E nd 
yaaa ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH GUIANA 193 
Cut 1 was placed 2 meters from the southwest edge of the garden 
clearing, where the brush remained and the soil was undisturbed. 
It was 1 by 1 meter, excavated in 8-cm. levels. The first level was 
sterile, medium-gray, loose, granular soil containing small roots and 
fragments of charcoal from the recent burning of the field. Soil 
conditions remained the same throughout the habitation layer. Sherds 
first appeared at 8 cm. Level 16-24 cm. produced in addition small 
lumps of unfired clay and tiny stone chips that may relate to the 
manufacture of manioc graters. In level 32-40 cm., the soil became 
hard, compact clay, was still gray in color, and contained a few sherds 
and scattered flecks of charcoal. At 40 cm., the color changed sud- 
denly to light orange, and then to white sandy clay, the color and 
texture of the sterile soil of the area. No sherds were encountered 
below this depth. 
Cut 2, also 1 by 1 meter dug in 8-cm. levels, was placed 10 meters 
east of Cut 1, in an area previously cleared but now overgrown. As 
in Cut 1, the first 8-cm. level was sterile. Level 8-16 cm. had loose, 
dark-gray loam with abundant sherds. In level 16-24 cm., sherds 
were increasingly numerous, and often bunched together. Level 24— 
32 cm. was less productive, and sherds were more irregularly dis- 
tributed. Two pockets with clustered sherds may correspond to 
depressions in the former house floor. Black, compact, sterile soil 
was encountered at 30 cm., and tests showed it to continue to 50 cm., 
where it was replaced by light orange to white, sandy clay, the 
natural soil formation of the area. 
E-3: YOCHO 
E-3 is located on a hill on the right bank of the Essequibo River, 
114 hours’ paddling upstream from E-1 (fig. 79). Dense foliage 
completely conceals the elevation of the bank, which rises rather 
steeply to its maximum elevation, an elongated knoll 70 by 20 meters 
that parallels the river (fig. 80). Sherds occur over this high area, 
with a slight concentration over the center third. The hilltop drops 
off about 1 meter at the sides and back of the knoll over an area some 
200 meters in diameter, then sloping downward. Most of this area 
is covered with secondary growth consisting of trees less than 25 cm. 
in diameter and quantities of spiny palm, suggesting a former field 
clearing. The surface of the ground is very rough and irregular. 
Cut 1, 1 by 1 meter, was placed in the southeast part of the site, 
outside the area of greatest sherd concentration. The soil was loose, 
granular, gray loam, sterile except for small fragments of charcoal 
for the first 8cm. Level 8-16 cm. produced so few sherds that it was 
decided to enlarge the excavation area to 1 by 2 meters. Conditions 
continued uniform to 25 cm. where the soil became more compact, 
