[Aztlan] Reconstructing the Caracol

[Kevin Cain]

Hello, Listeros,

As some of the regular readers to Azlan may know, a non-profit team in 
California is working of representations of Chichén Itzá for an NSF film 
titled "Maya Skies".  Using multi-modal field capture techniques, we 
gathered a great deal of data in situ and are now involved in developing 
reconstructions of several monuments.  We've been helped enormously in 
our process by Eduardo Perez and Peter Schmidt at the time of our field 
work in 2007-2008, and the subsequent work of our lead archaeologist at 
INSIGHT Philippe Martinez and many scholars who have been gracious 
enough to contribute their perspectives. 
For a view of our existing documentation, please see the evolving 
archive available here:  http://archive.cyark.org/chichen-itza-map.  A 
great deal of additional material is being organized and will be 
published after the Maya Skies project is complete.

We'd welcome your helpful suggestions to improve our work.

Below is an unordered list of questions that comes from our team members 
currently working on a reconstructed view of the Caracol:  Kevin Cain, 
Gabriele Gennaro, Todd Gill, Philippe Martinez, Jun Nagaoka, and Lubov 
Ovtchinikova.  Any input, or questions, are most welcome.  I've set up a 
forum entry with these questions noted at our project web site:  
http://www.mayaskies.net/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=85

To add your thoughts, please follow the link (no login required) and 
post any notes on the forum post named 'Reconstructing the Caracol'.

- We'd like to better understand the structure of the figurative friezes 
that were oriented in the upper area of the monument along cardinal 
directions (for instance, see page 16, 
http://www.studiofalken.com/Absolutlely%20Amazing%202.4.pdf, "Absolutely 
Amazing:  the Idea of the Caracol" [Falken]).  Ruppert shows a line 
drawing of one possible reconstruction.  Proskouriakoff differs, showing 
another.  Both versions lack much detail.  Does a better reference 
exist?  A superficial similarity can be seen between the figurative line 
drawing and the figure in situ in the Las Monjas "nunnery" 
(http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/17/20517-004-45323A3B.jpg); 
is this a legitimate parallel to use for our reconstruction of the 
figures now lost at the Caracol?
- Polychrome reconstruction -- we are familiar with Totten's published 
reconstructions for painted structures at Chichen.  This is the volume 
to which is conspicuously attached an elaborate hand-written note from 
Thompson approving the colors depicted.  What level of confidence do 
current researchers have in these colors?
- Stucco/plaster details -- The notes in the original publication record 
for the Caracol indicate multiple coats of lime on the exterior.  The 
plaster/stucco color shown in Totten are clearly more emphatic than 
realistic, with washes of pink and amber added for compositional 
effect.  Are there any other reconstructions we should look for?  What 
parallels can be used from other Maya structures where relatively large 
areas of plaster or stucco application persist in situ?
- The small structure in front of the Caracol base (in Rupert, 3C15 -- 
Caracol South Annex / Sweat House) is something of a mystery for us.  We 
have attempted to recreate the structure using schematic details we can 
infer from columns in situ, but have noted a lack of symmetry in the 
actual column placement today that is not observed in reconstructions, 
for instance Proskouriakoff's simple version.  Have there been any 
studies made for reconstructions of this structure?
- Where do seated figures (such as 
http://via.lib.harvard.edu/via/deliver/chunkDisplay?_collection=via&inoID=1519&recordNumber=13&chunkNumber=1&method=view&image=full&startChunkNum=1&endChunkNum=1&totalChunkCount=1) 
fit in the overall monument?  What about objects like the beautiful, 
colorful mosaic disk?
- Roof ornaments.  We have built ornaments using Yale archive images, 
using arbitrary spacing when it comes to placing them on the roof.  Are 
there any notes of placement and scale we should observe?
- For the Caracol "stela", we are using a reference from the XXVIIth 
Maya Hieroglyphic Forum at Texas (2003).  Ruppert proposes two 
alignments, illustrated by Ian Graham.  Proskouriakoff presents disc as 
parallel to the ground in her reconstruction, which seems the preferred 
approach.  Is this correct?  What about the placement and alignment of 
the fragmentary rectangular stela behind the disc?

Thanks,

-Kevin Cain
Director, INSIGHT