QEpOQtS MIDDLE PRECLASSICBUILDINGS AND BURIALS AT CUELLO, BETI7iFi: 1990 INVESTIGATIONS Norman Hammond, Amanda Clarke,and Cynthia Robin Two areas of Middle Preclassic architectureflanking a courtyard dating between ca. 650 and 400 B.C. were investigated. Successive plaster-floored houses were found that had perishable superstructures, and whichdem- onstrated periodic partialdemolition and rebuilding. Thirteen burials had a range of grave goodsand orientations; burial positionmay, however, be lineagespecific. While adultgrave goodsdo not indicate socialdiversity, abundant shelljewelry withchildren suggestsa status based on family rank rather than on individual achievement. Se investigaron dos areas de arquitectura del Preclasico Medio que rodean un patio ocupado durante 900 400 A.C.junto con porciones de la Plataforma 34 (400 A. C.-250 D.C.) que lo cubrio. Se hallaron casas sucesivas con pisos de yeso y estructuras perecederas. Los trece entierros incluyeron ninos:mientras que las of rendas de entierro de los adultos no sugieren diversidad social. Los abundantes adornosde conchaen los entierros de ninos indica posicion social que depende del renombre de la familia, mas bien que logrosindividuales. Excavationsat the PreclassicMaya settlement of Cuello were renewed in January-March 1990, with the objective of completinginvestigationof the Middle Preclassic (Swasey,Bladen,and Lopez Mamom phases) structures that had enclosed a small courtyard or patio between ca. 900 and 400 B.C. Cuello, discovered in 1973 and investigatedin seven field seasons between 1975 and 1990, is notable as the earliest-knownLowland Maya site, with occupation going back to ca. 1200 B.C. (Hammond 1991; Housley et al. 1991). Swasey,the initial phase of occupation,is characterized by sedentary maize farmers with an established and distinctiveceramictradition, suggesting that earlier lowland occupationremainsto be detectedelsewhere,if not at Cuello. The site consists of a Classic period ceremonialprecinct with areasof settlementto the north,west, and south (Hammond 1991: Figure 2.2; the eastern zone is unmapped); severallarge platforms of Preclassic date includePlatform 34, some 300 m southwest of the Classic center. During the major excavations of 1976-1980 at Cuello, the overlyingLate Preclassic deposits of Platform34 (400 B.C.-A.D. 250) were extensively stripped? and the earlierbuildingson the west and south sides of the courtyard partly investigated (for details of structure numbering, phase plans, and drafting conventions, see Hammond [1991]; also Gerhardt [1988]; Hammond and Gerhardt [1990]. Figures 1 and 2 ofthe present paperinclude grid coordinatesenabling them to be located with reference to the published excavation plans of adjacentareas and subsequent phases). In 1987 the later Middle Preclassicdeposits on the north side of this buried courtyard group below Platform34 were removed (Hammond 1987). Successivesuperimposed structures dating to the Lopez Mamom phase (600-400 B.C.) were exposed, together with evidence for the demolition of the latest building flankingthe north side of the patio (Str. 315e). This occurred during the transformation of the small enclosedcourtyard groupinto the massive open spacecapping Platform NormanHammond,Department of Archaeology, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215. Amanda Clarke, York Archaeological Trust,I Pavement,YorkYOI 2NA, North Yorkshire, England. Cynthia Robin, Department of Archaeology, Belmopan,Belize, Central America. Latin AmericanAntiquity, 2(4), 1 99 1, pp. 352-3 63. Copyright t) 1991 by the Society for American Archaeology 352 This content downloaded from 128.197.26.12 on Mon, 24 Feb 2014 09:43:10 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions