HONDURAN INSTITUTE OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND HISTORY …...installation area of the aerogenerators by the...

HONDURAN INSTITUTE OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND HISTORY

SURFACE SURVEY

NUEVA ARCADIA AND LA COFRADÍA WIND PROJECT

PROVINCE OF FRANCISCO MORAZAN

Prepared forThe Sub Management of Heritage

I.H.A.H.

II. Researcher: Santiago Escobar-Morales

Superisor: Oscar Niel

October 2012

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INTRODUCTION

Through a request for an opinion presented to the Honduran Institute ofAnthropology and History (IHAH) by the company GLOBELEQ MESOAMERICAENERGY in the city of Tegucigalpa, where the unprecedented populationgrowth of the last few decades had made it necessary to provide, amongother things, power using wind turbines, it is being proposed to add twelve(12) aerogenerators for a second phase of the project. This project is locatedin the municipality of San Ana, Francisco Morazan, in the southern part ofTegucigalpa, the capital city.

Given the basic needs and shortage of power in the country, the companyGlobeleq Mesoamerica Energy has requested IHAH to carry out thecorresponding surface survey to verify if… [sic] [the area] where it is beingproposed to install the 12 aerogenerators as a second phase of the project.

Since IHAH is the only authorized entity to carry out such survey … [sic], [tocheck that] when doing the earthworks there are not in those places anyarcheological remains that could be damaged by the construction. Therefore,the Sub Management of Heritage, through the Archeology Unit, has assignedtechnical personnel and archeologists to carry out this inspection.

After receiving authorization from Dr. Eva Martinez, IHAH Sub Manager ofHeritage, and instructions from Archeologist Oscar Neil of the ArcheologyUnit of this institution, the survey was carried out, starting with a walk-through inspection.

The foregoing information has the purpose of reiterating that the HonduranInstitute of Anthropology and History (IHAH) is the only governmentalagency in charge of protecting and safeguarding the nation’s culturalheritage.

Location

The place where six (6) of the aerogenerators are expected to be installed ison the left margin of a paved road, at the exit toward the city of Choluteca,close to the Nueva Arcadia community; the others are going to be installedat the top of the hills near La Cofradía community on the right margin of thepaved road bound for San Buenaventura in the municipality of Santa Ana,Francisco Morazan.

Noticing the earthworks carried out to install each of these aerogeneratorsand the building of access roads to get to them, a detailed walk-through ofthe area to be intervened by that company was done.

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Location according to GPS coordinates, aerial photograph

Area covered in Nueva Arcadia on the left margin of the road fromTegucigalpa to Choluteca shown in red

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Area covered in La Cofradía on the right margin of the road bound for SanBuenaventura, Municipality of Santa Ana, Francisco Morazan, shown in red

OBJECTIVES

1. The inspection needs to be carried out in order to comply with the legalmandate to protect the nation’s cultural heritage, Legislative Decree220-97, articles 2, 15, 20, and 22, which mention the investigationconservation [sic] [obligation to investigate and conserve] of thenation’s cultural assets.

2. Safeguard all existing archeological sites in the construction andinstallation area of the aerogenerators by the company GlobeleqMesoamerica Energy.

3. Identify the archeological sites by means of a detailed walk-through ofthe area to be intervened when building access roads to theaerogenerator construction and installation site.

4. Comply with one of the goals of IHAH; namely, the rescue andprotection of all of the nation’s cultural assets.

5. Try to identify as much as possible new archeological sites and addthem to our records since for a variety of reasons the HonduranInstitute of Anthropology and History has not worked in all areas of thenational territory.

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6. Identify the degree of impact on the archeological and historical siteslocated in the area in order to present [an] archeological and historicalmitigation, rescue, or salvage [plan], etc., for the second phase of theProject.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Reviewing the surface survey projects, the closest surveys undertaken thatmay be used as reference are those of the Wind Power Mesoamerica Energyproject [sic] in the area of Santa Ana in the Province of Francisco Morazan.

