Excavations began first at Geding Suro, where three separate groups of trenches
or "operations" were dug. Operation A consisted of 7 trenches in and around the
Geding Suro temple complex, covering a total area of 27 mil. The purpose of these
trenches was to obtain information relevant to the absolute and relative dating of
the various structures and further to determine whether, as some believed, significantly
earlier structures existed within or beneath the 16th-17th century complex.