The Caverns of Copán Revisited: Preclassic Sites in the Sesesmil River Valley, Copán, Honduras

Abstract

In 1896–1897 George Byron Gordon investigated a series of caves in the Sesesmil River Valley, just north of the Late Classic Maya center of Copán, Honduras. His investigations revealed that at least one of these caves was utilized during the Preclassic period, and that several individuals had been cremated and interred in that cave. In 1983, as part of the Sesesmil settlement pattern survey of the Proyecto Arqueologico Copán, Phase II, the Sesesmil caves were revisited and two were test-excavated. This report summarizes the empirical findings of these more recent investigations, including pollen, skeletal, and ceramic analyses.