Overview:
Site map of the Ah Canul Group. The structures we will examine are numbered above as 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, and 13. Although Ah Canul contains structures built during the Early Classic era (300 AD-500 AD), it wasn't until the Middle Classic period (500 AD-750 AD) that it became the center of power of Oxkintok. Ah Canul maintained that status until the end of the Terminal Classic (1050 AD).
The Southwest Plaza
A multi-room palace and adjoining temple form the north side of the Southwest Plaza. The temple is a small, two-stage pyramid which probably had a structure on top made of long-vanished perishable materials. You are looking northeast from the raised platform of the South Plaza. The palace faces south, into the Southwest Plaza.
View of the palace from atop the adjoining temple. Along the front there are three, evenly-spaced entrances into now-roofless rooms of equal size. Out of view behind the raised stone wall along the top of the palace are two more rows of rooms. Another row, also out of view, runs north to south on the east end of the palace. In total, there appear to be at least nine rooms in this structure. This suggests that is was the residence of an important person. Given the close proximity to the temple, and the apparent high status of the plaza itself, the palace may have been the home of an important priest and his extended family.
View of the Southwest Plaza. In the background is the raised platform of the South Plaza and its access stairs. Also visible are the Palaces of the Initial Series (CA-6) and the Lunar Series (CA-5) which form the south side of the South Plaza. In the foreground is a low stone crescent, which curves around the opening of a chultun (water reservoir). Surrounding the mouth of the chultun is a shallow depression that serves to channel water into the opening. The purpose of the stone crescent is not clear, but it may be a walkway for those wishing to access the reservoir's contents.
Why chultunes were needed and how they worked. In this area of Yucatan, there are no rivers or lakes and very few cenotes (water-filled limestone sink-holes). Availability of year-round water was a critical issue. Consequently, the ancient Maya became excellent hydraulic engineers. They captured rain water during the wet season by channeling it into large, underground tanks called chultunes.
In the drawing above, the water is channeled into a wide, shallow pan of ground, at the center of which is the opening of the chultun. Below ground, a chultun is shaped like a fat bottle with a narrow neck. In order to seal in the water, the reservoirs were cut into bedrock or lined with plaster. Some chultunes found in northern Yucatan are as much as 6m (19.6ft) deep. (Diagram from Wikipedia Commons)
The Palacio Ch'ich forms the east side of the Southwest Plaza. The palace also carries the unromantic archeological name CA-7. It faces west, in the direction of a large, square altar that marks the center of the plaza. The architecture of Palacio Ch'ich is Classic Puuc, a style popular from 750 AD-1050 AD. Across the front of the building are the remains of a portico with three openings supported by four pillars. On two of these are carved the statues of elite figures seen in the first photo of this posting.
Floor plans of Palacio Ch'ich and Palacio Diablo. Palacio Ch'ich is the larger structure shown above, with the north end to the left and the south to the right. The smaller building on the right is Palacio Diablo. Ch'ich has eleven rooms in total. The broad portico across the front and two other galleries of rooms run on a north-south line. Four more rooms are set east-west, with two on either end of the palace.
All but three of the rooms have doors that allow internal passage to other rooms in the Ch'ich palace. This suggests a single residence, rather than a block of separate apartments. The four pillars of the portico can be seen as dots in the doorways along the west side of the floor plan. Palacio Diablo has only three rooms and is notable primarily for the carved stone pillar in its north-facing doorway. The statue depicts a skeletal human figure with its arms raised. It was this sculpture that gave the palace its name. (Diagram from Architectural Survey at Oxkintok, 1971-1993 by George F. Andrews)
View of Palacio Ch'ich from the north end looking south. Here you get a view down the length of the front portico. In the foreground is Room #1, which is one of the two rooms set on the north end of the structure. Notice the internal door connecting this room with the portico.
The complexity of the palace, along with its pair of statues guarding the front, indicate the residence of a very high status family. If Ah Canul is the power center of Oxkintok, the Southwest Plaza is the area where some of the most important people lived.
