Report of the 1998 and 1999 Investigations on the Archaeology and Iconography of the Polychrome Stucco Façade of Structure N10-28, Lamanai, Belize

General Observations on Context, Style, and Comparative Façades

The stucco façade of Structure N10-28 as excavated can provide only limited insight into its original appearance and dimensions. However, comparisons from other sites can assist in this process. In addition, several observations can be made from the excavations of the stucco pieces. The first is that the number of fragments recovered in proportion to architectural area is relatively small. Taking into account the damage and destruction of the stucco pieces from the demolition and fall of the façade from the structure, the volume is still disproportional between size of the pictorial field on the façade and actual recovered pieces. It may be that a number of the fragments were taken away for reasons unknown. At any rate, it is evident that a moderate percentage of the pieces have been removed or completely destroyed.

In all likelihood, the façade had a rather low profile, with vertical projections rising at intervals between the corner and center of the structure. The latter two projections, because of their importance and placement, probably rose to a much greater height over the rest of the façade. A comparative façade that most likely approximates the appearance of the one at N10-28 is located at Seibal, to the west in Guatemala.

This façade is located on Structure A-3 (Figure 3:1), a small radial pyramidal structure. The upper zone was decorated with polychrome stucco sculpture, with the tallest vertical projection rising over the doorways. The central projection enframed a major figure, usually an ahau. The corners, though not as tall as the central projection, matched those that rose midway between the corner and central doorway (Willey 1982).

Structure N10-28 at Lamanai is a range structure with one central doorway rather than a radial pyramid. In all likelihood, the façade over the central doorway had a large vertical projection, based on the relative proportions of the hypothesized upper zone and the size and shape of the central figure identified among the fragments. A corner and interval vertical projection is purely hypothetical, but is a strong possibility based on Maya principles of architectural symmetry. In support of this, the volume of stucco recovered in Operations 1 and 4 reflect this idea, with a large volume of fragments from the corner area, fluctuations as one proceeds eastward, and then an increase at the end of the excavation, closest to the doorway. This is merely an observation of the volume for the excavated sections at the front of the platform.

Click on image to enlarge.

There is a wide range of paint color within the collection. By far the most common color is red. Blue is also found on a moderate number of the pieces. Two tones of blue were identified. The most common is a light color while the other is an intensely brilliant Maya blue. Some of these blues are found in the same composition, usually with the Maya blue within the lighter color. The third most common occurring color is a deep yellow, and this color seems largely confined to fragments related to saurian imagery.

Less common are two shades of green, one being a dark, dull green and the other seems to be a turquoise or green/blue combination. Orange and white are more scarce. Black paint is almost always used to delineate shape against a different color background for contrast, though green has also been used for this purpose in a few examples. All of the pigments have been mixed with specular hematite, a material of special significance.

There seems to be at least two distinct layers to the façade. The first layer is only represented by a few small fragments. Almost all of these fragments are a dark maroon red, though there is some orange present, and they do not have the specular hematite. In a few of the larger pieces of stucco the early layer was evident by examining the stucco matrix along the side of the fragment.

In regards to style, based on comparable images from other sites in the lowlands, the façade appears to follow Late Classic canons of art (Budet, personal communication). The stucco façade of Structure A-3 at Seibal, mentioned earlier, is closest stylistically to the Lamanai façade. Many of the decorative forms and motifs are identical, and the treatment of the figures and supernaturals are similar, though without the black painted details as seen in some of the examples from Seibal (Willey 1982).

In addition to the Seibal façade, the Lamanai façade recalls some of the form and style of a stucco façade from Structure E-7, 1^st, at Altun Ha (Pendergast 1985:94). These two examples from Seibal and Altun Ha both date to the Terminal Classic. Pendergast (1986:231) believes the appearance of facades with strong iconographic content in nontemple settings may in all three instances represent a restatement of religious values at a more personalized level, perhaps as part of retrenchment in the face of the upheavals that afflicted many Central and Southern Lowlands sites. The façade at Lamanai may indicate the emergence of semipublic, residence-related religious practice at the outset of the Terminal Classic; at Lamanai, in contrast to the two other sites, such practices may have been an element in the successful staving off of Classic collapse.

Another façade with motifs and decoration similarities, though temporally and spatially different, is Structure 1-sub at Dzibilchaltún, as well as fragments from other structures within this site (Coggins 1983). Within Belize, similarities are also noted in stucco façade fragments from Structures A8 and C4 at San Jose (Thompson 1939), and from Structure A-11 at Xunantunich (MacKie 1985).

In regards to dating, while generally following Late Classic canons of art, this façade has been dated archaeologically to the Terminal Classic (Pendergast 1985:94). We do know for certain that the destruction of the façade occurred during this time because a Terminal Classic polychrome vessel (LA 1289/1290/1291/1) was recovered this past year mixed with the demolition debris. We are reasonably sure of the date of events that surround Structure N10-28 with one critical exception: the date of initial construction.

In regards to the hypothesis that Structure N10-28 may have been the Popol Na, or council house, of Lamanai, we are lacking the requisite mat motif that identifies a structure as such, such as Structure 10L-22 at Copán and the House of the Governor at Uxmal (Sharer 1994:329, 632). However, several factors may support the idea that this structure may have been the seat of power at Lamanai: (1) that the N10-3 plaza is the only recognized elite residential/administrative area at Lamanai, (2) that Structure N10-28 is the only structure within this group to have an elaborate upper zone decoration of the nature and scale of this one, and (3) with the narrative content relating to power and royal authority.

In sum, there is a wide range of motifs and decorative forms found within the corpus. Although this was only a preliminary discussion, it is evident that the N10-28 façade was a very complex work of sculptural and painted art. Many of these forms are very elaborate, complemented by the delicate painting and fineness of line noted on many of the fragments.

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