The Pomoná Kingdom and its Hinterland

El Faisán 2a Sección

Located 6 km to the northeast of Panhale along the road that leads to Tenosique 2.5 km away, El Faisán 2a Sección covers an area of approximately 30 hectares. This site is smaller in total area than the Crisóforo Chiñas site. Nevertheless, El Faisán II, judging by the size of its structures and building materials, which apart from the ubiquitous packed clay and river cobbles, contained dressed limestone blocks, would have corresponded to a tertiary level site on the overall Pomoná settlement hierarchy (Figure 20).

The Usumacinta River lies 3 km to the west, and almost 2 km directly to the south is an important tributary of the former, Arroyo Polevá. This is a perennial stream whose flow begins some 20 km to the east, in the vicinity of the San Pedro River. The Polevá, floods an area of bajos located 800 m to the south of the site forming a small shallow lake. It was perhaps this permanent source of water that determined the location of the site. Its proximity to the site of Crisóforo Chiñas, just 1.5 km to the west may be indicative that both sites may form part of a bigger settlement, or perhaps different occupational stages. The site was greatly affected by the construction of the road that leads to Tenosique, and that has cut it through the middle. It is likely that some of its structures may have provided the fill material for the road; nevertheless, three mound groups are still discernible. Group EF-A consists of a small plaza-like open space enclosed on its south and west sides by a low L-shaped platform approximately 1.5 m high. On this platform three large mounds still stand in relatively good state of preservation. Mound 1 measures 40 m in diameter and rises close to 5 m above the platform surface. Mound 2 is an elongated structure 50 m long and 6 m high. Mound 3, still preserves its rectangular plan, measuring 60 by 45 m, and 7.5 m high, constituting the highest mound of this group. The north and east sides of this plaza are limited by two low rectangular platforms, one of which, (Structure 5) has been modified by a modern dwelling. A cluster of low platforms without any clear formal arrangement form group EF-B, although Group EF-C was the most affected by the road construction; it contains the biggest structure of the site (Structure 12) in a still relatively good state of preservation. Structure 12 is 10 m high and 90 m long by 50 m wide mound (Figure 21, shown below). A 40 m long, 2 m high platform (Structure 15) abuts to its east façade, forming the northern enclosure of what must have been at least a 60 by 80 m plaza. This plaza was limited to the east by Structures 16 and 17, which are two long mounds that reached a height of 2 m and that are parallel to each other. Unfortunately these mounds were cut through the middle by the road.

The land on which the site lies has been used for several years for cattle grazing and is currently covered by dense tall grasses. This resulted in a very poor visibility; thus no surface materials were collected. In the hopes of recovering artefacts that may have been washed from the adjacent mound slopes, a test pit was excavated between Mounds 1 and 2. Although the pit reached a depth of approximately 45 cm, the presence of artefacts was at best scanty.

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