The 2001 Field Season of the Labná-Kiuic Archaeological Project
With contributions by:  Tomás Gallareta Negrón (INAH-Centro Yucatán) and George J. Bey III (Millsaps College)

The Labná-Kiuic Intersite Survey
(Tomás Gallareta Negrón and Ramón Carrillo Sánchez)

The third phase of the 2001 season consisted of the mapping of three intersite samples, covering a total of just over 13 ha, and including six architectural groups in three different types of terrain characteristic of the region (Figure 36). The choice of these samples derived from the results of our trail survey of the dirt road connecting Kiuic and Labná in 2000.  The samples were intended to provide us with a more ample picture of settlement so as to better judge the relationship between terrain and its pre-hispanic utilization.

Sample 1 covered the better part of a large hill and includes most of what we refer to as a "cerro residencial," or "residential hill," a form of settlement characteristic of the peripheries of urban zones such as Sayil, Labná, Kiuic, etc.  Sample 2 extends across an undulating zone "flats" interspersed with low bedrock outcrops, 5-6 m in height (altillos). Our final sample (the "Paso del Macho") mostly encompasses a zone of flats, but here bordered by steep hill slopes. Each sample will be briefly described, followed by our general conclusions.

Sample 1:  El cerro residencial "Escalera al Cielo"

During 2000, we identified a substantial group of vaulted buildings on top of a hill we dubbed the "Escalera al Cielo." The discovery in 2001 of another group of vaulted architecture on a neighboring crest of that same hill (Figure 37), suggests a strong relationship between the altitude of a group and the social position of its occupants. The existence of two groups with a high investment in architecture with respect to platforms further downslope, shows that this gradation of status operates even within cerros residenciales. Similarly, a seasonal drainage runs from Group 1 at the summit to a haltún (a small, semi-permanent rock pool) at the base of the hill (Figure 38, shown below), suggesting the occupants of the largest group had preferential access to this source of water.

Click on image to enlarge.

The presence of several smaller platforms and frame braces, of minimal energy investment, on the hill slopes and lower spurs of the hill, are of particular interest in being possible production loci, since they are also associated with what may have been quarries and storage areas. It should be noted here we encountered no evidence of terracing or other sort of agricultural investment in our reconnoitering of the hill.

Finally, the presence of two groups with formal (vaulted) architecture, one a palace-like complex, and the other more domestic in appearance, suggests a division of function between these two close neighbors. The first may have had an administrative or political function, given the formal restricted access to its interior, while the other seems to have been primarily residential, as reflected in the presence of numerous chultuns, metates, and perishable outbuildings.

Sample 2:  Huntichmul

In this area of detailed mapping, contour mapping and 3-D modeling of the terrain proved very illuminating. Figure 39 clearly shows that the "flats" which surround the principal architectonic group and the urban zone in general are completely free of habitation. The nearest structures or platform groups are located on altillos of roughly 5-6 m in height and are of masonry, indicative of the relatively high status its occupants must have enjoyed. This zone consists of an intermediate area of flats, without structures, between the architectonic nucleus and the high status residences on the altillos which border it, suggesting that the intermediate area of flats must have served agricultural ends. The proximity of the chief buildings suggests that these spaces must have been under the control of the ruling elite; in other words, they give the impression of having been fields whose production was directed toward support of the local elites.

Sample 3:  El Paso del Macho

Although we at first thought that the mounds comprising the main group of Sample 3 (Figure 40) must have been the locus of some sort of production, detailed mapping, supplemented with surface collections consisting almost wholly of Preclassic types and lacking in common Late Classic types such as slatewares, unexpectedly demonstrated an occupation much earlier than the commonly supposed onset of settlement in the Puuc. This sample unequivocally shows the existence of substantial permanent architecture from the Middle or Late Preclassic onward, and interestingly in the flats, which later seem to have been dedicated solely to agriculture.

