The first season of fieldwork, carried out in the first months of 2002, had as a primary goal the making of a detailed topographic map of the site and the systematic collection of archaeological materials present on the surface.
Controlled surface collections have allowed for a fine-grained look at the spatial and temporal extent of the site’s occupation, complementing and refining the data collected through the regional survey and through Laura Finsten’s intensive surface collections of selected terraces (Blanton et al. 1982; Kowalewski et al. 1989; Finsten 1995). Similarly, mapping of the site at 1 meter contour intervals at a 1:1000 scale has refined the site map elaborated by Finsten and the regional survey crew (see Blanton et al. 1982: Figs. A.XI.15-24). The mapping of the site has been carried out with compass and measuring tape, and the extent of occupation has been determined by recording the scatter of surface material. Any visible architectural remains (mounded architecture, house foundations, terraces, etc.), has been recorded.
The resulting map is presented at a much reduced scale in Figure 3.2.
As already recorded during the earlier surveys, most of the mounds present at the site are located on or near the base of the central Danilin hill, and are divided into three discrete clusters on the south, west, and north slopes. Such an arrangement suggests a division of the settlement into distinct neighbourhoods (Finsten 1995; Kowalewski et al.
1989: 239). The probable civic-ceremonial centre of the site is located on the hill ridge itself (Figure 3.3). The latter is characterized by two peaks which were artificially modified into platforms, while the saddle of the ridge between the two was widened into a plaza. Mounds were erected on both platforms, on the northernmost of the two a four-mound group enclosing a small plaza, and a single mound on the southern platform’s eastern side. As Finsten has noted (1995:19), such an arrangement strongly resembles a “miniature version” of the Main Plaza at the capital Monte Albán. Highly restricted access characterizes this sector of the site, as steep sides impede the eastern, southern, and western approaches to the saddle, while a series of terraces along the descending northern ridge would have effectively controlled the traffic flow from the north. Terraces surround both platforms, possibly housing, as it has been suggested (Finsten 1995:19-20), the residential quarters of the highest ranking individuals at the site.
The controlled surface collections have been carried out systematically over the entire site in roughly evenly spaced 100m2 collection squares. The spacing of the collection squares has not followed an entirely random pattern, since a particular effort has been made in attempting to collect materials from mounded areas, specific residential terraces and areas with possible evidence for craft specialization. The material collected from a total of 59 collection squares includes all diagnostic ceramic sherds, worked and chipped stone, bone, shell, figurine fragments, and other cultural
material. Preliminary analysis of the collected material largely supports the regional survey’s findings concerning the site, particularly in confirming the attribution to period IIIa of the majority of the terraces and mounds. The analysis of the collected surface material indicates only a minimal and spatially limited presence of ceramics of the preceding period Monte Albán II. The presence on the surface of Late Postclassic material (Monte Albán V) is more widespread but similarly light, and probably reflects an opportunistic Postclassic reuse of Early Classic mounds and terraces.
During her intensive surface collecting of several terrace groups of the Early Classic Jalieza site in 1988, Laura Finsten found the site to be in a relatively bad state of preservation (Finsten 1995). In particular, she noted that erosion was severely affecting the site, as indicated by the fact that several terraces that had been clearly visible in 1978 (Blanton et al. 1982; Kowalewski et al. 1989) had been severely damaged to the point that they were no longer identifiable as such in 1988 (Finsten 1995: 15, 17). The mapping season of the present Jalieza project largely confirmed this impression, and although the agricultural use of the site and its terraces which has characterized much of the 20th century (and was still witnessed by Finsten in 1988) has almost entirely ceased, erosion stil continues to affect much of the area. Particularly affected are the terraces which cover the Danilin hill. As an indication of the severity of the erosional damage, it is sufficient to note that during the most recent mapping of the site in 2002, only 335 of the 698 artificial terraces encountered in 1977 (Finsten 1995:3) were still recognizable as such. Intense farming continues on the lower alluvial parts of the site, and some mounds have been destroyed over the past decades because of the widespread adoption of mechanized plowing.
Seasons 2 and 3 - Excavations
Following the analysis of the surface collections, a program of broad horizontal and stratigraphic excavations was initiated in the Fall of 2002. Based on data from the site’s intensive survey, areas likely to yield information pertaining to the project’s research questions were identified and selected for excavation. Given the research objectives, it was decided to initially focus primarily on probable civic-ceremonial and elite-residential areas (Figure 3.4).
