Ancient Oxtankah's Plaza of Bees

The pyramid known as Structure I is shrouded by ramón trees. In my last posting, I presented a broad-stroke picture of Oxtankah. This time, we'll take a detailed look at a plaza that is one of its main features. The Plaza de Abejas ("Plaza of Bees") was given that name by Alberto Escalona, the archeologist who excavated the ancient city in the 1937. He also named the city Oxtankah, which means "three neighborhoods surrounded by ramón trees".  The scientific name for a ramón tree is Brosimum alicastrum. The three neighborhoods referenced include the two main ceremonial areas, Plaza de Abejas and Plaza de Columnas, as well as Plaza de Tortugas, which lies between them. I will show these last two plazas in my next posting. What the ancient Maya called these plazas, or their city, is unknown.


Overview of the plaza

Detail from a site map of Oxtankah, showing Plaza de Abejas. For a look at the full map, click here. Shown above are six structures, laid out in a rough oval. At the lower left is Structure I, a pyramid containing two tombs. Just above it is an unnamed pyramid that I didn't photograph because it is mostly rubble. At the top is Structure III, a long, rectangular palace with a grand staircase in the middle. Structure IV, at the upper right, is a temple notable for a mysterious stucco inscription at its entrance and its odd, maze-like interior. At the bottom is another palace with a columned terrace and a spacious patio, but which lacked any informational signs. None of the various site maps I have since consulted gives it a name. In the center of Plaza de Abejas is a large altar containing two tombs in which multiple individuals were buried. I will show these structures in the clock-wise order I have just outlined.

The ancient Maya Bee God from a hieroglyphic text called the Códice Madrid. Beekeeping among Yucatan's Maya began as early as 300 BC and has continued into modern times. They favored the stingless bee they called xuna'an kab ("royal lady"). Modern science knows it as Melipona beecheii. The ancient people used their bees to produce honey, wax, and royal jelly. The honey was used for religious ceremonies, medicinal purposes, and as a sweetener. They also used it to brew balche, an hallucinogenic drink. When Spanish missionaries arrived, they reported a brisk trade of beeswax and honey for cacao beans, another highly valued commodity. The honey bee was so important to the Maya that it had its own god, Ah Mucen Cab, also known as the Diving God. Archeologists called him by that name because he usually appears as an upside down honeybee, as you can see above.


Structure I: The Pyramid With Two Tombs

Structure I is a partially excavated pyramid with a temple on top. The pyramid was constructed with four stepped-levels. The one-room temple, built on the top level, has three levels of its own. The grand staircase is a complex arrangement of stairs, which may have been the result of rebuilding over the centuries. At the foot of the stairs are the remains of three small square altars.

The grand staircase of Structure I, from the left. The pyramid, which is on the east side of the plaza, faces west in the direction of the setting sun. There is a structure in the foreground, at the base of the left side of the stairs, with a top that slopes upward. Its placement is puzzling to me because it seems to impede access to that side of the staircase. The ancient people did not build their sacred structures randomly, or without careful thought, so it may have some ritual function.

View from the fourth level looking down the steps at the small altars. While the steps don't look steep in the previous shot, from here you can see that they really are. This is the tallest structure in Plaza de Abejas and from it the Maya priests could view all the other structures in the plaza. Today, so many ramón trees have grown in the plaza that other structures are hard to make out. The pyramid was built around 300 AD, and functioned until about 600 AD, at which time much of the city was abandoned. Later, in 1000 AD, the city was re-occupied and another structure was built over this one. This was a common practice in ancient Mesoamerican cities. The later structure was still in use when the Spanish arrived in the 1500s. Archeologists removed much of the later structure in order to reveal the original.

The temple has a single, short staircase which leads to a rectangular room. In this room, the Maya priests would perform those parts of their ceremonies that were restricted from the view of the uninitiated. Small bone fragments and teeth from at least 20 individuals were found within the altar of this temple. Similar fragmentary remains of 29 other individuals were found within the two tombs located underneath the temple. It appears that the primary function of the pyramid and its temple was funerary. There is nothing to indicate that any of these individuals were sacrificed. All 49 were adults, according to the analysis of their teeth, but scientists have been unable to identify the sex or age of any of them.

