Cobá Part 6: The great market at Plaza A, the Xaibé pyramid, and Stelae 20 and 21.

What did a pre-hispanic market look like? There are no known Classic or Post-Classic- era depictions of a market at Cobá. However, a city of 50,000 must have had a least one and probably several. The mural above shows a market in pre-hispanic Tlaxcala, in central Mexico. How it looked and functioned would have been quite similar to a market in Cobá, or other cities in the Maya world. As a matter of fact, it is similar in many respects to the Wednesday tianguis (street market) in Ajijic, where I live. The word for "market" or "where one buys or sells" is k'iwik in the Yucatec Maya language.

In this posting, I'll focus on Plaza A, where archeologists believe Cobá's main market was held. An important structure in the plaza is the Xaibé pyramid. This temple may have been used for rituals and ceremonies by the merchants and traders. Along with my explanation of the market and how it functioned, I'll show some ancient murals from the Acropolis market at the Maya city of Calakmul. It was contemporary with Cobá and the two cities had many political and cultural connections. (The photo above is from a spectacular set of murals by Desiderio Hernández Xochitiotzin at the Palacio Gobierno in Tlaxcala)

Overview

Plaza A is located in an area where Grupo D and Grupo Nohoch Mul overlap. The plaza  is a rectangle surrounded on all four sides by long slender structures. The Xaibé pyramid is the small square in the plaza's southeast corner. Standing between the plaza and the main Nohoch Mul ruins are Structures 10 and 12, which contain Stelae 20 and 21 respectively. I will show you these at the end of this posting. The inset map on the lower right shows Cobá's network of sacbeob (plural of sacbe, which means "white road").

Plaza A was originally quite large, but today much of it has been reclaimed by the jungle. The structures which border it, except for the pyramid, are largely un-excavated. The plaza covers an area of 26,000 sq meters (2.6 hectares). The surface is almost completely flat, with a variation of only 30cm. These features would have made it ideal for a large market capable of handling thousands of people and many booths. No permanent market structures have been discovered, so they must have been made of perishable materials or were erected periodically on a temporary basis. 

Remains of Sacbe #4. The broken surface above is the limestone stucco paving that formed the top layer of the sacbe. See Part 1 for a description of how they were built and the role they played in Cobá's success in the ancient world. Five sacbeob terminate at Plaza A. These include Sacbe #1, #4, #6, #7,and #8. Sacbe #1 is by far the longest. It runs 100km (62mi) from Plaza A all the way to Yaxuna, just south of Chichen Itza. This makes it one of the longest "white roads" in Yucatan. The people of Yaxuna manufactured pottery, which was carried by porters down Sacbe #1 to the Cobá market.

A porter trudges along, using a tumpline to carry a large ceramic pot. He is clothed only with a loincloth and high-backed sandals. In his right hand he holds a walking staff to support himself. The tumpline that passes across the porter's forehead extends back to support a large ceramic pot. His left hand reaches up to hold the tumpline in place. I have observed Mexicans using this ancient method and it can still be seen in cultures world-wide.

The Yucatec Maya term for the long distance merchant-traders who employed porters like this was pplom yok. 

A woven fiber base helps support the large pot on the porter's back. The pot may be empty, but probably is not. Many of the murals on the walls of Calakmul's Ch'iik Naahb market  involve foods like atole, a thick drink made from maiz (corn). Most likely, the pot contains dried kernels of maiz. Perched on the rim of the pot is a creature that archeologists believe is either a pet or a mythical image. (Photo is from my posting on the Ch'iik Naahb murals at Calakmul)

The Atole Woman. Just behind the woman in the diaphanous blue dress is a vertical set of glyphs. They are a caption that identifies her as "Atole Woman". This pplom (merchant) place a pot on the head of the kneeling woman, or perhaps reaches up to retrieve it. A series of market scenes cover the walls of the Ch'iik Naahb Acropolis. Each of the scenes has a short caption labeling what is clearly commercial activity. Behind the kneeling woman is a seated man drinking from a large bowl of atole, no doubt a satisfied customer. Another man, this time behind the Atole Woman, prepares more atole. (Photo from Ch'iik Naabh murals)

Archeologists use several methods to identify ancient markets. One way looks at features that provide efficiency in exchanges. Another examines how goods are distributed. Still another analyzes the logistics of moving goods from producers to consumers. At Cobá, archeologists geochemically examined soil samples from Plaza A. Their analysis showed high levels of phosphorous and trace elements typical of the products that were present and activities that occurred in an ancient market. This, along with the intersection of so many sacbeob at the plaza, provides convincing evidence that Plaza A was Cobá's main market.

The shape of the Xaibé pyramid is unique in Cobá. The limestone pyramid has four levels, with a single staircase leading to the top. Each step is high and very narrow. The 61 degree slope of the staircase is extremely steep. Xaibé has a square base with rounded corners and is 14m (46ft) high. Each side of its base is 21m (69ft) long. The fourth level is a solid stone cone. By contrast, other pyramids at Cobá have flat platforms on top that contain rectangular temples. The pyramid was given the Maya Yucatec name Xaibé ("crossroads") because it was built near the intersection of so many sacbeob. 