Specifically, the excavations have focused on the central civic-ceremonial area of the site located on the top of the Danilin hill (Area B), as well as on one of the site’s three mound cluster, a possible barrio of the site, located on the southern low piedmont of the same hill (Area A). One reason to concentrate on these particular areas is that excavations in other sites in the Valley of Oaxaca have mainly focused on equivalent contexts, and data such as complete floor-plans from analogous Early Classic contexts in Jalieza would result in an important body of comparative data. For example, recent excavations carried out in the nearby Middle, Late, and Terminal Formative centers of San Martín Tilcajete have largely focused on elite and civic-ceremonial structures as well (Spencer 1999; Spencer and Redmond 2001, 2003, 2004; Elson 2003a, 2003b). Given the proximity of the San Martín sites, and the fact that IIIa Jalieza is their successor as sub-regional center for the area, Jalieza data for such contexts would allow for a nearly 1000 year-long uninterrupted local sequence of comparable architectural data.
Excavation in the selected areas have been carried out within the grid system established during the mapping of the site, and all excavation units, features, structures, etc. have been described and drawn following their grid coordinates and elevations. Drawings at a 1:20 scale of architectural plans, stratigraphic profiles, features, etc., the taking of color, black/white and digital photographs, as well as extensive note-taking characterized all phases of the excavations. Excavated deposits have been screened using a 5mm mesh, and all ceramics, lithics, shell, faunal remains,
etc. have been collected for analysis. Pollen, flotation, and radiocarbon (C-14) samples have similarly been collected from a variety of contexts for later analysis.
AREA A
Area A is situated at the southern base of the hill known locally as Danilin, or “Hill of the Chile Pepper”, on a long piedmont spur extending south into the alluvium (Figure 3.5). In general, this area of the site is characterized by a number of small mounds, averaging 2-3 meters in height, and is one out of three such clusters of mounds that have been suggested by Finsten to be a possible indication of a three-partite division of the site in barrios. The exacavations in this area have been carried out on two distinct nearby mounds (mounds M-26 and M-27), with a height of respectively approximately 3m and 2m above the level of the surrounding field. These two mounds are among the nearest to the modern-day town of Santo Tomás Jalieza, and although the area has been heavily plowed during the last decades, it was possible to identify a number of structures and associated features.
Area A-1 (Structures 1 and 2)
In Area A-1 (mound M-26) excavations uncovered the remains of two structures, Structure 1 and 2. In the course of the excavations, Mound M-26 was found to have been built entirely with layers of adobes alternated with sections characterized by adobe retaining walls and earthen fill. In exploratory test pits, no earlier structural remains were found, likely indicating that the mound was constructed in one single construction episode to support Structure 1.
Structure 1was characterized by adobe walls and the remains of two stone rubble column bases on its south side. The overall preservation of the structure had been severely affected in recent years due to agricultural activity, including mechanized plowing, resulting in the destruction of the structure’s plaster floors. Tractor tire impressions were indeed observed on several of the adobe surfaces of the structure, particulary on its eastern side (Figure 3.6). In spite of this severe destruction, an almost complete plan of the structure was obtained (Figure 3.7). Structure 1 was characterized by two rectangular rooms measuring approximately 5m by 2 m (room 1) and 5m by 3m (room 2) respectively, and was found to have an orientation of about 20 degrees east of magnetic north. Room 2 appears to have been an inside room of the structure, probably accessible only through room 1, the latter being placed at c.25-30cm below room 2. The structure was entered through the south side of room 1, through a wide entrance flanked by two large rectangular rubble column bases. Room 1 was surrounded on all four sides by an outer adobe brick surface. A wide adobe brick staircase led to the base of the mound on the south side of structure 1. Traces of plaster have been detected on the staircase, suggesting that at least some adobe brick surfaces had been covered with a layer of stucco.
The material associated with structure 1 is not indicative of a residential function, and given its plan and the strong similarities with ceremonial structures excavated elsewhere in the Valley of Oaxaca, I interpret Structure 1 as the remains of a typical Zapotec two-room temple. Large sections of the internal subfloor fill of structure 1 were excavated, and the recovered diagnostic ceramic material indicates a clear Monte Albán IIIa date for the temple (Table 3.1). A radiocarbon date associated with the structure’s internal subloor fill (Beta-195087) was 2-sigma calibrated to AD330-580, with a conventional date of AD340 ±60.
