Los Placeres is an archeological site located between the “Waspán” and “Tabacalera Nicaragüense” neighborhoods at kilometer 4 of the “Carretera Norte”, in Managua, en Nicaragua. The site extends to the coast of Lake Managua. A large part of the area that delimits the site is being impacted by a new urban settlement known as Barrio Hugo Chávez, which divides the site, where its new settlers have disturbed the ground for installation of pipes for drinking water, toilet and housing, this activity has caused a serious incidental findings and impacts to the prehispanic archaeological site.
The Sector where the largest concentration of material evidence is on the surface is where excavations and archaeological research was made, mainly in the place that still preserves prehispanic mounds or architectural structures which probably corresponded to domestic or ceremonial areas.
This material is part of the document "Los Placeres, a scientific interest archaeological site.*
Archaeological investigation background Due to the internal complexity this site has drawn interest and attention and is catalogued as object of scientific importance and research by the characteristics of its environment, and archaeological evidence observed; a group of archaeologists led by Dr. Frederick Lange in the 1980s (Lange, 1983, Sheets 1983) carried out an inventory and recognition of interest sites in the Pacific area of Nicaragua with the purpose of determining different settlement patterns within the Great Nicoya Sub-Cultural area, this prospection included Los Placeres, finding the presence of multiple chronological periods of occupation 500-800 CE, 800-1350 CE and 1350-1530 CE., and main structures and spatial distribution of potential settlements that inhabited the banks of the Lake and its regional connection by means of the lake.
Dominican Victor Holguín conducted two surveys, the results do not offer much interpretation of cultural material due to lack of knowledge and its classification system (Holguín: 1983). Ten years later, archaeologist Ronaldo Salgado conducted a survey and surface recollection determining that site was probably occupied from 500 to 1500 CE, which coincides with the material analysis of the controlled excavations performed by Stauber in 1996. (Stauber: 1996)
Therefore, it is suggested that apart from this site together with other registered by population impact by the Archaeology Department of the National Museum (Pichardo: 1996), (García: 1996) (Espinoza: 1996) (Zambrana: 1996) located on the shores of Lake Managua that used aquatic and land resources and fertile land for deployment in this area.
It is possible that biological characteristics determined and influenced the way of life, work and ceremonial and funerary practices in prehispanic Managua, and late period at the time of contact (Oviedo: 1976), in his descriptions he mentions a town very prosperous and a beautiful and populous square. (Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, 1976: 3 376–377).
For several years after the eighties, natural disasters, water floods, agriculture, erosion, grazing livestock, robberies, lack of budgets and human resources of the cultural institution, destined for archaeological research has minimized research in the area, even with the existence of potential areas considered part of the archaeological reserve of one of the sites with a great information potential, of native people who lived on the shores of Lake Managua. (Stauber: 1996).
By 1996 within the Managua Metropolitan Zone archaeological research project (Lange: et al. 1996) (Stauber: 1996) (Pichardo: 1996) during his second season performed investigation, prospecting and excavation as it was considered a site of great scientific and ethno historical interest, where results determined it to be a multiple components site, represented by different occupation periods, Bagaces (300-800 CE), Sapoa (800-1350 CE), Ometepe (1350-1550 CE) and foreign contacts according to diagnosed pottery, also found a variety of domestic residues represented by the different ceramic types (Stauber: 1996) and lithic stone artifacts for hunting, fishing, grinding, also the location and distribution of several mounds where quantity and density of surface archaeological material is evident; where it is possible to affirm that there was a large population concentration.
During these excavations (Stauber: 1996) as result of the analysis of the material, concluded with emphasis on regional trade with groups of the central part and the Pacific through the lake, a possible social stratified organization, with emphasis on local organization.
What has not yet been reported on any field report and material analysis, of the aforementioned in the Los Placeres archaeological history (Stauber: 1996) is the evidence of burial areas.
It is necessary to systematically extend research and with scientific rigor with the purpose of defining burial spaces and obtain data related to prehispanic burial patterns on the site.
The population has impacted many secondary burials in Sacasa striated type urns (Bonilla et al. 1990), with small offerings pots, in different Managua settlements; mainly located on banks of Lake Managua, and other burial findings found in neighboring sites, as in Barrio Domitilla Lugo, El Rodeo (Pichardo: 1996), Las Torres (Garcia, Vázquez: 1996), and the San Cristobal site (Weiss: 1983).
It is likely that each hamlet or native settlement demarcated its burial area, because it is a decisive element to define social stratification by its funerary trousseau and the spatial distribution of the site and the village.
At the site Las Torres (Garcia: 1996) close to the lake shore, an important funeral pattern was found, scientifically recorded during archaeological investigations to develop in the area of the Metropolitan area of Managua and could determine a social stratification and form of collective burials or family based on spatial distribution and funerary trousseau.
