Kulubá Archaeological Project 2001 Field Season
Yokat
UTM Coordinates: N2327270, E414063
Distance to Kulubá: 8.05km at 284º
The previously unregistered site of Yokat is found 2km east of the town of Tixcancal (Figure 1.2). It is accessed by taking the dirt road due east from the zocalo in Tixcancal; the ruins can be seen on the north side of the road.
At the time of our visit, Yokat was found within a ranch that was quite grown over. Corn was waist-high throughout the parcel we mapped. Brush covered many of the larger mounds so we hired a small crew of 5 workers from Tixcancal to help us clear off structures. Like Yun Ak, Yokat appears to have had a small support population. Our mapping coverage extended over 100m to the area south and west of the site center without finding any structures (Figure 5.1).
Click on image to enlarge
A cenote found 125m SE of the main civic structure was undoubtedly the primary source of water for the inhabitants of Yokat (Plate 5.1). Its mouth is elliptical in shape, measuring 25m E-W and 44m N-S. A steep but useable trail down the south side of the cenote allowed us to take a point at the water table; this exercise showed that it has an average depth of 16m from the ground surface.
Structure Descriptions
Structure 1
Structure 1 is the main civic structure at Yokat. It is a substantial truncated pyramid 5.5m in height with a nearly perfect square base: 35.6m E-W × 34.6m N-S. The structure appears to have rounded or beveled corners, as the rubble slump from each side does not meet at right angles. No intact architectural features such as retaining walls or stairways were noted at the base or on the slope of the structure. The upper surface of the structure is 16.4m E-W × 13.4m N-S and features an undulating surface, the result of collapsed superstructures and looting. The northwest and southeast quadrants of the upper surface area are lower than the southwest and northeast areas. Unfortunately, no in situ architecture remains on the structure, making it difficult to delineate which way it faced.
Area: 1,157m2
Volume: 3,765m3
Structure 2
This square-shaped platform is found 5.5m west of Structure 1 and is oriented the same way. It measures 14.6m E-W × 14.9m N-S and is 1.8m high. The only intact architecture spotted on the platform was a megalithic stone that marks the southwest corner. Two small saqueos are found in the northeast corner area of the upper platform surface.
Lot Number: 03901
Area: 216m2
Volume: 241m3
Structure 3
This structure is a small pyramid that, along with Structure 4, forms part of what Proskouriakoff (1962) defined as a "temple assemblage" (Plate 5.2, shown below). It is about 4m in height and is roughly 18m N-S × 21m E-W. Like Structure 1, this pyramid also appears to feature rounded or beveled corners. No in situ remains were found on the structure; rubble is all that is visible. The upper surface of the pyramid measures 6m N-S × 4.6m E-W. No superstructures were found atop the structure. Two things indicate that the pyramid originally faced east. First, the upper surface area is rectangular with its long axis N-S. This suggests that the superstructure that was built on this surface was most likely also oriented N-S. The second line of evidence concerning the building’s orientation is the shape of the pyramid’s slump. The east side bulges out somewhat compared to the other three sides and this hints at a stairway that may have ascended this side of the building.
Lot Number: 03401
Area: 344m2
Volume: 26m3
Click on image to enlarge
Structure 4
This is the range structure that flanks the pyramid (Structure 3) to the south (Figure 5.2 and Plate 5.3, shown below). Its north side is only 2m south of the pyramid and the structure measures 21m N-S × 14m E-W. The structure has an average height of 1m and was built on an altillo as limestone can be seen in the center of the platform. A short stretch of retaining wall was spotted on the west side of the structure near the SW corner and is non-megalithic in character. At least two and possibly three superstructures are found on the basal platform. The first is a secondary platform that is located on the basal platform’s north end. This platform has a few exposed retaining wall stones on its south side and also some cut stones on its surface. A 4.1m long line of stones are roughly in the center of the secondary platform and face south. It seems likely that this was the front wall of a house of some sort and the back wall has slumped down the north edge of the platform. The second superstructure runs along the west side and might be a [-shaped structure, the kind of which has been recently studied at Ek Balam (Bey et al. 1997). A line of six stones is offset 2m from the west edge of the platform and these stones face east. Like the superstructure on the secondary platform, it seems likely that this line of stones are the remains of the front wall while the back wall has slumped down the west edge of the platform. No end walls were spotted, either. A third possible superstructure is found along the south edge of the platform. Here there is an accumulation of rubble but with no apparent architectural remains. It could be attached to the superstructure to the west, in which case there would be a single L-shaped superstructure. Another possibility is that the rubble is simply the remnants of an unfinished construction project.
Lot Number: 03601
Area: 282m2
Volume: 226m3
Click on image to enlarge
Structure 5
This is a low housemound built directly on bedrock. It is 12m east of Structure 3 and measures 5.3m SW-NE and 2m SE-NW. While it lacks any in situ walls, it was probably a two-roomed house. Structure 5, along with Structure 6, 7, and 8, are all found in the Yokat plaza and seem to be out of place. If in fact these structures are housemounds, their location amongst civic architecture hints at a "squatter" settlement, the kind of which has been documented at other Maya sites such as Dos Pilas (Houston 1993).