A second structure identified in the excavation of mound M-26, Structure 2, was a simple, badly preserved rectangular structure approximately measuring 2m by 5m, encountered within the upper plowzone level on the northern section of the mound and characterized by fragmentary rubble walls. Stratigraphically later than Structure 1, it is possible that Structure 2 indicates the remains of an opportunistic reoccupation of the mound sometime after the abandonment of structure 1.
Area A-2 (Structure 3)
Mound M-27 (area A-2), located immediately to the south of mound M-26, has similarly been subjected to plowing in recent decades. Nonetheless, exacavations there successfully recovered an almost complete floor-plan of a probable elite residence, Structure 3 (Figure 3.8). The structure is formed by a central plastered patio, measuring c.7m per side, with rooms surrounding it on all sides. The overall dimension of the structure are c.15m by 15 m, giving a total approximate enclosed area of 225m2, with an orientation of c.20 degrees east of magnetic north. Because of the already-mentioned farming activity and subsequent erosion, none of the surface floors of the rooms were preserved, and only the underlying adobes surfaces are visible (and marked all over by modern plough marks). Only the central patio floor, placed at about 25cm below the rooms’ surface, was preserved, although not completely (Figure 3.9). Still, the relatively good preservation of the structure’s outer walls and patio resulted in an almost complete floor-plan, although deailed information on room sizes and layout is missing. The general layout and characteristics of the structure suggest an elite-residential function, an interpretation also supported by the domestic-type artifacts and material associated with the structure. The excavation of a series of test pits within the structure revealed that the platform mound underneath entirely consists of layers of solid adobe bricks, and that the mound was likely built in one single construction phase.
The structure itself presents evidence of at least one limited remodelling episode, during which the structure’s rooms were extended onto the patio, slightly reducing the latter’s area. Subfloor diagnostic ceramics strongly suggest a probable late Monte Albán IIIa date for the construction of the mound and structure (Table 3.1), an interpretation confirmed by radiocarbon sample Beta-195089. Taken from within layers of adobe mound construction in one of the subfloor test pits, the radiocarbon sample produced a 2-sigma calibrated date of AD460-480 and AD520-650, with a conventional date of AD460±40.
A total of six burials were encountered during the excavation of Structure 3. Three of these (Burials 1, 2, and 3) were stratigraphically directly associated with the structure and are likely to have been placed under the floors of its northern (Burials 1 and 3) and eastern (Burial 2) rooms while the structure was in use. Burials 1 and 3 were accompanied by a small number of projectile points and a single G.9-type hemispherical bowl, a good Early Classic diagnostic (Caso et al.1967:80). Burial 2, a secondary partial burial, was accompanied by a small number of red-painted shell beads. Burials 4 and 5 were encountered in an intrusive pit inside Structure 3’s central patio, and possibly were placed there at or shortly after abandonment of the structure, given that the six ceramic vessels accompanying them are likely Early Classic in date. Burial 6 was found in the southeastern section of the structure, and the stratigraphy and its different orientation indicate a similarly intrusive character. Although only the lowest courses of its masonry construction were preserved, Burial 6 is likely to have been a tomb and presents striking similarities with three recently published examples from the southern Valle Grande (Herrera and Winter 2003). Like the latter examples, the tomb is clearly Late Postclassic (Monte Albán V) in date, and the three individuals it contained were accompanied by twenty
period V ceramic vessels. Probably a subfloor tomb of a long-destroyed, stratigraphically higher structure, its presence is perhaps not surprising given the surface evidence for a limited and scattered period V occupation of the site and the vicinity of the area to the substantial period V component of the Jalieza site (Kowalewski et al. 1989: Chapter X).
AREA B
The Area B excavations have been carried out on the southern sector of the top of the Danilin hill, at the likely civic-ceremonial center of the site (Figure 3.10). The areas explored in the course of these excavations include the top surface of the plaza’s south platform (Area B-1), the terraces immediately below the latter to the south (Area B-2), and the plaza itself (Area B-3).
Area B-1
Preservation in this area was affected by erosion and looting, the small mound (M-1) on the eastern edge of the platform itself having been severely affected by a large looters’ pit in its middle. Excavations in this area were concentrated on the flat platform surface at the base of the small mound itself, with the goal of determining whether the construction of the civic-ceremonial platform and plaza could be confirmed to date to period IIIa (Figure 3.11). While no structural remains of any kind have been encountered, it was determined that the platform was accessible from the site’s plaza via a broad stone staircase. A much narrower staircase connected the top of the platform with Structure 4 on the lower terraces on its south side (Area B-2, see below). Furthermore, it was determined that the entire top area of the platform, including the mound itself, had once been covered by a white plaster surface.
