Architectural Restoration Criteria in the Maya Area

Xunantunich

When we were working as consultants to the Getty Conservation Institute at the archaeological site of Xunantunich, the project archaeologists under the direction of Richard Leventhal located the remains of the frieze on the western side of El Castillo. Its state of preservation was outstanding. We were perfectly aware that leaving a frieze such as this one, made of limestone and stucco, outdoors, like the frieze on the eastern side, would unavoidably lead to its destruction, so we had to make the right decision.

In Xunantunich, like in many other restored sites, tourism is important, so we did not think it would be right to bury the frieze once more, as it was done with Tikal’s, though undoubtedly it would have been the best option. After careful consideration, we came to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to make an exact natural size replica (Photo 39, below) to be placed later in front of the original.

Click on image to enlarge

The system consisted of elaborating a faithful copy of the frieze by modeling it in clay in an area adjacent to the building, first on the basis of the original piece and then based on existing drawings and abundant additional details and sections prepared to that purpose. Later, we molded the figure with rubber and fiberglass, to finally elaborate the copy in a polyester resin, fiberglass, and limestone powder with the color of the stuccoes.

The original frieze was buried entirely after reinforcing the refills with liners, and we also replaced what had been taken away creating a sort of wall in front of the frieze, but we isolated the stuccoes with a layer of sascab (sandy lime) very finely strained. We left as well a number of holes at the base, so rainwater filtrations could drain and cause no damage.

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