Oxkintok Part 1 of 4: The pyramids, temples, and palaces of the Ah Canul Group

The West Pyramid of the Ah Canul Group at the ancient Maya city of Oxkintok. This is the largest of three pyramids in the Ah Canul Group. When we visited, we flew to Merida and rented a car for the 176km (109mi) drive to Campeche. Oxkintok is located in Yucatan, a short distance off Highway 180. It is about 1/3 of the way to Campeche from Merida. We had previously checked our map for points of interest along the way and decided to stop at this ancient ruin.

Oxkintok is at the extreme northwest tip of the Puuc Region. The Maya word Puuc means "hills", and this region is the only elevated part of the Yucatan Peninsula. Oxkintok was strategically located on the edge of the coastal plains at the base of the hills. This made it a transit point between the city-states of the Puuc and those of the plains. In addition, the Gulf Coast seashore is not far away, which gave the city access to marine products.

The Ah Canul Group is much too large and complex to show in one posting, so I will do it in two. The first will cover the main ceremonial structures, as well as a couple of elite palaces. In the second posting, I will focus on three plazas that are surrounded by the residential compounds of Oxkintok's governing class of nobles, priests, and military leaders.


Overview

Map of Oxkintok. The modern access road cuts diagonally across the ruins, bisecting them from west to east. While the map shows a large number of structures on both sides of the road, archeologists believe the most important parts of the city are on the south side of it. They are identified above as (A) El Satunsat (the Labyrinth), (B) El Grupo Ah May, (C) El Grupo Ah Canul, and (6) Zbid ( also known as El Grupo Ah Dzib). My series on Oxkintok will focus on these four areas. I decided to begin with Ah Canul, because it was the center of Oxkintok's power and contains some of the most impressive monuments.

During our visit, Carole and I spent a couple of hours inspecting and photographing all four groups of structures. Only later, after I found the map above, did I realize that Oxkintok's size and complexity was much greater than what we saw. A return visit may well be in order. Maps of Maya ruins are often unavailable at the sites themselves. Even when they are, the maps are sometimes incomplete. In advance of any visit to Maya ruins, consider scouring the internet for the most complete site maps you can find. This may keep you from missing important parts of a ruin that you have traveled far to see.

A turkey vulture searches for carrion as it soars high above Oxtkintok. In Mexico, this bird is called a buitre, but its scientific name is Cathartes aura. Its range is from southern Canada to the southern tip of South America. The turkey vulture likes open and semi-open areas where it can easily spot carrion. This makes the northern plains of Yucatan a particularly good hunting ground. The bird locates the carrion with the help of its excellent senses of sight and smell. The ancient Maya were very much in tune with their natural environment. Throughout their culture, you can find the animals of their world represented in their art, religion, and architecture, as well as their clothing and personal ornaments. Archeologists call this zoomorphism.

Site map of the Ah Canul, Ah Dzib, Ah May, and the Satunsat. The other groups are shown so that you can understand their physical relationships with each other. However, this map only identifies specific structures within the Ah Canul Group. In future postings, I will include maps that identify structures within the other groups.

During our visit, I noticed that some of the most prominent monuments and structures had no identifying signs, while several of the smaller structures were well marked. As I prepared for this posting, I researched every archeological description and site map that I could find. All of my sources identified some structures in common. However, each source also identified structures that the others didn't. Further, all of them left some obviously important pyramids, palaces, temples, and plazas completely unidentified. This puzzled me greatly.

In order to help you orient yourself within the ruins, I combined all the identified structures into three maps, one for each group. I then created my own labels for structures I had photographed which were unnamed. I invite corrections. In the meantime, we'll just go with my labels.


The West Pyramid

The West Pyramid and the West Temple. These two stand on a low platform that also contains several other Ah Canul structures. Similar platforms can be found in many of Yucatan's Maya cities. Some of them were massive construction projects in their own right. To the right of the West Pyramid, you can see the broad staircase of the West Temple. Their proximity leads me to believe they are related in some way. Both the pyramid and the temple lacked identifying markers and there is no mention of them in the literature or site maps.