During the excavation of Area B-1, a number of interred vessels have been encountered in front of mound M-1, all of types characteristic of later periods (period IIIb-IV G.35s, and period V G.3Ms), and likely indicative of post-abandonment ritual activities. At the front of the mound, a fragmentary burial (Burial 7) was excavated in an intrusive pit, which was accompanied by a small number of G.35 vessels likely dating to period Monte Albán IIIb-IV.
Area B-2 (Structure 4)
Area B-2, is characterized by two adjoining terraces closely associated with the civic-ceremonial center’s south platform (Area B-1, see Figure 3.10). Excavations were started on the westernmost of the two terraces, and were later extended to the eastern one, which sits about 2m above the surface level of the first terrace. The excavations uncovered the remains of a large building, Structure 4, characterized by plaster floors and adobe and stone walls. Large sections of the structure, particularly where deposition was deepest, were in an excellent state of preservation, making it possible to record an almost complete floor plan (Figure 3.12).
In its entirety, the structure was composed by a minimum of fourteen plaster-surfaced rooms placed around three distinct, plastered patios. As will be discussed later, the structure was constructed over a period of time, and the patio units appear to have been added in stages in a modular fashion. Patio 1, the westernmost and lowest in elevation,
was characterized by red-painted plaster and measures approximately 3.5m per side with a banqueta on all four sides ca.0.5m in width (Figure 3.13). Together with the surrounding rooms, the overall measures of the final Patio 1 unit are ca.13m by 13m. A likely indirect entrance on the western side of the structure gave access to Patio 1 from the outer terrace area. A burial (Burial 8) of a juvenile was found underneath the room to the north of Patio 1, accompanied by one large ceramic sherd and one whole vessel, the latter an Early Classic gris cylindrical vessel with hollow supports.
A further possible burial (Burial 9), consisting of a partial skeleton associated with post-abandonment above-floor rubble, was found in the south eastern section of the Patio 1 unit. Access to the upper section of Structure 4, on the upper eastern terrace, was from within the room immediately to the east of Patio 1, where a staircase directly connected the Patio 1 area with an internal L-shaped corridor, which in turn indirectly led to the Patio 2 area.
Patio 2, the smallest of the three patios characterizing the structure, measures ca.1.8m per side, and is characterized by the best-quality masonry construction of the entire structure (Figure 3.14). Three rooms surrounded the patio on its southern, western, and northern sides. The largest one, to the west of the patio, was closest to the edge of the terrace and suffered the most from erosion. In addition, a large but relatively shallow looters’ pit destroyed a large section of its plaster surface. The small southern room connected Patio 2 to the above-mentioned L-shaped corridor, and has similarly suffered from erosion along its southern edges. The small room to the north of Patio 2 was originally a passageway out of the structure, although this entrance was at one point sealed while the structure was still occupied, further restricting access to the Patio 2 area. This northern room is characterized by a south-facing step, built to accomodate the underlying bedrock slope of the hill. Four fragmentary decorated elements have been found placed into the step facing south (Monuments 1, 2, 3, and 4; see Figure 3.15). The first on the left (Monument 1) when facing the step, is a carved ceramic brick, while the three fragments to the right (Monuments 2, 3, and 4) are carved in stone and partially modelled in plaster. The latter three are identical stylistically and material-wise, and appear to be fragments of a same, originally larger composition. Monument 1 is different, and likely did not belong to the same composition.
Carved ceramic brick or tiles are known from elsewhere in the Valley, and appear to have also been found at the southern Valle Grande IIIa Sta. Inés Yatzeche site (Paddock 1985:102, Fig.10). The Jalieza brick shows a representation of a long-nosed supernatural (Cociyo, or Lightning), known from numerous representations from throughout Oaxaca (see Marcus 2002), and, interestingly, appears to have been placed upside down. Given their characteristics, none of the fragments appears to be in its original context, and it is therefore probable that all four were
Carved ceramic brick or tiles are known from elsewhere in the Valley, and appear to have also been found at the southern Valle Grande IIIa Sta. Inés Yatzeche site (Paddock 1985:102, Fig.10). The Jalieza brick shows a representation of a long-nosed supernatural (Cociyo, or Lightning), known from numerous representations from throughout Oaxaca (see Marcus 2002), and, interestingly, appears to have been placed upside down. Given their characteristics, none of the fragments appears to be in its original context, and it is therefore probable that all four were