It was a great day.  We celebrated Baron Bliss Day with our traditional barbecue. We also had visitors from UCF.  And, since it was Sunday, we had freshly “pinesol”ed bathrooms.  Finally, it was sunny for the first time in what seemed like weeks, so there were also hot showers at the end of the day.

Excavations in the Northeast Acropolis are nearly complete and will be shut down later this week.  The group still appears to not be fully articulated with the plaza to its south (and directly west of Barrio); instead, access was likely from the sides. The latest construction and use of all of the buildings in the group clearly dates to the Terminal Classic Period.  We have found earlier architecture in the northern building and continue to search for earlier construction and occupation in the western building.  Interestingly, the western building is bedded on an extensive layer of dirt fill that is full of Late-Terminal Classic trash.  The fill is very similar to other Terminal Classic construction projects that were never completed elsewhere at Caracol; a huge mound of dirt and trash, of a very similar consistency to the fill in the western building of the Northeast Acropolis, was excavated during the 2001 field season and was clearly meant to serve as the base for a late platform or large building.

Lab-work is going full-force.  We are well on our way to completing all of the processing for the field season.  It hard to believe that it has been nearly 2 months since the field season started and that we are in the final stretch.