Tomb 1 is entered from the rear of the temple. The rectangular, stone-lined crypt above can be found just inside. The fragmentary remains and various grave goods have been removed for safekeeping. On the wall of the crypt is a niche which once contained sacred objects. The grave goods indicate that the remains of at least one occupant were those of a ruler or other person of great importance. This tomb dates to the period between 300-600 AD and is the earliest explored to date. The pyramid's Tomb 2 was looted, probably during the Epi-Classic Era (600-900 AD) when the city was abandoned for 300 years. The looters left only four objects behind.

How the tomb would have appeared when the ruler was buried. The body would have been placed on its back with the head toward the north. In the Maya view of the Cardinal Points, north was not just a direction. It also indicated the sun's highest position, or zenith. Fifteen objects, known as "grave goods",  were placed within the crypt.


Structure III: The Long Palace

Structure III is the long, rectangular structure seen through the trees.  Here, you are looking southeast from the base of Structure I across Plaza de Abejas. I have dubbed Structure III the "Long Palace" because its length is 60 m (197 ft). At Oxtankah, the palaces of the principal elites were placed around the various plazas and the Long Palace occupies the whole south side of this one. Even at this distance, you can see that the palace's main staircase is quite impressive. The open area of the plaza is quite large and must have been the site of impressive ceremonies involving large numbers of people.

The main staircase of the Long Palace. As usual in Mesoamerican buildings, most of the steps are high and narrow. The palace extends beyond the end of the stairs in both directions. The main building was constructed between 300-600 AD and during this period an adult individual was buried within it. Archeologists believe that this staircase was added later, perhaps after 1000 AD, in the Post Classic Era.

View along the top of Structure III from the right end. You can see the remains of a couple of rooms in the foreground and there are others at the far end beyond the stairs. Rooms made of perishable materials once stood along the top level, but these have long since disappeared. The rooms in this palace were not exclusively for living quarters, but also functioned as reception areas for visiting dignitaries, for administrative matters such as tribute collection, or for storage.

Several rooms are built into the body of Structure III. The one above includes a small staircase. The interiors of the rooms would have been furnished with rugs, cushions, textiles, and various wooden objects. Unfortunately, none of these has survived. The dimensions of the rooms are quite small and would have been dimly lit during the day. Why would privileged elites live in such places? In Yucatan, the climate makes it possible to live outside year-round, so the ancient Maya carried out most activities on the terraces, patios and courtyards. The rooms were used for sleeping or when they desired privacy.

View of the five stepped-levels of the palace. Notice how some of the corners are sharp, while others are gracefully curved. The curved corners are characteristic of the Petén architectural style which dominated northern Guatemala and the Southern Yucatan Peninsula from the Pre-Classic Era to the Epi-Classic. Lime-based stucco once coated the walls, which were painted with multi-colored pictures and designs. The subjects of the paintings were the histories of Oxtankah's rulers and gods.


The Central Altar & Tomb

It was a common custom to place an altar in the middle of a plaza. This may be linked to the belief that the Cosmos had five Cardinal Points. These were north, south, east, west, and the center. The sides of the plaza were oriented to the first four points. The placement of an altar in its center thus linked the whole plaza with the Cosmos. The altar was constructed during the Epi-Classic Era (600-900 AD). This was hundreds of years after most of the other structures surrounding it had been built and during a period when Oxtankah had been abandoned. Some time after 1000 AD, when the city was re-occupied, another alter was built over this one. The newer altar was still in use when the Spanish arrived, five hundred years later. The palm-frond palapa shelter, seen above, protects a tomb.

Three tombs were found within the altar, including the one above. The skeleton is a facsimile created to give visitors an idea of the tomb's contents when archeologists opened it. The body was placed on its back, in the position shown above, with the head facing north. Interestingly, no grave goods were found. Lining the inner sides of the crypt are thirteen flat upright stones, possibly representing the thirteen levels of heaven in the Maya cosmos. Other large flat stones were placed across the upright stones to form a lid over the crypt. No information was available about the contents of the altar's two other tombs.


