NO. I HONDURAS STRONG, KIDDER, AND PAUL 5 



bordering mountains converge and the Ulua splits up into its three 

 main branches (maps, figs, i, 5). These are, from north to south, the 

 Comayagua, the Rio Blanco, and the Ulua proper. The Chamelecon, 

 after running parallel to the Ulua for some 50 kilometers above its 

 mouth, turns north into mountains, where, as a rapid mountain stream, 

 it extends almost as far southwest as Copan. Similarly, the three 

 branches which form the Ulua are rapid, clear streams, in marked con- 

 trast to the slow moving, muddy lower Ulua and Chamelecon. 



Owing to its configuration and the mountainous character of its 

 terrain, Honduras has a wide variety of climates and seasons. In 

 general, however, the dry season in the region we are considering be- 

 gins in December or January and extends until June or early July. 

 The temperature, which is pleasantly low in the early part of the dry 

 season, increases as the wet season approaches. The rainy season is 

 cooler, but more unpleasant, owing to rain, wind, and great humidity. 

 Moisture brought by the northeast trade winds is deposited when they 

 hit the high mountains bordering the Ulua valley. Thus, despite their 

 relatively short courses, the Ulua-Chamelecon tributaries at times 

 carry a tremendous volume of water. These rivers rise to their great- 

 est heights about October and flood the valleys. A smaller rise occurs 

 in the late Spring. As the rivers spread over the lower valleys, they 

 deposit the sediment brought down from the mountains, and in this 

 way the valley has been aggraded or built up. As proved by human 

 occupation levels buried in situ 6 meters or more deep along the pres- 

 ent channels, this lDuilding-up process has been relatively rapid and 

 continuous.^ 



As the present rivers shift their channels across the valley floor, they 

 thus expose in their steep banks the various human occupation strata of 

 past centuries, which elsewhere in the valley are inaccessible, because 

 of depth and lack of surface indication. The majority of the sites 

 investigated along the Ulua by the present expedition were of this 

 type. 



Whereas the lower Ulua valley was formerly covered with a luxuri- 

 ant rain forest, the sites which we worked on the upper Chamelecon 



^ Yde, 1936, p. 39, in our opinion, exaggerates the difficulties due to depth of 

 deposit facing the archeologist in this region. Nevertheless, there is no doubt 

 that the earliest human remains in the lower Ulua valley may be buried at 

 inaccessible depths. However, as the present report demonstrates, it is possible 

 to obtain stratification. Gordon, 1898, shows the manner in which the rivers 

 cut and shift their channels as well as the dangers of re-deposition which must 

 be borne in mind by the archeologist. Neither Mrs. Popenoe nor the present 

 writers encountered cultural remains at the extreme depths mentioned by Gordon 

 and Yde. 



