9 Monticulo Excavations MATTHEW S. BANDY XAJ ORK WAS CONDUCrED iln three separate MONTICULO 1 T t areas on the Chiripa mound in the 1996 Five major stratigraphic horizons were field season. These were designated Monticulo 1, identified in the cleared profile from the eastern 2, and 3 (see figure 2). Monticulo 1 is located mound (figure 12). These correspond roughly, in along the southern one-third of the preserved the terminology employed by Kidder (1956) to the eastern face of the mound. A seventeen-meter 1) Sub-Lower House Level, 2) Lower House Level, section of the mound profile was cleaned and 3) Upper House Level, 4) Tiwanaku Level and 5) drawn, and limited excavations were carried out in Historic Level. Portions of five Lower House two sections of this profile. Numerous historic Level structures were excavated. These deposits disturbances were noted, and remains of six were located in two separate areas, Monticulo 1-A Formative period structures were identified, and Monticulo 1-B. Three superimposed struc- portions of five of these being excavated. The tures, ASD-13, 14, and 15, were located in Harris Matrix of the observed areas of the mound Monticulo 1-A, and two superimposed structures, is shown in appendix 3. ASD-12 and ASD-16, in Monticulo 1-B. Monticulo 2 is located on the southern portion of the mound, along the line of the old MONTICULO 1-A retaining wall constructed with the pig farm This excavation area is located in the north- (chancheria). In this area, we excavated a trench em portion of the cleared profile area. When this approximately 1.3 m wide by 16.8 m long along portion of the profile was cleaned, a series of three the exterior face of the upper chancherfa retaining superimposed structures became visible. Above wall. In the trench we found indications of Upper these structures was a large pit, which contained House Level structures, though the evidence iron, glass, and porcelain and clearly represents remains difficult to interpret, modemn disturbance (D 1/D-2). Since this pit a44 Early Settlement at Chiripa, Bolivia 0 0 A!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~C ; tX i 0 0~~~~~~~~~ Monticulo Excavations 45 contained disturbed soil, it was decided that it specific ritual practice. First, a thin cap of fill- would be justifiable to remove the fill without generally derived from midden or other cultural screening, in order to arrive at the buried struc- deposits, in one case sterile sand-was placed over tures. The bottom of the pit was located only 10- the old floor. On top of this fill level, a fire was 12 cm above the uppermost floor of the uppermost kindled (see figure 13a, b). Evidence of fire is structure, and so very little overburden had to be present on top of the fill levels covering at least six cleared away. of the eight floors in the sequence. For the mo- The excavated area is a rough rectangle, ment, I interpret these burning events as elements approximately 2.6 by 0.6 m. In this area, within a of a standardized ritual practice associated with vertical span of 60 cm, the remains of three the closing, or "killing," of an old floor, and the superimposed structures were encountered. The construction or opening of another. Immediately earliest of these was ASD 15, the most recent ASD following the termination of this "burning ritual," 13. The structures all shared a common orienta- a new floor was constructed of clean yellow clay. tion to the cardinal directions and all were plas- The floor was placed immediately on top of the tered, wall and floor, with a yellow clay plaster, ash deposit resulting from the burning episode. similar to that employed in the Upper House Level This cycle was repeated at least eight times in the structures. sequence of structures we have exposed, and The lowermost structure in the sequence, would seem to indicate a long-term ritual use of ASD 15, contained two superimposed yellow clay the Monticulo area long before the building of the floors. The interior walls of the structure were Upper House Level structures. also covered with yellow clay plaster. There is The Lower House Level structures ASD 15 evidence that both walls and floor were coated through 13 were built, used, and abandoned with a thin wash of red clay, on top of the plaster. sometime between 800 and 400 B.C. This is based Interestingly, the floors of this structure are much on a series of six radiocarbon dates taken from the more coarse than the wall plaster. This is not the Lower House Level sequence (figure 5, samples case in the later structures, in which the floor and 24, 26, 28, 29, 30, and 31). Unfortunately, with wall plasters are indistinguishable. the exception of sample 30, these dates are all After ASD 15 was intentionally dismantled, essentially contemporary at one standard devia- ASD 14 was built on its rubble. The latter struc- tion, as they all fall within