Latin American Archaeology Database, University of Pittsburgh
URL: http://www.pitt.edu/~laad
Email: laad@pitt.edu
MESITAS COMMUNITY DATASET
Víctor González F. 
 
Shovel Probe Data

The file PROBE.TXT contains data on all shovel probes excavated during the Mesitas project. It is a comma-delimited ASCII text file. Each line represents one shovel probe. There are 5,057 lines in the text file, each containing the values for 94 variables separated by commas. The variables are, in the following order:

1
Number of the individual household grid (0-76) to which the probe belongs
2
The zone where the probe is located ("Core" or "Periphery")
3
The lot number assigned to the probe (1-5057)
4
The transect the probe belongs to (A-Z)
5
The lot series all shovel probe lot numbers belong to ("PM")
6
The operation the probe belongs to (1-25)
7
East-West coordinate of the probe's location. Units are km. Can be converted to national map system coordinates in the grid Colombia West with datum Bogotá Observatory by adding 1000 and then multiplying by 1000.
8
North-South coordinate of the probe's location. Units are km. Can be converted to national map system coordinates in the grid Colombia West with datum Bogota Observatory by multiplying by 1000.
9
Depth of the excavated probe (cm)
10
Note with any additional information about the probe
11
Estimated elevation of the probe (m above sea level)
12
Number of modern ceramic sherds
13
Number of California Heavy Gray ceramic sherds
14
Number of Mirador Heavy Red ceramic sherds
15
Number of Barranquilla Buff ceramic sherds
16
Number of painted Guacas Reddish Brown ceramic sherds
17
Number of unpainted Guacas Reddish Brown ceramic sherds
18
The total number of all Guacas Reddish Brown ceramic sherds
19
Number of Lourdes Red Slipped ceramic sherds
20
Number of Planaditas Burnished Red ceramic sherds
21
Number of Tachuelo Burnished ceramic sherds
22
Number of other types of prehispanic ceramic sherds
23
Number of chipped stone artifacts
24
Number of obsidian artifacts
25
Number of chert artifacts
26
Number of slate artifacts
27
Number of lithic artifacts of other materials
28
Number of quartz artifacts
29
Number of lithic cores
30
Number of lithic scrapers
31
Number of lithic flakes
32
Number of fragments of lithic debitage
33
Number of stone adzes
34
Number of polished stone artifacts
35
Number of metate fragments
36
Number of mano fragments
37
Number of polishing stones
38
Number of stone axes
39
Number of notched stone discs
40
Number of stone spheres
41
Number of hexagonal stone beads
42
Number of stone pendants
43
Number of grinding stone fragments
44
Number of stone chisels
45
Number of stone cylinders
46
Number of other polished stone artifacts
47
Number of miscelaneous items
48
Number of fragments of burned clay
49
Number of fragments of burned soil
50
Number of kiln wasters
51
Number of stone pebbles
52
Number of fragments of bahareque (daub)
53
Number of fragments of carbon
54
Number of fragments of bone
55
"1" if a burial was encountered in the probe
56
If a post mold appeared in the probe, its diameter (cm)
57
If a floor surface appeared in the probe, its depth below modern ground surface (cm)
58
If a burial was encountered, its type ("Estatua" = with statue; "Laja" = slab tomb; "Pozo" = shaft tomb; "Urna" = burial in urn)
59
Number of sherds with rare decoration
60
Number of recycled stone axe fragments
61
Number of other types of miscellaneous items
62
Number of diagnostic sherds
63
Number of plates of Guacas ceramics
64
Number of cups of Guacas ceramics
65
Number of bowls of Guacas ceramics
66
Number of jars of Guacas ceramics
67
Number of sherds of Guacas ceramics with slipped decoration
68
Number of sherds of Guacas ceramics with incised decoration
69
Number of sherds of Guacas ceramics with other kinds of decoration
70
Number of tripod supports of Guacas ceramics
71
Number of plates of Lourdes ceramics
72
Number of cups of Lourdes ceramics
73
Number of bowls of Lourdes ceramics
74
Number of jars of Lourdes ceramics
75
Number of Lourdes ceramic sherds with slipped decoration
76
Number of Lourdes ceramic sherds with incised decoration
77
Number of Lourdes ceramic sherds with other kinds of decoration
78
Number of tripod supports of Lourdes ceramics
79
Number of plates of Planaditas ceramics
80
Number of cups of Planaditas ceramics
81
Number of bowls of Planaditas ceramics
82
Number of jars of Planaditas ceramics
83
Number of Planaditas ceramic sherds with slipped decoration
84
Number of Planaditas ceramic sherds with incised decoration
85
Number of Planaditas ceramic sherds with other kinds of decoration
86
Number of tripod supports of Planaditas ceramics
87
Number of plates of Tachuelo ceramics
88
Number of cups of Tachuelo ceramics
89
Number of bowls of Tachuelo ceramics
90
Number of jars of Tachuelo ceramics
91
Number of Tachuelo ceramic sherds with slipped decoration
92
Number of Tachuelo ceramic sherds with incised decoration
93
Number of Tachuelo ceramic sherds with other kinds of decoration
94
Number of tripod supports of Tachuelo ceramics

The first line of the ASCII text file, for example, looks like this:

3,Periphery,1,A,PM,1,86.1751,699.6901,40,No comment,1759.9884,0,0,0,5,0,6,6,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,1,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0

This indicates that this probe belongs to individual household grid 3, it is located in the Periphery of the Mesitas community, and the lot number is 1. It was excavated in Transect A as part of the series PM, in operation 1. The coordinates of the probe are 86.1751 East and 699.6901 North. The probe was 40 cm deep, and there is no comment with additional information. The probe is at 1759.9884 m above sea level. It yielded no Modern, California Heavy Gray, or Mirador Heavy Red sherds. There were 5 sherds of Barranquilla Buff, none of painted Guacas Reddish Brown, 6 of unpainted Guacas, and a total of 6 Guacas Reddish Brown sherds. There were no Lourdes Red Slipped, Planaditas Burnished Red, Tachuelo Burnished, or Other sherds. There was 1 chipped stone tool, made of Other material, and classified as a Scraper. There were no other artifacts, none of the sherds were identifiable as to vessel form, and none had decoration.

The last (5,057th) line of the file looks like this:

76,Core,5057,O,PM,23,86.7633,699.8044,40,No comment,1704.5438,0,0,0,9,0,2,2,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0,2,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0

This indicates that this probe belongs to individual household grid 76, it is located in the Core of the Mesitas community, and the lot number is 5057. It was excavated as part of Transect O, as part of the series PM, in Operation 23. The coordinates of the probe are 86.7633 East and 699.8044 North. The probe was 40 cm deep, and there is no comment with additional information. The probe is at 1704.5438 m above sea level. The probe produced no Modern, California Heavy Gray, or Mirador Heavy Red sherds. There were 9 sherds of Barranquilla Buff, none of painted Guacas Reddish Brown, 2 of unpainted Guacas, and a total of 2 Guacas Reddish Brown sherds. There were no Lourdes Red Slipped, Planaditas Burnished Red, Tachuelo Burnished, or Other sherds. There were 2 chipped stone tools, made of Other material, both classifed as Debitage. There were no other artifacts, none of the sherds were identifiable as to vessel form, and none had decoration.

Click here to download the file PROBE.TXT (1,135 Kb) or the file PROBE.XLS (7,079 Kb) and then ask your Web browser to save it to a disk. (Return here with your browser's BACK button.)


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