Potsherd analysis shows that human occupation at Oxkintok lasted from approximately 600 BC to 1500 AD, a whopping 2,100 years! However, Oxkintok's period of greatest activity lasted about 750 years, beginning in the Early Classic Era (300 AD) and ending in the Terminal Classic (1050 AD). While this timespan is shorter, it still exceeds the total period of occupation of many other pre-hispanic cities.

Ah Canul's platform is accessed by a broad four-step staircase. The West Pyramid's stairs can be seen in the background. In the center foreground is a small stone disk, carefully positioned to line up with the pyramid. Since there is no informational marker, I can only speculate as to the purpose of the cylinder. It could be an altar of some sort, but most altars are much larger.

However, you can visualize a direct line from the cylinder to the center of the pyramid's top. This suggests that the cylinder might be a marker point for astronomical observations. The West Pyramid faces east and the rays of the rising sun would first touch its top level and then work down until they came to the disk. One of the most important Maya gods was K'inich Ahau, the sun god, and the pyramid may have been devoted to him.


The West Temple

The West Temple is smaller but more complex than the West Pyramid. Above, a staircase with two landings leads to rooms at the top and the rear of the temple. At the base of the staircase is a stone structure that may be the remains of an altar. Ah Canul's platform can be seen in the foreground.

View from above of the West Temple and its rear rooms. I took this shot from the top of the West Pyramid. The West Temple is honeycombed with rooms and passageways not readily evident from below or in front. These compartments may have served ritual purposes or they could have been residences for priests who performed ceremonies at the West Pyramid.


The North Structure

The North Structure is located in the northwestern corner of the Ah Canul platform. In the middle-distance, you can see the four-step staircase that leads up to the platform. The base of the West Pyramid's staircase can also be seen in the upper right. Immediately behind the North Structure is another building that may or may not be part of its complex. These structures are also unidentified except by me.

The North Structure from above. This shot was taken from the West Pyramid's top. On the left front of the structure is a sunken patio. To its right is a broad, flat, raised area which may have been a terrace. Across the front of the building is an arcade supported by two rectangular pillars. The arcade's roof is missing and may have once been made from perishable materials. At the left end of the arcade, a doorway leads to the interior. The stone roof over the main structure is largely intact. 

The North Structure was probably a palace and may have once been occupied by a ruler or a high priest. Among the pre-hispanic Maya, the same person often served in both roles. The location of the North Structure further suggests a top-level occupant. The palace has a commanding view of the West Pyramid and of the platform in front of it. There, important ceremonies would have been performed. The North Structure is also at the access point to the North Plaza and the East Pyramid. A wide, three-step staircase connects the eastern end of the palace to the West Pyramid. This leads up to another platform level containing the North Plaza and its surrounding structures.

Interior of the North Structure palace. The rooms are small, the passageways are narrow and there is little light except for what filters through the doorways. It is not a sumptuous residence by todays standards. However, it is much larger and more solid than the Maya nah (thatched hut) that was the typical dwelling of common people.

The climate in this part of Yucatan is warm and 35-40 inches of rain falls each year, primarily from June to October. The thick stone walls would have provided insulation to moderate the hot season temperatures and the interior would probably have been dryer and more comfortable than a nah, even in the rainiest periods.

Close behind the North Structure are the remains of another impressive building. It runs parallel to the palace and contains one large room. It is unclear whether this is an annex of the palace or a separate residence. The long rectangular structure sits on a stone platform about 1m (3.3ft) high. On top of that is a smaller platform, the base of which is rimmed by stone cylinders resembling small drums. This feature is typical of the Puuc architectural style. Puuc decorative elements tend to be for aesthetic purposes, rather than structural. This means that you could remove them and the building would still stand on its own. 

Palacio Pop (Structure C-3) and the North Plaza

Palacio Pop forms the north side of the North Plaza. The Maya word Pop means matting and archeologists gave the palace this name because of the matting design painted on the floor. To the pre-hispanic Maya, matting was a symbol associated with royalty. The palace also carries the technical name of Structure C-3, making it the first of the clearly identified buildings I found at Ah Canul. Palacio Pop is one of the earliest of Oxkintok's constructions and it was built during the Early Classic Era (300 AD-500AD). A door lintel found nearby was carved with a Maya calendar date corresponding to 487 AD.

