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FAMSI © 2005: William M. Ringle |
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The 2001 Field Season of the Labná-Kiuic Archaeological Project
Introduction It has been obvious since the pioneering expeditions of John Lloyd Stephens in 1839-41 and again in 1842 (Stephens 1969, 1962), and those of Teobert Maler between 1886-1893 (Maler 1895, 1997), that the architecture of the Puuc region constitutes a distinct subdivision of ancient Maya artistic expression. Later reconnaissance, particularly by the Carnegie Institution during the 1930s and '40s (Pollock 1980) and the Atlas Arqueológica de Yucatán (Garza T. and Kurjack 1980) during the 1970s and '80s, demonstrated that this regional character is also reflected in its settlement patterns, perhaps not surprisingly given the distinctive terrain of the region. One of the most noticeable differences is the absence of large Rank 1 and 2 sites and conversely, the dense packing of smaller Rank 3 sites, of which Labná and Kiuic are fairly typical representatives. This is in reality an oversimplification of both the landscape and the settlement patterns of the Puuc (Figure 1). The edge of the Puuc is delimited by a fault line, behind which rises the narrow escarpment called the Sierrita de Ticul (Duch Gary 1988). At the eastern extreme of the Puuc is the Valle de Santa Elena, a wedge-shaped area of generally low relief and deep soils. Today this is a region of high agricultural productivity, and it is thus not surprising that the largest sites of the Puuc – Uxmal, Nohpat, Kabáh, etc. – fall within or along the borders of this feature. As in the northern plains, these large sites seem to have dictated a fairly dispersed distribution of smaller sites. In contrast, in the Bolonchén District to the east and south, cone karst hills predominate and Rank 3 site density is high (Figure 2). Between these hills are "flats" of relatively deep soils (Figure 3, shown above), but of limited extension, no doubt accounting in part for the scarcity of larger sites. Dunning (1992) has demonstrated how soil formation in this region is a direct result of topography, ranging from the thin tzekel soils on the upper slopes of cone karst hills to deeper clayey kancabal soils in the flats. In areas of intermediate slope, a variety of soils may develop, often within close proximity to one another. This combination of microenvironments, coupled with larger expanses of kancabal soils, offered a variety of opportunities for ancient agriculturalists, leading some modern commentators to characterize the Puuc as the "breadbasket of Yucatán" (e.g., Barrera R. 1979). Yet was this true for the Bolonchén District? GIS modeling of the terrain using digital elevation data from I.N.E.G.I. casts some doubt on this reconstruction. If land is classified by slope as a proxy for soil types, and if Thiessen polygons are used as a first approximation of the territory of Rank 2 and 3 sites, it can be seen that the acreage of prime flats varies considerably (Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6, and Figure 7, Gallareta N. and Ringle 2002), yet in no case would seem to provide a significant surplus above that necessary for the estimated populations of Dunning (1992). Despite this, these sites show an elevated level of prosperity as reflected by investment in vaulted architecture. We must at least therefore entertain the idea that some of this wealth derived from resources other than the export of foodstuffs. During the 1980s, research centered around Sayil (Sabloff and Tourtellot 1991), in conjunction with the related trail survey of Nicholas Dunning (1992), considerably advanced our understanding of Bolonchén archaeology. This was the first extensive settlement study of any site in the Bolonchén District, eventually covering an estimated 55% of the entire site. Dunning's work provided a regional context within which to situate Sayil. In addition to the soil studies mentioned above, he briefly visited over 100 sites, recording the location and setting of each and range of architectural features. Since the work at Sayil, projects have been initiated at nearby Chac (e.g., Smyth et al. 1998, 2003), and Labná (Gallareta 2003), as well as a number of other INAH salvage and consolidation projects. 1 Mention should also be made of earlier work at Xkukican (DeJarnette et al. 1966) which was, however, only published in report form, and the extensive architectural survey made by George F. Andrews (1986, 1995), which provided a valuable supplement to Pollock's earlier work. We initiated the Proyecto Labná-Kiuic in 2000 to address issues we felt had not received sufficient attention, despite recent advances in methods and results. First, we still had a poor understanding of Puuc chronology and ceramics. A common assumption was, and continues to be, that regional settlement was almost wholly a Late-Terminal Classic phenomenon. The Sayil Project, for instance, made the explicit assumption that Sayil was a single component site (Sabloff and Tourtellot 1991: 4), an assumption that has only recently been called into question by Smyth's work at Chac. Very few detailed studies of Puuc ceramic sequences were available as recently as 2000, the major exception being Varela's (1992, 1998) work at Oxkintok. 