 inches sterile. DruckER] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 15 It is noteworthy that even within the few feet of horizontal area of the individual trenches the depth of the subsoil varies. Very likely the ancient surface was even more irregular and rolling than the schematic section (fig. 6) indicates. This change in physiography from past to present is significant on varied counts. For our present purposes, it means that strati- graphic results from the locality must be used with caution. A filled- in hollow in a hilly terrain is not the same thing as a gradually, and more or less uniformly built-up occupational deposit or midden. This is especially true where the precise areal extent of the “hollow” is not known. The structure of the subsoil as well as that of the deposit must be known to permit analysis of the results. The deepest soil structure encountered (trenches 2, 10, 13, 17, 18, 24) was a heavy clayey dark purplish-brown material, completely sterile of cultural debris. Although levels were not run with instrument, the upper surface of this soil in the several cuts appeared to follow a very $< as ROY 26 13 20 2l 22 Y . Es 4 % VY Ficures 6.—Sections through area of sherd deposits. nearly horizontal plane; similarly, in the largest‘section uncovered (trench 13), there was no perceptible dip. In all probability, this formation is an ancient swamp muck. Superimposed on it are vari- ous light soils, composed mainly of fine sands. The predominant colors are yellow to yellowish brown, but lenses of clean gray sand occur. These are the formations or irregular surface. The sections as revealed in the trenches give the impression of dunelike structures. It is worthy of mention that Stirling (1943, p. 31) noted active sand dunes in the low swampy “El Coyol” region 15 or 20 miles east- ward, toward the Bay of Alvarado. Apparently, the land along the west shore has been encroaching gradually on the bay, first by sedi- mentation and formation of swamp, and then by wind-borne sand. The occupancy of Cerro de las Mesas evidently began after the locality had begun to assume its islandlike character owing to deposi- tion of sand. The problem of water supply, in the early periods at least, was not a pressing one, for in places culture-bearing soils lie 16 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLt, 141 directly on the ancient swamp muck (trenches 10, 13). In the gullies between the dunes there must have been innumerable streamlets. Aggradation did not cease with the beginning of human occu- pancy. The “deposits” differ from the dune soils only in their addi- tion of cultural debris—sherds, charcoal and ash, animal bone, and the like. Of course, the concentration of cultural material varies; there are lenses and pockets of nearly pure debris and but little sand. For the most part, however, the proportion of soil is much greater than that of the sherds etc. The chief difference to be noted is in the type of deposition. Instead of forming irregular, and pre- sumably traveling dunes, there was a tendency to fill depressions and in general level off the land surface. One can only guess to what extent human agencies were responsible for this change. It is not unlikely that the houses and perhaps milpas, and the dumping of animal refuse (which would stimulate plant growth) were potent factors in “anchoring” the dunes and leveling off the plain. This leveling process has continued to the present, as the sterile caps over- lying the deposit in some places (trenches 24 and 25) demonstrate. The uppermost soil division of the present series has little if any archeological significance. It is basically the same as the soils which it overlies: light, sandy, in most places in the sherd locality culture- bearing, but distinguished by its darker grayish color. This color difference is owing to the presence of humic materials, presumably accumulated since cessation of the aboriginal occupation. In view of the prevailing light soil type of the region, the depth to which these materials have been washed down (11 to 18 inches) cannot be taken as indicative of a long period of abandonment; much less so when the modern type of cultivation—plowing—is brought into con- sideration. To summarize, occupation of the locality began at a time when the site was covered by rolling dunes. In the formation of the de- posits a natural process of aggradation was involved, in addition to the accumulation of cultural refuse. Consequently, isolated ex- amples of thick deposits cannot be construed as indicative of great age, for deposition of this sort is probably relatively rapid, at least as compared with processes of soil formation such as were observed in the deposits at Tres Zapotes. Trench 18, 40 feet east-west by 10 north-south, was dug as a strati- trench, that is to say, in foot-levels to a depth of 144 inches. The completed section revealed a profile consisting of several culture- bearing strata with a uniform westward dip, owing chiefly to the marked dip of sterile layers on which they rested, despite the fact that the present ground surface runs nearly level (fig. 7). The cul- ture-bearing levels consisted of light sandy buff to grayish-brown Drucker] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 17 soils containing sherds and miscellaneous refuse. They differed among themselves chiefly in their content of charcoal; ash, and sim- ilar substances, which caused the color differentiation. The principal exception was a thick layer°of rich greasy-looking dark-brown mix extending downward from 45 inches. This zone averaged 30 to 36 inches in thickness. It contained, in addition to quantities of sherds, 17 large vessels, complete or nearly so, most of them being Plain ware ollas. The profile is at first glance complicated by several intrusive pits which extended downward from the black level and the member below it into the basic soil zone. The purpose of these pits was not appar- ent; they contained nothing but mix in the portions investigated. In addition to a few stray human bones, four burials were found in the trench, I-2, I-38, I-4, and I-5, and one, I-6, in a shoveling platform at the east end of the cut. The trench 18 section clearly represents a dump of refuse in a sizable hollow on a gully in the original terrain. Despite the con- wo —~E humus - stained topsoil, with some sherds Yi ES : F herds buff sandy soil, ihe rath soil, _with sherds row light yellow sand, sterile -brown sand, sterile 7. Z3 « ¢ sterile a y Vie FiGcuRE 7.—Trench 13, profile, north wall. siderable depth of the major part of this deposit, there is no real evidence that a very long time interval was involved in this filling-in process. Furthermore, in view of the fact that the horizontal strati- graphic levels dug do not conform to the natural planes of the deposit, the sherd counts from the trench cannot be expected to be as sensitive to ceramic change as might be desired. However, they do show cer- tain gross trends which corroborate results from other investigations at the site. Ten burials (if we include two secondary or badly disturbed ones) were encountered in this series of excavations. The data recorded are summarized in table 3. This small sampling of burials presents several points of interest, especially in view of the fact that evidence from the stratigraphic ievels can be adduced to show that all belong to the same general period. First and most striking is the complete absence of any pat- tern of burial position or orientation. Second, we may note the paucity of grave offerings—this is the more striking when contrasted 18 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bubw. 141 TABLE 3.—Summary of data on 10 burials found in trenches 4, 13, 22, 28, and 25 Burial}Trench| Depth 2 sys . ‘ + ote No.! | No. |(inches) Position and orientation Associations Remarks I-1 t 60 | Semiflexed, dorsal, | River clamshell over | Plate 13, a. ee originally raised. mouth. I-2 13 39 (Secondary or disturbed) __| None_-________- on setae Incomplete (plate 13, 6). I-3 13 48 | Semiflexed, left side. E. | River clamshell in mouth; | Plate 13, c. 4 small pottery vessels. I+ 13 56 | Extended, ventral. W. River : amet over | Plate 13, d. mouth. I-5 13 60 | Tight-flexed, ventral. N. | River i clamshell near | Plate 13, e. mouth. 1-6 313 27 | Tight (?) flexed, dorsal. W. |_---- C6 (es ame Parad Sat SE 2 Legs missing (feet in place close to pelvis). Plate 13, f. I-7 23 40 |Tight-flexed, ventral. | 2 white stone beads at | Plate 14, a. SSW. cervical region. I-8 22 75 | Extended, ventral. Sai Newnes: eee ee ee Plate 14, 6. I-9 22 62 | Tight-flexed, dorsal. E. |_____ 0s Sh Sos Faas PI ae te Plate 14, c. : I-15 25 |110-116 | (Secondary or disturbed). |____- Ot SR eae ee In sandy subsoil at base of deposit. 1 Burials found in the test and stratigraphic trenches are indicated within index No. I. 2 Depth measurements to skull. 8 Encountered in shoveling platform at east end of trench, not in trench proper. with the burials from the mounds. However, there is one important detail which serves to connect these burials with those of the mounds: the custom of placing a shell near or over the mouth. As has been mentioned, this trait was noted in several instances in the mound burials (trench 30), and doubtless represents a variation of the ceremonial use of shells, represented by the offerings of shells pre- viously described (pp. 8, 9). Trenches 3, 5, 27, and 28 were tests laid out some 500 yards west of trench 2, etc., in a north-south line. Trench 3 was the southern- most; trench 5 was laid out 250 yards to the north. Trenches 27 and 28 were laid out at 100-foot intervals south of the southwest corner of trench 5 to check the nature of the deposit. This series of trenches revealed a deposit of the same type as that found in the previously described system, in fact, probably a continua- tion of the same structure. Cultural material occurred in soil of the same type, and beneath the sherd layers were encountered sterile formations apparently identical to those underlying the deposits al- ready described. The same sort of irregular preoccupational sur- face appeared, as the following tabulation of depth of deposit shows: Mazimum depth of sherd-bearing Trench No. soil (inches) N Bi eS a I eee *76-81 4 2hus ere bo De ee eee ee eee — 780-86 ae ee aa REE ae A ew AEE A ee 88-92 EES ew eek at ate AN ee ee 60-63 1 0-38 inches sterile. 1 0-43 inches sterile. It should be added that the sherd horizon of trench 5 appeared to be a unit structure of a uniform dark-brown color, middenlike in Drucker] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 19 appearance. In trench 27 this horizon was but 10 to 16 inches thick (38 to 48 (north end), 54 (south end) ) ; in trench 28, 14 inches (48 to 57). Below were layers with only a few sherds. In trench 3 sherds were scarce below 48 inches. - A third group of trenches was dug in the Small Mound Locality to the northwest of the last series of trenches described. The locality was selected after a field appraisal of the ceramics recovered particu- larly from the stratitrench 13. It was noted that wares of the Poly- chrome group, known from surface collections from the site, were rare in the materials excavated in the stratitest and the adjacent test pits. Since Polychrome sherds were found to occur in abundance on the (plowed) surface of the Small Mound Locality at the northwest end of the site, several trenches were laid out: 14 (and 14-A), 19, 40, 41, and 42. All but the last were mound cuts. The most important point to be noted is that two of the cuts, 19 and 41, showed that the mounds overlay refuse deposits of some thickness. The terrain in this locality is quite irregular, what with the hodgepodge of small mounds, borrow-pits, and gullies. Just to the north the present land surface dips toward the low-lying “potreros” that surround the site. All in all, the locality is by no means prepossessing. However, it was just here that the thickest and most important depositional horizon was found. Trench 42, dug as a stratitest to section the submound layers revealed by trenches 19 and 41, disclosed 15 feet of nearly horizontally laid refuse layers, or over 17 feet (209 inches) if subsoil irregularities are taken into account (pl.12). This section is by far the most important of the Cerro de las Mesas excavations, for it proved to contain the most nearly complete series of sherds, a series which appears to cover the entire period of occupation of the site. : Trenches 14 and 14-A were dug on a small irregularly shaped mound, or more likely a composite mound (fig. 8). Trench 14 uncov- ered a stucco floor, presumably of a ceremonial structure. The floor originally extended across the southeastern crown of the mound, but its southern end could not be followed, owing to the destructive effects of the roots of a large tree. At its center, the floor was covered by 14 or 15 inches of dirt; its northern edge and part of the eastern one were plowed out, being less deeply covered owing to the dip of the mound. Where better protected, the floor turned up 5 or 6 inches at the edges, forming in that fashion the base of the walls. The floor itself consisted of a ntmber of layers of stucco of sand and slaked shells. Some of the layers showed traces of red paint. In form long and narrow, the floor had two bays or enclosed rectangles on its west side reminiscent of those of the stucco floor found in trench 31 (fig. 3). On the east side directly between the two was a smaller rectangle with rounded corners, faced and floored on the inside, 9 20 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buu 141 inches below the level of the floor. It was filled with ash. On each side were circular pits, likewise stuccoed on the interior, one 41 and the other 42 inches deep. They contained nothing but dirt. On the west side of the mound, descending from a low crown, was a row of pipe made of coarse unslipped ware (pl. 10, ¢). The joints were 1 foot 8 inches to 2 feet long, 7 to 9 inches in diameter, with one belled and one plain end so that they telescoped neatly. Unfortunately, the line of pipe had been badly broken up in plowing the mound, but enough remained to show an original length of about Wilt; me WON i RSS \\) AY) \\ \ ANN \\\, \ Se = ANN NY N , € »S A 7a nw wn’ \ & anon FIGURE 8.—Trenches 14 and 14—A, and detail of floor, trench 14. 18 feet, with a dip of about 3 feet in this distance. There was no evidence of a structure at either end. » Trench 41 was dug in a small mound about 100 feet due south of trench 40. The cut was 10 feet wide by 25 feet north-south. It was carried to a maximum of 208 inches below the peak of the mound, except for a small block left in the north end to support remnants of structures. Despite its small size, the mound had been rebuilt several times. Four well-defined floors, three of them of stucco, in the uppermost 38 inches of the mound, and three superimposed stucco facings at the Drucker] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 21 north end demonstrate this point (fig. 9). 105 inches below the crest was an inch-thick floor of stucco, painted bright red, and lying on a prepared base of gray sand. The north end of this feature tailed off into rubble of stucco and large incensario sherds. This point seems to represent the original base of the mound. Below was a culture-bearing deposit seemingly of primary type, which was more thoroughly investigated by a stratitrench (trench 42), and, therefore, need not be described in detail here. In addition to stray fragments of human bone found at various points in the mound mass and the inferior layers as well, two burials were uncovered, I-12 and I-13. Both seemed to belong to the earlier (though not earliest) phases of the mound’s construction. Both were remains of children, and in a lamentable state of preservation. The most important feature is the association of a small quantity of copper SSS ——- N men —— ‘ja SS S - m-o U:Aed) —fth | ————— ~---. we e—- ee —-—<-.. —~~<<<--.. ~—<-.24 - yellow-brown soil, with sherds _ Ne dark brown soil, numerous sherds _ j yellow-brown soil with sherds yellow sandy soil, few sherds — — 7; FigURD 9.—Trench 41: Profile (west wall). a, Stucco floors; b, sand and clay floor; c, red-painted stucco floor; d, rubble of stucco and sherds; e, stucco wall-facings ; BI-12, burial I-12 ; BI-18, burial I-13. ornaments with I-13—the only pre-Hispanic metal found on the site. Trench 19 was dug 30 feet east-west by 15 feet north-south, in the west end of a double mound of the Small Mound Group. The ex- cavation was put down to 110 inches, with a reduced cut 4 feet wide dug 36 inches more along the south wall of the trench. Remnants of a number of structures, representing different periods of construction, were encountered, though it must be owned that the original plans could not be worked out within the confines of the trench. Disinte- grated stucco floors appeared at 11 and at 30 inches. At 18 inches appeared a stucco layer 11 feet east-west, descending in two steps ta the west, and rising at its eastern end. At 60 to 73 inches were stucco- faced walls and piers of at least three structures. (See fig. 10.) Most 22 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buwv. 141 curious was the clay-lined pit 3 feet wide by 7 long and 15 inches deep, filled with clean gray sand. This feature seemed to belong to one of the structures. Layers of similar sand 2 to 3 inches thick were noted in the south side of the trench at 48, and at 79 inches. The mound at a depth of from 70 to 84 inches consisted of irregular and interrupted areas of burned earth, etc. Presumably these were the —~E Wo s2rerce x? x Oe PROFILE - NORTH WALL ag PS oe, at See ’ = fe E —a << b ! ue : \ ~ Me Rs / e & Ss / / — —_ = aes xty - Waka Pe Pg rte. . 7) Bt yg ° G : é / é . 4 2 ‘ + / / / Ba {~r, / Br2 i Sg / ’ pees ee / Pa pre a po aay i ee i Bun Sf... gf) 06 t PLAN AT 60 TO 73 INCHES ee es, | FicUrp 10.