From an archeological perspective, the area of Tegucigalpa has not beenstudied in depth. One of the researchers who has done some scientificinvestigation is the American archeologist Doris Stone, who in the first half ofthe 20th century did a surface survey of Honduras, later recorded in herbooks published in the fifties.

[In her book] she mentions a couple of archeological sites in the periphery ofwhat was then Tegucigalpa and which today are some of its neighborhoods.In the nineties, the American archeologist[s] Alison McKittrick Boyd Dixon,Anne Jung, and Pastor Gomez visit some sites that have some cavepaintings; they visited the province of Francisco Morazan where theyrecorded some cave-painting sites near Tegucigalpa. In 2000, an assessmentof the cave-painting sites near Tegucigalpa was undertaken by SocialAnthropologist Alejandro Figueroa, a Honduran citizen, and PhysicalAnthropologist Francisco Rodriguez-Mota, a Mexican citizen, together withpersonnel assigned by the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History(IHAH).

METHODOLOGY

Using the transect method at 10 to 20 meter intervals from north to southand from east to west, as allowed by the rugged terrain, we moved aroundlivestock pasture lands, alluvial terraces, dirt roads, internal roads, cultivatedareas, empty plots, plots with houses, hill slopes, etc.

For the records, we used orthophotographic images of the site locations andan aerial photo locating the coordinates where the aerogenerators will beinstalled and photocopies of the data records on file at IHAH.

To set up the coordinates, we used a GPS, a camera, and visual inspection,and [the help of] people familiar with the area where the wind powergenerators will be built and installed.

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RATIONALE

Since earthworks will be done in the area to build roads and install theaerogenerators, we undertook a detailed archeological walk-through thatwould allow us to safeguard any detectable archeological presence on thesurface.

[It should be] taken into account that all modifications or alterations of landthat have archeological or historical traces should be authorized by themayor’s office prior authorization and opinion of the Honduran Institute ofAnthropology and History.

Because it is an unavoidable obligation that, before building any works,whether public or private, it [the construction] will be conditioned to anopinion report of the archeological condition of the land subject to bemodified, altered, or impacted [sic], because only the Honduran Institute ofAnthropology and History is the only governmental institution responsible forthe conservation, protection, and rescue of the nation’s cultural heritage andno other entity may authorize or carry out earthworks in an archeologicalarea without prior authorization… [sic]

Once the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History has carried out theinspections, excavations, and land assessment, as in this case, the requestpresented will be authorized or denied.

RESULTS

After completing the surface survey of the aforementioned lands, using theorthophotographic images and the coordinate points provided by thecompany Globeleq Mesoamerica Energy as aid, we did not find any place withsuperficial archeological presence; so we describe the results of theinspection below.

Start at Coordinate #116p 0473710UTM 1537909

Milestone marking the spot on the side of the paved road from Tegucigalpato Choluteca. On the wall, a mural that says “If you want good, report evil”may be read.

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Left margin of the southbound road Road cut on the right margin

Coordinate #2, point 11-01 C16p 0474097UTM 1538001

This point is located in a flat area with pine trees and scattered flagstones intheir natural state and sandy soil with little humidity


This point is identical to the previous one; the only difference being that it isnext to a stone wall in a north-south direction, in a flat area with sourcerock, flagstone in its natural state.

Here it is possible to notice the area where the aerogenerator will be installedas well as the stone wall mentioned.

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At this point, low vegetation with pine trees, not very humid, scatteredflagstone in their natural state, and source rock as land base may be noted.

