Don Zeferino Ortega (2015, 2016)

Better known as “Don Zefe,” he is the local ceramist of the project with over 50 years of experience. Don Zefe began working on the first excavations in the area from 1963 to 1967 with Dr. Miller and Dr. Cohen. Later he joined projects in different regions of the country and has worked with both Mexican and international researchers (Japan, U.S.A., Canada, etc.). He tells us how fortunate he feels by collaborating with them.

He has a reserved personality and can always be seen wearing his navy-blue lab coat, opening up bags of materials and carefully distributing the ceramic sherds into nice, discreet piles. He takes each sherd and meticulously reviews it next to a nearby light source. Most of the time he is standing and carefully analyzing each of the sherds, performing his work in silence.