—Trench 19: Profile (north wall) and plan at 60 to 73 inches. @, Clay-lined pit filled with gray sand; }, pit filled with fragments of Monumental ware. I-IV, Struc- tures with stucco-faced walls. Numerical order corresponds to order of construction. pneding indicates inner side of stuccoed walls. x-—x’ (in profile), probable base of mound. floor associated with one and another of the structures, and repre- sent the top of the original low platform. The base of this structure was not certainly defined, but appeared to lie at a level 85 to 89 inches deep. Below this point sherds were markedly less numerous than in the mound mass, and the level corresponds pretty well to the overall height of the mound above the present ground surface. DruckER] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 23 In the course of the excavation, two lots of fragments of large incensarios, etc., were found, one néar the northeast corner of the trench at 64 inches, the other in the west end, in an intrusive pit 214 feet across, whose point of origin lay between 80 and 84 inches and extended to a depth of 108 inches. The pit contained quantities of charcoal and ash, and the sherds themselves showed evidence of having been burned. Five burials were recovered from the cut as well, I-10, I-11, I-17, I-18, and I-19. The three latter were all infant burials, interred in sizable ollas covered with bowls. Burial I-11 is of most interest because it lay in a concave round object (a wooden or gourd bowl?) painted with the same bright “stucco” paint as was found in trench 34. The burial lay below the mound mass proper, with no clear evidence of intrusion from above. At the depth of 100 inches was an irregular layer of paint, too fragmentary to be saved. Directly below lay the skull and ribs of the (secondary) burial, on top of a pile of long bones. Beneath, serving as a container apparently, was the object previously mentioned, with a central design in white, green, and black on a bright red background. A painting of the design is repro- duced in figure 209. Trench 40 was staked out as a small mound, just to the west of trench 19, in an extension of the same mound. The cut was enlarged to remove the chief find, a cache of covered pots containing skulls. This peculiar deposit has been described by Stirling (1941, pp. 289- 290) ; all that need be done here is to summarize the main facts. A few inches below the surface, so shallow, in fact, that the upper portions had been badly shattered by plowing, were 6 pots containing bone fragments, apparently of skulls.° Below, at a depth of 16 inches, was a layer of stucco, 61 feet long north-south by 14 feet 8 inches wide. At the northeast corner was a rectangular extension 7 feet 3 inches long by 6 feet 6 inches across. The floor dipped about a foot from the middle toward either end. At the middle of the western edge of the floor was a double row of pots covered with bowls, each containing a skull and three or four cervical vertebrae. The double row contained 24 vessels, with two more just to the east at the south end (pl. 11). A good number of the skulls were of subadults and children. At 26 inches was another stucco floor, 14 feet 11 inches wide, its east and west edges corresponding pretty closely with those of the upper one. Its north- south extent was not determined. At a point almost directly below the first double row of pots, below the second floor, was another double row of covered vessels of the same size and type, likewise containing skulls and cervical vertebrae. There were 22 pots in this lot. Beneath, 'There may have been more of these vessels originally. Local people informed me that a@ number of years ago, a house stood on the mound, and that the owner, in setting the posts, ete., had found several “pots with bones.’”’ Since some time had elapsed since the house had gone to ruin and the trees had been cleared from the mound, no one was quite sure whether the house stood in the vicinity of trench 40 or nearer trench 19, to the east. 24. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buu 141 at 56 inches, was a third stucco floor, 15 feet 9 inches across. Its east and west edges extended a few inches beyond those of the superior floors. Near the middle of this floor, opposite the area of the pots, was acircular hole 3 feet 5 inches in diameter, which contained nothing suggesting its purpose. Below, no other structures were found to a depth of 80 incles, at which point the cut was abandoned. When concluded, the trench had a horizontal area of 20 by 20 feet, with the addition of the cleared uppermost floor. It should be noted that aside from the floors and the skull pots, the mound was very nearly sterile, there being scarcely any sherds in the mound mass.., Several facts combine to indicate that the trench 40 find represents a unit deposit, that is to say, that the three floors were laid, and the pots with their grisly contents were deposited all in one operation. Most convincing is the close correspondence of location of floors and rows of pots. The marked similarity in size and form of the vessels of the three levels points to the same conclusion, as does the nearly uniform state of preservation of the skulls of the two lower levels (the plow-shattered fragments of the uppermost lot cannot in fair- ness be compared with the rest). Trench 42 was staked out 30 feet north-south by 10 feet east-west, in the open flat adjacent to the mounds in which the other cuts of this series were put. An arbitrary datum (0-0’) was established across the irregular (plowed) surface, to facilitate measurement. The uppermost 48 inches consisted of a finely divided yellowish-brown sandy soil, with sherds and miscellaneous refuse. This horizon had a humus-stained topsoil, likewise sherd-bearing, 16 to 20 inches thick. Within the horizon were two floors of packed sand, an inch to an inch and a half in thickness. That these were prepared floors, prob- ably of dwellings, was demonstrated by the fact that one was definitely associated with a clearly marked firepit, a portion of which remained in the west wall of the trench. (See profile, fig. 11.) This floor, the upper of the two, occurred at 33 to 34 inches; the lower at 46 to 47. Beneath this zone lay one nearly identical in color and texture, distinguished chiefly by its very low sherd content. It extended to a depth of 94 to 114 inches, at which point it overlay another horizon lighter in color but likewise poor in cultural material. This layer extended to 134 to 139 inches. Under this latter occurred a layer of dark-brown soil, rich and “greasy” in appearance, with a very high sherd yield. Charcoal, ash, animal bone, etc., likewise had a high frequency. ‘This horizon lay directly on the sterile subsoil, a yellow clayey formation with pockets and lenses of gray sand, at a depth ranging from 178 to 188 inches. Evidences of disturbance were few. All of those noted occurred in the lowest depositional horizon—the dark-brown middenlike mix. At DrucknR] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 20 157 inches, in the southwest corner of.the trench, a circular firepit, roughly 8 feet in diameter and 8 to 10 inches in depth, filled with small water-worn stones 114 to 4 inches in diameter, charcoal, ash, etc., was found. At 180 inches, in midtrench, appeared another hearth. This one was rectangular with rounded corners, 3 feet 5 inches long by 1 foot 10 inches wide, and 5 to 6 inches deep. In the northwest corner of the trench, in fact, running under the north wall, was a burial, I-16 (pl. 14, #). The uppermost point of the skull was at 18414 inches, the pelvis at 187. This burial belongs to the very earli- est occupation of this locality, for it lay in the sterile clayey subsoil. SoS —=wN ° ~~ Ny fine yellowish-brown sandy _ 36] mos = = packed =Sand =floor 36 Y ae soil, with sherds 48 packed——sand—— floor 48 . . 7 60 fine yellowish-brown sandy soil 60 72 with few sherds 72 o 4 96° 96 y 4 ‘/, 108 108 Y, 120 fine yellowish sandy soil with few sherds dark brown soil, heavy sherd content, animal remains, charcoal, etc. A 180 ie bright yellow clayey soil with streaks of sand He sterile ge “-----f4 0-O'= Arbitrary datum across irregular (plowed) surface to water table at 227” Ficurn 11.—Trench 42, profile, west wall. A later intrusive pit from the dark-brown horizon cut off the lower legs of the skeleton. This pit, whose point of origin could not be de- fined with precision, save that it lay within the lowermost soil zone, extended to a depth of 209 inches. To summarize, the section disclosed in trench 42 was of a deep de- posit, with but few and localized disturbances, whose lower and upper layers indicate fairly intensive human occupation. The phases repre- sented by the middle layers suggest less intensive occupation of the locality (i e., as though the center of habitation had shifted slightly) or a period of more rapid aggradation. There is, however, no in- 506988—43——-3 26 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLt, 141 dication of a clean break, or an unconformity in the horizons, a fact corroborated by the ceramic evidence. Trench 43 was not, properly speaking, a trench. It consisted of a discovery pit made by some local people in the process of digging gophers, of a “pipe-line” similar to that of trench 14-A, and a quan- tity of figurines. The find occurred in a small mound about a quar- ter of a mile south-southwest of the trench series, 19, 40, 41, and 42, belonging to the same Small Mound Locality. The sections of pipe, similar to those of trench 14-A, angled down the northeast side of the mound. The uppermost joint was modeled to represent a female human torso. The head is missing. Over the end of this was set another incomplete figure, apparently part of an elaborate incensario. Quantities of Polychrome sherds and other figurines occurred along with this lot of material. Trench 6 was dug 15 feet north-south by 6 feet east-west in a small mound about 8 feet high on top of a large platform mound of the Western Group. The locality-was suggested by the reported find- ing of a small stone yoke in the small mound just previous to the arrival of the expedition. However, the attempt proved fruitless. A scant handful of sherds were found, and no other material at all from the cut, which extended to a maximum depth (from the peak of the mound) of 94 inches. Of the remaining test cuts, 1, 8, and 9, there is little to be said, for none tapped refuse deposits of any consequence. All were dug in localities in which sherds appeared on the surface, but in no case did cultural remains extend more than a few inches down into the humus- stained topsoil. Beneath lay undisturbed and sterile soil zones. CERRO DE LAS MESAS WARES The pottery of Cerro de las Mesas classifies out in a somewhat pecu- liar fashion. Strict application of the ware criterion that served for the Tres Zapotes collections (a high correlation of paste, slip, and vessel shapes) gives us but two ceramic groups: one a numerically small but quite distinct body of material, and the other including all the rest of the local pottery. This latter must be broken down ac- cording to variations of slipping, painting, and the like, to give serv- iceable units for comparative and stratigraphic analyses. The point is that the major portion of the local ceramics conforms to a single pat- tern of paste type, vessel shapes, and, to a considerable extent, slip. This focal type is that of Brown ware, i. e., of coarse, sand-tempered paste, with a tendency to thick walls, and slipped with a pigment ap- parently made of the same clay as the paste. Red ware is essentially the same ware with an all-over coat of red paint (overlying a brown wash or slip). Another variant, Red-on-Brown, has the red pig- Drucker] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 27 ment distributed in patterns instead of all over. The various Black wares, Black, and Black-and-White, are like Brown in paste and ves- sel shapes, and in use of a slip of the same clay as that of the paste. The same incised designs occur on Black and on Brown vessels. The difference appears to be solely one of firing technique, by means of which paste and slip attain a black instead of a brown color. Several varieties of Polychrome as well are essentially Brown ware with multi- color painted decoration. It is consequently necessary to abandon the ideologically more con- sistent system of classification for one more applicable to the material athand. As may be gathered from the preceding paragraph, the main criterion of classification is slip and/or paint. The ceramic groups thus segregated have been designated for convenience “wares,” and will be described under separate heads in the following section. The recurrence in most of these ceramic units of the same vessel shapes makes possible a few generalizations with respect to the domi- nant form patterns. There is a wide range of elaborate shapes, but numerically these comprise only a small proportion of the determin- able types. Simple silhouette vessels tending toward broad, rather squat, proportions are most common. The chief type of rim is the simple direct one. Scale drawings of vessel types and rims accompany the section in which the shapes are described. It should be noted, however, that certain of the more elaborate forms are based on one or two complete specimens only, preserved, for example, in grave offer- ings, and should be considered neither common nor typical of local ceramics. The prevailing pattern is one of simple shapes. While the small size of the majority of sherds from the strati- graphic sections renders unsatisfactory attempts at distributions of shape types, there are certain elements of form which are temporarily significant. These will be discussed in connection with the strati- graphic analyses. UNTEMPERED WARE Throughout a considerable part of the ceramic history of the site there occurs a ware which is distinct from other local wares in nearly every respect. It 1s composed of a very finely divided paste, quite hard, with little or no visible temper. Paste colors range from buff to light orange, with a small proportion of sherds with a steel-gray core, and fewer, steel-gray through and through. Vessel walls tend to be thin. The most common slip is one of the same clay as the paste, fired to the same shade as to outer portions of the walls. There is also a shp of different origin, which fires from a white to cream color, and is applied in a thick coat which gives a lacquerlike appearance. In many instances vestiges of painted designs remain. For this reason the ware is considered as one type of Polychrome. 28 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY ett ea (Buty. 141 Ficurp 12.—Form types of Cerro de las Mesas wares. (For deseriptiou of vessel shapes, see pp. 60-61.) 29 CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS DRUCKER] ~ ‘ Py i] pee i bath] Anes = ouse og ais ‘i eo: . 3 a genreree wcees ay ry qeoce e ° 6 ° e . e . a e ‘ Fo (sl L | Q m4 Se ox QE oA | Wee CiL | | | LW, PE GRE tong enn astral ABT lS Ba "oe i Bae, Me ge MSAK RNa xS ISLS KARAS IAL SC ee KS Ri nie es ay VEO 5 oe CY yaa A se Qe ie @ ES, ~) Fag r\ ¥ % Sf 4 s ¥ y, 146 MS ROOD x A ee, SOOSOOMKS 4 ERY | yy AG eh Oak a CL >>, ell ROTO OIE OIG Gl {||| || pe RS , ie x eceen QM A J weet IE { ooh ’, OSs AOA as a te Sane K ‘ee A SX Si ie ion \ x — % \j ( My ——a 7 WN: = Za (TILT TTT Tt Tl lel llebeleslees ae EH AA Zot Figurns 146—151.—Black-on-Red Incised ware designs. Vertical hachure, red; cross hachure, black; heavy lines, incising. pruckern] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 53 heavy lines, incising. 4! cross hachure, black Figure 152.—Black-on-Red Incised ware. Vertical hachure, red 54 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buuw. 141 RED-ON-ORANGE INCISED WARE Red-on-Orange Incised can be classed as a Polychrome only if we count the basic paste color that shows in the incised areas as a sep- arate tone. However, due to the similarity to the Black-on-Red In- cised ware, and since, moreover, its vertical distribution can be shown to coincide with that of the true Polychromes, the ware will be in- cluded with that major ceramic division. The paste is similar to that of Brown Polychrome; the slip is orange brown. Nearly always three to five narrow lines of red run about the interior rim, and broad stripes, which contain the post- firing incised decorative elements, run about the exterior. Circles, spirals, etc., are the commonest motifs. The only identifiable vessel form is that of the open convex-side bowl. FINE-LINE BLACK-ON-WHITE WARE This is a ware of infrequent occurrence, found only in late mounds of the site. It may be a trade ware, although in paste and pigment it resembles Brown Polychrome very closely. It is characterized by use of large areas of white background (over a light-brown slip) with precise neatly drawn designs in black. Both geometric and what appear to be conventionalized representative patterns occur (pl. 4, cf). Red paint is used sparingly adjacent to the main design areas. Open convex-side bowls are the only form known in this ware. TAN POLYCHROME WARE Another ware of very low frequency, but of interest for compara- tive purposes, is Tan Polychrome. The designs are applied over the light-buff slip in white and red, outlined in black (pl. 4,@,6). In the Museo Nacional de Mexico there are very similar specimens from the Isla de los Sacrificios ‘ and from central Veracruz. This ware, or one form of it, is sometimes referred to as White-on-Cream ware (No- guera, 1937). MISCELLANEOUS POLYCHROME ELEMENTS Included in the collections are a number of examples of zoomorphic vessel legs, and cylindrical loop handles with zoomorphic ornament that undoubtedly belong to one or another of the Polychrome wares, but in the absence of more nearly complete specimens it is difficult to assign them to a specific ware (pl. 53, a1). Slips vary from red to orange brown; some have the modeling accentuated by post-firing incised designs. This latter circumstance conflicts with their deter- mination as Complicated Polychrome, although zoomorphic legs and 7 See also Nuttall, 1910, passim., and Novelo, 1928, ftn. 16, p. 61. 