Final Report of the 2000 Yo’okop Field Season: Initial Mapping and Surface Collections
Justine M. Shaw, Dave Johnstone, and Ruth Krochock

Group D

Although long recognized by locals, Group D only became known to Project members during the 2000 field season. The Group, connected to Group A by the newly-documented Sacbe 3, lies to the northwest of Group A and the southwest of Group B.  The modern road from Sabán slices through Sacbe 3, as it does the more eastern Sacbe 1.  Informants report a roadway also linking Groups D and B, but we were not able to adequately search the intervening area to determine whether such a link exists.

Shaw and two local assistants spent an afternoon recording the path of Sacbe 3 from Group A to Group D using a GPS and making a quick tape and compass map of the primary structures of Group D (Figure 20). One of these assistants had made milpa in the Group D area two years previously and was able to greatly assist in locating structures in the thick recent growth. While this map does not include all structures in the area, it does provide a general impression of the Group’s composition.

Group D differs from the nearby Groups A and B in terms of overall size, as well as in the scale of the structures themselves. Although it contains both range structures and pyramidal constructions, none of the observed structures attain a height of more than about five to six meters above the surrounding terrain. None of the range structures reach the enormous lengths of those found in the other groups.

Sacbe 2 opens into a broad raised plaza to the south of the structures mapped in 2000.  Other than two recent looter’s pits, no other features appear in the terminus vicinity. The mapped area includes two larger range structures connected at an angle of approximately 70 degrees. The smaller of these structures forms the end of a small, deep plaza. To the west and southwest of this small plaza are a small pyramid and range structure. Other small pyramids are scattered to the north and east of the range structures, including the two noted on the sketch map. In order to avoid errors and future confusion, no structure numbers will be assigned in the Group until each structure’s exact grid square position may be determined.

Based on this first assessment, Group D consists of elite residences and minor ceremonial facilities. Its smaller scale would seem to reflect its lesser importance. However, the effort to construct a substantial sacbe to the group indicates that Group D was somehow a significant part of the site. Possible explanations include that the Group may have been important only briefly, at a particular point in Yo’okop’s history, or that, while primarily residential, it may have been the home of an important elite family. It is consistent with the idea that each ruler or dynasty may have built a new palace and established a new locus of power.

A more accurate recording of Group D and Sacbe 3 are planned for the proposed 2001 season. Additionally, we will propose to test pit one of the structures in the Group, to provide an initial assessment of its occupation date.

Previous Page  |  Table of Contents  |  Next Page

Return to top of page