NW Yucatan Part 20: Labná's Plaza and famed Arch

Labná Arch, viewed from the inside. After touring El Palacio (see Part 19) at the ancient Maya city of Labná, we strolled southward along the raised limestone sacbé toward a complex of ruins surrounding a sunken plaza. The Labná Arch is one of the most beautiful examples of the Puuc style of Maya architecture, so-named for the range of hills that cuts across the Yucatan south of Mérida. For an overview map of the whole Labná site, click here.


The Pyramid Temple called El Mirador

El Mirador means "The Watchtower".  Although it may have been the highest structure in the ancient city, its purpose was religious, not defensive. El Mirador is the first large structure that comes into view on your left as you move down the ceremonial sacbé (seen in the immediate foreground). Although the lower part of the structure looks conical, originally it was a four-sided pyramid, with a large staircase ascending one side. The view here is toward the southeast.

El Mirador, looking northeast from the sunken plaza. Golden afternoon sunlight bathes the pyramid temple, which was built in early Puuc style. The total height, from the base to the top of the roof comb, is 20 m (65 ft). In the foreground, you can see some of the remains of the structures which once surrounded the sunken plaza. Except for the birds hidden in the jungle trees, all was quiet at Labná. I felt like tiptoeing.

A small temple with a roof comb tops El Mirador. The temple contains four rooms, and would have been entered by ascending a broad staircase ending at the doorway you can see above. Rising above the door is a tall "roof comb", a typical feature of Puuc architecture. It reminded me of the Old West false-front buildings in the 19th Century US.  Typically, roof combs were thin walls, perforated with holes, and studded with stone spikes on which stucco decorations were mounted. On this roof comb, statues of various sizes were mounted, with some in high or low relief while others were in 3 dimensions. Nineteenth Century visitors to the site reported that many of the decorative elements were intact. Unfortunately, they have since been looted or destroyed. These included "two ballplayers and a large figure with a topknot, seated directly above the entrance," according to a sign at the site.


The Sunken Plaza

Carole inspects the Sunken Plaza. The plaza is fairly small and is surrounded by the stubs of stone pillars, old palace foundations, and heaps of unidentified rubble. It seemed cozier, in a way, than the grand and triumphant Mesoamerican plazas I have visited elsewhere. Here, Labná's nobility and their families would have congregated, conducted business, and socialized.

A ruin overlooking the plaza shows the remains of a corbel, or "false" arch. The Maya, for all their architectural prowess, never discovered the secret of the true arch. This meant that their structures had to be built with thick walls and generally small rooms.

A stone ramp leads down into the Sunken Plaza. This is a very unusual feature in Maya ruins, or anywhere else in Mesoamerica, for that matter. The usual use of a ramp is to allow wheeled vehicles to move between two surfaces set at different levels. The Maya, however, never developed wheeled vehicles for practical use, although they did make some wheeled toys and used wheels as architectural decorations (see Part 19). The exact purpose of this ramp remains a mystery.


Exterior face of the Labná Arch

The Labná Arch has been famous since the mid-19th Century. Between 1839 and 1842, two young adventurers teamed up to lead expeditions into the jungles of Yucatan and Central America. John Loyd Stephens, an American, and Fredrick Catherwood, an Englishman, brought back extraordinary tales of their adventures, along with Catherwood's exquisite drawings of ancient Maya ruins. Through their book, "Incidents of Travel in Central America and the Yucatan",  the world suddenly became aware of the treasures hidden under the green canopy of these remote forests. One of the sites they visited and documented was Labná, where Catherwood's beautifully detailed sketches revealed a nearly forgotten civilization of amazing sophistication.

The Arch is a classic corbeled vault. Generally, such arches in the Puuc area are found either as ceilings of rooms or free standing, as at Uxmal and Kabah. This one functions as a passageway between the Sunken Plaza and the interior patio of a residential complex that was once occupied by a family of great wealth and importance. The decorations on this side of the arch are all geometric and abstract, although there is are suggestions of curled snakes, or a highly stylized mask.

Getting in touch. Our guide (left) told us that, according to local legend, if we stood quietly and pressed our foreheads against the wall of the Arch, we might be able to connect with the spirits of the ancient Maya. Carole, ever game, decided to give it a try.


The Arch's interior face

The inside face of the Arch is much more elaborate than the outside. The two Belgian girls seen above had just arrived from Loltún Cave, where we had last seen them. The Labná Arch was constructed in a style called Puuc Mosaic, popular in the Late Classic era. There are two small rooms that flank the Arch. Other structures, less well preserved, surround the interior patio and once functioned as living units. To see Labná Arch as Catherwood sketched it more than 170 years ago, click here.