Diagram of Palacio Pop. The palace stands on the northern edge of the Ah Canul platform, to the east of the North Structure. Oddly, Palacio Pop does not face south, into the North Plaza, but north, away from it. The one-story building has three parallel rooms and a fourth on the west end which is perpendicular to them. Most of the parallel room at the top of the diagram is gone, but a portion on the west end still exists.

During excavation, three tombs were discovered within Palacio Pop. One, called Tomb 5, was intact and contained rich grave goods. The other two, which flanked it, had been looted in ancient times and little remained. Tomb 5 was a secondary burial, meaning the remains of the individual had been buried elsewhere and the bones were later moved here. All three burials occurred in the Middle Classic period (500-630 AD)

Among the grave goods in Tomb 5 were a jade mosaic mask embedded with cinnabar, a ceramic vessel, and a collection of obsidian objects. Both the vessel and the obsidian originated in the Petén region of northern Guatemala. Additional obsidian from that area was also found in the looted tombs. Other grave goods in Tomb 5 include a variety of jade objects originating in the Rio Motogua Valley in southern Guatemala. Finally, there were large numbers of ornaments originating from the northern coast of Yucatan. They were made from the shells of Spondylus americansus, the Atlantic thorny oyster. All of this indicates the extensive trade networks through which Oxkintok's elite were able to obtain luxury goods.

The west end of Palacio Pop is covered with numbered blocks of stone. In the process of reconstructing the palace, archeologists apparently removed part of the structure and numbered the blocks so they would know where to replace them. This is a common practice at many archeological sites in Mexico.

A large circular altar stands in the middle of the North Plaza. The altar looks to be about 2m (6ft) across. It is typical of pre-hispanic plazas to contain altars. In my experience, most are square in shape, but a fair number are circular. An altar like this was the focal point for rituals and ceremonies. In addition to these activities, the plaza would also have functioned as a gathering place for elite social and political activities. 

In the upper right, you can see the rear of the West Pyramid, which forms the west side of the plaza. Another large unnamed pyramid stands on the plaza's south side. The base of it can be seen in the upper left. However, what I saw at the time was simply a large hump thickly covered by trees and shrubbery. I was stunned when I later studied site maps and I realized that I had walked right by one of the largest pyramids in the Ah Canul Group. 

The East Pyramid (Structure C-4)

The East Pyramid forms the eastern side of the North Plaza. The view here is from the front right corner. There was a sign at the site which provided its technical name (C-4) and some additional information. The small roofless room in the lower left of the photo may have been the habitation of priests associated with the pyramid. Alternatively, it could have been used to store equipment or supplies related to the rituals and ceremonies conducted in the North Plaza or in the temple atop the pyramid.

Design showing a hypothetical reconstruction of the C-4 pyramid. There appears to be a ramp, rather than stairs, at the top stage of the staircase. At the very top is a small temple with twin entrances. The pyramid contains the talud y tablera (slope and panel) architectural style. This reflects the influence of Teotihuacán (100 AD-650 AD) the great trading empire of central Mexico. Teotihuacán exercised considerable cultural, and possibly political, influence over the Early Classic Maya world.

Front view of C-4. Here you can make out where the staircase ends and the ramp begins. In addition, the twin entrances to the temple are clearly visible. Oddly, both the site's informational sign and one of my resource books speak of a second room on the left side of the staircase. As you can see, there is no room or even remnants of one. 

A Black Spiny-Tailed iguana basks in the morning sun. Every Maya ruin that I have ever visited involved an encounter with at least one iguana. This Ctenosaura similis seemed completely unconcerned by my presence. No doubt his distant ancestors took the same serene view of the ancient Maya inhabitants. 

This completes the first of my postings on Oxkintok. In the next one, I will complete my survey of the city's Ah Canul Group. I hope you have enjoyed this posting and, if so, you will leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I can respond.

Hasta luego, Jim