Research Area

By far the largest island in Lake Nicaragua, Ometepe is made up of two volcanoes--Maderas and Concepcion--and the low lying "waist" of land in between. In January of 1997 we'll be working in the area north of Volcan Madera. The terrain here is gently sloping with volcanic soils. We'll be walking through coffee and cocoa plantations as well as some native forest. Some areas will be choked with vegetation, but most will have been cleared for agriculture.

Surveys and excavation data by Wolfgang Haberland put the date for occupation of the island at "around 1500 B. C. and perhaps as early as 2000 B. C."

The weather is expected to be warm but not sweltering hot. There may be some rain, but January and February are considered to be part of the dry season. The temperatures for Early January in 1997 have been around 60 degrees F for the lows to a high in the mid-eighties. The morning work will consist of field walking, locating sites by the presence of cultural materials like pot sherds or petroglyphs. Once located, we'll map the sites, draw and photograph each petroglyph and collect a small amount of diagnostic pottery.

Afternoons at the hacienda will be spent washing pottery, inking maps and drawings, and entering site data into a laptop.

Staff for the 2004 Field Season

Suzanne Baker will direct the 2003 field season, as she has since the project's inception. Suzanne represents the archaeological half of Historical/Archaeological consultants, and has worked extensively in California and Central America.

Michael Smith is a long time archaeologist (he prefers the term dig bum) who has worked in Chile, El Salvador, and Nicaragua and has traveled extensively throughout Latin America. In his spare time he works at the East Bay Sanctuary in Berkeley, CA. where he directs an asylum project with law students from UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco and USF. He is the author of two collections of short stories about refugees and the refugee experience: Sanctuary Stories, published by Bilingual Press, Arizona State University, and The Nun and the Anarchist, recently published by Creative Arts Book Company.

Jerry Doty has many years of field experience on the west coast and in Central America. He's also an excellent photographer.

Accomodations

We'll generally live at the Hacienda Magdelena. Built in 1888, the hacienda consists of two large buildings and several smaller ones. Water is plentiful and good to drink, coming from a spring located on a slope just above the hacienda.

The hacienda is a working cooperative that produces coffee, cocoa and honey, as well as many fruits and vegetables. While the living conditions might seem a bit rustic, there are some modern comforts.

The food is pretty basic--rice and beans with fresh fish from the lake or chicken and the occasional hunk of beef or pork. There's plenty of fruit--and the beer isn't bad either.

Field Logistics

Team members will meet at the International Airport in Managua and will be transported by bus and boat to the Island, then on to the town of Balgues where the hacienda is located. For those of you who don't mind finding your own way to the island (we can provide detailed instructions), you are welcome to set your own schedules. Just let us know in advance and try to arrange a stay of at least two weeks.