Structure IV: The Temple of Inscriptions

Diagram of Structure IV showing its main features. At the base is a broad platform, which forms a terrace. This stretches out into the plaza and is accessed by multiple staircases. A second platform sits at the back of the terrace. It is accessed by a single broad staircase. The temple stands on top of the second platform and is entered by a narrow doorway. At the base of the step in front of the doorway is a series of mystic symbols formed with red-painted stucco. Inside the temple, the first room contains a stone altar. Other connecting rooms are arranged in an unusual maze-like pattern that probably had some sacred meaning. Structure IV was constructed between 300 and 600 AD. Some time during this period an adult individual was buried here. Between 1000 AD and the arrival of the Spanish, the structure was modified several times.

The temple viewed from the front right. The original temple would probably have had a similar covering to the palapa above. This palapa was constructed by archeologists to protect the temple and its inscription from the elements, The temple faces toward the east and the rising sun, which is also the direction from which Venus rises as the Morning Star. To the ancient Maya, Venus represented the cyclical pattern of fertility and regeneration.

The entrance to the temple's "inner sanctum". The rust-colored inscription can be seen on the step below the passageway. The surface of the terrace floor in front of the temple's entrance is made from lime stucco. The widespread use of this material to cover walls, floors and road surfaces led to deforestation throughout the Mesoamerican world. Some of the consequences of deforestation included drought and crop failures, probably followed by wars, famines, and epidemics. This, in turn, led to the abandonment of cities and population migrations. Oxtankah may have experienced some of this after 600 AD, when it was largely abandoned. Its re-occupation around 1000 AD may have been linked to the regeneration of the forest.

Closeup of the inscription. In the center is what looks like a sort of exclamation point. Some, but not all, of the symbols on each side replicate those on the other. Archeologists have deciphered the various symbols as the eyes, nose, upper lip, teeth of a jaguar, along with its clawed paws. Also included are seashells, snakes, concentric circles, and a lunar eclipse. Each of these had a sacred meaning, but exactly what they meant as a group is still a matter of conjecture.

The "exclamation point" turned out to be the nose and nostrils of a jaguar. Two eyes used to frame the nose but, except for traces, they have long since disappeared. The lines extending out from the nostrils on either side represent the upper lip with large teeth hanging down below. The jaguar was a sacred animal not only to the Maya, but to ancient people throughout Mesoamerica. It is the third largest of all cats, after the African lion and Indian tiger. As a powerful hunter, the jaguar symbolized attributes that were very attractive to ruling elites. Because they hunt at night, ancient people believed that jaguars could pass freely between the worlds of the living and the dead. Other powerful animal symbols in the inscription include coiled snakes and conch shells. Snakes were associated with Kukulkan, the War Serpent, and conches with Chaac, the rain god.

The front room of the temple contains a large, rectangular altar. The altar faces the entry and would have been illuminated by the rays of the rising sun. Maya priests used the interior rooms of their temples to conduct those rituals and ceremonies that persons of lesser status were not privileged to see.

This carved stone decoration bears a striking similarity to the temple's interior. The decoration can be found in the small museum near Oxtankah's entrance. There was no sign to explain where it was originally uncovered or what it might mean, but I was struck by the similarity of its pattern with that of Structure IVs temple interior.


The Nameless Palace 

Another palace occupies the north side of Plaza de Abejas. There was no sign giving it a name or any description. The palace's rooms surround a patio on three sides. The main building, seen above, sits on a broad platform and has a terrace with a line of columns along its front that once supported a sheltering roof. A single small staircase lead up onto the platform. The area covered with green grass is the patio, set a couple of steps up from the surrounding ground.

The patio, as seen from the terrace. The stump of one of the columns is in the right foreground. Long, narrow rooms border the south and west sides of the patio. The room on the west side has an entrance from the patio in its middle. In the southeastern corner, there is a structure somewhat resembling a defensive blockhouse. However, I saw no other signs of defensive works at Oxtankah, so the purpose of this structure remains a mystery to me. The patio and terrace are the most likely gathering places where residents would have socialized among themselves, entertained guests, or worked.

This completes the second of my Oxtankah series. I hope you have enjoyed it and, if so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below, or email me directly.

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Hasta luego.