The additional presence of a possible ballcourt, similar in form, location, and size to those reported by the Costa Maya Project in the NW corner of Yucatán, suggests that pre-hispanic occupation of the peninsula during this period was much more extensive than has heretofore been supposed, and that this occupation was fairly homogenous, at least with regard to ceramics, architecture, and probably socio-political organization (as reflected in the presence of ballcourts). These data force us to reconsider our current opinions concerning the colonization and development of the northern lowlands. We can also conclude that the surveys conducted by Robles and Andrews (2000) in the southwest portion of the state of Yucatán, and our own work in the Bolonchén District, which place particular emphasis on the registry of minor sites without evidence of formal or monumental architecture, is a research strategy with much to offer regarding the understanding of ancient Maya settlement.

Conclusions:  Relief, Water, and Social Status

The three samples provide concrete evidence of the close relationship between these variables, particularly in the case of the "Escalera al Cielo" residential hill. All of the masonry buildings are built on the highest elevations available in each sample, that is, on altillos or on hill summits. At the other end of the spectrum, lesser structures tend to be built at lower elevations, or are clearly outbuildings or support staff of masonry structures.

Although the three samples include only a single natural source of water, the haltún at the base of the Sample 1 cerro associated with a high-status architectural complex, the argument that status and water were also related is supported by the higher incidence of artificially constructed chultuns on platforms with masonry or vaulted architecture. The only chultun platform found in our sample was found just a short distance from the most elaborate platform of Sample 2.  A brief reconnaissance of the aguada discovered in 2000 failed to locate neighboring structures, however. It should also be mentioned that no water sources of any kind were identified at the Preclassic site of Paso del Macho (Sample 3). The manner in which this early population obtained water remains a mystery yet to be solved.

With regard to the relationship between social stratification and distance to principal occupation centers, during the 2000 season we identified only five groups with masonry construction, which we argue is a useful indicator of relatively high social status. The three samples surveyed during 2001 added to the number of these groups, although in part this was due to our choice of sample zones already having masonry structures within them. The presence of more habitational groups with vaults in the vicinity of Kiuic and Huntichmul reinforces our conclusions in respect to the strong positive relationship between population density and architectural elaboration.

The general absence of habitation in the flats of our intersite survey has supplied further evidence in support of our hypothesis that these must have served as areas of extensive cultivation. Those open areas close to urban cores or even within them, gardens and fruit trees were probably the primary forms of cultivation, while further afield, near zones in which household groups were placed on hilltops, more extensive forms of cultivation may have been practiced.

Nevertheless, substantial evidence for intersite occupation was found. On the basis of the Labná-Kiuic road survey settlement density, and using a figure of 4.5 inhabitants per nuclear family, we estimated intersite population to have been on the order of 250 people per km². The enlarged settlement sample from this year, using the same conventions, yields the following results: Sample 1 has a density of 4 residential nuclei, although one of these was a composite group with three patios. Considering that the area mapped was approximately 5 ha, the minimum density must therefore have been about 360 per km², although considering that this sample included a large number of rooms besides the patios, this figure may have reached as high as 540 per km². Sample 2 contains four settlement nuclei in an area of 4 ha.  These result in an estimated 450 per km². The third sample is more difficult, since it does not contain the same types of structures (no house foundations were noted, for instance). If we are looking at a former center of some sort, the majority, if not all, of the structures may have had other than a residential function. Because of this, we refrain from making an estimate for this unit.

In the two analyzed cases, the density is significantly higher than the estimate based on the total number of settlement units registered last season. Two comments are necessary. First, Sample 1 was chosen because of the architectural group found within it, and so had an increased likelihood of more structures. Second, both localities (Samples 1 and 2) are located near important urban centers (Kiuic and Huntichmul respectively) which reinforces our contention that areas relatively near population centers have a higher population density, and that population decreases with increasing distance from urban centers. They may therefore be expected to yield a higher-than-average settlement density.

Previous Page  |  Table of Contents  |  Next Page

Return to top of page