The materials studied by Stauber within the second archaeological research season in the Metropolitan Zone (1996) the percentage of classified and scanned material, reported a strong presence and percentage of Sacasa striated type (Bonilla et al. 1990: 227) and suggests that perhaps had utilitarian and household use.
Within the main Sacasa ceramics burials, frequently over 50% of excavated materials depicted specific uses and utilitarian purposes represented in dishes called tecomates, ollas with enlarged outward edge, and outside of the utilitarian function, Sacasa seems to have had significance as burial pottery. (Bonilla: 228) represented in the funerary urns, boot or shoe shaped.
Prehispanic Funerary Urns
During urbanization work and activities near a House, 4 prehispanic funeral urns were found, one of them large was placed in the center with a circular lid possibly Sacasa Striated type (800 BC-1350 DC, Bonilla et al. 227). Lack of current population awareness and the interest by the belief that it contained treasures; artifacts were completely destroyed and altered the context and archaeological record. Lack of prevention and supervision causes that each day more sites are destroyed and therefore the archaeological information.
All recovered parts were inventoried and taken to the restoration and laboratory of the Anthropology Department of the National Museum for their proper restoration, conservation and study by archaeologists.
Most urns and the skeletal remains are completely fragmented making it almost impossible to determine its context and spatial distribution; it is not possible to determine sex or age of the individuals.
In general, and according to burials characteristics found in the Pacific area and the coast of Lake Managua (Garcia: 1996) it is a funerary component possibly of one or two individuals due to the amount of Sacasa Striated type urns shoe shaped, also possibly associated with Papagayo ceramic polychrome fragments (800-1350 DC).
Other ceramic types associated with children burials is Las Brisas (not yet dated) where a funerary burial was found and the Sitio del Ferrocarril site in the city of Managua (Zambrana: 1996). Also at the laboratory are two shoe shaped miniature Sacasa Striated vessels associated with the funeral component where it is supposed that these had remnants of food or fish bone (García: 1999).
An archaeological recovery was made by a trench 6 x 4 meters long and width respectively, the excavation was abandoned for more than 15 days, were objects and human remains were displayed of the prehispanic inhabitants of the site.
Excavation had reached a depth of approximately 35 to 40 centimeters depth at the time it was abandoned.
Each of the funerary urns was coded using numbers 1 to 8, then surface cleaning was made and proceeded to excavate around before lifting, it must be clarified that most of these burials were already completely excavated and suffered vandalism. The maximum burial depth approximately ranges from 75 to 80 centimeters, only the oblong funeral urns were seated on the geological stratum known as Talpetate.
The Site Current residents have built latrines and in most archeological remains have been found; vegetation consists of fruit trees, bananas, and ornamental plants in the houses. Soils are sedimentary; clay with very fine light brown sand residues, the fertile stratum ranges between 30 and 40 centimeters in thickness in succession appears the Talpetate stratum.
Spatial Burial Distribution
Interpretation made about this burials area is that they seem to be distributed in the following manner and its description is made according to their north–south location: there are four red slip oblong-shaped funerary pottery urns of type known as Sacasa Striated located in north, south, east and west positions as if representing the four cardinal points.
Burial 1: It is a secondary funeral urn burial, 60 centimeters in diameter which was discovered by the west side of the trench, was superficially fragmented and contents at the top disturbed, was aligned with burials 2, 8, and 3, which correspond to urns shoes shaped burials.
Burials 2, 8 & 3: Were located in the center of the excavation between the urn 1 located on the west side, these are medium urns shoe shaped of the Sacasa Striated ceramic type, they were aligned with the tip east to west, the urn on the east side of the excavation was destroyed, as well as primary burial which corresponded to the human bones of an individual with the skull oriented to the west, the specimen was buried with extended hands facing where the sun rises. Anthropological biometric and cultural context data that could have been retrieved from these human bones was lost due to its total destruction.
Burial 4: By the southwest side of the excavation associated with funerary urn 7, oblong shape urn 4) shoe-shaped was found, the tip in position west, aligned with urns 1 and 6; while cleaning it human remains were found that correspond to lower limbs of an adult specimen, the bone remnants were found at the west of the urn.
Burial 5: It was located exactly at the center of Northern excavation profile and refers to a funeral urn, it is the only one that did not suffer disturbance except for the vessel which served as cover of the same; it was on a straight line from urns 7 & 8 and oriented north to south.
Burial 6: Between funeral urns burial 1 and 7, next to the southwest corner of the excavation found burial 6, which consists of an oblong ceramic Sacas Striated type and with a Murillo neck vessel applied which functioned as the urn lid, this urn type was the only one that had a different pottery type, is possible that the use of this type of ceramic mark a cultural burials differentiation, the medium shoe-shaped urns belong to infant burials and there is only one child buried in a medium oblong urn Sacasa Striated type, that was also disturbed.