The 2016 Season at El Rayo, Nicaragua: Civic-Ceremonial Structures, Tombs, and Feasting from the Bagaces to Sapoa Transition

Summary

Expanding on prior field seasons, the 2016 field school at El Rayo, with the support of the Institute for Field Research, continued the exploration of the unique Bagaces to Sapoa transition period site, located on the Asese Peninsula, Lake Nicaragua. This season focused of the excavation of four loci, continuing to explore previous questions regarding cultural activities in Pacific Nicaragua. Loci 2 and 4, which had been studied in previous field seasons were expanded, while new Loci 6 and 7 were opened. Highlighting this season’s findings were the continuation of Locus 4 large civic-ceremonial structure, located near to a structure at Locus 6 and Locus 7. Locus 7 also features a intriguing double burial, which was unfortunately looted in antiquity. Finally, the deep excavations at Locus 2 revealed multi-component domestic trash deposits from the Sapoa period, superseding the deep layer of Bagaces period cultural material. Preliminary vessel form analysis of the Bagaces ceramics, in relation with the faunal assemblage, indicated probable short term consumption such as feasting activities. With each new field season, El Rayo continues to reveal more unexpected and unique site characteristics, displaying valuable data relating to Pacific Nicaraguan ceremonial and domestic activities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Nica News: Recent Archaeological Research in Nicaragua   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17204