Formation and Context of Sitio Chivacabe, Western Highland Guatemala

Summary

Located in the Highlands of western Guatemala, Chivacabe is a Pleistocene-age bone bed and Archaic-age archaeological site. In 2009 the site was subjected to intensive geoarchaeological investigation with the goals of identifying the relationship between the faunal and archaeological remains through developing an understanding of their context. Three allostratigraphic units were identified: The oldest unit, which contains the bone bed, consists of colluvially reworked tephra bracketed by radiocarbon dates of 15,700 and 12,920 years BP (Cal. 2-sigma). The middle unit, marked by a prominent Btkb horizon, minimally dates to 10,190 years BP and likely contains the archaeological materials. The youngest unit truncates the underlying middle unit and represents relatively recent or Late Holocene erosion and deposition. Overarching conclusions from the 2009 geoarchaeological investigations include confirmation of the faunal remains in reworked tephra and dissociation of the bone bed and archaeological materials.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20338