2 The location of that site just beyond the tip of the Puuc, however, made it a questionable representative of the Bolonchén sites. It was not only the initial occupation of the Puuc that was unclear, but also the nature of its abandonment. How rapid had it been, and how complete was the absence of Postclassic settlement? Another issue was that despite the excellent regional work done by the Atlas project and by Dunning, and despite the detailed settlement survey of Sayil, we felt that settlement dynamics could only be understood by a more detailed understanding of the contexts within which these centers arose. If these sites were major nodes in networks of information, energy, and material exchange, it was necessary to understand the hinterlands as well. Dunning's work was necessarily limited by the vast area he covered and the limited resources at his disposal. We envisioned instead a more focused landscape study encompassing just a few sites, together with the intervening hinterlands. Additionally, we felt that the excellent beginning made by Dunning and other members of the Sayil project in the study of Puuc cultural ecology could fruitfully be expanded and tested within a focused regional study. If soils were distributed as Dunning suggested, how was the population distributed so as to maximize their utilization? Were houses concentrated in the known centers, in which case regional population estimates would simply be the sum of site populations, or was there also a dispersed agricultural settlement, in which case population estimates might be considerably higher. And if the latter case was true, was housing located within fields or placed on the peripheries of kancabal expanses, suggesting a more intensive and managed system of cultivation? Here again we felt the need for more detailed work, for there has been no systematic survey of the hills themselves, the most prominent feature of the landscape. The Xculoc regional project (Michelet et al. 2000) had surveyed a 100-m-wide transect between Chunhuhub, Xcochkax, and Xculoc, a total distance of about 5 km, but found relatively little within this transect, suggesting the first position above might be valid. A final issue is that of political organization. Despite the proximity of Puuc centers to each other, very little evidence of defensive works has been discovered over the years, with the possible exception of the wall around Uxmal. Militaristic iconography is fairly common, but the overall prosperity of the region bespeaks some ability to resolve conflicts besides outright warfare. Were each of the centers of the Puuc independent polities, miniature "city states," as Kurjack (1994:314) argues, or were some or all beholden to one or more of the larger sites? Dunning and Kowalski (1994, see also Kowalski 1994) provide the most recent brief arguing for Uxmal as a regional capital, but what sorts of archaeological evidence from putative subject sites might be marshaled to support or refute such assertions?
We chose to address these issues through study of a region whose two extremes were the well-known site of Labná and the less familiar Kiuic (Figure 8). During the nineteenth century, both sites had been visited by Stephens and Catherwood (Stephens 1962:2:29-52, Figure 9, shown above, Figure 10 and Figure 11, shown below) and by Maler (1997), and Labná had been partially mapped and "excavated" by Edward Thompson. More recently, Gallareta has carried out settlement survey of the site core and several outlying centers since the early 1990s. Excavations included both domestic and public architecture, and so overall provided a ready comparison with data we could hope to recover. Kiuic, however, had never been properly mapped and, apart from some consolidation of buildings on the point of collapse, had never been excavated. In addition, another site, Huntichmul, lay roughly between them, only 8 km from each. Thus, issues of community and regional complexity could in effect be studied in three dimensions, rather than the single one.
The questions raised above are being addressed at three levels of analysis. Our regional study is being directed by Gallareta. As a prelude, during 2000, project archaeologist Ramón Carrillo S. surveyed a 100-m-wide, 10-km-long transect along a dirt road between Labná and Kiuic. In contrast to the Xculoc project, he found abundant evidence of intersite settlement and also suggestive evidence for the rather close management of housing placement. The second subphase of the project, directed by Ringle, is concerned with the internal organization of the other two major centers, Kiuic and Huntichmul. Here the concerns are the traditional ones of settlement pattern studies: determine site limits and the internal distribution of the population, distinguish possible functional areas or structures with the urban limits, and if possible determine the evolution of community size and organization. In the Puuc, this is facilitated by the visibility of surface remains and by changes in architectural styles sometimes not visible in the associated pottery. Finally, we also wish to address issues at the level of individual households or structures. Bey, who directs this third subphase, has elected to concentrate work on the Grupo Yaxché for the first few seasons. This group was selected for several reasons. It appears to include structures that were both domestic and public. It was also apparent from surface remains that certain of the structures were among the earliest masonry structures exposed to view, and was characterized by the use of slab vaults. Therefore, there was the promise that even earlier remains might be located beneath the final construction stages. Since FAMSI funds were directed toward support of the Kiuic settlement survey, the majority of the remainder of this report will concern that aspect of the project. However, brief summaries of the other two subphases are included for the interested reader.
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