The Arch, as it may have looked 1000 years before Catherwood arrived. The sketch above is by a modern archaeological artist. Notable features include the triple roof combs which apparently supported anthropomorphic stucco sculptures. Only the bottom sections of the roof combs survive. Above each of the two doors that flank the Arch are stylized Maya huts called nah. The stone has been artfully carved to represent thatched roofs. Small human figures once sat in the little niches that represent nah doorways, but these have disappeared since Catherwood's time, victims of the archaeological looting that has long plagued Mexico. All that remains of the figures are the feathers of their topknots and the stone spikes that once supported them.

A large Chaac mask decorates the north corner of the Arch's interior face. Set in the square eye socket is a round stone representing the eyeball. A snarling mouth with twisted fangs sits below the truncated remains of the once-curved nose. The stone latticework on the right of the photo is also typical of Puuc architecture. Elements of this style were sometimes copied by other Mesoamerican cultures. I saw a stone lattice almost identical to this at the Olmeca-Xicalanca site of Cacaxtla, north of Puebla.


Courtyard of the Arch complex

View from the steps of the Arch, looking into the courtyard. The mound of rubble under the trees in the background was part of the residential structure that surrounded the courtyard. An interesting feature is the faint circle with a nub of stone in its center, seen in the lower left quadrant of the photo. At first I thought this might be some sort of shrine. Later, I read about chultunes, which were underground chambers carved out of the limestone bedrock and used for the collection and storage of water. The descriptions I have read seem to fit what you see above. The round area would have been slightly sunken to collect the rainfall and direct it to the center hole. The plug of rock may be the cap of the chultun's hole. It certainly would have made sense to place a chultun in the interior courtyard of the residence. I have been unable to find any other explanation for this feature, at Labná itself or on the internet. If anyone has another explanation, I would welcome it.

Surviving interior wall of the Arch complex. This beautiful example of Puuc Mosaic is found on the wall extending north from the left side of the Arch. As you can see from the right side of the photo, the interior of the wall is composed of limestone rubble, while the face is covered with mosaics.

Puuc Mosaic. Almost every stone is carved with abstract designs, glyphs, or anthropomorphic representations. It is mind-boggling to think about the amount of detail work that went into this one wall. Very likely, the other walls around the complex were once similarly decorated. Keep in mind that every stone had to be individually carved by hand using only stone tools. Since this was a private residence, rather than a more public building like El Palacio (see Part 19), the individual who commissioned the work must have been extraordinarily wealthy and powerful.

View, looking east, of the mosaic wall with El Mirador in the distance. The Belgians were once again on our heels as we left the interior patio of the Arch's residential complex. I often find that I am more impressed by smaller remains, like the ornate Arch complex, than by massive pyramids. I suppose the artfulness and humanity of the ancient people shines through in a way I can better appreciate.


Other remains

Carved stone blocks littered the ground around us. Our guide pointed out some of the intricate engravings on the stones. This one shows a noble figure dressed in feathers and robes. It appeared to be part of some long-lost repetitive design, because numerous similar figures were scattered under our feet. This part of the ruin has never been restored and is probably in a condition not unlike what Stephenson and Catherwood found in the early 1840s.

A broken stone ring under a nearby tree may be from a ball court. Although I have seen similar rings in several Mesoamerican ball courts, we did not see a court at Labná. In addition, the site map linked under the first photo of this posting does not show one. Accordingly, I am not entirely sure of my judgement, but the similarity is striking, and site maps do not always show all the features. In addition, there is the 19th Century report of ball player statues attached to the roof comb of El Mirador.  The ring, from one side of the outside rim to the other, is approximately 1 m   (3 ft) wide. The center opening is about .3 m (1 ft). One of the ways of scoring in the ancient game was to pass a hard rubber ball through a ring set high on a wall.

A chubby-faced bust gazes out across the millenia. The pouty cheeks and mouth reminded me of some of the Olmec statues I have seen. The Olmec have often been called the "Mother of Cultures" because of their early and powerful influence throughout Mesoamerica, including among the Maya. The statue was one of a large number lying about in the area.

This completes Part 20 of my NW Yucatan series. Next we will visit the Eco-Museum of Tikul and sample the delights of chocolate made the ancient Maya way.  I aways appreciate comments, feedback, and corrections. If you would like to do so, you can use the Comments section below, or email me directly.

If you leave a question in the Comments section, PLEASE leave your email so I can respond.

Hasta luego, Jim

NW Yucatan Part 19: Labná, Maya jewel in the jungle

At Labná's El Palacio, a human face peers from the wide-open jaws of a serpent. The sculpture above is on a prominent corner of El Palacio, a large multi-story structure on the north end of Labná. This ancient Maya city may be small, but those who built it crafted a true jewel of architecture. Labná whose name means "Old House," is located in the heart of the Puuc region of NW Yucatan, about 122 km (75.8 mi) south of Merida. The area is full of Maya ruins and the Puuc style of architecture is among the most elegant and sophisticated of ancient Mesoamerica.  Our visit to Labná was one of the four stops on our Ruta Puuc tour, which also included the caves at Loltún (see in Part 18 of this series), a cacao plantation at Tikul, and the ruins at Sayil. In this posting, we'll look at the many beautiful architectural details of El Palacio, and at the ancient sacbé (raised roadway) that connects it to the rest of the ruins to the south. In the next posting, we will walk down that long sacbé to visit the famous Labná Arch, see a temple pyramid called El Mirador, and examine a residential area with exquisitely detailed stone carvings. View a map that shows El Palacio in the context of the whole Labná site, click here.