55 CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS DRUCKER] OUIQM "SBOIV OITA : yoBlq ‘ soury Aavey ! pad ‘sinqoeyg |BoT}10A ail x ~i VA 13 5 Mi *(10110}X90) [woq pow (y QI Ce ¢' | See yn W4 10-90}1 AA-DUB-yOVIG— SET Gund 56 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buu 141 appendages occur in this ware at Cholula. It may be that they occurred in both Complicated and Brown Polychrome, and even per- haps in the Incised wares closely related to the latter. COARSE RED-RIMMED BOWLS There are in the collections numerous sherds and a number of complete examples of a type of unpolished, unslipped shallow bowl, of buff sandy paste, 10 to 16 inches in diameter, and 3 to 4 inches deep. Rims vary from simple to slightly thickened. Most of these bowls have a broad stripe of red paint about the rim; a few have similar stripes across to the interior. Several were found serving as covers for burial pots or ollas. A number of fragments contain quantities of the burned shell stucco used in structures—possibly an important function of the vessels was for mixing this material. », were% XOA7R x ZS Mattern trite i sicthannnnninianaieass RES SO OH rf eee ORO eel | SRY 1) 4 a see ik sos RFI SAA 5505 ie SS ees Bos So: AK ALS as Re , O SRO Sore Lees XX OLR “tlh aes ‘ i al Ins FigUuRB 154.—Black-and-White-on-Red ware fragment. Vertical hachure, red; cross hachure, black; heavy lines, white. COMALES Comales could perhaps be classed as a variety of Brown ware. In view, however, of their specialized form and function, and their sharply definable vertical distribution at the site, it seems preferable to give them separate status. The objects are of a hard brown to buff paste, with fairly heavy sand temper. The rim and interior are coated with a well-polished brown slip which has the same color range as that of Brown ware, although tending to the darker olive-brown shades (orange browns, etc., occur, but are not common). The base of the utensil is not only unslipped, but is apparently deliberately roughened. The vessels range from 12 to 18 or 20 inches in diameter, and are gently concave, probably varying between 2 and 5 inches DruckER] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS BY in depth. The rims are thickened on the exterior (or under) side. Rim sherds with small triangular tabs occur, but in the absence of complete vessels it is impossible to state whether or not these were a standard feature, or how many there were to each comal. MONUMENTAL WARE This is a ware which in one sense bridges the gap between vessels and figurines, for it includes both vessellike objects and figures of men, beasts, or gods. For convenience in the field, and. because of cer- tain resemblances to the large incensarios of nearby regions, we re- ferred to this class of objects as “Incensario ware,” but there is no evidence that they actually had such a function. More likely correct is a suggestion made by Stirling, that the vessellike objects in this ware were stands or pedestals for the idols made of the same type of clay. The fact that nearly all the examples collected were found in mounds, not in the refuse deposits, supports one opinion no more than the other. The paste used is coarse, porous, and sandy, varying from medium to soft in hardness. It is never more than smoothed on the surface, at times being quite rough. A coarse white paint, which appears to be a wash of the stucco used for structures, was often applied. Less frequently a red paint was used. Some specimens show no trace of paint of any kind. A number appear to have been in the form of rectangular boxes, 8 inches to 1 foot high, about the same in width, and over 2 feet long; others were round (pl. 8, c, d). The exteriors were decorated in a variety of ways. Large closely set bosses are common. Strips of appliqué form designs, some simple geometric patterns, others representative. One"example (trench 34) was decorated with the grim features of a Tlaloc. It may be that such objects as the jaguar head (pl. 45, ¢) were affixed to the sides of these pedestals. Rectangular or T-shaped perforations, cut through while the clay was soft, sometimes occur. Of the same paste, finish, and type of paint as these pedestals, and decorated in part in the same appliqué technique, are certain large figures, or idols. The heads of two types of these are often of more than human size (pls. 44, 45, 47), and the fragments of bodies, limbs, etc., associated with them indicate that the complete figures must have been proportionately large. The features are free-modeled, with, as already stated, appendages of appliqué. Some fragments from trench 34 are nearly 114 inches in thickness. The artistry of these idols far surpasses that of the large figures from the Highland, such as that recovered by Linné from a Mazapan horizon. 506988—43——_5 58 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buu. 141 PLAIN WARE Plain ware consists chiefly of large ollas, though there are a few cache or offertory jars that may be included in this classification. The paste is porous with a heavy sand temper, and varies from medium soft to fairly well fired. In form the ollas are round-bodied, with well-defined neck joints and ordinarily, flaring necks (pl. 25, a, figs. 62 to 72). Three types of bases occur: round, flattened, and low annular ring. The rounded and the flattened bases are most common. There does not appear to be any sharp correlation between any one type of base and neck. A few flat-based cylindrical-walled jars of Plain ware were found in mound excavations (pl. 25, b, c, d). Several contained collections of marine shells. These vessels were invariably poorly fired, to the point of crumbling on exposure and the consequent drying out of the paste. They were probably made, in haste or carelessly, for the express purpose of burying in the mounds; their crudity and softness would prevent their serving any utilitarian end. VESSELS WITH VERTICAL MODELED LUGS Included in the collections are several specimens that resemble cer- tain forms from Teotihuacan and Tres Zapotes. These are heavy hollow cylindrical handles or lugs, blunt-ended, with perforations or rude modeling to suggest features. Portions of rims attached to them indicate that they rose vertically or slightly inclined inward from the broad flaring rims of rough Plain ware vessels. No resterable vessels of this type were found, however, so that it is not possible to state whether they were of the flat-based slightly flaring-side form known from Teotihuacan, or of the convex side variety found at Tres Zapotes. The lugs themselves are cruder and less elaborately modeled than at either of these sites (pl. 55, 24’’-36’’). (See stratigraphic material from 24- to 36-inch level, trench 13, on pl. 55.) CARVED WARE Carved ware, in the sense of a distinct ceramic type, does not occur at Cerro de las Mesas. Occasional sherds are found, however, with carved decorations. These belong to various local wares—Brown, Black, etc. One rather elaborately carved fragment is of Red-on- Brown ware (fig. 131). None of the designs are complete, but the better-preserved fragments suggest that they consisted of rather elabo- rately carved figures (figs. 121,127,131). Drucker] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 59 PLUMBATE WARE The only example of Plumbate was the complete whistling jar found in trench 15, under conditions that make its temporal relation to the local ceramic column difficult {pl.10,d). The similarity of this speci- men to a whistling jar from Honduras is remarkable (cf. pl. 28, and Saville, 1916, pl. 2). Whistling jars, of course, have a wide distribu- tion in the Mexican Highland, occurring in the Mixteca (of Puebla and of Oaxaca), in Teotihuacan, and in the Tarascan area (Noguera, 1937 a, Belt 7-): : FINE ORANGE WARE No sherds certainly identifiable as Fine Orange were recovered. The possible relationship of this ware to the Untempered wares of southern and central Veracruz has been mentioned elsewhere (p. 34). SIEVES A few sherds of small vessels with perforations made close together while the clay was still soft have been recovered from cuts in mounds assignable to the latest horizon of the site. These are probably impor- tations; they occur too rarely to be considered a local type. VESSEL SHAPES To simplify the discussion of vessel forms occurring in the various Cerro de las Mesas wares, and at the same time to save needless rep- etition, the complete range of shapes represented in the collections will be presented and followed by their distribution among the several] wares. It will be noted that there is a very definite trend toward community of forms in the Monochrome and Bichrome wares; that is to say, while the same forms are not represented in all the wares, there is considerable overlap. Brown ware, being most abundant, shows the greatest range of shapes, nearly all of which recur, how- ever, in one or another of its companion wares. Were our sample of the latter fuller, the cooccurrences would undoubtedly be more numer- ous. There are relatively few restorable examples of Polychrome vessels, so that our list is unduly short as regards these wares. The more common shapes occur in these Polychrome wares, however, sug- gesting that in a general way they, too, conform. As elsewhere stated, Untempered ware shows the greatest divergence from the local shape patterns, being in this respect, as in paste and slip type, distinct. The key letters in the following descriptions refer to the accom- panying scale drawings (fig. 12). It is to be understood that vessel bases are flat and rims of the simple direct type, unless otherwise indicated. 60 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buuy. 141 DESCRIPTION OF VESSEL SHAPES SHOWN IN FIGURE 12 Bowls and dishes . Shallow bowls and dishes, flaring convex sides. . Deep bowls, flaring convex sides. . Deep bowls, flaring convex sides, slightly returned. . Shallow bowls and dishes, flaring convex sides, flat everted rim. . Shallow bowls, round bases, flaring convex sides, tripod supports. . Shallow bowls, rounded bases with central concavity. . Deep bowls, incurved sides. . Deep bowls, incurved sides, everted rim, bases? . Deep bowls, incurved returned sides. . Same as h, but with point of return of sides accentuated to angle, body frequently fluted. . Shallow bowls and dishes, flaring straight to concave sides. j’’. Same as j, j’, but. with everted rim. . Same as 7, j’, with tripod supports (k, hollow slab legs; k’, hollow hemispherical feet; k’’, hollow subconical legs). . Deep bowls, flaring straight to concave sides. . Shallow composite silhouette bowls and dishes. . Same as m, m’, with everted, often down-turned rim. . Same as m, m’, with low annular base. o. Deep composite silhouette bowls. . Composite silhouette bowls and dishes with angle accentuated to flange. . Large deep-bodied composite silhouette bowls. Jars and vases Slightly flaring concave sides. . Same as r, with flaring rim; some had horizontally placed small handles. . Same as 7, with tripod supports; often with incised or appliqué ornament about base. . Vertical to slightly convex sides, bulbous base. u. Flaring concave sides, bulbous base, tall annular support. ~nr iS} . Same as u, but with tripod supports. . Same as 9, with bulbous base modified to flange (some v and v’ forms have flaring to everted rims). . Tall annular base, probably pear-shaped bodies. . Tall annular base, angle at joint of base and body, tall slender tapering body. Spouted vessels Low bulbous base, tall slender sides (or neck), flaring rim, supported spout attached to rim. Wide-mouthed vessels, flaring to everted rim, supported spout attached to neck or body, body ample, probably nearly globular. . Low squat open-spout vessels, probably with vertical handles. Tall open-spout pitchers, vertical handles cylindrical in cross section. DrucknrR] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 61 Ollas aa, aa’, aa’’. Vertical to flaring necks, short to tall, bodies approaching spherical, various types of base (aa, leveled; aa’, flat; aa’’, round). bb. Neckless, rounded to flat base, two (?) flat semicircular lugs. cc. Low annular bases. i Miscellaneous dd. Comales; thickened rim,-shallow concave body; upper surface polished, lower rough. ee. “Frying pan” incensarios; hollow cylindrical handle, occasionally terminated in modeled ornament. ff. (Small) effigy vessels. gg. Potstands. hh. ‘‘Ladles”; asymmetric, oval in outline. [ BULL. 141 ETHNOLOGY BUREAU OF AMERICAN N Ne) ee eee ee ey oe ee ee x|-n--] 9g fe-|----]----|----]----[----]----]----]----]----]----]---- M0 pamor lene | sees |eaae tan -=-=1-= 5 [=== ga | tee aA ee= ape 29| Sool -o-= |e ==" rere paula GAT MAahT Zs Poeun || ee cl creme cee Sec pala alc af alee ete el leooe| eel cenafan ape aoa ce hee |e |e male 9|-e-= | pase =e" | 5--e eae acon Sele alee ll 5x2 || 25% etary | SE Fe i eta ate ea eal |e gs ea | moceang| HR [tse lig Sell | amie knee scant (Co lke aod elf at eae | eel elf | ce [a OBA ULC --| 9¢_|--=-|--|-58-|-22-]-22-]----]---- a. 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Dc! fsce! fate ferme fave orto lee! eee (etter lamest ete Kec ieee oe Se lee lea pee lee X_ | Poy-Wo-o91y MA -PUR-Yowy eg --]----|----|--|----|----]----]----|----|----]----]----|----|----]----]---- 75a | etl | me |e | pee | i |e | feel fe mel | | nae | eel ee | ROLOTUIOAOclapaTuolauag) --|----|----|--]----]----]----] yg. |----]----]----]----]----|----]----]----|-"¢-]----]----]----]----]----]---- x | XX [oroc fener] -- oe] ----]---- SO |ESeelles=sleqaa==s eMLOINIATOT UMOIE na-|--nafa-2-|oa]----|----|---2)-22-[222/.-2| oy fo n--| =o [2 -| ae} o--=|----|---- Be eee eee eng [eee eee eaten cal) Semen [eee omomyosjog yng [Nd Sisy Si 8 / S/S)" 7S)" s| s) Sls) S| S) + 8] sl sl a} as] S| Se) Ss) st Sl sis] s] al sl sl = |e Sree les anos le Soll es iter /2 Se) SR BlEs|2 |Pe/2-/Se/S8 (85) 05/ § la /8 SS /E8 lo lee) RUS | ele Be] BS SBS lot HIS ol? PS eiBelselE clSa/*R IS JIB)" s/2e/B al s |S ERE ESF /E8 sort A 3] fo] = = |25) a (Se ZISE] sg] SIRS] Sloal/e “|S e Plod| 2 8 A)4.5)5 Ns} = e;e ele |e] a “|8sioe) Fas) S| Sigel Sigs|° 8] SRS) 2) oes v, | Ea /e 9 a B®)? 1 e(5| ez] al gal | gial el ciel Seal gf 2a] gl @) 5) a] 2 if giPslAa) §) E ei" | 8] %] 8] &] S] 2] &] e| 3) 2 8 8 5) 5] S| 5) S| a} 3] 3)" ) Bl 8] g) 3] 6 sno S[OSSOA -9UB [20ST SPILO paynodg Bak ies gees ee FSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSeSSSSSSSSsSE (er ‘bY aas) sadvys jassaa Jo w01jngQ1.1481qQ—'F AIGVL Drucker] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 63 FIGURINES The figurine collections of the expedition are varied in origin, com- ing from stratitrench tests, from mound cuts, and, as well, in purchase lots. As luck would have it, some of the most complete and artistically the finest specimens came from the last-mentioned category, and can be placed chronologically only by comparison with unhandsome frag- ments from the controlled excavations. Enough identifiable scraps occurred in the stratigraphic sections, however, to enable us to estab- lish a sequence of types, as will be demonstrated presently. Classification of the figurines is based on both technique and style. Hand-made, mold-made, and free modeled are readily distinguishable. Within each of these technologic groups are divisions based on form which have been considered typologic units. The empiric proof that these “types” represent unit cultural complexes rests, of course, on their significant distribution. Subtypes can be, and in cases where number of specimens warrants, have been defined, but do not serve for strati- graphic analyses, because of the small number and fragmentary nature of the material. There are three figurine types which occur in sufficient quantity to be considered proper to the ceramic pattern under consideration; these are the first three, with their several subtypes, of the following list. . In addition, there occur some half a dozen other types which may have been made locally, but which, by their relative scarcity, must be con- sidered imitations of alien forms. The obvious trade pieces, few in number and unquestionable as to source, are not included in the present typology. They are dealt with elsewhere. The final type, the large idols, although a local and relatively frequently occurring form, are left till last because they have already been mentioned under the head of “Monumental Ware.” The types are as follows: I. Hand-made punctate figurines (variants of Tres Zapotes hand-made figurine pattern). A. Tres Zapotes subtype A, and variants (pl. 27, a-j). D. Tres Zapotes type D, and variants (pls. 27, k, l; 50, a). G. Long conical heads with hair sometimes indicated by punctations; eyes, mouth, formed by single horizontal or in-slanting heavy grooves, sometimes in appliqué pellets of clay; ears, earplugs, indicated by punctations. Bodies heavy, nearly shapeless, solid or hollow, with stumpy arms and legs. Figurines frequently painted red or black. Many of small examples have lateral hole through head for suspension. Paste coarse, heavy sand temper. Size: 2% in. to approx. 