 |
FAMSI © 2001: Francisco Estrada-Belli (Boston U./ now Vanderbilt University) |
|
Archaeological Investigations at Holmul, Guatemala Group I
Group I is a rectangular acropolis mound surmounted by a long and spectacularly high vaulted masonry building on its southern side designated Buildings A and B by Merwin (Merwin and Vaillant, 1932:9). This structure actually appears to represent a single building. The foot of this building’s outer wall stands 20 m above the plaza floor while its top is about 5 m high above the acropolis floor. This is a multi-roomed building with six broad doorways in the center and two smaller doorways on each corner. The interior is divided into south-facing and north-facing non-communicating halves with narrow vaulted rooms. On the south, rooms are free from tumble from the partially collapsed vaults (Figure 8, shown above). These rooms are very narrow and unusually tall, and have suffered very little decay since Merwin’s visit, as it can be seen from his excellent photos. Very narrow S-shaped passages connect each of the three main rooms. The terminal rooms at each side of the A and B building have a single narrow doorway on the front. On the north face of the building only one room is free from rubble. This is Merwin’s room B6 and it exhibits an unusual four-springs vault still in fairly good condition (Figure 9, shown below). Access to the south facing room was likely not possible from the steep-sided south face of the mound but only through a narrow passage through the west end of Building B leading to the court behind it. The court on Group 1 measures 79×59 on its sides and rises 20 m above the surrounding plazas, as noted above. A steep sides pyramid, Building D rising to a 13 m height and with its stairway to the south, largely dominates it. On the summit of the pyramid is a masonry building which originally may have opened onto a narrow terrace to the north from its back room. However because of the looting on the summit and the large amount of rubble the location of this building’s doorways and room partitions is yet to be determined.
Abutting the western base of Building D is a one-story masonry structure, Building C, with rooms opening onto the north side, facing a narrow space in front of the steep side of the acropolis (Merwin and Vaillant, 1932:11). In its interior is a north facing room with an axial bench (Figure 10, shown below) with an armrest still in place. Narrow vaulted doorways lead to side rooms. Because of its configuration and seclusion (access from the narrow north side of the building) this structure may be one of the best candidates for investigating a throne room at Holmul.
On the western side of Building D is another one-story masonry building, Building E. Merwin does not provide a floor plan, but this appears to be a two-roomed building with benches and a doorway to the north. The rubble from the collapsed vaults obscures much of the interior. On the SE corner of the acropolis is Building F (Merwin and Vaillant, 1932:13). This appears to be a solid mound containing the famous burial exposed by Merwin which produced the "Holmul Dancer" vase (Merwin and Vaillant, 1932:Plate 30 a and c). His trench through the middle of the mound is still open. Between Building E and F the edge of the mound floor has a small horizontal recess or indentation which could represent the location of a narrow stairway to the plaza below. On the opposite side of the mound however, on the western side, there is a much wider recess in the mound floor forming two broad terraces on each side and marking the summit of an inset stairway. At the base of the acropolis, and in axis with the stairway there is a large tunnel left open by looters. The rubble from this tunnel partially covers a large altar (Altar 3) which appears to be in situ and in one piece. It is about 0.7 m thick and 1.5 m in diameter approximately. An additional altar is located not very far from the SW corner of Group I, Altar 4. This monument is fragmentary, measuring about 1.5 m in diameter and 0.7 m in thickness, and appears to have been pushed onto the side of the logging trail, its present location, by a bulldozer perhaps during the construction of the logging trail. A broad causeway bound by short berms/walls leads from the western face of Group I towards Group II, located about 170 m to the NW. As one follows this path to the NW, one finds immediately Structures 11 and 12. These twin buildings measure 17×10 m on each side and 4 m in height, are parallel to one another and oriented N-S. Their sloping sides bound a 5 m-wide alley with noticeable low benches betraying their function as a ballcourt. Immediately next to the ballcourt one enters a C-shaped courtyard on a low platform open to the south. Structure 13, the largest in this group occupies the north side and has at least 4 visible and collapsed vaults. The lateral buildings, 14 and 15, are C-shaped and also exhibit collapsed vaults on their summits. Between this courtyard and Group II, a few meters to the north, is a plain stela, Stela 8. |
||
|
Text links to all pages at this site are available at the FAMSI INDEX |
||