Pasture land for livestock, very humid, swampy

Coordinate #5, point 11-04 CGPS = 11-04 D16p 0474536UTM 1537542

Point in a flat area with pine and oak trees, with poles for livestock, not veryswampy, close the wind metering tower


Point in a flat area with pine and oak trees, not swampy, located at about 40meters from the road from Nueva Arcadia to Mesa Grande on the left margin

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Here we have a more fertile soil with pine and oak trees at point 11-04D

Coordinate #7, point 11-06 CGPS = 11-0616p 0474915UTM 1537321

This point is located in a soccer field area, flat land with pine and oak treesaround it; on the south side, there are some houses and on the north, thehill slopes

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Coordinate #8, point 13-01 F16p 0476137UTM 1537997

Irregular terrain, flagstone hill, little vegetation, at about 800 meters from acommunity (La Cofradía, Santa Ana, Francisco Morazan)

At this rough flagstone (source rock) site aerogenerator 13-01F will beinstalled

Coordinate #9 point 13-02 F16p 0476288UTM 1537873

Land with bushes and oak trees, flat area with little water deposited by rainbetween the flagstones; it is part of the hill where 13-01 is located.

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Land on top of a hill, flat with bushes and oak trees; it is close to one of thewind metering towers; rocky terrain


Flat terrain on top of a hill; it was noticed that it has little earth with bushes,pine and oak trees; most of the wind park may be seen from here.

Most of the aerogenerators of phase one may be seen here.

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Land with little earth where pine and oak trees may be seen; flat rocky areawith rainwater deposited among the rocks


This is a flat area with pasture for cattle; it is also possible to see a new roadopened which was used to extract select material from a quarry some time inthe past.

Coordinate #1416p 0476122UTM 1539342

A land cut on a hill was noticed; it is on the access road to the quarry wherematerial was extracted and near the place where aerogenerator 7-03 will beinstalled.

Cut on the road to the quarry Material piled up on the quarry

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Coordinate #1516p 0474996UTM 1537251

Rocky terrain on the north side of the soccer field where aerogenerator 11-06 C will be installed; it is at the foot of the hill and there is a rock outcrop.

Coordinate #1616p 0474872UTM 1537216

Coordinate around point 11-06 C; flat area with pine and oak trees on thewest side of the soccer field.

West side of the coordinate close to point 11-06C

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Coordinate #1716p 0474802UTM 1537409

Coordinate between point 11-05 and 11-06; flat land with pine and oaktrees; terrain with little earth; the hill foot is made of source rock (flagstone)

Coordinate #1816p 0474840UTM 1537605

Coordinate around the place where aerogenerator 11-05 will be installed; flatterrain, rocky with pine and oak trees

Coordinate #1916p 0474859UTM 1537409

Coordinate around the place where aerogenerator 11-05 will be installed; flatland, rocky with pine and oak trees; a stone fence can be seen.

Coordinate #2016p 0474732UTM 1537315

Coordinate around the place where aerogenerator 11-05 will be installed;rock mounts in their natural state can be seen; it is located on the leftmargin of a dirt road going to Mesa Grande.

Coordinate #2116p 0474705UTM 1537574

Destroyed stone fence on the side of the road close to point 11-05; flat landwith pine and oak tree, not very humid

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Coordinate #2216p 0474452UTM 1537692

Flat terrain close to point 11-04; rock outcrops in their natural state withbushes and deposited rainwater; little swampy; it is located on the right sideof the dirt road to Mesa Grande

Flat area where the rock outcrops may be seen.

Coordinate #2316p 0474518UTM 1537477

Flat land near point 11-04 where a modern house foundation is located;there is a group of piled stone which belong to the house

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Coordinate #2416p 0474630UTM 1537397

Close to point 11-04; flat land, little swampy, with rock outcrops and pinetrees

Coordinate #2516p 0474401UTM 1537713

Coordinate close to aerogenerator 7-03, flat land with pasture for cattle andpine trees as well as flagstone outcrops

Coordinate #2616p 0474346UTM 1537546

Coordinate close to aerogenerator; flat land with grass and pine trees;flagstone outcrops and water deposited among the rocks

Coordinate #2716p 0474187UTM 1537576

Flat land with grass; rainwater stream; flagstone outcrops and pine and oaktrees

Coordinate #2816p 0474166UTM 1537730

Flat land between aerogenerator 11-03 and 11-02 with pine trees andpasture for cattle

