Mario Giron-Ábrego and James E. Brady Boston University and California State University, Los Angeles A Behavioral Interpretation of High Density Ceramic Sherd Concentrations at Midnight Terror Cave, Belize. ABSTRACT The initial survey and surface collection of half of Midnight Terror Cave in the Spring of 2008 uncovered the presence of a number of high density deposits of broken ceramics. All C ave investigations in the Maya area have produced a num- ber of substantial ceramic assemblages. The British Museum’s Pusilha Project encountered large amounts of ceramic in several of the deposits were located in marginal are- as along the cave wall and in other inaccessi- small caves at the site but provided no quantitative information ble spaces. The deposits consisted of an extremely heterogeneous mix of ceramic covered from a cavern appropriately named Pottery Cave (Gruning types none of which yielded a reconstructable 1930: 481). Joyce (1929:440-447) excavated a trench some 20 feet vessel. The patterns noted suggest that the long to a depth of 10 feet and concluded that most of the material deposits reflect the deposition of material was part of a conical deposit formed beneath an opening in the roof used in previous rituals that had been rede- ! " # $ %& ' % ( " ) posited in preparation for the next use. Such 23,000 sherds at both Actun Balam and Eduardo Quiroz Cave. The behaviors have been described ethnograph- majority of the ceramics from Actun Balam came from a deposit ically as part of modern Maya ritual. similar to the one at Pusilha and was collected during a five-day investigation (Pendergast 1969:2). E Wyllys Andrews IV (1965) does not give quantitative data on the number of sherds present in the Gruta de Chac but from his description the quantity was clearly enormous. Robert Smith (1971:106) analyzed over 55,000 sherds from the cave/cenotes at Mayapan. At Naj Tunich approximately 64,000 sherds were recovered (Brady 1989) and the Petexbatun Regional Cave Survey assemblage was the same size (Brady et al. 1997). These examples make it clear that Maya caves regularly yield large ceramic assemblages. What is interesting is the substantial discrepancy between the size of the assemblages and the theoretical and behavioral pay- offs derived from the analysis of this material. In part this is an outgrowth of the use of the type-variety analytical method which was designed to facilitate inter-site comparisons of assemblages (Willey et al 1967:290). At present, such comparisons appear to be utilized principally in aligning inter-site chronologies. This is not to denigrate the chronological contribution of ceramics, particularly in the cave context where ceramic cross dating is important. Fur- thermore, we want to make explicit that we are not indulging in the  28 Midnight Terror Cave- California Anthropologist the all too popular practice of blaming the type-variety by contrast were interpreted as traces of “idiosyncratic method for not elucidating issues it was never de- ritual acts” (Ball and Ladd 1992:192). signed to address. Nevertheless, we strongly feel that Pope and Sibberensen (1981:54) saw the our largest artifact category should be able to tell us presence of so-called “utilitarian” ceramics as the re- more. mains of visits by local populations taking refuge in The problem lies in the lack of sophisticated the Candelaria caves of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. models of ceramic use in ritual contexts. It has gener- Gary Rex Walters (1988) accepted the idea that ritual Figure 1: Map of the Midnight Terror Cave, Belize with Operation IV in black. ally been thought that ceramics used in ritual consist was associated with fancy ceramics and proposed that of incense burners, fine paste and polychrome painted “utilitarian” ceramics were associated with a domestic ceramic types. Robert Smith (1953a, 1953b, function in caves in southern Belize. Kenneth Hirth 1971:106) was explicit in proposing that the ritual (2000:113) asserted that the artificial caves at Xochi- nature of the cenotes at Mayapán would be reflected calco were used for storage essentially because they in high percentages of such types in the ceramic as- contained what he claimed were “utilitarian” ceram- semblage. Not surprisingly, he concluded that the use ics. of cenotes was overwhelmingly utilitarian because he In the above cases, ceramicists employing the equated the presence of large quantities of unslipped type-variety method attempted to use ceramic types to and monochrome slipped pottery with a domestic address questions of