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

South Group 1

Two excavations were placed in South Group 1, a major residential group located on a hill-top exactly 1 km south of the Holmul main plaza. Justin Ebersole excavated T28 and T29 in the northernmost structure of the group. The stripping of rubble revealed a multi-room vaulted building of probable residential function. From a plaza floor, a low step led to a room with a bench (Figure 23, and Figure 24). The rear wall was made of medium-sized blocks set directly on bedrock. Inside the main room was a long bench (2.68 × 2 m wide). A shallow human burial was cut 0.5 m deep in the plaza floor in front of the room’s threshold. The bone preservation was minimal and only a few fragments were recovered from this context. This structure’s occupation is preliminarily dated to the Late/Terminal Classic period.

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Jason Pales explored two chultunes within this group. The first chultun was a simple bottle-shaped cavity carved into the limestone bedrock. Only a few scattered ceramics were recovered from this chamber. The second chultun was located in front of the easternmost structure of the group, which had been looted, and was filled with backdirt and ceramics from the looters’ trench. Upon cleaning of its interior, it was revealed to be a double-chambered chultun with a main access shaft between the chambers. At the base of the access shaft, a small window-sized opening led to each of the side chambers. The access was thus raised from the bottom of the shaft to prevent rain water from entering the side-chambers (Figure 25). A few small indentations carved vertically along the wall of the shaft may have been used as ladder.

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Kristen Klein excavated a 3×4 m trench in the centerline of the southernmost structure of South Group 1.  Removal of the humus and rubble revealed the threshold, plaster floor and eastern doorjamb of a vaulted room. Against the back of the small room was a large 70 cm-high masonry bench (Figure 26, shown above). The material associated with the collapse dates the structure’s use to the Late/Terminal Classic period.

The general high-quality of the architecture in this group suggests that it was occupied by an elite population.

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