One of the two pillars showing human figures at the Ch'ich palace. The statue above has been designated Column 3. The other statue (Column 4) is of approximately the same size, but differs in stance, clothing and adornments. Archeologists are not sure whether the statues depict warriors, rulers, or gods. There is no question, however, that they both represent powerful figures. There is some speculation that they may be the precursors of the "warrior columns" found at Chichen Itza and Mayapan, powerful cities of a later era.
Archeologist's drawing of Column 3. The sculpture in the photograph shows considerable erosion from centuries of exposure to the elements. This sketch gives a better sense of the figure on the column. It shows a man standing erect with his hands clasped across his abdomen, possibly in prayer. He is topped by an elaborate feathered head dress and wears jade jewelry around his neck and ankles. His upper arms are decorated with bracelets, probably also of jade. The figure does not appear to wear an upper garment, probably a result of the warm climate. A kilt-like skirt covers his lower body down to the knees. Hanging from his belt is an elaborate sash, or loin-cloth, decorated with a monster's face. On his feet are sandals. This no doubt represents how elite men of Oxkintok dressed and adorned themselves during the period when the Palacio Ch'ich was built. (Sketch from Architectural Survey at Oxkintok, 1971-1993 by George F. Andrews)
A sculptured pillar stands in the doorway of Palacio Diablo. This building was called the Devil's Palace because of the figure on the pillar. The similarity in the construction to the Ch'ich Palace, as well as the use of a sculptured figure at the main entry, both strongly suggest that this structure was built during the same period. However, the figures in front of the Ch'ich Palace are very different in appearance from the one at the Devil's Palace. I will say more about that in a moment.
Palacio Diablo stands at the southeast corner of the Southwest Plaza, facing north, and has three rooms. Two are parallel, with an east-west orientation. A third room, on the east end of the building, is perpendicular to these. There are doorways connecting the entrance room to the other two, but there is no door connecting them with each other. Whoever lived here was certainly part of the elite group, but the dwelling is of very modest size compared to the adjacent Palacio Ch'ich. (Photo by Steve Millard from Maya Ruins Website)
Corner of the entryway. The building stones are well shaped and fit together snugly. On top, there is a Classic Puuc decoration of carved stone in the shape of a drum. This is probably not its original placement. Because of the thick brush inside the palace, I was unable to photograph the interior.
The "Devil" is in the Palace's details. The sculpture and the upright block of stone on which it is carved (Column 5) are slender compared to those of the sculptures at the Ch'ich Palace. Another difference is that the figure is much more simply dressed. There are two mysterious holes on the top of the head. Early Spanish visitors who saw these thought they once contained horns, hence the name.
Some archeologists have suggested that this unusual sculpture represents a supernatural being. However, they haven't cited any evidence to back their opinion. I am unconvinced, because every Maya supernatural being I have seen in paintings or sculptures has been elaborately dressed to an intense degree. This figure is naked except for a loin cloth. I have an alternative theory.
Sketch of Column 5 of the Devil's Palace. The weather-worn figure is that of a thin, almost skeletal man standing erect. His arms are held straight up as if he is reaching for something, or perhaps surrendering. He is naked from the waist up and wears no head dress or ornamentation of any kind. A loin cloth hangs low on his hips. A large and rather mysterious circle with a sunken center appears on his abdomen. Since his feet have been worn away, it is not clear whether he wears sandals or is barefoot.
My theory is that this represents a captured warrior, proudly displayed at the entrance of the home of the man who took him in battle. In pre-hispanic times, capturing a warrior was often more honored than killing one. A modern equivalent would be a hunter who displays over his mantle the antlered head of a deer he has killed.