function. Types, however, were function. The same assumptions were evident in the defined on the basis surface finish so the attribution of analysis of ceramics dredged from the Cenote of Sac- function ultimately rests on some vague association rifice at Chichén Itzá. All unslipped and monochrome between surface finish and function that is never ex- jars were labeled “utilitarian domestic forms,” so bro- plicitly formulated or tested. Ceramic vessels are ken “water jars” and “domestic” wares were interpret- simply containers that can be employed in a wide ar- ed as evidence that the well had been used for water ray of activities and few are so specialized that they procurement and/or refuse disposal (Ball and Ladd permit only a single function. Brady and Peterson % * " & %++–+& )) &'% (2008) argue that function cannot be implied from The less frequent Fine Orange and Thin Slate wares form or surface finish but must be determined as a California Anthropologist - Spring 2014 29 analysis based on evidence of use, residue and/or con- made it clear that the disturbed area had probably con- text. The irony is that the above studies make asser- tained more ceramic than soil. After collecting the tions about function without having collected any evi- looted area, undisturbed parts of the deposits were dence actually related to it. probed to determine their nature. The locations of the deposits were also unusual. Most were in peripheral areas along the margins of the room. Often these were not on the floor proper but were tucked into recesses between cave formations. In the most extreme case (Figure 2b), a large deposit of ceramics was found in a void created between several large fallen speleothems. The area was so small that it does not appear possible that the ceramics could have been deposited as a result of activities conducted in this space. It was also noted in the field that the ceramic makeup of the deposits was somewhat unusual in Figure 2: (a) Operation IV in detail, including Lots 4 and 7. (b) Lead author conducting surface collection of ceramic sherds in Operation IV, Lot 4. High Density Ceramic Deposits character. Besides the high density of ceramics, the great diversity of ceramic types was noteworthy (Figure 3). Unslipped, slipped, and painted ceramics During its initial season of work, the Mid- were all mixed together. It was clear that these ves- sels had not simply been broken in place as has been night Terror Cave Project recovered over 11,000 observed in the Cueva de Sangre in Dos Pilas (Brady sherds, mostly from Operation IV, the chamber direct- et al. 1997:356) (Figure 5a). This observation was ly below the entrance (Figure 1). In several areas, further reinforced in the laboratory where attempts to high-density deposits of sherds caught the project’s restore vessels were markedly unsuccessful. Attempts attention, so special care was taken to examine the were often initiated when a large number of bowl context to better understand the behaviors responsible sherds were found. After washing, however, the for the material being recovered. sherds were invariably found to belong to a number of different vessels of the same type (Figure 5b). During the survey of the entrance chamber, Returning to our investigation of Lot 7 two lots, Lot 4 and Lot 7, produced high density de- (Figure 6a), the chamber itself has a flat, level floor posits of ceramics (Figure 2). Looting along the west- containing few surface artifacts. A small looter’s pit ern cave wall in both lots produced sizeable quantities in the center of the floor, however, revealed a thick of broken ceramic (Figure 4). Our initial efforts simp- black level just below the brown surface soil. An ly to collect the sherds in the pits and the backdirt twall of the looter’s pit as a guide, a 10 x 20 cm exca-  30 Midnight Terror Cave- California Anthropologist excavation was opened using dental tools (Figure 6b). In archaeological analysis, high densities of artifacts The layer of brown surface soil, 1.3 cm thick, was are generally interpreted as denoting activity areas. removed revealing a pavement of small broken sherds Early descriptions of household excavations, for in- stance, often noted that activity areas tended to be arranged around the periphery of structures. Ethno- archaeological studies pointed out that this patterning of artifacts was the result of sweeping and it sug- gested that more complex models of deposition and behavior needed to be developed. These same les- sons apply to cave archaeology. MacLeod and Puleston (1979) mention cases in which ceramics