In ca. AD 600, a catastrophic eruption by the Laguna Caldera volcano in El Salvador completely buried a Mayan homestead and the fields which surrounded it. Preliminary excavations at this site of Ceren in 1978 indicated that the volcanic ash packed around and thoroughly preserved structures, wooden artifacts, trees, corn plants, a field with footprints, and human bodies. Subsequent geophysical prospection in 1979 confirmed the existence of intact houses which remain buried under five meters of ash. NSF funded research in 1989 and 1990 revealed extremely well preserved remains. Dr. Sheets and his colleagues will return to this site and continue their extensive excavation which will focus on a single structure and surrounding environment. Floral and faunal materials will be recovered and analyzed to reconstruct household subsistence, and expected skeletal materials will provide insight into family composition. Field excavation will allow reconstruction of agricultural techniques. Ceren is unique, even in comparison to Old World sites such as Pompeii, because the volcanic ash matrix is so fine that it preserves organic materials down to the cellular level. This virtually complete material culture record will allow for a detailed reconstruction of functioning households and important insights to human behavior, demography, nutrition, agriculture, and economics. Anthropologists have come to realize that in many societies the "household" - a group of individuals who live together in one place and closely cooperate on a daily basis- form an essential unit. However, archaeologically households are usually difficult to isolate and study. At Ceren it appears that just such a unit exists. This research is important because it will shed a new and important light on the development of complex Mayan society and help us to understand how complexity develops and is maintained.