The prisoner would first be stripped of all of his finery and then publicly displayed as evidence of his captor's skill and bravery. Usually this was followed by ritual sacrifice. All this would explain the complete lack of elite adornment, as well as a posture that suggests surrender. Maya paintings and sculptures often show war captives who have been similarly stripped and humbled. (Sketch from Architectural Survey at Oxkintok, 1971-1993 by George F. Andrews)
The South Plaza
Front of the Palace of the Initial Series (CA-6), looking east. The name of this palace refers to carved symbols covering a door lintel found here. The Initial Series is the hieroglyphic symbol designating a date as part of the Long Count system of the Maya calendar. The palace is located on the east end of the South Plaza. It faces north toward the back of the un-named, brush-covered pyramid mentioned in my last posting.
Floor plan of the Palace of the Initial Series. In the plan above, north is to the left, with the east end at the top and the west on the bottom. The palace has seven rooms arranged in two long, east-west galleries. The front gallery has three rooms and the rear has four. On the west end of the building is an eighth room with a north-south orientation. This building, along with its neighbor, the Palace of the Lunar Series, are among the oldest at Oxkintok. They were both built during the Early Classic period (300 AD-500 AD) in what is called the Proto-Puuc style. (Diagram from Architectural Survey at Oxkintok, 1971-1993 by George F. Andrews)
Sketch of lintel from Initial Series Palace. A glyph on the lintel shows the Long Count calendar date equivalent to 475 AD, which is near the end of the Early Classic period. This makes it the earliest date from the Maya Long Count Calendar to be found in Yucatan. A total of 16 lintels and 26 stelae (upright stone markers) have been found at Oxkintok, but many are so weathered as to be indecipherable. Despite its long history, we only know the name of one king, referred to as Walas, who ruled in the 7th century. (Diagram from an article by Eric Boot on Mesoweb.com)
Front of the Palace of the Lunar Series, looking west. The Lunar Series palace stands next to the Palace of the Initial Series on the same east-west line. Both face north. Archeologists named this structure for the glyphs found on lintels here, which are associated with the Maya's 18-month Lunar Calendar. This was used to track the phases of the moon and is a subset of their Long Count Calendar.
The people who lived in these two palaces in the Early Classic period were also part of Oxkintok's ruling elite. However, at that time, other parts of the city were more important than Ah Canul. It was not until the Middle Classic (500 AD-750 AD) that Ah Canul became the center of power in the city.
The Palace of the Lunar Series faces north (right). It is approximately the same size as its neighbor, but the floor plan differs. While both palaces have eight rooms, the Lunar Series structure has 3 east-west galleries. In addition, there are 2 north-south galleries, one on each end. Finally, the front of the Lunar Series has three doorways, while the Initial Series has five. (Diagram from Architectural Survey at Oxkintok, 1971-1993 by George F. Andrews)
The Southeast Plaza
The Southeast Plaza is the eastern-most extension of the Ah Canul Group. It is also one of the oldest sections. The plaza is very broad and open and does not appear to contain an altar. The size of the space would have made it suitable for large public gatherings, including religious ceremonies and public markets. The plaza is bordered on the north by a one-story building oriented along an east-west line. This structure faces south into the plaza and has five doors leading into an equal number of rooms.
Forming a corner with it is another building which stretches along the eastern side of the plaza. In the middle of this building is a large arched opening through which ceremonial processions may once have marched. There are two rooms on either side of the arch, with doors facing west, into the plaza. The western side of the plaza is formed by the backs of the Ch'ich Palace and the temple in the corner of the Southwest Plaza. There may once have been structures along the Southeast Plaza's south side, but nothing remains now.
An impressive two-story arch creates a formal entrance into the Southeast Plaza. This may have been the most important entry-point to Ah Canul until the pyramids and temples were built in later centuries. A similar arch can be found along the north side of another section of Oxkintok called the Ah Dzib Group. Arches like this are a signature element of the Puuc architectural style that became popular around 700 AD.
One of the two interior rooms in the right wing of the arched building. The room is long and narrow, with a corbel roof. There are no windows, so the only light would have come through the door or from a hearth fire. The thick walls would have insulated the structure and moderated the temperature on hot days or cool evenings.
This concludes Part 2 of my Oxkintok series. We will next look at the Ah May and An Dzib Groups and the famous Satunsat (Labyrinth). 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.
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Hasta luego, Jim
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