appear to have been col- lected and moved in ancient times. Frequently these are easily recog- nized because the sherds are neatly stacked or nested and often they will be set in a niche or crevice where deliberate human interven- tion is clear in the placement. A similar pattern was noted at Naj Tunich (Brady 1989:105), with some items stuck in niches in the Figure 3: Naranjo-style bowl fragment recovered from Operation IV, Lot 4. cave wall (Brady 1989: 110-111, on top of a dark black lens containing large amounts 141). of charcoal. This layer was 1.5 cm thick. Beneath Ethnoarchaeological studies of contemporary this was a very thin lens of yellow clay no more than Maya ritual have documented such behaviors as being ½ cm thick. On removing the yellow clay, another common place. Ann Scott (2009) focuses attention on Figure 4: High concentrations of ceramic sherds in two locations in Operation IV, Lot 4. pavement of small sherds was found, once again over- the preparatory stages for modern Maya ceremonies laying a thin layer of dark black soil containing quan- (Figure 7). The clearing of the space of the remnants tities of charcoal. The entire excavation was no more of previous rituals before beginning a new ceremony than 5 cm deep. is absolutely necessary and sweeping not only cleans but also is thought to animate the ritual space. In Discussion California Anthropologist - Spring 2014 31 Nenton, Huehuetenango, the men clean all of the trash strongly argues that vessels were used and broken in out of their cave before beginning an annual ritual these more open spaces. The larger sherds appear to (Brady and Garza 2009). Evon Vogt (1976:102) doc- have been removed and deposited along the periphery uments a slightly different case in which the cleaning of the room. The high density deposits, therefore, represent evidence of cleaning activities. Our attempt to resolve questions about the nature of the ceramic deposits in Lots 4 and 7 have further implications for our interpretation of Midnight Terror Cave. Our excavations have demonstrated that the chamber was heavily utilized. The open space now convinces us that these lots represented important public space (Brady and Kieffer 2012). This is significant because Midnight Ter- ror Cave does not have many large open spaces - with the only excep- tions being a platform in Operation VII and Operation V. Figure 5: (a- Above) Broken tinaja from Cueva de Sangre, Dos Pilas, Guatemala (Photograph by Allan Cobb) (b - Right) Washed ceramic sherds from Operation IV, Lots 4 and 7. of the cave is itself an annual ritual. Given the amount of evidence for these activities among the modern Maya, it is surprising how few cases have been documented archaeologically. Brady notes that he found evidence of sweeping at Naj Tunich in the early 1980s but failed to recognize it for what it was. At Midnight Terror Cave, the high density ceramics in the looted contexts and their unusual placement initially caught our attention. This led us to explore unlooted sections of the deposits to verify their nature. The mixture of many ceramic types and the lack of reconstructable vessels have convinced us that the deposits were the result of ritual cleaning ac- tivities and perhaps sweeping. This conclusion di- rected us to more closely scrutinize the chamber. The floor of the room, which at first glance appeared to be relatively free of artifacts, was reexamined and sub- jected to fine grained, micro-excavation described above. This revealed two use-floors with evidence of resurfacing of the floor between the two. The pave- ment of small sherds covering each of the floors  32 Midnight Terror Cave- California Anthropologist Finally, after resolving the significance of these de- for their support during the preparation of this paper. posits, we began checking other peripheral areas in the Thanks are also due to Nancy Pistole and Matt Oli- entrance phant for allowing us to use their map of the cave. chamber Finally, we would like to thank all of the individuals and have who have worked on the project. discovered scores of REFERENCES CITED new depos- its that we Andrews, E. Wyllys IV have not 1965 Explorations in the Gruta de Chac. Publica- attempted tion 31:1-21. Middle American Research to remove. Institute, New Orleans Neverthe- less, our Ball, Joseph, and John M. Ladd, notion of 1992 Ceramics. In Artifacts from the Cenote of the intensi- Sacrifice, Chichen Itza, Yucatan, edited by ty of utili- Clemency Chase Coggins, pp. 191-233. zation of a Memoirs, 10(3). 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