The Mapping of Ix Chel: A Terminal Classic Secondary Maya Site on the Northern Vaca Plateau, Belize, Central America

Transcription

1 The Mapping of Ix Chel: A Terminal Classic Secondary Maya Site on the Northern Vaca Plateau, Belize, Central America Pierre Robert Colas Vanderbilt University Katja Christiane Stengert Universität Hamburg December 30, 2006 Ulrich Wölfel Universität Hamburg 1 Introduction Fifteen years of field research conducted by the Northern Vaca Plateau Geoarchaeological Project headed by Dr. Philip Reeder from the University of South Florida on the Northern Vaca Plateau in Belize, Central America, have yielded a wealth of information about Classic Maya culture, especially about the usage of caves (Reeder et al. 1998; Colas et al. 2000). Since the initial project s goal was to investigate the geological pattern of caves, not much attention was paid to archaeological remains, although the information was noted. As evidence for cave use began to augment, 1998 archaeological based research was conducted in the project (Colas et al. 2000). In the course of further reconnaissance for caves a large archaeological surface site was discovered in the study area in 1994, which was subsequently termed Ix Chel by the project. Since the project s research questions were focused on caves, work was not undertaken at the site, except for the mapping of profiles of looter s trenches (Colas 2001). The field season 2006 was the first dedicated solely to the surface site of Ix Chel. Since the field season was very short, the only goal was to map the core site in as much detail as possible and to determine the extension of its major structures and features. This map is designed to help focus on more specific research questions in the future to be conducted at Ix Chel. The mapping was conducted by Pierre Robert Colas, Katja Christiane Stengert, and Ulrich Wölfel. Additionally two workers from the Village of San Antonio (Cayo), Javier Mai and Erodito Mai, assisted by chopping sight lines and measuring heights and lenghts of structures. 2 Methods The field session in 2006 comprised 10 days. Due to this short time frame, some structures and groups might have been overlooked, because lack of time did not permit a detailed survey of the surrounding environments. At first, sight lines were chopped and the buildings were cleared of vegetation to facilitate the identification of corners and the general layout of the architecture. After setting up a base line on the main plaza in front of Structure A I, measurements of the buildings on the main plaza were begun, using the base line as reference to control the distances. 1

2 Two methods were subsequently employed in the process of mapping Ix Chel. One was horizontal mapping, the other was vertical mapping of heights. Concerning horizontal mapping, in lack of funding, we have been unable to map the site of Ix Chel with a total station, but measured with tape and compass. Three persons at a time were occupied, two with measuring, one with noting the raw data and converting it onto a sketch map. A second method was the measuring of heights of buildings. This was conducted by a laser-level instrument, shooting points at prominent landmarks (e.g. trees) at the plaza level. The heights at the trees were measured and thus a rather precise measurement of building height was achieved. With this method all structures including the causeway were measured, and several height measurements on different points and both sides were taken. Furthermore the height of the mountain was determined, by measuring each terrace on the north side of the mountain. In Germany the raw data was converted into a 3-D model using Blender (see Fig. 1), from which a map was produced with XFig. The map is shown in Fig. 2. Figure 1: Ix Chel, 3-D View of Groups A and C 3 Description of the Site The archaeological site of Ix Chel was discovered in 1994 by the Geoarchaeological Project headed by Dr. Philip Reeder of the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The site is situated on the Northern Vaca Plateau in Belize approximately 13.8 km north of Caracol and near the Guatemalan border (GPS: degrees West longitude, degrees North latitude). Ix Chel exhibits a north-south direction: the core site measures from north to south approximately 441 m and from east to west approximately 111 m. The site comprises three groups. The 2

3 Ix Chel Northern Vaca Plateau, Belize, C.A. Mapping: March 2006 Project: NVPGAP Group B N 0 50m Group A Group C Figure 2: Map of Ix Chel 3