5 in. (pls. 27, m—s; 50, a; 52). H. Eyes vary from Tres Zapotes pattern in consisting of appliqué pieces; the typical horizontal groove and central dot have been punched. Large prominent noses suggest Tres Zapotes type B. Mouth is appliqué piece of clay with 4 or 5 punctations giving the effect of teeth. Ears and/or ear plugs punctate. Headdresses sometimes elaborate, with punctations or grooves. Bodies wide, 64 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buuu, 141 flat, with stumpy arms and legs; breasts, navels, sometimes indi- cated by punctations (pl. 27, u-cc). X. This designation has been assigned to animal forms manufactured in the same technique, and of the same paste as the foregoing, but which because of variable subject matter are less amenable to classification (pl. 28). II. Small flat mold-made type. Small (314 in. to 8 in. high; average about 5 in.); broad flat faces with features in low relief, sometimes slightly retouched (noses often added or accentuated after molding). Eyes indicated with brows, lids, and eyeballs in relief; mouth slightly open (teeth not indicated). Back of head flat to concave, from pressing into mold. Bodies nor- mally flat, slightly angular, usually standing, although seated forms occur (pls. 30, 31, 33). Feet protrude enough to maintain figu- rines erect. Arms at sides or across abdomen, in low relief, with hands very sketchily indicated. A small proportion of specimens in the collections have heads belonging to this type stuck on to crude cylindrical bodies with appliqué arms and legs (pl. 32). Figures usually dressed, with tunic, or loose shirt and skirt; some have belts and breechclouts. . Necklaces frequently represented. — Breasts fairly often represented. Back of body slightly concave. Frequent traces of coats of white “stucco” paint. This type, it may be noted in passing, occurs commonly at Cholula. A. Most common subvariety distinguished by stylized, rather pleasing faces, all of which are remarkably similar (pl. 29). Headdresses range from thin turbans to less common elaborate forms. B. A small group of figurines of this type apparently represent dead individuals, with drooping eyelids and sagging mouths. Some- times the tongue protrudes slightly (pl. 33). C. Another small group represent monkey beings, with protuberant foreheads, round eyes, and marked prognathism (pl. 35). D. Sunken-cheeked old men, with prominent noses and marked prog- nathism, form another subvariety. Variant subforms, represented by a few specimens each, include Tlalocs, Death’s Heads (pls. 24, 34), and various animals and birds (pls. 36, 37, 38). III. Large flat mold-made type. Typical specimen 10 in. long by 6 in. wide by % in. thick. Features, ex- cept nose, in very low relief. Tall headdress, bifurcated. Bodies quite angular; arms, hands, feet, dress, crudely indicated (pl. 39). Backs of figurines quite flat. The variation in this type is ex- tremely slight; no subtypes can be segregated. The following types are represented in our collections by but few specimens only: IV. A. Rancho de las Animas type (pl. 40, a-i). These figurines seem to be derived, or slightly modified forms. Their characteristics are as fol- lows: Hand-made, with considerable use of appliqué; of well-fired gritty dark-brown paste. Faces are flat, triangular, with horizontal slits for eyes, large appliqué blobs of clay for nose and mouth, appliqué head- dresses, earplugs, ete. Bodies hand-made, usually solid (except in case of whistles), stubby limbs, often a tripod to stand erect. Clothing (ornaments, capes, skirts) appliquéd on. Asphalt paint frequent. Drucker] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 65 B. A variant type, possibly a hybrid of I[V-A and typeI. The heads approach type I in form and cylindrical cross section; features are indicated as in IV—A (pl. 40, j-m). V. A type closely related to the preceding but with modeled features: brows, eyelids, noses, etc. (pl. 40, n, 0). Faces may be mold-made. Head- dresses, ornaments, clothing, appliquéd. One specimen of this type is rep- resented lying in a cot (or cradle?). This is undoubtedly a hybrid type. Open mouths with ae incisors of the Laughing Face type occur in some specimens. VI. Open-backed mold-made type (pl. 41, a-c, fig. 155). This is a form probably proper to Central Veracruz, although its center of distribution has not been defined as yet. Principally human representations, made in deep mold, edges finished off smooth. Most or all equipped with short- stemmed whistle stuck on in middle of back. (See fig. 155.) Figures rather simple, without much ornamentation, faces wide, moderate low- relief features, frequently with opened mouth reminiscent of Laughing Face type. Clay gritty, well-fired, polished; Brown slip most common. Painted decoration, most often in red.* VII. San Marcos mold-made type. A very few examples of the elaborate mold-made type of figurines distinctive of the Upper Tres Zapotes period occur in the collections (pl. 41, d-h). Fortunately, enough of these have been found in deposits of known position, in the Cerro de las Mesas ceramic series, to make them useful for cross-dating. VIII. Laughing Face type. A. This category is reserved for the classic Laughing Face figurines, large (8 to 10 in. tall), with sloping forehead, high triangular head- dress, open “laughing” mouth with prominent incisors. Bodies hollow, often infantile in proportions; hands often raised to sides of head open or grasping hanks of hair. Sometimes nude; when clothed, elaborate geometric designs applied in relief to garments. This type is actually extremely rare at the site of Cerro de las Mesas, although the collections include some specimens from nearby lo- calities (pl. 42, a, b). B. Small variants of A (pl. 42, c-m). This group, distinctively small in comparison to the classic variety, is of more frequent occurrence at our site. Some present all the elements of the classic type save size; others retain but few. There are as well specimens patently hybrid in form, combining features of VIII-B with those of other figurine types, which are often difficult to distinguish. Typologi- cally VIII-B figurines could be either ancestral to or derived from the classic type (VIII-A). IX. Masks and maskettes (pl. 43). A group of objects apparently mold-made, and retouched, with perfora- tions at the upper corners for suspension. The faces are triangular in form, with concave backs and finished edges. Sometimes there are holes at eyes and mouth. Some appear to be Xipe-representa- tions, with half-closed eyes and open mouth. Others display jaguarlike fangs, and occasionally elaborate nose ornaments. 8 Two figurines of this type were encountered at Tres Zapotes in an Upper period deposit in 1940. 66 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu. 141 X. Large free-modeled idols. These are the clay figures that belong to the Monumental ware pre- viously described. They tend to be quite large, free-modeled, with appliqué ornaments (pls. 45-48). In paste type, firing, surface finish, painting, etc., they correspond to the vessels and pedestals associated with them. Too few complete examples have been re- covered to warrant classification into subtypes. Large tubular arms and legs, often with realistically modeled hands and feet, apparently belong to these figures. In technique and finish the objects of this class suggest the (smaller) Lirios type figurines of Upper Tres Zapotes, and as well the figurine material reported on by Weyerstall from the Tesechoacan. MINOR OBJECTS OF CLAY In addition to vessels and figurines, there are a number of minor types of objects of baked clay, some of which are important strati- Ficuk® 155.—Figurine type VI. Front, side, and back views. graphically. Among these are spindle whorls, flutes, clay pellets, seals, and large tubes. The spindle whorls (figs. 170-199) (perforated sherd disks are not included here) are varied in form but can be divided into several groups: Plain (including flat, hemispherical, conical, etc., in profile) ; elaborate silhouette; and those with modeled ornament. Those of the first type are frequently painted black or red, or with simple designs in black on red. Those with modeled ornament frequently are coated with a black pigment which appears to be asphaltum. The clay flutes are usually red painted. No complete examples occur in the collections, but several pieces appear to have been of.4- holed instruments. The dista] ends are open and surmounted by DruckER] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 67 modeled ornaments—heads of men or animals, hands, feet, flowers, etc. (figs. 156-169). , The clay pellets are roughly globular, ranging from 14 to 5% of an inch in diameter. They are hand-made, not molded. Almost invari- ably, they are painted red or black; a few have a coat of dark-brown paint. The function of the objects is uncertain. They are not “sounders” for vessel supports, for the latter are not painted. Their Figures 156—-169.—Flutes with modeled ornament. irregularity of size makes use in pellet blowguns, or similar arms, unlikely, and they are too small to be effective ammunition for slings (except possibly for small birds). They might be gaming pieces, counters, or sounders for rattles. Seals are relatively rare at Cerro de las Mesas. None were found in the stratigraphic trenches. Both the flat and the cylindrical varie- 68 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL, 141 ties occur in the collections, mostly from lots of purchased material. A series of designs are shown in figures 200-208. Large cylinders of coarse, unpainted ware 1 foot 8 inches to 2 feet long, and 7 to 9 inches in diameter, were found laid in lines like modern ce ©) ©) (or /73 Gs 481 175 5 4 S R) S © X SH Q /76 ‘78 KX 208 @) @ 188 Be |}®@ D ® } /94 & N 3 1") FicurES 170—199.—Spindle whorls. Figures 170-172, 174-175, plain; figures 176-195, relief (molded) ornament; figures 196-199, painted ornament. sewer pipes, with the ends telescoped, in two mounds in the Small Mound Locality. Their function was more likely ritual than utili- tarian. One example of such a “pipe line” was found at the Ranchito DrucKkER] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 69 locality at Tres Zapotes, and they also occur in connection with Zapote- can tombs, ; Small double rings of clay, usually of Brown or Black ware, with the planes of the loops at right angles, occur in the deposits. Their function is unknown, but they have a sharply delimited vertical dis- tribution. Ficurns 200-208.—Designs from seals. STRATIGRAPHY WARE DISTRIBUTIONS The vertical distributions of wares and miscellaneous ceramic types will be treated under a series of heads: first the wares, then special features of form, and finally figurines and miscellaneous objects of clay. It is necessary to make the separation between the ware counts and the formal features, because the latter represent in many cases 70 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Buut. 141 (ise GLUE -GREEN RED WHITE Figure 209.—Design from interior of painted gourd or wooden bowl, trench 19. minor changes or additions which are not reflected in any other aspect of the wares. That is to say, although considerable ceramic change and intrusion of new elements is manifested in the vertical sections, there is no evidence of fundamental change of pattern or superim- position of cultures. The changes in ware frequencies and appear- ance of new traits can be accounted for in terms of culture growth, both of the internally stimulated and externally influenced varieties. Tabulations of sherd counts from the two stratigraphic trenches follow. That of trench 42 is presented first (table 5). The numbers given in the columns under the various levels are the raw counts of each ware. The first thing to be noted in the distribution chart is the clear evi- dence of the ceramic continuity mentioned in a preceding paragraph. Brown ware and Black ware are the most abundant forms through- out the time interval represented by the deposit (although Black ware diminishes sharply in the upper levels). Red, Red-on-Brown, and Black-and-White, the minor accompanying groups, likewise are present throughout the deposit. Had we to do with reemplacements Drucker] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 71 of one culture by another, such would not be the case, obviously. The changes must be due to other factors. The second point of importance is the clear division of the fre- quencies into two major horizons, one of which can be further sub- divided. The major point of change corresponds to the 60-inch level above which there occurs Complicated Polychrome ware, along with relatively high (and apparently increasing) Polychrome tradition, accompanied by the higher frequencies of Comales, and Coarse Red- rimmed bowls. Polychrome wares in general, and Comales and Coarse Red-rimmed bow]s occur only in insignificant quantities below the 60- inch level. This upper zone, therefore, may be taken to represent a distinct ceramic period. Within this upper horizon no divisions can be distinguished. The percentages of the various Polychrome wares (compared to total Polychrome of each level) are shown in table 6. In part, perhaps, owing to small sampling, there appears to be con- siderable irregularity in the proportions of the several wares. Cer- tain trends may be noted, however, especially if we omit the 0- to 12- inch level. Brown Polychrome appears to run along at a fairly even level; Dull Buff and Complicated Polychrome tend to decrease. Black-on-Red Incised likewise increases at the expense of Red-on- Orange Incised, conforming to the trend of Black-and-White-on-Red. To complete the chronologic picture, mention must be made of a member not represented by the stratitrench, i. e., the small mounds that overlie the deposit in the locality. This was undoubtedly a con- tinuation (with a few new traits) of the Upper horizon, since there are but few specimens in the collections which do not belong to types represented in the trenches. This hypothetical period will be referred to as Upper IT, the 0- to 60-inch horizon of the trench as Upper I. The lower horizon can be divided into two parts, although the line of demarcation is much less sharply defined than the major division. It belongs somewhere between the 108-inch and 132-inch levels, prob- ably nearer the latter. The upper portion of the stratum is character- ized by the presence, in small amounts, of Polychrome, Untempered ware, Comales, Coarse Red-rimmed bowls, and Polished Brown ware. As will appear from the distributions from trench 13, there are other wares distinctive of this subdivision. This subdivision, which we may designate Lower II, corresponds roughly to the zone of low sherd oc- currence. The lower portion of the zone, Lower I, is distinguished by absence of the aforementioned wares (the lone Dull Buff Polychrome sherd in the 144- to 156-inch level is surely a stray), and the presence of relatively larger quantities of White ware. ize. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Buu. 141 TABLE 5.—Depth distribution Upper I Lower II Wares . 0-12 12-24 24-36 36-48 48-60 60-72 72-84 Polychrome wares: No. | Pet.| No. | Pct.) No. | Pet.| No. | Pet.|No. | Pct.| No. | Pet.|No. | Pet. Dub Briel kee td Ash ee a 25) 2 96) Lb) S87 eL iy || ee pick Hives {p22 - fares Complicated-.- 2 22 10) 35 17a 5 7 [eee oy] ee Fee) Pee) |= Se (eee (ee TOW foe Ae TREE SIS EERE esal 59}___- GLps ses 53} _-_- 4)_2. | tee seh sh esl ee Black-and-White-on-Red !_______ 1 EY Wine ell I by ti Ly | pea Ue eo ss Red-on-Orange Incised____-_____- / 17] pe a a bs ES 9 RY | een (8 Re Ee ed eae Black-on-Red Incised Total Polychrome 3 Untempered ware__________________.- Comales ss Sie sae ie es ee ees Browniware-. 2. -- 1 Including Black-on-Red ware. 3 “Total Polychrome’”’ includes in some cases a few painted sherds indeterminable as to ware. 8 +, Less than 1 percent. Trench 18 is easy to place in relation to the preceding one. Pres- ence in small quantities of Polychrome wares, Untempered ware, Comales, and Coarse Red-rimmed bowls, fairly certainly places the section from 12 inches down as Lower II. The slightly greater quan- tity of Polychrome wares, and, more certainly, the presence of Compli- cated Polychrome, indicates that the 0- to 12-inch level represents an overlap into the Upper period. The greater amount of sherds from this trench is of value in backing up just that portion of trench 42 which is most liable to sampling error due to low sherd frequency. Three wares, one poorly represented and the other two completely absent from trench 42, appear to belong to this subhorizon: Polished Brown, which appears in greatest frequency; and Brown-and-White and Red-and-White, the minor Bichrome varieties. The absence of TasLte 6.—Percentages of various Polychrome wares (on basis of total Poly- chrome) found at each level in trench 42 Levels (in inches) Polychrome ware 0-12 12-24 24-36 48-60 Dull Bat.) 282 we ee ee re percent__ 32 Complicated =a os Seer SE hE SwWe of 32 RO With tes Peed oe PAE = foe ete do_-_- 15 Black-and-White-on-Red_._._._______________- dots i13 Red-on-Orange Incised______________________-- do___- 10 Black-on-Red Incised..._1.......-.._...©? "8 : . BSL? ST Ol VEY Coot ee Drucker] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS Ta (in inches) of wares in trench 42 Lower II—Continued Lower I Total = igs | eal Seal so ita MEG Be EP EN NR a a ak bot ber of 84-96 96-108 108-120 120-132 132-144 144-156 156-168 168-180 | 180-192 |sherds No. | Pet. | No. | Pct. | No. | Pct.| No. | Pct.| No. | Pct.| No. | Pct. | No. | Pet.| No. |Pct.| No. | Pet. 626 eS Poo S42 eee eases ee ee ee 1 Feta ee) | PS Al I SU AR Se Ie jan Umea 423 o__..|_----|-----|-----]=----|-----|-----]-----|-----|-----]-----]-=---|]-=+-+-]-----|-----]----]-----|---- 150 bio fe=--|--=--]---<-]_-=2--|L----] 22 ---]-=---]|-=---}--2--|---- =] -.--]---<- |---| -- = | ---- |= == <=] ---- 185 5 a ae eee (ee pa eee ey ee ey ees er eer cd eee eS ee ed 415 fc pee dN aT ae Ta el ete bre me | | foe |e re er Pa ee) en (a 221 ey EES | Te a are as (el re RN | S| ro eee (ee 285 8 2 1 Vine | Lee | (Rete pl | et a (eee yf ea Si |S A) a nar a |e EA ee 1, 691 15 , | ee eae 1 oe ete el SERRE) he fae feces [ese le ee 196 1 =e loo) | 2-4] s2c2|2-2--|22---]-----]-2---|-----|-----]-=--=|---=-|-----}-----|----|----=|---- 249 1 2} 2 +] 55 344] 29] 964) 33] 773] 26) 802} 25] 438) 26) 3,901 lua 5 these types in Lower I of trench 42 cannot be attributed to insufficient sampling, and may therefore be assumed to be a real diagnostic fea- ture. The distribution of wares found in trench 12 is shown in table 7. FIGURINE STRATIGRAPHY Despite the small amount of material, the figurines from trench 42 group quite satisfactorily. In table 8 it may be observed that the flat mold-made forms (types II and IIT) are restricted to the upper- most 60 inches of the cut, in other words to Upper I. Hand-made punctate subtypes A and D come from below 182 inches, i. e., Lower I. Subtypes G and H occur in Lower I and II. The remaining types represented, including the Laughing Face variants, occur in Lower IT and the lower part of Upper I. The trench 13 figurines show (table 9), as might be expected, a motley assemblage of types. The occurrence of flat mold-made types (II and III) in the uppermost foot-level confirms the deduction based on sherd-counts of a slight overlap into Upper I. Otherwise, the section conforms perfectly to its placing as Upper II, yielding punctate G and H forms, and, as well, a variety of other types. FORM FEATURES By combining the results of the two stratigraphic trenches, the following (p. 76) vessel shapes and features can be allocated according to period : 506988—43-—6 (BULL, 141 ETHNOLOGY BUREAU OF AMERICAN *qued1ed [ uBq) ssoy ‘+ ¢ "@IVM POY-U0-HOV[_ suIpnyouy Te | a as a a a a a ce RT er) eee SS ss ee EEE Ee GTO eTGn team Sh |(emen | kOLee Kh |e =a MOPS heal meen O60 Flee! 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Bese! Sie t3 es le! ae 4 =) Weg Sais ig gen | ee Oa aCe ae TAO1A Zs nee -|-=---]----] -------]----]------ Be pale a Pear ee cal ee aaltepet see sles ees leo CIE are: ast cas ee peso1[dm10H 66 0 |rnnn |r] -o o-oo |---| ------ ---- ] ------- | ---- | -------] ----]-------| ----]-------]---- Ce see? eae lies ee OL aa ee (ea pee a eas yng (ud Wd | ON || “ON |'29d) “ON |'9d| “ON 129d) “ON |'29d| “ON |'89d| “ONT |'29d) ‘ONT |'20d| “ON |'29dq| “ONT |'29q| “ONT :SolVM VMIOIgOA[Og Seana GET-O6T OZI-801 801-96 96-48 ¥8-CL &L-09 O09-8F 8h-98 9E-F2 F2-Z1 21-0 “wna |—-—_-_—_-—— — sole [810.L TI JoMor'y J woddg ST Youas Us sa10M Jo (sayour ur) wo1Nngrysip Yydaq—) TIAVI, 75 CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS DRUCKER] ge eg te || ec ee JUSTIVUIO Pep[OUl GIIM 9IN[ WT T a Ae Nw ear ae OT sjolfed Avo poyuied ‘ ‘ 1‘ 1 4 : ' ' 1 ' ' ‘ 1 } 1 ‘ 1 1 ' ’ ' 1 ' ‘ ’ ' ‘ ' ‘ rT ‘ ‘ ' ‘ ' ’ '‘ ' ' 1 ' ' ' ' ‘ ' ‘ ‘ ' ‘ ' ’ ’ ' ‘ ' ' ’ 1 ‘ 1 1 4 ’ ‘ ' 1 ' ' ' 1 ‘ ' ' ' ' ' in 1‘ ‘ ' 1 1 ‘ ' Y ' ‘ 1 1 y ‘ ' ' ' ‘ ' N on Sywaulaza snoaunpa0si yr Esa ES eae eee eee a fe ee a fe a (3 pepe are Soa | ease | eects | a RS See AR Cae een SOD oudecpees pee raay | ogee ya |p icy ao i|Saetes Nee | ta eres Lae Oe ae las Cel een eee Se | Sea eae ® i ét S515 0) | Mae ole| Genie leks a8 | bE aSO}IOMSOUL{PULGISYSBIN Xe: SS Sare ses eel pikes | me ag |e ragga ae er leer liar Sa ale Sepa eI at Pee lal! or aae |r e see |o soos 1-99" = (SqUBIIBA [[BUIS) g eB T SUIGSNVT “TITA Sate | aa Sai aes | eg (a a eS eee pee eal wie oie Sell eaeacal ae el eal Re eek ol ere esas OP SUE D[OUN BSOOIeTANTeUR SET TAG aici eka ae ir car | eer nome | a eae ste alee iia | mee Saag | ae oe | Ga SET epee ao ak Sn eae Ie ae I eee ca elo ssl ----pexyoeqg-uedo 9pell-plow “ITA PRS SIDE [BOSE Io PGE bit al (aaa ae aaa [mar a Ri SRRERD el RC Se (Sp ak eae

