Excavations
Although surveyed by archaeologists of the National Museum of Costa Rica as part of the huge Angostura Project related to the construction of a dam by ICE (Spanish acronym for the Costa Rica Electrical Institute), no scientifically controlled excavations had ever been carried out in the CATIE Botanical Gardens.
We chose to excavate first at a site within a dense cacao plantation, where part of a line of vertically standing lajas (volcanic flagstones) was visible. Surface rocks were concentrated around the Bodega de Cacao in an archaeological site designated by the National Museum as Cabiria 1 (C-233Ca-1). Cabiria was the name of the century- old finca occupying the samd land CATIE does today.
It was hypothesized that a large cemetery soma 1,500 years old was to be found theta, and this has been confirmed. Additionally, test excavations revealed disturbed "stone cist tombs," or tumbas de caj�n, dating to 800 years ago and associated with very different pottery. These were found north of the Bodega de Cacao, which is now restored for tourism and fruit tasting, as well as for viewing and handling the prehistoric pottery and stone tools found nearby.
Operation 1
This excavation was carried out around the clearest line of standing lajas observed during out survey. Given the pottery on the surface, my hypothesis was that it defined one side of a corridor tomb � a long, rectangular structure that can be from four to 12 meters (about 13 to 40 feet) long � and probably contained more than one burial.
Such tombs were first described in my doctoral dissertation in the late 1970s, and many such sites have been found since. They usually date between 300 BC to AD 500-600, characterizing the El Bosque Phase and the early La Selva Phase in the Central Atlantic Watershed. Both the surface collections and subsequent excavations of Operation 1 confirmed that the prevalent ceramic complex was transitional from El Bosque to La Selva, predominantly early La Selva, about AD 400-600.
We first excavated horizontally to better define the corridor tomb, and other parallel stone lines were found, about 1.5 to two meters (about five to 6.5 feet) away, but less well-preserved. We also discovered that the tomb had a very large quantity of exotic stows (not local, but brought in from nearby riverbeds or other deposits) including water-rounded pebbles, known as coyolillo, from three to 10 centimeters (one to four inches) in diameter; carefully chosen flat river cobbles ranging from 12 to 20 centimeters (4.7 to 7.8 inches), some resembling manes (hand stones for grinding); occasional baseball-sized stones nearly spherical; and lajitas, or small, very thin slabs of volcanic rock.
All of these occurred as part of the tomb fill, making excavation by trowel very laborious. Upon digging deeper in the northern sector of the tomb, we saw that the fill of stones and earth was mostly less than 50 centimeters (19.5 inches) deep, but extremely difficult to remove. This undoubtedly served to protect buried bodies from scavengers when the cemetery was in use, and has probably discouraged looters in historic times. In the wet-dry climate and acidic soils of the Turrialba Valley, no bones whatsoever, not even teeth, are preserved.
The very smooth, rounded pebbles in the fill contrasted clearly with other rough, eroded field rocks also used in the tomb construction. The former were all carried in from riverbeds at a huge expenditure of labor. The stones in the fill in only the north sector of the tomb probably weigh well over 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) � we will weigh them all eventually � and there may be hundreds of tons of brought-in stones in the whole cemetery, which covers at least an acre.
It is probable that each size and shape of stone had its own symbolism, and they were mixed in with large quantities of broken pottery purposely deposited in the tomb fill. This pottery was readily identified as primarily four types 1 had defined in my dissertation: Roxana Shiny Maroon on Orange, with its very recognizable egg-shaped hollow tripod supports; Zoila Red Incised; Turrialba Coarse (large globular jars used for cooking and storage); and Africa Tripods (ceremonial long-legged floreros with modeled appliqu� human and animal effigies on the shoulder of each lag). Such tombs probably had wooden and thatch structures above ground, and houses of the same time period were also rectangular.
When we began to excavate deeper by trowel in the pebble fill in the north par� of the corridor tomb, an area not more than 1.5 by 1.8 meters (about five by six feet), we found the first ceramic vessel placed as a burial offering � the ceramic type Zoila Red Incised, dating to AD 500-650. When we later removed the flirt from the vessel, it was found to contain a carbonized ovoid seed, apparently not dicotyledonous; the seed will be stabilized and submitted to a botanist for possible identification.
Also of note were two small, greenish-white stones, one a hand metamorphic with a shiny bright green section and the other a tiny shaped plaque. The former was almost certainly placed in the vessel to symbolize "jade," the most precious material during that period in pre-Columbian Costa Rica, although not actually jadeite.
As we continued to excavate by trowel, removing the pebbles tightly packed with dirt and pottery fragments, we found another ceramic vessel below the first, of the same Zoila Red Incised type; the two were probably placed mouth to mouth originally. The lower vessel rested directly on top of a fajita, which served as a small platform for it. By now, we began to be aware of smaller pebbles near the center of the tomb, and realized we were likely in the zone of the buried body itself. No bones or teeth were preserved, but the position of the bodies in burials can be inferred from the placement of burial offerings. As we expanded the area of deeper excavation, a small stone bead came to light farther to the north end of the tomb; we inferred that it was worn around the neck, and therefore in the vicinity of the head.
Continuing the excavation, we discovered three more pairs of pottery vessels at what would be the level of the shoulders and knees. We have examined the dirt inside them (they must dry out a little first), and it included charcoal and a single, fine-grained white stone. Colored stones with symbolic significance we cannot yet understand were placed inside the vessels; historical Talamanca shamans used colored stones for divining.
One pair included a miniature vessel, and resting on top of it was an extraordinary anthropomorphic stone sculpture 25 centimeters (9.75 inches) high depicting a nude man wearing an alligator mask and a double-tiered headdress of conical layers. This sculpture, of soft, reddish volcanic stone, was of a style never before recovered scientifically, but posited by me in several previously published articles to fall in the time period represented by the pottery found in this corridor tomb, around AD 500. This has now been confirmed. Other larger sculptures like it in museum collections are often shown wearing necklaces of tubular jade beads.
The significance of this find is that it is the earliest known free-standing representative human sculpture in this area, all others earlier in time being incorporated into the sculpted panels of metates, or ceremonial grinding tables for foodstuffs. Its crocodilian mask is obvious, but we can only speculate what the "wedding cake" headdress meant to its makers; it was clearly a crocodilian symbol, as it is seen on some other pottery vessels, ocarinas, and even jades.
The north sector of this burial also yielded several chipped stone tools made of fine-grained light greenish stone (not an accidental choice, but rather symbolizing the precious jade) and a small ground stone pestle. These functional tools may have been manufactured for placement in the tomb for uses by the deceased by all appearances an important male, especially given the stone sculpture.
We were rained out for almost two weeks, and have yet to finish the north sector down to sterile soil, so more beads may still be found. Then, the whole south sector of the tomb, which is completely covered by large angular stones and bordered by the standing lajas, about two thirds of the remaining tomb, must still be carefully excavated.
Operation 2
This horizontal excavation was carried out on the other side of the Bodega de Cacao, where a few scattered lajas were observed on the surface. After uncovering an area of about 15 square meters (49 square feet), we could see that these carne from stone cist tombs probably looted several decades ago; no walls or floors of the tombs have yet been found. lt is possible that other such tombs remained intact in this area, out it is unlikely, as they are relatively easy to locate and loot.
Very little coyolillo and other smooth stone fill was noticed, and when we washed the recovered pottery fragments, more than 80% of them corresponded to ceramic types from the La Caba�a Phase, after AD 1000. The thin-walled type Turrialba Bichrome, with a cream wash and sometimes painted red lines, predominated, but there were also some brown incised sherds.
Operation 3
This last small test excavation was carried out where several very large lajas were observed on the surface, some still standing on edge. Like Operation 2, it was at the foot of a large natural mound and contained small amounts of pebble fill.
In only two hours, we uncovered a portion of a flat laja floor between the standing stones, and I immediately knew that it was a large stone cist tomb (tumba de caj�n) previously looted.
The washed pottery was later seen to be mostly of the La Caba�a complex, after AD 1000. This tells us that a later occupation of Cabiria could very well have utilized the natural mounds as domiciles, and placed their tombs around them. This area is closer to the original location of the sacrificial alter now in the cantor of the CATIE campus.
It must be noted that, as determined by geologists working on the Angostura dam project, the many mounds found around the CATIE grounds are the remnants of a gigantic mud and rock slide off the Turrialba volcano around 17,000 years ago, truly a catastrophic event, but occurring before the first humans arrived in Costa Rica between 11,000 and 12,000 BC. This is why we want to know if these mounds were utilized as bases for domiciles, instead of having to construct the house mounds, as was the case at the well-known Guayabo size and many others in the Atlantic Watershed. Our future work will determine this, and volunteers are we come to participate.
Art and Culture 