4 northern group is the smallest one and contains four buildings. It is dominated by a small limestone escarpment. To the south of it we found a large causeway (Sak Beh), which connects it with the major group. This group includes eleven buildings and the main plaza. Again in the south of this group lies a mountain, that exhibits a flattened top with sixteen buildings. Furthermore we found a single structure on the east side of the causeway. With its height of 7.4 m it is among the highest structures of Ix Chel. The inhabitants of Ix Chel incorporated natural features in their buildings possibly to facilitate the construction work. This corresponds with the fact that stones used for the buildings were not cut and that construction and architecture of the buildings in general looked not as fine as at other nearby sites. 3.1 Main Group (Group A) The main plaza (see Fig. 3), comprises eleven structures (A I A XI). Three of them, structures A-III, A-V and A-VII have a pyramidal form. With heights of 4.9 m, 9.85 m and 6.1 m, they are the largest structures in this group besides Structure A-I, with a height of 7.4 m and a base line of m. All four structures frame the main plaza in the north, east, south and west of the plaza. We believe that the buildings framing the main plaza and the smaller plaza in the north opened had stairways leading onto these plazas. Very likely this group formed the center of the site, together with Group C on top of the mountain to the south, while the northern group might have been important but not part of this centre, since it is distanced from the core area. The structures of the main plaza reflect common features of other sites in the Maya lowlands. Structure A I in the eastern part of the main plaza has a base line which runs more or less from north to south and comprises three pyramidal parts. The middle part is set back against the flanking parts on both sides. Between all three pyramidal parts there are lower parts. Together with Structure A V in the west on the opposite side of the plaza it is reminiscent of an E-group. E-groups are special arrangements of three buildings on one side and one on the opposite side, which the Maya used to observe the rising sun behind the middle temple on March 21, which is the vernal equinox or on September 23 (autumnal equinox). On June 21 (summer solstice) the sun would rise behind the northernmost front corner of the three structure arrangement, and on the winter solstice, on December 21, it would rise behind the southernmost front corner of the arrangement. By that construction the Maya marked the longest and shortest day of the year, as well as the two intermediate positions, when day and night had the same length (Sharer 1994: 181). Whether Structure A I in conjunction with Structure A V at Ix Chel served as a classical E-group was not possible to confirm at this point. In the south-east of the main group a small ballcourt (Structure A II, length 12.2 width 5.2 height of the mounts 2.55 and 1.7 m) was found between Structure A I and Group C. The playing field shows the form of a stretched H and is not limited by walls or other architectural features at the ends. The walls are relatively steep. No ballcourt markers were found. As not every classic Maya site has a ballcourt this could be a sign of relative importance and of the fact that the inhabitants of Ix Chel believed in classical myths and re-enactments thereof. Furthermore there are the smaller buildings A IV, A VII, A VIII, A IX, A X and A XI. They have heights less than 2 m. Structures A VIII and A VII seem to be attached to the sides of pyramidal structures. Unfortunately the surfaces of these structures were heavily destroyed by 4

5 N Ix Chel Group A A XI 0 50m A IX A VIII A VI A VII A X A V A I A IV A III A II Figure 3: Ix Chel, Main Group trees, so it is currently not possible to determine the purpose of these buildings. Structures A IV, A VIII and A IX are built by using the natural environment. They exhibit constructed facades which open up into the direction of the Structures A V and A X. On the opposite side they do not have a back because they melt into the natural hill behind them. Structure A XI is interesting because it is standing directly right to the beginning of the causeway. Perhaps it was associated with it, enabling control of who and what passed the causeway. 3.2 Southern Group (Group C) To the south of the main plaza there is a hill with an altitude of approximately 15.2 m, the highest point of the site. This hill has a roughly north-south-axis and is another natural feature the Maya incorporated into their architecture. At the point where the hill meets the main group behind Structure A III, parts of stairs were discovered which lead up the terraced hill. These terraces could be found only at this side of the hill. The other side of the hill seems to have been left unmodified. This could mean that the hill was made to imitate monumental architecture at its front, whereas it looked like a normal hill from behind (see Fig. 4). The top of the hill was flattened artificially into two levels forming a front part of the hilltop that was a little flatter (approximately cm) than the back part. Between Structures C V 5

6 N Ix Chel Group C C I C XVI 0 50m C XV C II C III C XIV C XIII C IV C V C XII C XI C VI C VII C VIII C X C IX Figure 4: Ix Chel, Southern Group and C XII there is a small stair to bridge that difference in level. We found approximately fourteen structures on top of the hill, but their proximity prohibits the determination of exact lines. The buildings are much smaller than the buildings of the main group and there is only one pyramidal structure. The space which was created by flattening the top is used well, in that the backsides of the buildings match the end of the flattened space. Nevertheless the Maya got into a lack of space which might be the reason that the buildings on the southern side of the hill do not have a rectangular but a trapezium form that follows the hill (Structures C VIII and C X). Due to the fact that Group C is connected with the main group by stairs, we think that both groups are closely associated. Furthermore the hill could have been seen as monumental architecture that normally occurs in the centre of sites. 3.3 Northern Group (Group B) The main group is connected with the much smaller group in the north by a 143 m long causeway, a so-called Sak Beh (Stuart 2006), see Fig. 5. 6