ge RS Sg = Se z Rae =o ee eT |g eae ed cee ee |S ace ae eee OT Odsiopelt-pusrieAm Sasi Gees rae ae Sa (9318) OPVUl-plOMl IVIL “IIT (Geers ieee Dee ([[@UIs) OpeUl-pfoul 4Vpq “TT oSESaoSs F F z z SERS SESH H| [Reso Srase | saecrese|acesascs| |v Semen =e eer fone nee ee ceo mee aon al a(O1 BUT MMO OPUpsam 440 Ns) salpod T I x edAqns H edAjqng 9 edAyqng q edsyqng vy adAyqng :opeul-puBy 94ejOUN “J ‘ in ’ ‘ ' ' ' ' ' ' ' 1 ' 1 ' ‘ 1 1 1 ' ' 1 1 1 ' 1 ' ' ' ' 1 ' 1 ' 1 ' 1 1 ' t ' ‘ ' 1 1 1 ‘ 1 ' 1 1 4 ' 1 1 ' ‘ 1 ’ i ' ' ' ‘ 1 ‘ 1 ‘ 1 1 t ' ' ' ‘ ' 1 1 ' ' 1 ' ‘ 1 ' ' 1 ' 1 ' ' ec Vs) ANN mod S$aUulnbrg ZI-0 | $q0a[qo Jaq}0 puBw SOULINSL | Z6T-O8T | O8T-89T | 89T-9ST | 9ST-FFT | FFI-ZEL | ZET-OZT | OZI-80T | 801-96 | 96-F8 | F8-ZL | ZL-09 | V9-8P | 8F-9E | 9E-FZ | FC-ZI at youas, Wi samunby {0 (sayour wm) Uo1Nngiuysyp yydaq—'s8 ATAV I, 76 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 141 TABLE 9.—Depth distribution (in inches) of figurines in trench 18 Up- ‘ per I Lower II Figurines 0-12 | 12-24 | 24-36 | 36-48 | 48-60 | 60-72 | 72-84 | 84-96 | 96-108 | 108-120 I. Punctate hand-made OD bY DOA oat Ne See | eee ee | SUbey pe ee eat ae SU NS SET RC ee ae NE Se | ee | Subtynp/ G2 |\eaees 1's |S | (eee UG) aes 4 1 1 Subtype sie sos haa eae DY ate a! 1 1 > fal eae | A een fee Sb Subtype seers | anaes 1 Le ae See 2 1 Pees ek 1 i |e ee Bodies (subtypes indeterminate) |______ 2 (ess 21 1 4 7. Aye Sse 1 IL. eet mold-made mall) eee Aeee 3 OR Eee eee) Rae JE tern (eee nee et {RTE eR) (ee Ot Ee el III Flat mold-made (laree) be ifsc SN a NS ee eR es 2 ee ee ee ee IV. Hand-made appliqué 1 1 3 1 1 12 1? ul re ie NS aie Vel Mlold-madeappligttéi| i ws. | seen ss ee en eee Ps sete ed ad oa I VI. Mold-made open- backed erty 3 35) [ares deh pa fee eth 5 igi [een Pee nee mil eRe TE VII. San Marcos mold- MAGE SSeS SE ees el een OY eet cee a bl epee (Pen (ees oe VIII. Laughing Face B (small WArlanits) aes] ss l| ane 1 igececes | ce OS Le ee ee ee re IX. ert ee and mask- x Tere "idols eee eee 1? Pp ee Yn oe ES ee ee ee ee Upper I.—Tall open-spout pitchers with long vertical handles, cylindrical in cross section; long solid legs with loop foot; legs with zoomorphic ornament; relief-decorated (molded) bowl bases (Brown Polychrome). Upper I and Lower IJ.—“Frying pan” incensarios; strap handles; small loop handles; tall annular bases; evlindviesl cross-section hollow supports. Lower IT.—Vertical-side tripod jars with incised or relief ornament about base; bulbous-based jars with tripod supports; vessels with vertical modeled lugs; effigy vessels (?) ; hollow slab legs with L- or T- shaped openings; blunt conical hollow legs; low, wide hemispherical feet; small solid ball feet; supported spouts; flat horizontally placed semicircular lugs; scraped (“raspada”) decoration. Lower I and II,—WLow annular bowl bases; “negative painting” (more common in IT), unsupported spouts. MINOR OBJECTS OF CLAY Among the miscellaneous objects of baked clay, the following may be placed according to period. Upper I.—Small painted pellets of clay; flutes with modeled ornament; mold-made spindle whorls with relief decoration. Lower IJ.—Painted mold-made spindle whorls; “double rings.” On the basis of occurrence in the small mounds in the vicinity of trench 42, the clay “pipe lines” can probably be assigned safely to Upper IT. DevuckeR] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS ree ANALYSIS OF MOUND MATERIALS The material from the mound mass of the several mounds trenched has been subjected to gross analysis, that is, a determination of wares represented. In view of the fact that the mounds are themselves secondary deposits, it was not considered worth while to save all the sherds for counts, etc. Only decorated sherds, rims, bases, and re- storable vessels were saved. All figurines, however fragmentary, and miscellaneous objects of clay were saved as well. On the basis of this material, it is possible to place the various cuts in relation to the estab- lished ceramic column or, at least, to give them minimal period datings. Inspection of the ware occurrences shown in table 10 indicates that most of the mounds of the Central Group belong to Lower II, con- taining as they do small amounts of Polychrome and related wares, little White ware, and the varied figurine types characteristic of this period. In several instances there was a thin superficial layer of later (Upper I) material, as Stirling was able to observe in the field. This material was not segregated, however, nor was it possible to determine whether it represented a final enlargement of the mound, or was occu- pational debris resulting from a mound-dwelling habit such as pre- vails at the present day in the region. Most or all of these mounds had been plowed and cultivated within recent years, making inspection of their superficial layers impossible. } The mound cuts in the northwest sector of the site, the Small Mound Group, yielded quantities of late material. Owing to heavy field cull- ing, we do not have a complete sample of wares represented, but the large amounts of Polychrome sherds indicate an Upper period dating, and the occurrence of several types not represented in the strati- trenches, Fine-line Black-on-White and varieties of Tan Polychrome, point to an even later position than the upper layers of the strati- graphic sections. As a matter of fact, the period Upper IT is based chiefly on the material from these mounds. CACHE ASSOCIATIONS The largest quantity of cache material comes from the burials and offerings of trenches 30 and 34. The material from trench 30 is described in table 12. It is clear from the absence of Polychrome and associated wares that all the trench 30 burial material belongs to the Lower horizon. The presence of “scraped” decoration on Black ware vessels (II-7), Polished Brown ware (II-19), supported spouts (II-5, II-19), and absence of White ware, taken all together, point fairly surely to Lower II for the placing of the material. The temporal difference between the two parts of the mound—the base and the superstructure— 78 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLt. 141 TABLE 10.—Ware occurrence in Mound Groups Occurrence ! in indicated trench in— Wares Central Mound Group Barre eras 12 15 30 31 32 |32B)} 33 34 14 19 41 Polychrome wares: RN syori ae Je eee ee s s s s iat | eee + Ss aa + + Brows £ lege lve Bee A NS) 8 iS) Ss Sag | ee oe + iS) + + + Black-and-White-on-Red____|______]_____- ult | Ste Seabee eS ee ee io eee + + + Black-on-Red___..-..-_-_-_- Si tise ce ee eS Sib -eees s + + + Complicate cd ae ee ee ee | eee | ees Sie ete + + + Red-on-Orange Incised_-____}_____- Bi nul etcs 2416 seen (sWaee ea nek (Sea ee ees ore. + + Black-on-Red Incised_-----__|_____- pal eee ieee zee tS Sea Soe + + + Untempered ware_-________--_-_- + + + + + — a a= + — + Cortales So steerte roan tt fe hi cn ie ee ae eee anata. koe pa rea io eae + + + Coarse! Red-rimmed |bowls22:223|=- 224s) Sa ei Se Fa ee sey pyee 2d - + — Brown ware--------------------- Te este (ste Sake ay ecko A St osteo WN SST rn | Polished Brown ware-.._-___-_-__|_--_-_|_----- + Soy sees 8 Ss 4p jes eee Red ware_____-_--- pepe seseee=oee Ste aly cte = Paategesl| wear 4] heer sare ha Mert (ic fae eee ae ale sts Red-on-Brown Incised ware__--_-_-_|_----- + + + + = + + Wags a Black-and-White ware_---______- + + + + + + - =F [eee + ~- Witeiwareten 8 kre 8 Ree ee AE ee S + 8 S aes S -+; |.-—--b eee Blacksiwarese 2-62-22 5c) ee =F aia ar + == ae = a5 =~ So + Monumental ware---____-______- + + + + + s + Se eee -- a Stucco Painted waress-- |e eee + Negative Painted ware-_-_.......__|------]_----- S 1+, Present; 8S, present in small quantity only. TABLE 11.—Occurrence of figurines and other objects in Mound Groups Occurrence ! in indicated trench in— Figurines and other objects Central Mound Group iaean 1 12 | 15 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 14 14-A Figurines Subtype; A s2228 252 Ai ok oe hee ee RE OD Subtypes see se ae eee | eee Subtype G_ Subtype H- II. Flat mold-made (small)___.__---___ Ill. Flat mold-made (large)- IV. Hand-made appliqué-___ V. Mold-made appliqué___ VI. Mold-made open-backed _ VII. San Marcos mold-made_-_________ VIII. Laughing Face B (small variants) IX. Masks and maskettes_-- X. Large idols_____- dn Such else te ee eee Miscellaneous elements Painted clay pellets____._.___.___-___- Spindle whorls with molded ornament Flutes with molded ornament__-- Zoomorphic vessel supports-__--_______- Thin solid slab legs, sometimes steppe: Hollow slab legs Relief-decorated bow] base---...-.----:---------]---- 1-++, Present. 2 With shallow, apparently intrusive burial. Small Mound p 19 | 41 Drucker] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 79 TABLE 12.—Cache material from burials of trench 30 Ela ep laced Slat ra a Lp rE 5 PLS Re nee Ceramic associations Burial No. SS eee No. Ware Shape Decoration I) Brown) 233232 3 3- Open conyex-side bow] (miniature)__| Post-firing incised. Mi Black. c= oe. Se Incurved-side bowl (miniature)_- Do. IL-5 tH (ieee Ot Syuat body, long! neck, vertical | None. ST Ra ALS WE EB A I supported spout. 3 | Black-and-White | Open convex-side bowls_--.--------- Do. (white rim). Ti) Bey (pe ae aaa ie Blaeke-- sec ees Wide vertical-side jar__------------- gaa (“‘Tas- pada’). Rig Que ed Bae ee gf tat leo (9 a al Ee Slender jar (miniature) _-__-_--_----- Post-firing incised. ETO 2 teeny t% 2 1 | Black-and- White | Open convex-side bow] (miniature)-__| None. (white rim). dy leted 7-58 = Slightly flaring side jar (not restor- Do. II-12-(Face only) -- able). Tu RBIACKs (COVCD) aan et ee Lo hae ee be ee a8 Do. ) 8 ES ks 1p se a pe 2H OBrOWIs eo ee 1 wide-mouth jar, 1 shallow flaring- Do. " side bowl. II-14 (Face only)-_-- TieRed-on-Browlse = IB) ee eee ence see aennoeae Do. (jal ae: 1 Bio Pe dees eae Wide uth janss es eres Do: 1 ain ware_______- Ontical-sidesjates ee ee 0. W-17 (Face only). -- { 1 | Black-and-White | Open convex-side bowl_.--.-------_- Do. (white rim). havea 3: |) Blacks 27. so55 Concave side, annular-base jars_-__--- Post-firing incised. 2) | Browne seo 22 aceeee Vertical-side, bulbous-base jars-_- ---- None. 2 | Red-on-Brown__--- Vertical-side, bulbous-base jars_-_---_ Do. | Et ee (2) Vertical-side, bulbous-base jars__.| Small element de- signs in green, binek ee: on red ground. 4 | Stuccoed---------- (1) One end red, center and oppo- site end green. (2) Potstands=~ 52-2 = soe ess sess (1) Ends sed; cen- ter striped red, green, yellow, black. TI-19.. 62.33.2225. 2 | Polished Brown_..| Low base with tall, slender necks | (1) Pre-firing} in- Semerked supported-spout ves- cised. sels). 10 Ey. (1h eee See 1 | Black-and-White._| Open convex-side bowl__----------.- Gade) pre-firing incised. cannot have been great, for material from both falls into the same subperiod. The fortunate circumstance of being able to place the Stucco ware chronologically will aid us in relating the Cerro de las Mesas ceramic column to those of adjacent regions. The bulk of the ceramic material from trench 34 consisted of the pots containing assortments of marine shells, ete. Some of these were of the poorly fired Plain ware jars, unplaced in our ware chronology ; others were slightly concave-walled flat-based tripod jars, of Brown ware and Polished Brown ware, indicating an allocation of Lower IT. The spectacular jade cache, the quantities of Monumental ware (idols and pedestals), and the painted material, therefore, are assignable to this period. It must be pointed out, however, that the Monumental ware does not belong to Lower II alone, but can be shown to have continued through to Upper II. It is possible that the superficial layers of the mound, which, as will be recalled, was repeatedly enlarged, belong to Upper I, for a fair amount of Polychrome wares and Upper I figurines came from the 80 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 141 surface few inches. On the other hand, this material may be un- conformable surface material, mixed in by plowing. Modern residence habits favor the aboriginal mounds as bases for dwellings, and this custom may have prevailed anciently as well. NONCERAMIC ELEMENTS While the present report is primarily concerned with pottery and pottery sequences, there are a few nonceramic traits on whose occur- rence we have sufficient data to relate them chronologically. The spectacular and important jade cache from trench 34 has been placed in Lower II on the basis of the ceramic content of the mound. Smaller quantities of jade were encountered, associated with certain burials in trench 30 (see burial inventories, p. 9), assigned to the same period. Occasional pieces only were found in other trenches, none in the cuts in the Upper period Small Mound locality. Apparently, in Lower II jade was more abundant than at any other time. The variation in color and quality of the jade—from clear almost grass-green to dull-gray shades—suggests that it may come from a number of different sources, indicating extensive trade relations in this period. Use of stucco is another trait that has temporal significance, although according to quantity rather than mere presence. In Lower II mounds, occasional floors, etc., are faced with this material, but most of the floors, stairways, and other features were faced with clay. It is in the latest structures, those of Upper II, that this material is most abundant. As to types of structures, little can be said, for few could be worked out in detail. The most distinctive architectural type on which we have information is that of rather long narrow floor plan, with bays or niches in the walls, known from trenches 32, 34, and 14, in short, from Lower II to Upper II times. The occurrence of stone yokes and hachas in deposits of known relation to the ceramic column is of no slight importance for coast archeology. The yoke (trench 380), it is true, is plain, as is another in the purchase collection; the hacha (from trench 34) is elaborately carved. Both belong to Lower II cache lots—the same period in which occur the small variants of Laughing Face figurines, and pre- sumably those of the classic variety which come from nearby Cerro del Gallo. If these several types of objects actually form a complex, or part of a complex, as has been suggested in the past, we have for the first time a definite temporal placing for it. UNPLACED ELEMENTS There are a few objects in the collections from purchase sources which are not represented in the excavations. Among these are two Drucker] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 81 dottles, one of Plain ware, one of Black ware, with vertical handles and appliqué Tlaloc faces, of the type found on the slopes of the volcanoes of the Highland (pl. 24). Presumably they are refer- ible to Upper I. The Aztec-type figurines have already been men- jioned. They probably relate to Upper Il. The one Plumbate vessel recovered, because of its intrusive location, cannot be placed, aor can it serve for dating purposes—it may very well have been preserved for a considerable time before its placing in the pit. : COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS AND CHRONOLOGY i This final chapter aims at an interpretation of the data presented yn this site in the Mistequilla of Veracruz. In accordance with the xoal originally stated, this interpretation will attempt to place the site on the basis of its ceramics both in relation to neighboring and vetter- known cultures and in time. To do this, we shall pass in review he Cerro de las Mesas horizons established on the basis of stra- igraphy, together with their principal diagnostic features. | Stratigraphic excavations in refuse deposits have served to estab- ish two main ceramic periods which we have designated Upper and Lower. The Lower divides into two subperiods, I and IT, and a subdivision of the Upper has been marked off on the basis of the lightly divergent content of mounds which overlie deposits contain-" ng Upper I material. It must be made clear that the differentiation nto periods and subperiods has no connotation of populational change xr succession of cultures. If the ceramic evidence can be taken as ‘epresentative of the total culture, we have to do with a single culture ind presumably population, in