With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Bove and his colleagues will conduct archaeological survey and excavation in the Pacific coast region of Guatemala. Preliminary work has indicated the presence of a major site, Texas-Los Chatos (TLC) which consists of six large platforms including a major platform- pyramid construction. Surrounding this central core in all directions are large numbers of smaller platforms and mounds of various sizes. Within a 5 km. radius of this complex are five subordinate sites. These data indicate that the development of cultural complexity, possible at a state level of organization, occurred not only in Southern Mexico and Belize, the heart of the Mayan lowlands, but extended into other regions as well. The goal of this project is to reconstruct the cultural sequence at TLC and to set it into a broader regional context. To accomplish this, Dr. Bove and his colleagues will conduct a complete survey of the area. They will accompany this with excavation in selected locations. Lithics and ceramics will be analyzed. Chemical characterization of latter will permit identification of non-local materials and hopefully allow reconstruction of broader trade networks. Archaeologists have focussed considerable attention on the prehistoric Maya and related groups which inhabited lowland Middle America. In a difficult environment which today supports only low population densities, these prehistoric societies developed a civilization characterized by hierarchical organization of large numbers of people, a complex calendric system and the construction of large monuments. Scientists wish to understand the processes which lead to the rise and later decline of this society. While much is now known about the "heartland" areas, other regions such as coastal Guatemala have received relatively little consideration. This project will help to remedy this deficit. This research is important for several reasons. It will produce data of interest to many archaeologists. It will increase our understanding of Middle American prehistory and shed new insight into the rise of complex societies.