a plateau in the radio- ture contained four superimposed yellow floors, carbon calibration curve (see Whitehead, chapter and, again, the walls were plastered with the same 4). It is not possible to be more specific, then, material. The walls of this structure were of adobe than to say that the Lower House Level structures and seem to have few if any stones. were occupied for no more than 400 years, and ASD 13 was constructed on the rubble of the perhaps for less. dismantled ASD 14. It contained two yellow At any rate, the Lower House Level is much plaster floors, and the walls were likewise plas- more complicated than we had supposed before tered. The walls of this structure are distinguished our excavations. The finding of numerous super- by the use of large cobbles set in a mortar of red imposed structures in the Monticulo I-A excava- clay. Finally, ASD 13 was abandoned and dis- tions would seem to suggest that, unlike the Upper mantled, and a thick layer of intentional fill was House Level complex, the Lower House Level placed over the rubble. It was on this fill level that was not constructed in a single, large-scale event, the Upper House Level structures were built. but rather accumulated gradually through continu- The Monticulo 1-A structures, as described, ous use. This interpretation accords well with the were built one on top of the other, the upper independent micromorphological observations of portion of the existing structure being destroyed in Melissa Goodman (chapter 10). order to make way for the walls of the new one. The resulting rubble was used to create a platform MONTICULO 1-B for the construction of the new structure. Appar- This area is located approximately five ently, the abandonment of one floor and the meters to the south of Monticulo 1-A on the same construction of another were accompanied by a exposed profile. The excavated area begins just to 46 Earlv Settlement at Chiripa, Bolivia A ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ A ....... K:.; X. . . . .. ... ^ 5 : $ 1~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~..... :^,.,,....Z....D.,.,..:. s., .,. - .,. ..:. s i i . k " - S~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~............ y . ...........>S. 0 :: .- S? ?:. a FIGURE 13 a) Layer of clean sand fill between floors, b) in situ burning on floor. b Monticulo Excavations 47 the north of the exposed wall fragment of House G simply of earth, the almost uncompacted upper (ASD 1 1). Due to recent disturbance in this area surface of D-89. Neither was there any evidence (D-93), Lower House Level walls, relating to ASD of plastering of the lower portions of the wall, 12 and ASD 16, were located quite near to the though related wall collapse (D-33/D-44) does surface. This excavation was carried out by Jose contain yellow plastered adobes. Perhaps the Luis Paz. The final plan of this excavation area is upper portion of the walls was plastered. shown in figure 14. While all three of the Monticulo 1-A struc- On the basis of stratigraphic evidence, ASD tures were oriented to the cardinal directions, ASD 12 seems to be contemporary with the occupation 12 is oriented at a 45 degree angle from North. of ASD 15 in the Monticulo 1-A area. The eastern When we consider the fact that ASD 12 is located corner of this structure was excavated. The walls directly beneath one of the corner houses of the (D-35) were composed of large rounded cobbles Upper House Level (House G), we must conclude set in an organic, dark mud mortar. In this they that the idea advanced by Browman and Kidder- resemble most the wall of ASD 15 (D-68). The that the Lower House Level was, like the later northeastern wall was double-coursed while the complex, arranged as a ring of structures about a southeastern had but a single row of stones. central sunken court-is strongly supported. Unlike the Monticulo 1-A structures, however, no ASD16 was constructed on top of the rubble trace of a prepared floor was encountered in the of ASD 12 and has the same orientation. Its interior of ASD 12, the interior surface being construction seems to be basically similar to that of the earlier structure, but as only one wall was excavated, we cannot be certain of this. What is I meter certain is that it was unplastered. It seems to have been contemporaneous with the occupation of ASD 13 and ASD 14. After its abandonment, ASD 16 was covered by the same fill level which 2 (7 area <) : dpcovered ASD 13, and an Upper House Level structure, House G, was built above it. MONTICULo 2 ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~A trench approximately 1.2 m wide, 16.8 m long, and 2 m deep was excavated along the line 62 ~~~of the old chancheri-a retaining wall (D-9) on the Excavated 0 ~~south side of the mound. No intact prehistoric area deposits were excavated., the only soil removed being Browman's backdirt (D- 