which patterns changed owing to nor- nal processes of internal culture growth and absorption of external nfluences. The characteristics of the various temporal divisions can be listed riefly. For purposes of presentation, we shall begin with the earliest, uower I. The ceramic pattern is an essentially simple one, consist- ng mainly of Monochrome wares: Brown, Red, Black, and White, vith one Bichrome, Red-on-Brown. Small amounts of Negative -ainted ware, usually Red-on-Brown, more rarely Black-on-White, are ound in this horizon also. The most common vessel shapes are imple silhouette shallow bowls; composite silhouette bowls also ecur, but less commonly. Tripod supports (hollow subconical legs) nd occasional “ring” (low annular) bases, and spouted vessels occur, s well. Decoration, aside from the simple angular patterns of ted-on-Brown ware and the lines and dots of Negative Painted ware, onsists in geometric incising. Red paint was often rubbed into the ‘rooves to accentuate the pattern. Figurines, to judge by the limited ampling at our disposal, consisted of the hand-made type with punc- 82 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 141 tations to represent features, common all along the east coast from the Huasteca to the Maya area. Specifically, the forms represented are variants of that designated Tres Zapotes subtype A, an unspecial- ized form, which is of long duration at that site, first appearing in the Lower period; of another designated Tres Zapotes subtype D, which belongs to the Middle and possibly Upper periods at the type station; and two specialized local forms (G and H), which fit typologically into the elaborated varieties of Middle Tres Zapotes. In the following period, Lower II, the same wares (except for White ware, which nearly disappears) and types continue, with the addition of certain new elements. A painted ware, called “Untempered” be- cause of its distinctive paste type, which is related on the one hand to Tres Zapotes Polychrome and on the other to late wares of central and northern Veracruz and-to Fine Orange, appears in small quan- tities, along with certain local Polychromes, a “Stucco Painted” ware, and miscellaneous varieties of Bichrome. None of these innovations is abundant. In regard to vessel forms, there appear concave-side jars, with ornaments about the base, and frequently with hollow slab legs—a shape-type strongly reminiscent of Teotihuacin. Slender jars with bulbous bases and tripod supports also appear on this level. In addition to the normal type of incising, there occurs a broad-line “scraped” decoration. Figurine types are quite varied. In addition to local specializations of the hand-made punctate pattern, there appear forms referable to Rancho de las Animas, and, as well, a variety of mold-made types, including elaborate variant Laughing Face forms. While there is undoubtedly a chronological succession of these forms, we are unfortunately not able to define it on the basis of the material at hand. Obviously, Cerro de las Mesas received in- fluences from various quarters, and what with the effects of time lag in diffusion, and perhaps the conservatism of a peripheral site, some traits co-occur there which in their original sources are probably sharply differentiated in time. In addition to figurines, there appear for the first time large free-modeled idols of clay, which have been included with their elaborate pedestals under the head of “Monu- mental ware.” Belonging to this period are the only examples of stone yokes and hachas recovered. As in the preceding instance, the change from Lower II to Upper I is marked not by change of wares and types but rather by the addition of new elements, accompanied by changes in emphasis, i. e., quantita- tive changes, on certain wares. Polychrome wares in general become more numerous, and there appears a new variety, Complicated Poly- chrome, which is very closely related to the Cholula ware designated by Noguera as “Cer4mica policroma laca.” Zoomorphic vessel legs, Drucker] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 83 bowls with molded decoration on the base, and very flat molded fig- urines unmistakably of Cholulteca type accompany this Highland ware, apparently integral parts of the transported complex. Black- and-White-on-Red ware is a pretty certain indicator of Highland in- fluence. There is also a Black-on-Red Incised ware, common, to judge by the number of examples figured, in Cerro Montoso deposits, as well as in Cholulteca and late Valley of Mexico sites. Flutes with modeled ornaments (painted pellets of clay) are among the diagnostic features of the period. } Upper II is, as has been stated, an imperfectly defined unit, based chiefly on material from mounds superimposed on Upper I strata. Of nonceramic features, greatest use of stucco for structural purposes and presence of copper (small quantities only have been found) are outstanding. As far as we can tell, there is but little ceramic change; handles with zoomorphic ornament, tall pitchers with vertically placed cylindrical handles, stepped flat slab legs, large clay tubes, and a few pieces of Tan Polychrome ware (a type represented on the Isla de los Sacrificios) are the only new features. Probably the few Aztec figurines collected from the surface of the site, surely trade pieces, are referable to this period. In the absence of internal evidence from the deposits themselves, we are forced to rely on comparative evidence for the chronological placing of the Cerro de las Mesas ceramic column. Fortunately, there are a series of traits which are not just resemblances but are identical to diagnostic features of established sequences elsewhere. It can be shown that the order of appearance of these imported traits at Cerro de las Mesas conforms quite well to their sequence in their presumed centers of origin, a fact which justified their use as time markers. Beginning again with the earliest local period, we find two Highland elements, Negative Painting and Incised Outline Red-on-Brown ware.° The former occurs in Teotihuacan I, the latter, a more specific parallel, in Teotihuacan late [I—early III. The figurine types, or rather sub- types, are all of them referable to Middle Tres Zapotes. These ele- ments in combination, suggest a beginning date corresponding approx- imately with that of Teotihuacan III for the earliest defined period at Cerro de las Mesas. Lower II similarly has some features of probably Highland pro- venience. Most, if not all, of these belong to Teotihuacan late III to IV-V : concave-walled jars with hollow slab legs, and ornaments about basal angle; vessels with vertical modeled Jugs (also Upper Tres Zapotes) ; supported-spout vessels (also Upper Tres Zapotes) ; stucco- painted ware; elaborate mold-made figurines (technique rather than ®The writer is indebted to Dr. Noguera for information as to the temporal placing of these and other Teotihuacan elements referred to here. 84 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buwu, 141 detail of type is critical here). In addition to these features, we find figurines of a type related to those of Rancho de las Animas, for which a late Teotihuacin dating has been suggested, and variants of the well-known Laughing Face figurine pattern, which recur in Upper Tres Zapotes.° It seems reasonable enough, all in all, to propose for Lower II a rough contemporaneity with the final epochs of Teotihuacan, especially since it is followed directly, in Upper I, by Cholulteca elements. More puzzling in their suggested temporal relationships are a number of Monte Alban II elements: potstands, “raspada” decoration, and certain specific vessel shapes—tall slender spouted forms, squat tripod jars (“stucco” paint is also referable to this period at Monte Albin). Undoubtedly, these traits represent survivals in a peripheral region. The identification of the Complicated Polychrome ware of Upper I as a direct derivative of the Cholulteca I (and II) lacquer ware need not be gone into at length here. Its companion elements—zoo- morphic vessel supports, relief-decorated (molded) bowl] bases, flutes with modeled ornament, the low-relief molded figurines (which in- clude Tlalocs, typical of Cholulteca I-II)—establish the source of influence beyond question of doubt (Noguera, 1937). Presence of Black-on-Red Incised ware, which is known also from late Valley of Mexico sites and Cerro Montoso (a few examples have been found associated with the late Soncautla complex at Tres Zapotes), cor- roborates the temporal equation of Upper I with Cholulteca I? The only anomalous feature is the absence (in any Cerro de las Mesas horizon) of the ware with “decoracién negra sobre fondo color natural del barro,” common in Cholulteca I. Perhaps this was an everyday ware not deemed worth carrying long distances for trade, or worth imitating. The Dull Buff Polychrome resembles it closely in char- acteristic application of paint directly on an unprepared vessel sur- face, and probably replaces the Highland ware in the local pattern. Upper II, with its Isla de los Sacrificios linkages, pitchers with cylindrical vertical handles (Mixtec, late Valley of Mexico), stepped slab vessel supports (Cholulteca II, Aztec), and copper (Cerro Mon- toso, ete.) is unquestionably late. Its terminal date may be as- sumed, however, to fall short of Conquest times by a brief space, chiefly on the basis of the scarcity of the copper objects so abundant in Veracruz at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards.1* Probably it would be safe to place this final phase as the equivalent of most of Cholulteca IT, and of all but the last of the Aztec periods of the Valley of Mexico. 10 San Marcos type figurines, characteristic of Upper Tres Zapotes, also occur in this level. 11 Examples of this ware occur in Joyce, 1927, pp. 119, 121. 2 Specimens in Museo Nacional de México; Strebel, 1885-1889, passim. 13 Nothing suggesting contact or early colonial material was found by us, or seen in the region. Drucker] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 85 In effect, there exists at Cerro de las Mesas a continuous ceramic column extending back from the fifteenth century to a point roughly equivalent to that of the beginning of Teotihuacan III. It is un- fortunate that Teotihuacin culture, a dynamic civilization from which surged waves of influences far and wide over Mexico, has been so difficult to date on empiric evidence. So far, we have only specu- lative estimates for its placing. If the Cerro de las Mesas stelae with 9th Cycle dates were clearly associated with any single phase at the site, we would have a clean-cut dating not only for Cerro de las Mesas but for whichever Highland period that phase was af- filiated with. In view of the occurrence of these monuments along with others of distinct art styles, and all on a many-times rebuilt plaza, they cannot be assigned with assurance to any one period. It is tempting to consider the implications of a Lower I placing of the stones. Lower I, and consequently Teotihuacin late Il-early III, would perforce be carried back to the sixth century (according to the Thompson correlation). Such a placing would fit the Lower I-Middle Tres Zapotes contemporaneity established on figurine cor- respondences, for Middle Tres Zapotes has been dated 400-800 A. D. on the basis of linkages to the well-dated Petén. However, in the Veracruz area, where stone monuments were dragged about and re- used long after their origin, it is difficult, if not impossible, to relate them to any particular ceramic horizon. In one sense, the Cerro de las Mesas explorations contribute but little to our knowledge of Veracruz archeology. It is scarcely to be expected that the diagnostic features of its ceramics will be found to be widespread in the State.* Rather we have to do with an en- clave of Highland culture, transplanted to the coast. Emphasis has been put, in the foregoing discussion, on relationships of the Upper period wares and figurines to those of late Cholula, but un- doubtedly one should read “late Mixteca” for “Cholulteca.” It is only because the Puebla site is so well known that ceramic parallels to it stand out with such prominence. The strong ties of Cholula to Tlaxcala and southward to the heart of the Mixteca in Oaxaca (cf. Noguera, 1937) make such an interpretation valid. In short, the modern designation of the Cerro de las Mesas region as the “Miste- quilla” undoubtedly has a sound ethnic derivation. Just when this Highland immigration occurred is difficult to state. Certainly there was a strong influx at the end of Lower II, which resulted in the modified ceramic patterns of Upper I. It will be recalled that features reminiscent of Teotihuacin IV (which under- lies the Cholulteca material at Cholula) and certain Monte Albdn- % However, Sr. Payén, of the Instituto de Antropologta e Historia, has informed me that his excavations at Cempoala reveal a great number of linkages to the Cerro de las Mesas Upper, and to the late periods of Cholula. 86 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLv. 141 like traits, however, characterize the phase designated Lower II. Since this phase is not sharply set off from its predecessor, but rather emerges gradually from it, we must look to the earliest levels of Cerro de las Mesas for a previous set of Highland influences, and possibly immigrations, which were renewed at the end of Lower II and which continued to the end of the prehistoric occupation of the site. There are, nonetheless, certain findings which do bear upon the pre- history of the Veracruz coast. We may begin by considering the quantity and type of relationships between this site and Tres Zapotes, less than 100 miles away in an air line. Aside from the elements im- ported to both from outside sources, we find these to be, for the most part, simple generic features, demonstrably early at Tres Zapotes, and where data are available, widespread in the region. To this category belong such features as the prevalence of Brown and Black wares, simple and composite silhouette vessels, Black-and-White ware, and the hand-made punctate-featured figurine pattern. Aside from these early presumably basic elements of regional culture, there are very few indications of direct contact between the two sites. The sloughs and swamps of intervening drainage systems patently have barred contact. Very likely, the same situation prevails northward along the coast, and for the same reason; Strebel’s results, numerous localized patterns apparently coexistent in central Veracruz with one or the other of the two major cultures of Cerro Montoso and Rancho de las Animas, seem to bear out this hypothesis. In short, Highland cultures were for the coast-dwellers more accessible, for practical purposes nearer, than those of people on the other side of a river valley. Whether the same is true of the region of the long terrace systems flanking the escarpment of the mountains is as yet unknown, and in default of detailed local knowledge, unpredictable. Perhaps this zone formed a north-south highway for culture transfer, feeding the side roads, to continue the figure, which branched off to each interriverine region of the coast. Of more than slight importance, from the areal point of view, is the occurrence of stone yokes, hachas, and Laughing Face figurines in Lower II. If these objects actually constitute a complex, as has been surmised from their nearly coterminous distribution, that complex obviously cannot be identified with the historic Totonac. 'Totonac archeology is more likely Cerro Montoso, as Spinden (1933) has sug- gested, and/or a series of the affiliated local specializations that Strebel has described. The history of the so-called Untempered ware, with its suggested relationship to Tres Zapotes Polychrome, late central and northern Veracruz ceramics, and Fine Orange deserves not only attention but DrucKER] CERAMIC STRATIGRAPHY, CERRO DE LAS MESAS 87 serious investigation. This ware, with its distinctive paste type (and therefore presumably distinct technology of preparation and firing), its separate set of shapes, and different slip and paint types hints at a center of development as yet unknown. Central and northern Vera- eruz, as well as the southern part of the State, cry out for archeological investigation. Strebel’s work, admirable for its day, does not satisfy modern standards of research. To summarize, the excavations at Cerro de las Mesas suggest solu- tions of various regional problems—the extent of certainty varies in each case. The following chart presents these results in graphic form. It aims at coordinating data in the light of present knowledge, and, like sailing schedules, is “subject to revision without notice” as addi- tional information from the area may demand. The column of Mexico- Puebla sequences has been taken from published sources; that referring to Central Veracruz is, of course, a hypothetical reconstruction. In the chart, solid horizontal lines indicate major culture changes; broken lines, transitions from one to another horizon of the same culture. | Southern Veracruz | Mexico-Puebla ea K Central Veracruz | ON oS Tres Zapotes 1500 Cholulteca ITT. (Unoccupied). Isla de los Sacrificios, Cempo- Aztec IW-IV. 9° |—-—-———-——— (Unoecupied). ala (Historic Totonac). ese ENTS OAS Hie tar as Ted Upper II. a fee n table nee eee cc asec l iced Choluitecaili wa A eee As Soncautla complex. Cerro Montoso (Totonac) Aztec I-II. Upper I. — -—-————— - - and minor local patterns. ES AS TE NS pe (Unoccupied). Cholulteca I. Mazapan, etc. 1000|—— SS | ee ee SS ESS Teotihuacan IV-V. Lower II. Upper Tres Zapotes. Yoke-hacha-Laughing Face zig Age 5 Ue See SER Es gee Cs BL | Opel a | 2 ree ON Peer e complex. Teotihuacan ITI. Lewer I. Middle Tres Zapotes. |———.——_____ — — LO se 5 sical A eS ee ——— Rancho de las Animas. Teotihuacan IT. (Umoccupied) S|) 222s SF hg Pops S peta ae Peli oe ooo Lower Tres Zapotes. Beginnings of local special- Teotihuacan I. ization, stemming from 1A4.D./————— ——_—-—— — Basie Coastal Pattern? HarkyalViiddile: Gulturessie pee. te 9) lease se eee ae [Ses oe. Ae ee ose a Basic Coastal Pattern extending from (at least) Playa de los Muertos Preceramic Highland to the Petén to southern Veracruz, and, perhaps, on to Central Pattern? Veracruz. FIGURE 210.—Chart of culture sequences at Cerro de las Mesas, based on ceramic data. BIBLIOGRAPHY Caso, A. 1938. Exploraciones en Oaxaca, temporado 1936-37. Inst. Panam. Geog. é Hist., Publ. No. 34. Mexico. DRUCKER, PHILIP 1948. Ceramic sequences from Tres Zapotes, Veracruz, Mexico. Bur. Amer. Kthnol. Bull. 140. GALDO, ¥ VILLA, J. 1912. Las Ruinas de Cempoala ... An. Mus. Nae., vol. 3, App. pp. xev—clxii. JoYcE, THOMAS A. 1927. Maya and Mexican art. London. 88 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL, 14 Linnge, S. 1934. Wechacoteetal researches at Teotihuacan, Mexico. Stockholm. NocurrRaA, E. 1935. La cerAmica de Tenayuca y las excavaciones estratigraphicas. I Tenayuca, Estudio Arquedlogico, Dept. de Mon. de la Sec. de Ed Publ., pp. 140-201. 1987. Conclusiones principales obtenidas por el estudio de la ceramica arque 6logica de Cholula, Mexico. (Mimeographed.) 1937 a. El Altar de los Craneos Esculpidos de Cholula, Mexico. NOvVELO, R. J. CABALLOS 1928. Cempoala. In Estado Actual de los... Hdificios ..., Sec. de Hd Publ., pp. 43-61. NUTTALL, ZELIA 1910. The Island of Sacrificios. Amer. Anthrop., n. s., vol. 12, pp, 257-295. Savitz, M. H. 1916. The glazed ware of Central America. In Holmes Anniv. Vol., pp 421-426. SELER, EDWARD 1915. Die Teotiuacan-Kultur des Hochlands von Mexiko. Gesamm. Abhandl. bd. 5, pp. 405-585. Berlin. SPINDEN, E. 8. 1933. The place of Tajin in Totonac archaeology. Amer. Anthrop., n. s., vol. 35, pp. 225-270. SPINDEN, HERBERT J. 1927. Study dead city of “Rubber People.” N. Y. Times, Sunday, May 1. Stmiine, MatrHEw W. 1940. Great stone faces of the Mexican jungle. Nat. Geogr. Mag., vol. 78, No. 3, pp. 309-334. 1941. Expedition unearths buried masterpieces of carved jade. Nat. Geog? Mag., vol. 80, No. 3, pp. 277-302. 1943. Stone monuments of Southern Mexico. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 138. STREBEL, H. 1884. Die Ruinen von Cempoallen . . . Abhandl. des Naturwiss. Vereins. Hamburg, vol. 8, pt. 1. 1885-1889. Alt-Mexiko. Archidol Beitr. z. Kulturgesch. Seiner Bewohner. 2 vols. Hamburg u. Leipzig. VAILLANT, GEORGE C. 1935. Chronology and stratigraphy in the Maya area. Maya Res., vol. 2, pp. 119-1438. 1938. A correlation of archaelogical and historical sequences in the Valley of Mexico. Amer. Anthrop., n. s., vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 585-578. 1941. The Aztecs of Mexico. N. Y. WEIANT, C. W. 1943. An introduction to the ceramics of Tres Zapotes, Veracruz, Mexico. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 139. iil “INDEX Alabaster, green, translucent, celt and sphere, 14 Altar, clay, 13 Alvarado, Bay of, 1, 15 Analysis of ceramic data in relation to better-known cultures and to time, 81-87 of mound materials, 77 Archeological divisions (Cerro de las Mesas site), description of, 2-4 Central Mound Group, 2-8, 5-14, 26 Occupational area, 3, 14-19 Small Mound Locality, 3, 19-26 Southern edge of site (trenches § and 9), 26 Western Mound Group, 26 Awl, 5 Axes, 14 Aztec, 47, 51, 81, 83, 84 Bay of Alvarado, see Alvarado, Bay of. Beads, jade, 10, 13 burial association, 7, 12 Bichrome wares, 59, 82 miscellaneous, 44 Red-and-White, 44 Red-on-Cream, 44 White-and-Brown, 44. See also Brown-and-White Bichrome ete. Black-and-White-on-Red ware, 50, 51 distribution, vertical, 71, 72-73, 74 indicator of Highland influence, 82 paste, 50 slip, 50 vessel form, 50, 62 Black-and-White ware, 27, 86 distribution, vertical, 70, 72-73, 74 paste, 44 slip, 44 vessel form, 44, 62 Black-on-Red Incised ware, 51, 83, 84 comparison with Red-on-Orange Incised ware, 54 decorative technique, 51 distribution, vertical, 71, 72-73, 74 paste, 51 slip, 51 vessel shape, 62 Black-on-Red ware variant, 50 Black-on-White ware, 81 Black ware, 27, 38-89, 45, 77, 81, 86 bottle, from purchase source, 81 decoration, 39 distribution, vertical, 70, 72-78, 74 paste, 39 slip, 38 vessel form, 39, 62 Blanco, Rio, 1, 3 506988—43——_7 Blowguns, 67 Borrow pits, 3-4, 19 Bottles, from purchase sources, like type found in Highland, 81 Black ware, 81 Plain ware, 81 Bowls, 23, 44, 50 and dishes, shapes, 60 Brown-and-White Bichrome ware, ver- tical distribution, 72-73, 74 See also White-and-Brown Bi- chrome ware. Brown Polychrome ware, 48-50, 54, 76 decoration, 50 distribution, vertical, 71, 72-73, 74 paste, 49 slip, 48-49 vessel shape, 62 Brown ware, 26, 27, 34-86, 38, 39, 45, 48, 49, 56, 59, 79, 81, 86 decorative technique, 35 distribution, vertical, 70, 72-78, 74 paste, 34-35 ; slip, 34 vessel shape, 62 Burialseo: Gos 0wst2) 23725 associations, important, child, associations, 13 copper ornaments, 21 secondary, 7 facial portions of skulls, in pottery containers, 8 in ollas, 238 +, mound, 8-9 principal features of, tabula- tion showing, 9 Occupational Zone, features of in- terest, 17-18 comparison with mound bur- ials, 17-18 data on, tabulation, 18 secondary, 13, 17, 28 with shell near face, 8, 18 Cache associations (trenches 30 and 34), 77, 79, 80 skulls in covered pots, 28, 24 Carved ware, sherds of various wares found with carved decorations, 58 nonoccurrence as distinct ceramic type, 58 Central Mound Group, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 14, 26 period of, indicated, 77 Central Mound Group trenches, 5-14, 26 trench 1, test pit, 26 trench 7, structural section, 6-7 trench 12, structural section, 7 trench 15, structural section, 7 trench 16, structural section, 8 89 Uy OS, 90 Central Mound Group trenches—Cont. trench 380, structural section, 8 trench 81, structural section, 9-10, 19 trench 32, structural section, 10-11 | trench 33, structural section, 11 trench 34, structural section, 11-14 Central Veracruz, sequences, reference | to, 87 | Ceramic column, 9, 77, 79 continuity, 70-71, 72-73, 85 See also Chronology of ceramic column. Ceramic data, analysis of, 81-87 Ceramic periods (Lower I, Lower II, Upper I, Upper II), characteristics, 81-83 comparison of Cerro de las Mesas features with established se- quences elsewhere, 83-87 defined, 71 Lower I, 71, 78, 76, 81-82, 83 Lower II, 71, 72, 73, 76, 77, 79, 80, 82, 83-84 Upper I, 71, 72, 78, 76, 77, 79-80, 82-83, 84 Upper II (hypothetical period), 71, 73, 76, 77, 79, 80, 81, 838, 84 Cerro Montoso, 34, 51, 83, 84, 86 relationship, suggested, to Untem- pered ware, 34 Cholula, 48, 56, 64, 85 late, 85 ware, 82 Cholulteca, 48, 51, 83, 84, 85 Cholulteca I, 47, 84 Cholulteca I-II, 84 Cholulteca IT, 84 Cholulteca type figurines, 85 Christian chronology, 85 Chronology of ceramic column, 81-87 Christian, 85 comparative evidence, 83-87 continuity, 70-71, 85 date, earliest, suggested by compari- sons, 838 in relation to cache associations, 77, 79, 80 clay objects, minor, 76 figurine stratigraphy, 73 mound cuts, 77 nonceramic elements, 80 purchase elements, 80-81 vessel shapes, 73, 76 ware stratigraphy, 69-73 periods: Lower I, 8&3 Lower II, 83-84 Upper I, 84 Upper II, 84 stelae with 9th Cycle dates, 85 Classification of figurines, 63 of wares, 26-27 Clay objects, 66-69, 83 allocation of according to period, 76 occurrence in Mound Groups, 77, 78 INDEX Climate of Cerro de las Mesas, 2 (ftn.) Coarse Red-rimmed bowls, 56 distribution, vertical, 71, 72-73, 74 paste, 56 unslipped, 56 use, 56 vessel shape, 62 Cocuite, 2 Collections from purchase sources, 80-81 Comales, 56-57 distribution, vertical, 71, 72-73, 74 paste, 56 unslipped, 56 use, 56 vessel shape, 61, 62 Comparison of Cerro de las Mesas fea- tures with established sequences else- where, 83 Complicated Polychrome ware, 48, 54, 82, 84 decoration, 48 distribution, vertical, 71, 72, 738, 74 paste, 48 slip, 48 vessel shape, 62 Conquest times, in relation to Upper II dating, 84 Copper, 83, 84 ornaments, burial association, 21 Coral, 10, 18 Cultural remains, see Deposits, nature of. Culture sequences at Cerro de las Mesas, based on ceramic data, chart showing, 87 single, indicated by ceramic evi- dence, 81 Cylinders (tubes), clay, 66, 68, 76, 83 example found at Ranchito locality, Tres Zapotes, 68-69 occurrence in connection with Za- potecan tombs, 69 See also ‘“‘Pipe-lines.” Date, beginning, suggested for earliest period at Cerro de las Mesas, 83 of ceramic column, 85 Decoration, 34, 39, 45-48, 50, 51, 54, 57, 81 seraped, 76, 77, 82, 84 Deposits, nature of, 4-5 Description of site, 2-4 of vessel shapes, 60-61 Dishes and bowls, description of shapes, Distribution : clay objects according to period, 76 stratigraphic, of figurines, 73, 75, 76 of wares, 69-72, 73, 74 vessels shapes according to period, 73, 76 to ware, tabulation, 62 Dull Buff Polychrome, 45-48, 50, 84 decoration, 45-48 distribution, vertical, 71, 72, 73, 74 paste, 45 INDEX Dull Buff Polychrome—Continued reminiscent of wares of Cholulteca I and early Aztec, 47 slip, 45 vessel shape, 62 Dunes, sand, 15, 16 Earplugs, jade, 13 Effigy vessels, 76 small, 61 “El Coyol’ region, 15 “Bl Rio” (the river), 1, 3 Excavations in 1941, see Trenches. Figurines, 7, 12, 18, 26, 63-66, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, 85 ” classification, 63 period referable to, 83, 84 stratigraphy, 73 types and subtypes, key to, 63-66 Fine-line Black-on-White ware, 54, 77 decoration, 54 paste, 54 slip, 54 trade ware, probably, 54 vessel form, 54 Fine Orange ware, 34, 59, 82, 86 relationship to Untempered ware, 34, 59 sherds, none found identifiable, 59 Firepit, circular, 25 Floors, architectural type most distinc- tive, 80 burned clay, 12 stucco, 9, 12, 19, 20, 21, 23, 80 Flutes, clay, with modeled ornament, 66-67, 76, 83, 84 Geography of site, 1-4 Hand-made appliqué figurines (type IV), 64-65, 75, 76, 78 punctate figurines (type I), 638, 73, 75, 76, 78 Head, figurine, life-sized, bearded, 12 Honduras, 59 Horizons, ceramic, two major, 71 See also Upper I, Upper II, Lower I, Lower II. Huasteca, 82 Idols, large free-molded (type X, Mon- umental ware), 66, 75, 76, 78 comparison with large figures from the Highland, 57 pedestal found, 12 period assigned to, 79 Ignacio de la Llave, 2 Incensarios, 7, 10, 26 fragments, 13, 21, 23 “frying-pan,” 61, 76 Incised Outline Red-on-Brown ware, temporal placing, 83 Instituto de Antropologia e Historia, 85 Intrusive pit, trench 15, 7 mentioned, 25 Isla de los Sacrificios, 54, 83, 84 Jade cache, spectacular, found in trench 34, 138-14, 79, 80 beads, 10, 13 burial associations, 7, 12 91 Jade cache, spectacular, found in trench 34—Continued color and quality variations indi- cate trade relations, 80 period allocated to, 79, 80 reference to, 11 Jars and vases, description of shapes, 60 Key to figurine types, 63-66 “ladles,” description of shape, 61 Large flat mold-made figurines (type III), 64, 78, 75, 76, 78 Laughing Face figurines (type VIII), 65, 75, 76, 78, 82, 84 subtype B (small variants), 65, 73, 75, 76 temporal relation to yokes and hachas, 80, 86 La Venta, 44 Linné, S., 57 Lower horizon (zone, period), 71, 77, 81, 82. See also Upper I, Upper II, Lower I, Lower II. Lower I (period), 71, 72, 73, 76, 81-82, 83 —Middle Tres Zapotes contempora- neity, 85 Lower II (period), 71, 72, 73, 76, 77, 79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86 comparative features, 83 jade most abundant in, apparently, 80 stone Lower (Tres Zapotes) period, reference to, 82 Manos, 5 . Masks and maskettes (figurines, type TEXS) 5) Gy WD, 00, Maya, 82 Mazapan horizon, mentioned, 57 Metates, 5 Mexican Highland, 50, 57, 59, 83, 84, 85, 86 Mexico-Puebla sequences, reference to, 87 . Mexico, Valley of, 88, 84 Mica, pieces of, 10 Middle Tres Zapotes, 82, 83 Mistequilla, 81, 85 Mixteca, 59, 85 Mixtee, late Valley of Mexico, 84 Modern ware, vertical distribution, 74 Mold-made appliqué figurines (type V), 65, 75, 76, 78 Mold-made open-backed figurines (type VI), 65, 75, 76, 78 Mold-made spindle whorls, 76 Monochrome ware, 45, 49, 59 Monte Alban, 84 Monte Alban I-II, 37 Monte Alban II, 84 Monte Albdnlike traits, reference to, 85 Monumental ware, 57, 79, 82 decoration, 57 distribution, vertical, 72-73, 74 form, 57 paste, 57 slip, 57 Monument Plaza, 12 92 Mound materials, burials, 8-9 relation to ceramic column, 77 type saved, 77 value of, 6 Museo Nacional de Mexico, 54 National Geographic Society—Smithso- nian Institution Expedition, 1 Negative Painted ware, 88, 81 distribution, vertical, 74 temporal placing, 83 vessel shape, 62 Noguera, Dr. H., 48, 82, 83 Nonceramie elements, 80 temporal significance, 80 Oaxaca, 59, 85 Obsidian, 5 Occupancy of Cerro de las Mesas, begin- ning of in relation to physical fea- tures, 4, 16 Occupational area trenches, 14-19 trench 2, test pit, 14, 15 trench 3, test pit, 18, 19 trench 4, test pit, 14 trench 5, test pit, 18-19 trench 10, test pit, 14, 15, 16 trench stratitest (incomplete), 14 trench stratitest, 14, 15, 16-17 trench 17, test pit, 14, 15 trench test pit, 14, 15 trench test pit, trench test pit, trench test pit, trench test pit, trench test pit, 14, 15, 16 trench test pit, 14, 16 trench 26, test pit, 14 trench test pit, 18, 19 trench test pit, 18, 19 Occupational zone (area, locality), 3, 8 Ollas, 58 covered with bowls, 23 description of shapes, 61 Plain ware, 17 Panama-shell ornaments, 13 Paso del Bote, 3 Paste, Black-and-White-on-Red ware, 50 Black-and-White ware, 44 Black-on-Red Incised ware, 51 Black ware, 39 Brown Polychrome ware, 49 Brown ware, 34-85 Coarse Red-rimmed bowls, 56 Comales, 56 Complicated Polychrome ware, 48 Dull Buff Polychrome ware, 45 Fine-line Black-on-White ware, 54 Monumental ware, 57 Plain ware, 58 Polished Brown ware, 37 Red-on-Brown ware, 38 Red ware, 37 Untempered ware, 27 White ware, 44 Payon, Sr., 85 (ftn.) Pellets, clay, 66, 67, 76, 83 Periods, see Ceramic periods. INDEX Petén, 85 Physiography of Occupational change in, significance, 15 “Pipe-lines,” 20, 26, 68, 76 Smal]l Mound Locality, 68 See also Cylinders (tubes), clay. Plain ware, 17, 58, 79 bottle, from purchase source, 81 form, ollas chiefly, 58 paste, 58 vessel shape, 62 Plumbate ware, 59, 81 whistling jar, 7, 59 similarity to one from Hon- duras, 59 2 Polished Brown ware, 36-87, 77, 79 distribution, vertical, 71, 72-78, 74 paste, 37 similarity to Polished Gray ware, 37 slip, 36 vessel shape, 62 Polished Gray ware, 37 ae ware, 26, 27, 47, 54, 59, 77, 79, 82 distribution, vertical, 71, 72-73, 74 miscellaneous elements, 54, 56 See also Brown Polychrome, Com- plicated Polychrome, Dull Buff Polychrome, Tan Polychrome. Potreros,” or “cienegas” (prevailing land form), 2, 3, 19 Potstands, 61 Pottery, see Wares. Puebla, 59, 85 Punctate hand-made subtype figurines, A, D, G, H, stratigraphy, 73, 75, 76 Purchase material, unplaced in ceramic column, 80-81 Ranchito locality, Tres Zapotes, “pipe- line” found, 68 Rancho de las Animas, 82, 84, 86 Red-and-White Bichrome, 44 distribution, vertical, 72, 74 Red-on-Brown Incised ware, distribu- tion, vertical, 72-73, 74 Red-on-Brown ware, 26, 38, 44, 45, 47, 58, 81 distribution, vertical, 70, 72-73, 74 paste, 388 slip, 38 subclasses, three, 38 Red-on-Cream ware, 44 Red-on-Orange Incised ware, 54 decoration, 54 distribution, vertical, 71, 72, 73, 74 paste, 54 Slip, 54 vessel shape, 54, 62 Red ware, 26, 37, 47, 81 decoration, 37 distribution, vertical, 70, 72-738, 74 paste, 37 slip, 37 vessel shape, 37, 62 Rims, 27, 47, 56, 57, 58, 77 area, INDEX Rings, double, clay, 69, 76 distribution, vertical, sharply. de- limited, 69 Rio Blanco, 1, 3 San Marcos mold-made figurines (type VII), 65, 75, 76, 78 Seals, clay, 66, 67 Shells, 8, 9, 18, 79 carved in form of face, 13 ceremonial use of, 8-9, 18 Sherds, 5 counts, 70 mound, type saved, 77 zoomorphie pottery figure, 10 Sieves, occurrence rare, probably impor- tations, 59 Site, Cerro de las Mesas, description of, 2-4 divisions, archeological, 2-3 geography of, 1-4 Skeletal remains, 4, 5, 7, 8, 72, 13, 17, 21, 28, 24, 25 Skulls, see Skeletal remains. Slip, Black-and-White-on-Red ware, 50 Black and White ware, 44 Black-on-Red Incised ware, 51 Black ware, 38 Brown Polychrome ware, 49 Brown ware, 34 Comales, 56 Complicated Polychrome ware, 48 Dull Buff Polychrome ware, 45 Fine-line Black-on-White ware, 54 Monumental ware, 57 Polished Brown ware, 36 Red-on-Brown ware, 38 Red ware, 37 Untempered ware, 27 White ware, 44 Small flat mold-made figurines (type II), 64, 78, 75, 76, 78 Small Mound Locality, 3, 10, 19, 26, 80 period of, indicated, 77 “pipe-line” in, 68 Small Mound Locality trenches, 19-26 trench 14 and 14—-A, structural sec- tion, 19-20 trench 19, structural section, 19, 21-23 trench 40, structural section, 19, 20, 23-24 trench 41, structural section, 19, 20-21 trench 42, stratitest, 19, 21, 24-26, 6 Soneautla complex at Tres Zapotes, 84 Southern-edge-of-site trenches (8 and 9) test pits, 26 Spaniards, 84 Spinden, E. S., 86 Spindle whorls, 66, 76 mpontes vessels, description of shapes, Stairs (stairway), 7, 11, 12, 18, 80 Stelae with 9th Cycle dates, reference ta SA 93 Stirling, M. W., 5, 10, 57, 77 jade cache, find of, reference to, 11 leader of National Geographic So- ciety —Smithsonian Institution Expedition to Cerro de las Mesas, in 1941, 1 Stone, monuments, 6, 7 objects found with jade cache, 14 yoke, reported find of, 26 yokes, hachas, and Laughing Face figurine variants, importance of occurrence in Lower II, 80, 86 Stratigraphy, 69-81 figurine distribution, 78, 75, 76 ware distribution, 69-78, 74 Strebel, H., 86 Structures, types, 80 Stucco, floor, 9, 12, 19, 20, 21, 238, 24 paint, 84 use, temporal significance of, 79, 80, 83 tueco Painted ware, 45, 62, 82 “Stueeo” or lime, made of calcined shells and sand, 7 Subtype A, Laughing Face figurines, large classic, 65 Subtype A, punctate hand-made fig- urines, 63, 73, 75, 76, 78 Subtype A (Rancho de las Animas type) hand-made appliqué figurines, 64 Subtype B, a variant of hand-made ap- pliqué figurines, 65 Subtype B of Laughing Face type fig- urines, 65, 73, 76, 78, 84 Subtype D, punctate hand-made fig- urines, 63, 72, 75, 76, 78, 82 Subtype G, punctate hand-made fig- urines, 63, 78, 75, 76, 78, 82 Subtype H, punctate hand-made fig- urines, 63, 73, 75, 76, 78, 82 Tan Polychrome ware, 54, 77, 83 similarity to specimens from Isla de los Sacrificios and from central Veracruz, 54 White-on-Cream ware, referred to as, 54 Tarascan, 59 ‘Teeth, decorated, in burials, 12, 18 shark, 13 Teotihuacdn, 58, 59, 82, 84 Teotihuacan I, 83 Teotihuacin II-III, 83 Teotihuacéin III, 85 Teotihuacin late II-early III, 838, 85 Thompson correlation, reference to, 85 