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

Investigations at La Sufricaya

At La Sufricaya, aside from documenting the murals 1-3 found in Str. 1 during the 2001 season (see Estrada-Belli 2001, 2002), excavations focused on several areas of interest. (1) The exterior of Structure 1. (2) The context of Stelae 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 which were found scattered around the site. (3) A residential group (S. Group 6) in the southwest area of the site with masonry buildings and chultuns and a residential group in the northeastern area (Group WT4).

Summary of excavations in Str. 1.

The exploration of the architecture of Str. 1 focused on a clearing of a looters’ trench (SLT05) and two extension units to the north and south of the trench itself (ST07, ST09) on the eastern side of the mound. A southern looters’ trench (SLT06) was also cleared of debris, an excavation placed near it (ST16), and a test excavation was placed in the northern side of the building (ST08) (Figure 29).

In excavation SLT05, John Tomasic explored the eastern side of Room 1 in Structure 1 (the mural room) and uncovered remains of the outer edge of the platform onto which Room 1 rested, and walls and floors of a later stage of the building. The earlier stage of construction exposed in this excavation (Phase II of Str. 1) was a plaster floor beginning at the base of the eastern wall of Room 1 and running east up the edge of the mound. It was thus evident that Room 1 was originally a simple building resting on a 30 cm-high plinth on the northwestern corner of the raised court and did not rest on a pyramidal stepped platform itself.

In a later stage of construction (Phase III of Str. 1) the mural room’s roof was razed, the room filled in and a new floor platform built over it (Figure 30, but see also Estrada-Belli 2001, Figure 32). The eastern edge of the new edifice was moved 4 m outwards to fully enclose the earlier building and the exterior floor covered by a new thin lens of plaster. The northern side of the mound was also modified at this time to accommodate an exterior 30 cm-high two-course stone bench running E-W along the entire edge of the mound. Both episodes of construction (Phase II and III of Str. 1) were associated with Early Classic ceramics, which were contained in the fill. Especially interesting were the relative amount of Tzakol 3 types such as small vase lids and a fragment of a green Pachuca obsidian blade (see Appendix A). Finally, the latest evidence of occupation on this side of the building prior to the partial collapse of its wall-façade was a thick layer of grey ashes containing large quantities of Late Classic period material (Figure 30).

On the southern side of Room 1, a looters’ trench (SLT06) bisected a Phase III wall running E-W.  This wall (SL06-10) was preserved up to a height above the floor of 2.3 meters. In the trench’s profile, (Figure 32) another wall (SL06-11) was visible behind the first one (stratigraphically earlier). The two parallel walls were separated by a 70 cm-wide space filled with rocks. The first wall (SL06-11) rested on a lower plaster floor perhaps contemporary with Phase II of Str. 1 and therefore directly related to walls bearing the mural in Room 1.

Subsequently, the space between Room 1 and wall SL06-11 was filled with large stones. Because this space remained unexcavated it was not possible to determine if it had been roofed at this time. In any case, the southern wall (SL06-11) appeared to represent the rear wall of a long and narrow room open to the south, later buried by fill and a subsequent new wall (SL06-10) during Phase III of the building.

Clearing of the fill between walls SL06-10 and SL06-11 led to the discovery of painted stucco on the outer (southern) surface of wall SL06-11 for its entire length of 12 m (Figure 31). The western tunnel (SL06-03) excavated to follow this wall led to a corner with a perpendicular wall and the discovery of more paint on the floor between these walls, clearly indicating that this space was the interior of a long and narrow room (Room 2).

A separate excavation (ST10) on the centerline of the building later determined that Room 2 had in fact a very short 1 m-long wall enclosing its front. It was then hypothesized that the plan of the room was a wide C-shape open to the south (as Room 1), and that it may have had stone pillars or timber posts in the central area. As indicated above, wall SL06-10 later closed up the back of the room while leaving part of the front of the building still in use (Phase IIb). It is possible that this wall was built as a measure to prevent the collapse of the vault. At the final stage of construction (Phase III) in this portion of the building, a stairway was built on the now in-filled mound leading to a floor which may have supported a perishable building. The ceramics associated with the fills of Phases II and III consisted of large quantities of Tzakol 3-like types suggesting that the entire life of the building spanned the Early Classic period.

The mural associated with the Phase II southern wall (SL06-11) covered an area of 12 m in length by 2 m in height. Its western half was poorly preserved (Figure 33). In the western margin a large red vertical band enclosed the painted composition. Next to this margin are remains of black scrolled lines, perhaps representing smoke rising from a censer. No other features were identifiable from this portion of the painting.

The eastern half of the mural presented a much more complex iconography (Figure 34). The composition is centered on a seated individual, whose body is painted in yellow. His arms are tied by large bows to vertical posts of what appears to be a scaffold placed on a bench. He wears a simple loincloth and a belt with a serpent or turtle head at the right end. A white cape seems to be draped over his shoulders. In front of this figure is what appears to be a lip-to-lip pottery cache or a bundle. To the right is a kneeling figure, also painted in yellow, with hands stretched out towards the central figure. The hands seem to support an offering of sort (in black, possibly a headdress). Further to the right is a standing frontal figure wearing a red and black beaded pectoral with long black fringes draped on his chest. On the opposite side, to the left of the central figure is another kneeling figure, poorly preserved and possibly a mirror image of the first one, also bearing an offer to the main character. Further outward, to the left, is a standing figure in profile. The face of this personage is painted in red and black, and a shell disk or mirror is visible in the chest area.

Much of the rest of the composition is eroded away or buried under calcium concretions rendering further identifications difficult. However, it is likely that the multispectral imaging and conservation treatment of the painted stucco planned for 2003 will help reveal further detail of this unique mural.

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