Archaeological Investigations at Holmul, Petén, Guatemala
Preliminary Results of the Third Season, 2002

Excavations within Holmul site center

Group 13

This is a large residential group located a few meters south of the large Group II ritual complex (Figure 2). In 2001 a trench in the northern structure uncovered poorly preserved remains of a Late Classic residence containing a central bench. The courtyard side of the building presented several stepped walls as consecutive re-makes of a collapsing façade or stairway. In front of this building and abutting it, a large concentration of Terminal Classic material mixed with ash and organic materials was identified as a late-occupation midden.

In order to uncover further remains of such late occupations in this area, a new excavation (T25) was placed by Mario Penados in the northeastern corner of the group. One edge of the excavation included the southern cut-stone wall of a structure enclosing the eastern side of the courtyard. The southern edge of the excavation captured the cut of a looters’ trench into such structure to provide further stratigraphic control.

Below the first layer of humus, Mario uncovered the remains of a foundation brace made with small pebbles and marl which probably supported a perishable building. The eastern edge of the foundation directly abutted the earlier masonry wall clearly denoting an episode of re-use of the building after its vault had collapsed by placing a new perishable structure against it (Figure 10).

In the northeastern corner of the foundation brace a concentration of ceramics and bone material was noted, indicating the presence of a midden or offering abutting the walls of both earlier and later buildings. The material excavated included animal bone, large conjoinable fragments of Tinaja Red tripod plates and other Terminal Classic course ware types.

A second excavation was placed at the southern edge of the courtyard by Edy Barrios. Here a rise was noted, indicating the possible presence of a low structure foundation or even a wall enclosing the courtyard.

Within the 3×3 unit two main walls built with pebbles and large roughly cut stones were uncovered. A small space of about 2 m was contained within the two walls (Figure 11). A poorly preserved burial was found accompanied by a coarse, straight walled bowl of probably Terminal Classic date. Due to the preliminary data available, the excavator left open the possibility that this feature may have been a very small structure or two separate consecutive walls built within a short time span to enclose the courtyard. And new excavation planned for 2003 will help clarify the function of this feature.

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