Before they determined that Plaza A was a major market site, the function of the pyramid had long puzzled archeologists. Some thought it was an observatory, like the one at Chichen Itza, and many tourist publications still describe it that way. However, it is now believed that the pyramid was used for rituals by merchants and traders upon arriving or departing Cobá. At the bottom of the stairs is a very weathered 9th century stela. Offerings found around it include a stone serpent sculpture, shell pendants, small red shell plaques, and fragments of shell and jade. This begs the question: "to whom were these offerings made?"

In the Classic era, "God L" was the deity of merchants and traders. Archeologists have dubbed him God L because they haven't yet deciphered a name for him. I photographed this mural in the ruins of Cacaxtla, in central Mexico. During the Post-Classic period, he was called Ek Chuah. God L wears a cape and a hood made from a bear's head. The top half of his face is painted green. He is obviously a rich god, because he is adorned with jade jewelry around his neck and on his wrists. His right hand holds a short stick or wand. Sitting on his forearm is an object that looks like a fox head on top of quadruple scoop of ice cream.

To me, the most interesting part of this image is God L's pack, which is propped up by his walking staff. Strapped to the pack are various trade goods, including a pot containing a leafy green plant. Perched on the back of the pack is the same strange creature seen previously, sitting on the porter's pot. This may have been a protective totem for those involved in long-distance trade. In the Maya world, as well as throughout Mesoamerica, trade was extremely important. Cities astride important routes grew rich. Wars were fought to control them. It is no wonder that merchants and traders were entitled to their own god.

Structure 10 and Stela 20

Stela 20 stands under a protective palapa on the first step of Structure 10's staircase. On the platform atop the broad staircase is a small, rectangular, two-room temple. The stela was created near the end of the Classic era at Cobá and contains two dates. One is January 16, 773 AD, the accession of Kaloomté Chan K'inich. He was Cobá's last known ruler.  It is significant that the wording about his accession does not say he "fastened the headband", the phrase used for centuries when someone became a kaloomté (king of kings). Instead, the new ruler was simply "seated", suggesting a drop in the status of both the office and the city.

The stela's other date is November 30, 780 AD, which marked the end of an important periodic cycle in the Maya calendar. This is the last recorded date at Cobá. The fact that no later dates have been found does not mean that, following 780, Cobá was without a ruler or became abandoned. No one knows when Chan K'inich died, or who his successor(s) might have been. The Classic era was exemplified by monuments like Stela 20. The fact that no stelae or other inscriptions with names and dates have been found means that the Classic era had ended. Cobá's population was declining and the city's importance was fading.

Drawing of the images and glyphs on Stela 20. This stela is the best preserved of the 34 yet discovered at Cobá, probably because it is also the latest. Kaloomté Chan K'inich stands in the traditional posture, dressed in the finery of a ruler. He carries the large, elaborate scepter that signifies his rulership, while standing on the backs of two bound captives. Two other captives, also bound, kneel on either side of his feet. During the 300 years that the Classic-era Cobá dynasty lasted, nearly all of the rulers displayed on stelae are shown with captives at their feet.

This was a propaganda device, adopted centuries before. By using the images of captives, Chan K'inich proclaims his prowess as Supreme Warrior. This imitates the stelae erected by Calakmul's powerful Kaan Dynasty rulers. Cobá had long maintained a close political and military alliance with the Kaan. In fact, there is evidence that Juunpiktok, who founded Cobá's dynasty in 494 AD, came to power with the aid of the Kaan (then based in Dzibanche). However, 44 years before this stela was erected, the Kaan Dynasty had been defeated and eradicated in 736 AD by Tikal. Thus, Chan K'inich's boast rings a bit hollow.

 

Structure C-12 and Stela 21

Structure 12 is a low, two-level platform with an internal chamber. Stela 21 was placed in front of the chamber's entrance, possibly as a way to seal it. The structure and its stela are located not far from Structure 10 and the Ixmoja pyramid. For a time, archeologists thought that the internal chamber had been a tomb. However, there were no human remains or grave good, only a small number of offerings. Structure 12 and Stela 21 were found during a 1930 archeological expedition. 

There are several possible reasons why the entrance to the chamber was sealed. The Maya believed that buildings and monuments possessed a divine "soul-like" essence. When a structure was no longer in use, it would be ritually "killed" or deactivated. Thus, the stela would have formed a lid to contain the structure's sacred energy. Alternatively, the sealing could have been an attempt to protect the offerings left inside. Finally, the placement of the stela could have signified a change from active use of the structure to its becoming a static monument to a past ruler.

Drawing of Stela 21. The heavily worn stela has carvings only on one side.  It stands 1.5m (4.9ft) tall and 0.71m (2.3ft) wide. The image is of a male ruler with a bound captive seated crosslegged on either side of his feet. The ruler wears high-backed sandals and has a long device hanging down from his neck. At the end of this device is a horizontal bar with three tubular beads extending from each end. Decorations like this were worn by rulers when they dressed as warriors and intended to take captives. 

The glyphs on the upper left portion of the stela's face are unreadable, so we don't know the name of the ruler or any dates. Like so many other stelae at Cobá, it is likely that Stelae 20 and 21 were originally erected elsewhere in the city during the Classic era. During the Post Classic, Structures 10 and 12 would have been erected and the stelae moved to their current positions. This was a way of honoring the past glory of Cobá during an anxious period of decline and decay.

This completes Part 6 of my Cobá series. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I can respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim