In spite of cold weather and rain, the first week of excavation for the 2026 field season was quite eventful. We started excavation in three locales with Adrian moving between all three areas; a fourth locale will be opened once the H9 tomb is completely recorded.
The first excavation locale is over an open tomb north of camp that was found during bushing. The chamber is located in the summit of Structure H9. Structure H9 is a tall pyramid that is on the south side of a group named Valentine that was tested in 1999 by means of two smaller excavations into the group’s eastern structure; these excavations recovered an Early Classic burial and several cache vessels that were also early. This week Gabriela, Rumari, Edwin, and Joel worked on defining and cleaning out the summit chamber. By the end of the week, it was clear that the structure’s summit had fallen forward and ripped out the front part of the chamber and its entryway, causing the collapse. This collapse had shifted the entranceway roofing to the north and brought down the front capstones in the chamber. By the end of the week, the H9 crew had defined the entryway and the spatial dimensions of the tomb as well as reached the collapsed capstones. Late Classic vessels began to appear on the northern end of the tomb near the entryway by Saturday morning, so next week we should have a better idea of what is in the chamber.
The second excavation was laid out in the bushed northwest residential group closest to Caana that is now nicknamed “Fresco.” The original trench that was laid out over the eastern structure revealed architectural features just below the humus that showed that the initial trench not perpendicular to the structure, so we realigned the trench and it is now perpendicular to the building. By week’s end the group excavating here – Mo, Jacob, Egor, Jorge, Nelson, Sotero, and Saul – had revealed a child’s burial on the summit of the building that was excavated and recorded as well as at least four sets of steps that bisected the trench. Building and plaza penetration will be carried out this coming week.
The final excavations were placed in the northwest residential group furthest from Caana that was nicknamed “Havarti.” Both the eastern and northern buildings in this group are locales for investigation. Individuals working here include Andrew, Alex, Julio, Ascel, and Reynaldo. The eastern building is very small and has had an axial trench placed over it that had the humus removed by week’s end. The northern building in Havarti is quite sizeable. The axial trench has also revealed good architectural remains and that at least two (and perhaps more) architectural versions of this building existed. A deeply buried step was found in the plaza surmounted by large stones that would have served as a basal step / plinth for the last building phase. Removal of these basal stones showed a well-preserved second step with a vertical slab and rubble in the middle of this step. The vertical slab and rubble were covering a formal inverted-V-shaped entryway for a sizeable tomb that was beneath the front of the structure. Quite a bit of dirt had naturally accumulated in this chamber over the years. While some excavation was done in the tomb this week, it should be more fully recorded this coming week.
Finally a comment should be made about the weather. The cold temperatures seen in the southern parts of the United States are also having an effect on Belize, and our night temperatures have dropped below levels that we normally have this time of year. Given that there is no heating or AC in camp, we are all hoping for slightly warmer weather this coming week.