1 29) and deposits D-89 relating to the collapse of the chancheria wall (D- 7). The West profile of this trench is shown in figure 15. D-36 D36 | The Monticulo 2 excavation was undertaken in order to seek evidence of Upper House Level structures along the southern length of the mound. D-36 belongs to ASD-16 All prior investigators at the site have speculated D-89 belonas to ASD- 12 MNT that such structures had once existed, but no work Ea Area not cleaned had been done to establish their presence or .. , \ absence. Edoe otprotile L.......i\ |As wewere excavating in disturbed depos- its, we thought it unnecessary to screen, and work proceeded rapidly. The trench was excavated until FIGURE 14 Plan of Monticulo 1-B area. undisturbed deposits were located. Thus, the D-9 48 Early Settlement at Chiripa, Bolivia accompanied their collapse, as was the case with Houses 1, 2, and 5. At present I would suggest that three such D-10 structures were present on the south side of the mound, indicating that the Upper House Level |~) c 8 * t / l complex was composed of fifteen structures and D D-1279 / ? l | probably opened to the north. This reconstruction B' - ~ / D-7-0 B 99.59 m is obviously provisional, and the question will be C ) resolved by excavation of the remains of these l ?C> J | structures. The Monticulo 2 trench was not sufficiently deep to provide information on the Lower House Level deposits on this face of the 0' mound. rZ D7 :2 - D-8 MONTiCULo 3 ODii: D-9 Cut l Chanchefia wall This excavation was located on the west side of the mound, and consisted in clearing the backfill from the portion of House 5 excavated by North Kidder and Cordero. This was undertaken in order to assess the state of preservation of its walls and floor and to evaluate its potential for later restora- FIGURE 15 Monticulo 2 West Profile. tion and conservation. No undisturbed deposits were excavated in the Monticulo 3 area, with the exception of 6 flotation samples taken from wall was exposed for the entire length of the trench, undisturbed deposits overlying the floor of the as was the narrow terrace created by the D-8 cut. structure (1432/1, 1432/2, 1430/1, 1430/2, 1431/1, The chancherla floor was located at an elevation 1431/3). Analysis of these samples will hopefully of approximately 98.60 m while the surface of the clarify the function of the bins and of the structure narrow terrace was at about 99.00 m. as a whole. This work was undertaken by Jose The elevation of the floor of House G (ASD Luis Paz in collaboration with the author. I 1), the closest of the observed Upper House In general, House 5 is in an excellent state of Level structures to the Monticulo 2 area, is ap- preservation. Figure 16, a photograph of House 5, proximately 98.75 m. We may therefore infer that illustrates this. In all the areas observed, the if Upper House Level structures were present in burned plaster is still on the walls. The sliding the Monticulo 2 area that their floors would lie at door slot is well preserved, as is the entrance in an elevation between the floor of the chancheria general, and portions of the distinctive double- and the narrow terrace created by the D-8 cut. stepped jambs are still visible on some of the bin Indeed, red adobe and cobble walls were visible in niches. Unfortunately, most of the floor of the plain view on the undisturbed narrow terrace. structure has been destroyed. A restoration and Upon removing portions of the lower segment of conservation of the structure would be valuable the D-9 wall, we also observed yellow plaster both for scientific reasons and to enable the floors in profile. These floors were covered by a residents of Chiripa, tourists, and other visitors to dense layer of ash and charcoal, in turn overlain by the site to view this unique and important aspect of house collapse rubble. On the basis of this admit- the region's history. tedly meager evidence, we suggest that Upper House Level structures were indeed present on the CONCLUSION south face of the mound, and that their construc- All of the opened areas were carefully tion was roughly similar to that of the excavated backfilled in order to prevent further damage from Upper Houses. A burning event seems to have natural or cultural factors. Portions of Tyvek bags Monticulo Excavations 49 A~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ M.. .. .. ... : ia_.... U. ... vZ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.'....... FIGURE 16 MOntiCUlO 3 House 5. were placed on the sides and bottoms of excavated placed between it and the archaeological deposits for areas in order to facilitate subsequent work in protection. This will prevent slumping and collapse these zones. Further, an adobe wall was constructed of the profile, and we hope will also provide a along the Monticulo I profile and screened soil buffer against further root damage. DATA