Area: 14m2
Volume: 3m3
Structure 6
Found 4.7m SE of Structure 5, this housemound is roughly 2.5m square and consists of small rubble. No other details were noted.
Area: 7m2
Volume: 1m3
Structure 7
This low rubble mound is 3.5m E-W and 3m N-S. Due to its rectangular shape, this mound probably had two rooms.
Area: 11m2
Volume: 2m3
Structure 8
The last of the group of four low mounds within Yokat’s civic center, Structure 8 is an amorphous mound of rubble about 4m across. While likely the remains of a house, its ambiguous shape makes it difficult to delineate both how many rooms it may have had and its original orientation.
Area: 11m2
Volume: 2m3
Structure 9
Structure 9 (Figure 5.3) is an impressive residential platform located 38m NW of Structure 3. The basal platform is nearly square (26m E-W × 23m N-S) and a full meter in height. Heavy rubble can be seen on the south, east, and north sides of the platform, while the west side features a few large megaliths. A megalithic stone measuring 1m long, .7m high and .6m wide marks the NW corner. Five more in situ megaliths laid end-to-end form a retaining wall along the west side. There is a saqueo between the northern end of the megalithic retaining wall and the NW corner stone. Two superstructures are found on top of the basal platform. The first is centered on the north edge of the structure and is a rectangular (5m E-W × 3.9m N-S) accumulation of rubble. The west side of the superstructure has a few roughly shaped stones that could be in situ but otherwise there are no visible wall lines. To the south of the superstructure is a curious line of stones. The line begins at the superstructure’s south edge and continues 2.3m south towards the center of the platform. What is odd is that there are at least two courses of stone and the uppermost course is level with the surface of the platform. One plausible interpretation for this is that it is a retaining wall that once marked the edge of the platform and then an expansion project put platform rubble on the other side of it. To the west of the first superstructure is a pile of heavy rubble that could be from the saqueo found a few meters to the west. The second superstructure is along the south edge of the basal platform. It is somewhat larger than its northern counterpart, measuring 7.3m E-W × 3.4m N-S. Rubble marks the perimeter of the presumed house, leaving the center of it relatively devoid of stones. No interior partitions were noted, suggesting that it may have had just a large single room. Two broken metates were spotted on top of the platform; they are found along the east edge, SE of the first superstructure and NE of the second.
Lot Number: 03801
Area: 619m2
Volume: 505m3
Structure 10
Structure 10 is a pyramid some 2.7m in height. It features a nearly square base (18m E-W × 17.8m N-S). The mound consists entirely of rough platform rubble and the only place where visible architecture was spotted is on the south slope. On the eastern half of the south slope, two perpendicular wall lines meet to form a corner. The E-W wall line is 1.6m long and the N-S wall line is .9m long. The corner stone where the two walls meet is not megalithic in size. If this was the SE corner of the structure, then projecting the wall lines would suggest that the rubble slump has fallen 3-5m beyond the original wall line. Moving to the top of the structure, the upper surface area is 4.4m N-S × 5.7m E-W. Just off the south edge of the upper surface is a large stone (60cm wide × 15cm high × 35cm long) that might possibly be a cornice stone. However, judging by the amount of rubble on the level upper surface, it seems unlikely that there was a masonry building here which would have necessitated the use of cornice stones. If the large stone off the south edge is in fact a cornice stone then perhaps it was taken from another structure and re-utilized. Atop the structure there is more rubble scattered along the east edge of the upper surface than any other area. This hints that there was once a superstructure along the east edge of this surface. If so, then the building as a whole was probably oriented west. One more item of note was found roughly in the center of the leveled area. A chunk of stalactite or stalagmite measuring 60cm long and with a 30cm diameter was found resting on its side oriented NW-SE. Given the abundance of these limestone rock formations in the caves associated with the Yokat cenote (found 110m S of Structure 10), it seems likely that this piece was transported here from that location.
Lot Number: 03701
Area: 262m2
Volume: 389m3
Structure 11
This is a substantial structure that is rectangular in shape (29m N-S × 20m E-W) and some 3.5m in height. There is little to note about the basal platform save that it consists entirely of rough rubble with no architectural features. The leveled-off upper surface of the structure measures 3.8m E-W × 12.2m N-S. There is little in the way of architecture on this surface. Two in situ cut stones were found starting in the NW part of the platform and running south. These two stones are cut on their west side. There are a few other cut stones down the west side of the platform that appear to be in line with the wall fragment just described. The rubble appears to be slightly higher on the eastern half of the platform than the west. This might indicate that there was a back wall of some sort running along the east edge of the platform. If this was the case then perhaps the fragmentary wall line running down the west side of the platform is a front wall or terrace. It would also suggest that the building as a whole faced west.
Lot Number: 03501
Area: 483m2
Volume: 936m3
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