Archaeological Investigations at Holmul, Guatemala
Report of the First Field Season, May-June 2000
With contributions by: Jason Gonzales (Southern Illinois U., Carbondale), Marc Wolf (T.I.M.S.), Laura Kosakowsky (Boston U./U. Arizona) and Justin Ebersole (Boston U.)

Group III

Group III  is a well-preserved "palace" complex that was poorly described by Merwin (Merwin and Vaillant, 1932:48-50). It lies at the south end of the main plaza and it is composed of two elevated and secluded courts of similar squared shape and size identified as court A to the south and B to the west. The two courts rise about 6 m above the main plaza and are connected by a wall/walkway near the SE corner of B and NW corner of A.  Court A, the southwestern most, measures 31×37 m at the top. It is bound on the north, south and east sides by long range buildings with visible collapsed vaults, while on the west side it is dominated by a 12 m high steep-sided pyramid, Structure 2.  This pyramid was the most interesting feature of the court and was dedicated some attention in 2000.  Among its features, was the unfortunate one of being completely bisected by three looters tunnels, east, north and south, penetrating at multiple levels. The East and West tunnels cut the building completely from top to bottom while the N and south penetrated it from the base.

A complete profile was drawn of the eastern trench, the most complex, by Anna Deeks and Justin Ebersole, revealing at least five construction phases and six plaza floors associated with it (Figure 14). In its inner part, a beautifully preserved stucco building was observed. It had a sloping talud and a vertical wall decorated with red painted stucco and an apron molding on the western face. The surviving portion of this building stands about 3 m above its associated plaza floor. The two subsequent stages of Structure 2 were clearly visible on the eastern profile as having a stairway. Both are lined with plaster and one, the later of the two, with possible stucco masks on each side. The latest construction phase of Str. 2 appears to have been a complete re-surfacing of the mound with several meters thick layers of rubble covering a possible masonry structure on the summit with a structureless flat surface. This last re-facing of the mound appears to pattern well with the last construction phases of several other "pyramid" buildings at the site (Building IIB and IIF, Building ID, and Str. 8).

A looters’ tunnel on the north side of Str. 2 was also investigated. This tunnel penetrated the structure to a depth of 6 m into the mound. It first broke through a vertical wall made of medium-sized limestone blocks with plaster facing. It then penetrated a beautifully red-painted stepped wall with plaster lining and apron moldings decorated with multi-tone red bands, and some spirals motifs which were observed from fragments found in the tunnel’s rubble pile. A third and earlier building face was observed 0.5 m further inside associated with a plaster floor (Figure 15: #6). The correlation between the structures observed in the east and northern profiles still remains to be determined. The architectural style and associated pottery found in the tunnel, suggest a Late Preclassic or Early classic date for the innermost small stucco-decorated structures found in the eastern and north profiles of Str. 2.  The last re-facing of the structure almost certainly dates to the end of the Late Classic period or to the Terminal Classic.

A third tunnel was investigated on the southern slope of Court A of Group III.  This tunnel was cut on the back or outer slope of a range-vaulted structure on the south edge of the platform, penetrating 5 meters into the structure. The profile drawn by Ryan Mongeluzzo and Harriet Lock shows three plaster floors which pre-date the construction of any building on this side of the court (Figure 16). In the inner chamber of the tunnel, a cave was carved by the looters into the rubble on each side. Here a number of bone and ceramic fragments, some of reconstructable, pieces were observed. The amount of disturbance, and lack of any remains of a formal vault or cist visible in profile prevents the identification of this feature as a looted burial or cache. The ceramics found in this "feature" are consistent with a Late Classic date.

Court B of Group III presents a different layout from Court A.  It is fairly squared, measuring 39×43m and rising 6m from the main plaza. On the western side, a row of at least seven vaulted rooms with masonry wall still preserved up to a 1.5-2 m height or up to the vault spring. These rooms apparently form an L-shaped building with the shorter side to the south. In front of this building is another row of vaulted rooms opened onto the eastern half of the court. This building actually appears to occupy also the remaining north, east and south edges of the court with a continuous sequence of vaulted rooms now largely collapsed and buried by rubble. In connection with the western row of rooms, in the center of Court B, a small cavity was noticed. Inspection of this opening in the court’s floor revealed an E-W vaulted L-shaped 5-7 m long corridor which connected the western and eastern halves of Court B in an earlier stage of construction and was likely buried under the last court floor. It was re-opened by looters in recent times and is presently largely empty of rubble up to a 1.5 m height, exposing very well preserved masonry walls with finely dressed stones and a short vault.

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