Tlaloc, decoration on Monumental ware, 57 faces appliqué, 81 figurines, 8+ incensario, 7 Tlaxcala, 85 Totonae, 86 “Totonac” ware, 34 Trade pieces, 638, 83 relations indicated by color and quality’ variation of jade cache, 80 sometimes 94 INDEX Trenches, description, 5-26 depths, tabulations showing, 14, 18 series, two, in Occupational area, 14-18, 18-19 tabulation showing number, type, and locality, 6 Trenches: 1, test pit, Central Mound Group, 26 2, test pit, Occupational area, 14, 1 depth of deposit, 14 3, test pit, Occupational area, 18, 19 depth of deposit, 18 4, test pit, Occupational area, 14 burial found in, 17-18 5, test pit, Occupational area, 18-19 depth of deposit, 18 6, structural section, Western Mound Group, 26 7, structural section, Central Mound Group, 6-7 8, test pit, southern edge of site, 26 9, test pit, southern edge of site, 26 10, test pit, Occupational area, 14 depth of deposit, 14, 15, 16 11, stratitest (incomplete), Occupa- tional area, 14 12, structural section, Mound Group, 7 13, stratitest, Occupational area, 14, 15, 16-17, 71 burials found in, 17-18 depth of deposit, 14 figurines, vertical distribution, 73, 76 wares, vertical distribution, 72- 73, 74 14 and 14-A, structural sections, Small Mound Group, 19-20 15, structural section, Central Mound Group, 7 16, structural section, Central Mound Group, 8 17, test pit, Occupational area, 14 depth of deposit, 14 18, test pit, Occupational area, 14 depth of deposit, 14 19, structural section, Small Mound Group, 19, 21-23 20, test pit, Occupational area, 14 depth of deposit, 14 21, test pit, Occupational area, 14 depth of deposit, 14 22, test pit, Occupational area, 14 burial found in, 17-18 depth of deposit, 14 23, test pit, Occupational area, 14 burial found in, 17-18 depth of deposit, 14 Central 24, test pit, Occupational area, 14,| Upper II (hypothetical period), 71, 73, 15, 16 depth of deposit, 14 25, test pit, Occupational area, 14, 16 burial found in, 17-18 depth of deposit, 14 26, test pit, Occupational area, 14 depth of deposit, 14 Trenches—Continued 27, test pit, Occupational area, 18, 19 depth of deposit, 18 28, test pit, Occupational area, 18-19 depth of deposit, 18 30, structural section, Mound Group, 8 burial associations, 8-9, 77, 79, Central jade, small quantity found, 80 period indicated, 77 31, structural section, Central Mound Group, 9-10 32, structural section, Central Mound Group, 10-11 burials, 10-11 33, structural section, Central Mound Group, 11 34, structural section, Central Mound Group, 11-14 cache material, 12-13, 77, 79 indicative of period, 79, 80 jade, spectacular, 13-14, 80 40, structural section, Small Mound Group, 19, 20, 23-24 41, structural section, Small Mound Group, 19, 20-21 42, stratitest, Small Mound Group, 19, 21, 24-26, 76 distribution, vertical, of figu- rines, 73, 75 of flute with molded orna- ment, 75 of painted clay pellets, 75 wares, 70, 71, 72-73 48, a discovery pit made by local people, containing “pipe-line” and figurines, 26 Tres Zapotes, 58 Tres Zapotes Polychrome, 82 relationship, suggested, to Untem- pered ware, 34 Tres Zapotes subtype A figurines, 82 subtype D figurines, 82 Tubes, clay, see Cylinders, clay. Types of figurines, sequences of, 63-66 Unslipped ware, coarse, 20 Untempered ware, 27, 34, 45, 59, 82 decoration, 34 distribution, vertical, 71, 72, 73, 74 paste, 27 relationships, suggested, 34, 86-87 slip, 27 Veracruz region, wide distribution in, belief, 34 vessel shape, 62 Upper I (period), 71, 72, 78, 76, 77, 79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 85 relation to Cholulteca I, 84 76, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82-838, 84 terminal date in relation to Con- quest times, 84 Upper horizon (zone, period), 71, 77, 80, 81, 85 See also Upper I, Upper II, Lower I, Lower II. INDEX Upper Tres Zapotes, 82, 83, 84 Valley of Mexico, see Mexico, Valley of. Vases and jars, description of shapes, 60 Veracruz, 84, 85, 86 central, 54, 59, 82, 86, 87 northern, 82, 86, 87 southern, 59, 87 Vessel shapes, 27, 59-62, 82, 84 and features, allocation of accord- ing to period, 73, 76 description of, 60-61 distribution of, tabulation showing, Vessels, with contents, 12 spouted, description of, 60 Vessels with Vertical Modeled Lugs, 58, 76, 83 resemblance to Teotihuacin and Tres Zapotes forms, 58 Wares, Cerro de las Mesas: Bichrome, miscellaneous, 44 Red-and-White, 44 Red-on-Cream, 44 White-and-Brown, 44 Black, 27, 38-39, 45, 77, 81, 86, 72-73, 74 Black-and-White, 27, 44, 72-73, 74, 86 Black-and-White-on-Red, 50, 51, 71, 72-13, 74, 83 Black-on-Red Incised, 51, 54, 71, 72- 73, 74, 83, 84 Black-on-Red variant, 50 Brown, 26, 27, 34-86, 38, 39, 45, 48, 49, 56, 59, 70, 72-73, 74, 79, 81, 86 Brown Polychrome, 48—560, 54, 71, 72. 73, 74, 76 Carved, 58 classification of, 26-27 Coarse Red-rimmed bowls, 56, 71. 72-78, 74 Comales, 56-57, 61, 71, 72-78, 74 Complicated Polychrome, 48, 54, 71, (PA TBH ER PA! distribution, vertical, 71, 72-73, 74 Dull Buff Polychrome, 45-48, 50, 71. 72, 73, 74, 84 C 95 Wares, Cerro de las Mesas—Continued .Fine-line Black-on-White, 54, 77 Fine Orange, 34, 59, 82, 86 Monumental, 57, 79, 72-78, 74, 79, 82 Negative Painted, 38, 81 occurrence in Mound Groups, 77, 78 Plain, 17, 58, 79, 81 Plumbate, 7, 59, 81 Polished Brown, 36-87, 71, 72-73, 74, 47, 79 Polychrome elements, ous, 54, 56 Red, 26, 37, 47, 70, 72-73, 74, 81 Red-on-Brown, 26, 38, 44, 45, 47, 70, 72-78, 74, 81 Red-on-Brown Ineised, 72-73, 74 Red-on-Orange Incised, 54, 71, 72, 73, 74 Sieves, 59 Stucco Painted, 45, 62, 82 Untempered, 27, 34, 45, 59, 71, 72, 73, 74, 82, 86 Tan Polychrome, 54, 77, 83 Vessel shapes, 59-62 Vessels with Vertical Modeled Lugs, 58, 76, 88 White, 38, 44, 71, 72-73, 74, 77, 81, 82 Western Mound Group, trench 6, struc- tural section, 26 Whistling jar, Plumbate ware, 7, 59 White-and-Brown Bichrome ware, 44 White-on-Cream ware, see Tan Poly- chrome ware. White-slipped sherds of more than life- sized figures, 13 White ware, 44, 77, 81, 82 decoration, 44 distribution, vertical, 71, 72-73, 74 paste, 44 sherd (White-slipped), 38 slip, 44 vessel shape, 44, 62 Zapotecan tombs, occurrence of “pipe- lines” in connection with, mentioned, 68-69 miscellane- BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 1 CERRO DE LAS MESAS POLYCHROME WARES. DULL BUFF POLYCHROME, BROWN POLYCHROME, BLACK-AND-WHITE-ON-RED, AND COMPLICATED POLYCHROME. “YOIMSLNI] IMOG ‘SHYOINS LX YVF2SGYAHS ANOYHSOA 10d GALVOITIdWOD @3ivid lvl NILSTINGA ADOTNIONHL]A NVOIMAWY AO Nvaena BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 BROWN POLYCHROME BOWL SHERDS. PLATE 3 : BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY ‘ BULLETIN 141 PLATE 4 “=~ EE’ ec yi TRADE WARES. a, b, White-on-Cream ware; c-f, Fine-line Black-on-White. (Photographed from water-co!cr paintings of sherds.) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 5 TRADE WARES. a, b, c, Cerro Montoso (Totonac): a, Brown (misfired Black?)-on-Cinnamon-Buff; lass Black-White-and-Orange-on-Buff. d, Mixteca Polychrome; Red-White-Black-and- Gray-on-Orange. (Photographed from water-color paintings.) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 6 ee — ZS ate ee Le : # Be, € Soe Pe TRENCH 30. OBJECTS ASSOCIATED WITH BURIAL II-18. a, Pottery vessels; b, yoke and figurines to north of vessels. Arrow in a shows location (in the bank) of yoke and figurines. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY b, Buried stairway, trench 33. TRENCHES 31 AND 33 BULLETIN 141 PEATEs? BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY : BULLETIN 141 PLATE 8 MONUMENTAL WARE FROM TRENCHES 7 AND 34. a, b, d, Trench 7. c, e, f, Trench 34, showing different views of single lot of fragments c, pedestal and various fragments; e, head found inside pedestal; f, covering of fragments of arms and legs. : BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE VIEWS OF JADE CACHE, TRENCH 34 “ST yous “aid aatsniqut ul Jassaa alequintd “p SWF] Youey ‘suy-edid yo syuvuural ‘9 $£¢] Yous. “q SpE Your ‘ayovo ape! Jo Mat, “PV Gl ONV ‘V-Vl ‘€1l ‘Ve SAHONAYL Ol 31vV1d lvl NILS71NaG ADSDOINONHLA NVODIMAWY AO NVaHNa BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 11 oR 7 » ’ TRENCH 40. a and b, Ollas containing skulls; 6 shows relation to stucco layers. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 12 ¥ TRENCH 42. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BURIALS I-1 TO I-6 (a-f). BULLETIN 141 PLATE 13 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 14 ea BURIALS I-7 TO I-10 (a-d); BURIAL I-14 (e); BURIAL I-16 (f). BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 15 INCHES BROWN WARE VESSELS. a, From trench 34; b, d, e, f, from burial II-3; c, from burial I-5; g, from trench 30; h, from burial II-20. (Scale of h slightly smaller than remainder.) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY =A BULLETIN 141 PLATE 16 © BROWN WARE VESSELS. a, From trench 34; b, from trench 34 (contained collection of shells ete.); c, d, from burial I-18; ¢, a unique form; f, from trench 34 (contained collection of shells etc.); g, from trench 13, at 60 to 72-inch level. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 17 } IS : ONE (NCH BROWN WARE OLLAS. a-f, From trench 10; g, from burial I—3; c-e, fragrnents with impressed miniature footprints; f, appliqué modeled ornament on olla-body sherd. (Upper scale applies to a; middle scale to c, d, e, and f; lower scale to g.) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY Cc POLISHED BROWN WARE. a, From trench 10; 6, c, from burial I-19; d, from trench 34. of body: 6, 7% inches; c, 834 inches; d, BULLETIN 141 PLATE 13 (Scales of figures vary. 3% inches.) Height BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 19 INCHES } BLACK WARE VESSELS. e, Scraped (“raspada’’) decoration; f, post-firing incised; )-f, miniature forms; a, from burial I-20; b, c, from burial I-5; d-f, from trench 30. (Upper scale applies to a; lower scale to b-f.) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 20 Cc BLACK WARE VESSELS. a, b, from burial I-18; c, White-rimmed Black ware bowl from trench 34. (Scale applies to a and_b.) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 21 INCHES STUCCO PAINTED WARE FROM BURIAL II-18. The potstand a is to slightly larger scale than rest; actually it and b are very nearly of a size. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 22 MISCELLANEOUS WARES. a-d, Red-on-Brown; e,.f, White; h, Negative Painted (Red-on-Brown). a, d, From burial I-18; b, c, h, from trench 34; e-g, from burial I-3. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLUMBATE INCHES WHISTLING JAR FROM TRENCH 15. PLATE 23 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 24 INCHES BOTTLES IN FORM OF TLALOCS. PURCHASE COLLECTION, BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 25 INCHES PLAIN WARE OLLAS AND JARS. a, From trench 13; b, from trench 34 (see pl. 16); c, from trench 30 (‘‘burial’’ II-18); d, from trench 32; e, contents of 5; f, partial contents of several Plain ware jars from trench 34 (note parrot beak, skulls in upper left corner). (Upper scale applies to a—d; middle scale to lower right group of specimens (f); lower scale to lower left group of specimens (e). BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 26 INCHES fe) f z INCHES h gy WARES AND FIGURINE MOLDS. a, b, Red ware from trench 34; c, Coarse Red-rimmed bowl from trench 19; d, Red-on- Orange Incised bowl fragment, with unique design, from trench 10; e-y, figurine molds, purchase collection. (Upper scale applies to d; lower scale to a, b, c, e-j.) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 27 2 HAND-MADE PUNCTATE FIGURINES (TYPE 1). aj, lype I-A; k-/, type I-D; m-t, type I-G; u=cc, type I-H. (Scale varies.) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 28 MISCELLANEOUS TYPE I FIGURINES. Variants, animal forms, etc. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 29 oO / 2 | SS Basal | INCHES TYPE II-A FIGURINE HEADS. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 30 INCHES INCHES TYPE II FIGURINES WITH FLAT BODIES. (Upper scale applies to upper six figurines; lower scale to lower three figurines.) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 INCHES TYPE II-A FIGURINES WITH FLAT BODIES. PLATE 31 a ee te BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 32 TYPE II FIGURINES WITH HOLLOW BODIES. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 33 INCHES TYPE II-B FIGURINES REPRESENTING DEAD PERSONS OR XIPE. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 34 TYPE II FIGURINES, REPRESENTING TLALOCS AND DEATH'S HEADS. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PEATE 35 TYPE 11 FIGURINES Variant Headdresses; Monkeys. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 36 INCHES TYPE II FIGURINES, REPRESENTING ANIMALS BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 37 INCHES VARIANT TYPE II FIGURINES. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 38 INCHES MISCELLANEOUS TYPE II FIGURINES. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY ° i ; INCHES INCHES Wyse i FIGURINES BULLETIN 141 PLATE 39 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 40 ~~ - LL FIGURINE TYPES. a-i, Type IV—A; j-m, type IV-B; n, 0, tvpe V._ a, b, e, h, n, 0, from trench 10; remainder, purchase collection. (Scale applies to a-1.) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 413 INCHES FIGURINE TYPES. a-c, Type VI; d-h, type VII (San Marcos). b, d, g, purchase collection; remainder, from trench 10. (Scale applies to d-h.) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 42 ee ! 2 PS eee | INCHES 477 FIGURINE TYPES. a,b, Type VIII-A; c—m, type VIII-B. a, b, Purchase specimens from nearby Cerro del Gallo. (Upper scale applies to a and 5; lower scale to c—m). BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 43 ae ane TYPE IX FIGURINES. Masks and maskettes. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY . BULLETIN 141 PLATE 44 SMALL STONE OBJECTS FROM CERRO DE LAS MESAS. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 45 Cc INCHES d MONUMENTAL WARE: IDOLS. a-c, From purchase collection; d, from trench 15; ¢, from trench 34. (a, 1014 inches high; scale applies to b, b’, c, and d.) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 46 > MONUMENTAL WARE: HEADS OF MEDIUM SIZE. a, From trench 10; b, c, purchase collection. c is equipped with a hollow tenon, presum- ably for use as an architectural ornament. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 47 °. / 2 Le INCHES MONUMENTAL WARE: IDOLS. a, b, c, From trench 34; d, from trench 31. (Upper scale applies to a, b, c; lower scale to d.) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 48 / MONUMENTAL WARE: FRAGMENTS OF IDOLS. g, From trench 10; h-j, from trench 34; /, from trench 12; remainder, from purchase collection. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 49 INCHES U FIGURINE TYPES. a-h, Imported and aberrant types (a, b, Aztec; c, d, Teotihuacan IV). i-x. Figurine sample from trench 34. (Scale applies to ah.) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 50 INCHES REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLES OF FIGURINES. a, From trench 30; b, from trench 33. (Scale applies to lower two rows of figurines (b).> BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 51 INCHES b REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLES CF FIGURINES. a, From trench 31; b, from trench 15. (Upper scale applies to upper two rows of figurines (a); lower scale to two lower rows of figurines (4).) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 52 INCHES REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLES OF FIGURINES FROM TRENCH 32. (Scale applies to upper nine figurines.) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 53 INCHES ad INCHES 2 a q. MISCELLANEOUS UPPER PHASE FEATURES. a, b, Handles with zoomorphic ornament; c-/, various types of supports; m-—g, bases with molded ornament (Brown Polychrome bowls). (Upper scale applies to a—/; lower scale to m—g.) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 54 STRATIGRAPHIC MATERIAL FROM TRENCH 42. Only the more complete and readily identifiable pieces are shown here. a, c, f, Type II; b, e, type III; d, type IX; g, type VII-B; h, type IV—A or V; ee 0-q, 5, type I-A (variants; 7 and gq approach Tres Zapotes I-F, a pediked pate pe IX; 7, typel-D. a,b, 24- to 56 aneli level; c-f, 36 to 48; g, 60 to 72; h, 84 to 96; 108. to 120: j, 132 to 134; ne n, 144 to 156; o-p, 156 to 168; qs, 168 to 180. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 55 id f ar a eee LE a ‘ ria = ‘ = re pe eS OQ” Bas rh [20-202 24"— 36" STRATIGRAPHIC MATERIAL FROM TRENCH 13. 0- to 12-inch level: (Upper row) flat seal, fragment type III figurines, clay pellet; (lower row) fragments type II figurines, fragment type VI figurine, type IV—A. 12- to 24-inch level: Leg of small type X figurine; (upper row) type VI figurine, unidentified, type IV or V; (middle row) unidentified, arm of type IV; (lower row) type VI, type IX, type I-G. 24- to 36-inch level: Vertical modeled lug; (upper row) arm and leg type IV, unidentified fragments, mold-made spindle whorls; (lower row) unique mold-made vessel support. type I-G. type VII. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 56 ee. <== 1 60”—72” STRATIGRAPHIC MATERIAL FROM TRENCH 13. 36- to 48-inch level: (Upper row) mold-made spindle whorl, aberrant snake head, type I-X, type I-G, aberrant type; (center) type VII; (lower row) unique modeled face on olla neck suggests type I; hand possibly type X; type I-6. 48- to 60-inch level: Type IV—A, type IV or V, unidentified, type I variant. 60- to 72-inch level: (Upper row) type IV—A, type I-A variant, type I-X, double ring; (lower row) type I-G, type I-H, type IV—A body, ‘hollow slab leg. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 57 : a | 72'— 84" 84" — 96". STRATIGRAPHIC MATERIAL FROM TRENCH 13. 72- to 84-inch level: (Upper row) double whistle, ocarina (unique in collections from site), type VII; (center) aberrant; (lower row) type I-H, type I aberrant, type I-H, type IV-A variant. 84- to 96-inch level: (Upper row) type I-G, type I-G, type I-X, type I indeterminate; (lower row) type IX (frog bowl), type I indeterminate. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 141 PLATE 58 a op ~~