Coordinate #2916p 0474291UTM 1537764

Around point 11-02, flat land with pine and oak trees, pasture for cattle;flagstone outcrops in their natural state

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Coordinate #3016p 0474086UTM 1537841

Point between 11-02 and 11-01, flat land with grass and pine trees andrainwater between the rocks

Coordinate #3116p 0474034UTM 1537983

Coordinate around 11-01; stone wall near the hill foot; stream; point on theleft side of the paved road to Choluteca

Coordinate #3216p 0474242UTM 1537011

Coordinate in a flat pasture land with grass; some modern houses may beseen on the northern and northeastern sides where the aerogenerator will beinstalled

Coordinate #3316p 04747015 [sic]UTM 1537711

Coordinate where a more than 20m tall cliff can be seen.

Wall near the installation site of 13-05F

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Coordinate #3416p 0474977UTM 1537289

Coordinate in the old road from Tegucigalpa to Choluteca; flat land with pineand oak trees

Coordinate #3516p 0476514UTM 1537429

Point around 13-04F and 13-05F; flat land with pine and oak trees; scatteredrocks in their natural state

Coordinate #3616p 0476448UTM 1537710

Stretch at the 13-03F site where the road is divided by two stone fences

Here we can see the stone walls

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Coordinate #3716p 0476470UTM 1537765

Stretch at point 13-03 with view of Valle de Sauce

Coordinate #3816p 0476439UTM 1537798

End of a stretch where grass was cut at 13-03F on top of the hill because ofthe height of the vegetation we did not have good visibility

Coordinate #3916p 0476346UTM 1537813

Coordinate between 13-03F and 13-02F; flat land with pine and oak trees,and pasture for cattle

Coordinate #4016p 0476218UTM 1537945

Coordinate between 13-02F and 13-01F; flat land with scattered rocks intheir natural state

Coordinate #4116p 0476065UTM 1537923

Coordinate near 13-01F; land with source rock (flagstone)

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Coordinate #4216p 0476283UTM 1537754

Coordinate in a forest of oak trees near point 13-02F, 13-03F, and 13-01F

Coordinate #4316p 0476838UTM 1537348

Coordinate around 13-05F; flat land with rock outcrops and pine and oaktrees

In this photo, we can see the rock outcrop

Coordinate #4416p 0476276UTM 1539242

Coordinate where select material for filling and building rocks was extracted

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Coordinate #4516p 0475990UTM 1539484

Point where grass was cut; natural rock mount (rock outcrop)

CONCLUSION

After visiting all the pasture lands with livestock roads, flat areas at the hillterraces, the terrace roads, the internal logger roads in the hills andmountains, empty plots and plots with houses at the foot of the hills… [sic]

We also walked along the margins of rainwater streams and garbagedumpsters seen along the road sides, terrains with modern constructions inthe communities near the hill foot.

Based on the results, from the point of view of the land, which are rockoutcrops in their natural state, the lack of water at the sites where thecompany Globeleq Mesoamerica Energy is going to intervene, we did not findany superficial archeological traces or beginnings.

It was concluded that nowhere in the whole terrain and construction area forthe roads and installation of wind power aerogenerators are there visiblearcheological, colonial, or historical sites. But it would be necessary to payattention to the earthworks.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Before starting earthworks, it will be necessary to notify IHAH to assignauthorized personnel to supervise the earthworks and construction.

2. This type of investigation should be implemented in all terrains whoseowners change their current use, either for agricultural activities,infrastructure construction, or others.

3. Constant monitoring with personnel assigned by IHAH should bemaintained during the road constructions and installation of the windpower aerogenerators in the project, since we observed several placesthat up to the time of the walk-through had not been modified andwhere historical or cultural findings in the subsoil may be damaged.

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4. The company Globeleq Mesoamerica Energy is advised to carry out thistype of investigation before any project, either building and expandinga road or installing new wind power aerogenerators inside and outsidepopulated areas.

Santiago Escobar-MoralesIHAH Archeology Technician

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