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Archaeological Investigations at Holmul, Petén, Guatemala
Preliminary Results of the Third Season, 2002
Conclusions and future research directions
The 2002 field season has produced an unprecedented amount of information on several fronts of investigation.
- Outside Holmul we have tested the validity of our path-based predictive model by discovering a new site and we have made a further step towards understanding the relationship of minor centers with the Holmul center, with great implications on the role of Ahau and Sahal nobility within Maya polities. This line of inquiry will be pursued further in 2003 with mapping at the sites of K’o and Hamontun and the explorations of areas north and east of Holmul with GPS and GIS predictions.
- Within the Holmul center we have made further steps in uncovering the Group III palace double court compound and evidenced the combined sacred/secular function of its buildings. We also have gathered more information of the rather ephemeral occupation of the last century at Holmul during the Terminal Classic, with some indications of a siege. Both points will be further explored with new excavations in Group III and in the walled features surrounding it.
- At Cival we have uncovered massive and early ceremonial architecture of the Late Preclassic period. There are some indications that Cival may have been the earlier seat of power in the region before Holmul. This hypothesis will be explored with excavations in Group 1, in connection with its main temple masks, in the location of its carved stelae (Stela 2, and 6 especially), as well as with further mapping of the ceremonial core (mostly to the east).
- At La Sufricaya, the reading by Nikolai Grube of Smoking Frog’s name on Stela 6, the finding of Teotihuacán figures painted on mural 1-3, and other artifact evidence suggest a real occupation of foreigners at the site during the fifth century. The second mural (mural 4-5), shows an accession ceremony, perhaps an event that occurred within Str. 1 itself. Excavation along the perimeter of Str. 1 will attempt to identify the form and function of the building and its construction sequence. Further excavations in the surrounding residential groups will explore the nature of Early Classic and Late Classic occupations at La Sufricaya and the relationship between its occupants and the Holmul site core.
The multiple lines of investigation of our next Holmul season will likely contribute to assembling a more complete and detailed picture of the development of central institutions in this area of Petén, from the Preclassic to the end of the Classic Period. Research at Cival and La Sufricaya will lead to a more detailed understanding of the crucial events that took place at the end of the Preclassic period and of what, if any, role the Teotihuacán "entrada" may have had in the local political affairs. Finally, the Holmul site center may well present important evidence on long-lasting occupation of a central Petén site and a possible Terminal Classic siege, followed by a slow abandonment.
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