7 B V B IV Altar 1 B III B II B I N Ix Chel Group B 0 50m Figure 5: Ix Chel, Northern Group with Causeway Groups A and C lie on a slightly higher terrain than the Sak Beh itself which runs in a northsouth direction. The stones limiting the Sak Beh were still in situ in most parts of the causeway (Fig. 5, right) giving a good orientation for measurement. Approximately 10 m before the northern end of the causeway there is a 1 m higher platform and on the right side there is a small half-round terrace (Structure B I). As Structure L near the main plaza, this structure could have been a controlling point providing an overview of who and what is coming over the Sak Beh from one group to the other. In the northern group which is the smallest of Ix Chel we found two small structures (B II and B III) and two bigger structures (B IV and B V). These bigger structures have the form of an L. As mentioned above they lie on an artificial platform. In the north, behind Structure B IV, there is an escarpment about 10 m falling down steep. This means that the group is limited by these features. In front of Structure B III we detected what might have been a stela-altar-complex (Fig. 6). In front of an obviously cut stone in the form of a stela was a round stone, which was cut, too, and could have functioned as associated altar. The surfaces of both monuments were too eroded to reveal whether they had been carved. We do not know the function of this group, but estimated because of the escarpment that it could have been used as a quarry by the Maya. The possible stela-altar-complex suggests that the group was very important for the site, maybe even with ritual character. 7

8 Figure 6: Ix Chel, Stela and Altar at Structure B III 3.4 Structure D Outside these three groups we did not find any large structures apart from Structure D. Structure D is situated in the east of the Sak Beh and measures 7.4 m in height with a baseline of 50 m, which means that it is long and slim. With 7.4 m it is among the highest buildings of Ix Chel. The structure (Fig. 7) is well preserved but in the present state did not reveal its function. 4 Discussion The knowledge based on archaeological research of the site of Ix Chel is extremely slim, since no excavations were conducted, but only surface observation, such as drawing surface ceramics, mapping and drawing profiles of looter s trenches. Despite this lack of information basic features of the site of Ix Chel need to be pointed out. The profiles of looter s trenches revealed, that most of the buildings consist of a single construction phase, indicating a rather short occupation of the site (see Colas 2001), although the possibility cannot be ruled out, that later groups of hunters used the site as a dwelling point without further proceeding with monumental construction. However, the major occupation phase associated with the monumental buildings does not seem to extend more than years, based on our limited knowledge of today. Furthermore, the incorporation of the hill into monumental architecture and thus the appearance of a massive structure rising more than 20 meters above the main plaza is an indication of imitation 8

9 N Ix Chel Structure D 0 10m Figure 7: Ix Chel, Structure D of monumental architecture at other sites often conducted in the Terminal Classic. The Sak Beh is far less well constructed than other causeways known. It seems is was hastily and very fast constructed in order to connect a minor dwelling that might have had ritual functions due to the altar and the stela with the main plaza. The stones are not cut, simply placed not even in straight line. The density of buildings consisting of a single construction phase, the crudity of the small Sak Beh, the incorporation of a hill into monumental architecture, and the lack of further large dwellings outside the immediate core area suggest to us a rather hasty short occupation. The time of this occupation is not certain, however, the surface ceramics investigated are all Late Classic. Caves in the vicinity of Ix Chel have provided a large amount of archaeological information (Colas et al. 2000; Colas and Wölfel 2005) that hint to a Late to Terminal Classic occupation of the entire area. We believe that Ix Chel is within this time of occupation. It seems like Ix Chel fulfilled a role of a site of migrating people at the end of the Classic Maya area. As observed by other scholars (Boot 2005: ), the Late to Terminal Classic is a time of migrating groups in the Maya area, and especially the relatively low occupied Belize served as an area were migrating groups settled in the Terminal Classic before their sites were abandoned and left to relatively few groups of hunters. We therefore believe that Ix Chel is a rather large secondary site of the Terminal Classic serving migrating groups as a dwelling for some two to three generations before they eventually had to abandon their site as well. Further archaeological research at Ix Chel might provide insights into this fascinating episode of Classic Maya culture. 9

10 References Boot, Eric 2005 Continuity and Change in Text and Image at Chichén Itzá, Yucat án, Mexico A Study of the Inscriptions, Iconography, and Architecture at a Late Classic to Early Postclassic Maya Site. Leiden: CNWS Publications. Colas, Pierre Robert 2001 Mapping of Looters Trenches at the Site of Ix Chel, Northern Vaca Plateau, Belize, Central America. In: P. Reeder, ed. Annual Report on Multidisciplinary Research Activities on the Northern Vaca Plateau. Belmopan: Department of Archaeology. Colas, Pierre Robert, Philip Reeder, and James Webster 2000 The Ritual Use of a Cave on the Northern Vaca Plateau, Belize, Central America. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, 62(1):3 10. Colas, Pierre Robert and Ulrich Wölfel 2005 Preliminary Analysis of the Ceramics from Ch en P ix, Unit 3, Northern Vaca Plateau, Belize, Central America. In: P. Reeder, ed. Annual Report on Multidisciplinary Research Activities on the Vaca Plateau for Belmopan: Institute of Archaeology. Reeder, Philip, James Brady, and James Webster 1998 Geoarchaeological Investigations on the Northern Vaca Plateau, Belize. Mexicon, XX(2): Sharer, Robert J The Ancient Maya. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Stuart, David 2006 The Inscribed Markers of the Coba-Yaxuna Causeway and the Glyph for Sakbih. published at Mesoweb: 10