Approaching El Palacio

Jungle canopy provided welcome shade on a hot Yucatan afternoon. Puuc means "hill" in Maya, and the rolling country is covered with a thick green jungle. The forest contains many bird species, as well as more dangerous creatures like jaguars and poisonous snakes. Our guide urged us to stay on the marked trails and to step carefully, remarking that even the Maya people who live nearby seldom move around much at night. Other than the Belgian girls, whom we had met earlier at Loltún, and the site caretaker, our small party of 5 had Labná all to ourselves. This is definitely the way to visit ancient ruins, where the only sounds are wind in the trees, bird songs, and the occasional buzz of an insect. The solitude of the centuries settled over us and I felt an urge to speak in whispers.

Nearing El Palacio, we passed stone sculptures, including a large fálico. The two small chubby-cheeked heads on pedestals were once part of a wall decoration. The fálico (phallus) in the middle is similar to one we saw near the entrance to Loltún cave. The phallic cult appears to have started in the Vera Cruz area, and moved down into the Puuc region around the end of the Classic period (800 AD -1000 AD). Fálicos have been found not only at Loltún and Labná, but also at Sayil, Uxmal, and several other sites in the area. The phallic cult was associated with the creator-god Itzamna, maiz (corn), and fertility in general.

El Palacio stands on three levels at the end of the sacbé. A sacbé is a raised road made out of crushed limestone, with blocks of limestone set as curbs on either side. This one is about 200 m (600 ft) long and about 3 m (9 ft) wide. The Maya were amazing road engineers and one of their sacbeob extended 300 km (186.4 mi) to connect ancient T'ho (today's Mérida) with the Caribbean Sea. These roads were built by people who had no draft animals or metal tools and did not use the wheel. Early settlement in the area occurred around 300 AD, but the real heyday of Labná was between 750 AD and 1000 AD, also known as the Terminal Classic and Early Post-Classic period. The population was never very large, about 1,500 to 2,500 people. The total area of Labná during this period was a bit less than 2 sq. km (1.24 sq. mi). In the Puuc area there are few cenotes, and rainfall is uncertain. To compensate, ancient communities invented the chultun for water collection and storage. These were underground cisterns, carved out of the limestone in the shape of a squat, fat vase with a narrow neck reaching to the surface. Seventy chultunob have been found at Labná, capable of storing thousands of liters of water, yet another example of Maya engineering prowesss.

El Palacio is an unusually large and complex site. The structure underwent at least 12 construction periods before reaching the appearance it has today. There are three levels, including the huge platform on which the 2-story structure stands. The complex contains about 70 rooms and 8 patios. These are connected by several stairways and passages for easy circulation throughout the building. The length of the structure is 120 m (393 ft), making it one of the largest in the Puuc region. By contrast, the famous Governor's Palace at the great city of Uxmal is 97 m (320 ft) long, and has only a single story.


The Palace's left wing and center

View of the left wing of the palace. El Palacio was used for both residential and administrative purposes. The area in front of the left wing is known as the West Patio where ceramic objects and metates (grinding stones) have been found, indicating that it was a food preparation area.

The South Wing is a long rectangular block of 5 rooms. It extends perpendicularly out toward the south from the front of the complex. This block effectively divides the West Patio from the Central Area. The rooms of the South Wing all face onto the broad, raised patio in front of the Central Area. Since the Central Area appears to have been used for administrative purposes, it seems likely that these rooms were also administrative, rather than residential.

The Central Area is reached by this broad stairway. The 5 steps lead up from the open patio in front. A room extends out from the building into the small terrace at the top of the steps, its front walls still showing white plaster or paint. A natural question is: "why so big a complex for so small a city?" The answer may be that Labná was a satellite administrative center for either Uxmal or Sayil. Perhaps the rulers of the dominant city felt they needed an auxiliary center to handle this outlying territory? The satellite city theory is still unproven, however.

How the Central Area may have originally appeared. This drawing is from approximately the same view as the previous photo. The tall structure in the back is now only piled rubble. In this artist's conception, you can clearly see El Palacio's elegant lines. The decorative feature at the upper right is a profile view of the serpent's mouth seen in the first photo of this posting.

View of the corner of the Central Area's projecting room. Here you can see a typical Puuc feature: groups of columns separated by sections of limestone blocks. The columns themselves are not the long, single pillar found in a Greek or Roman structure. Instead, they are sectioned, with the upper and lower pieces separated by joints. However, the three columns grouped together to form the front corner are a very unusual feature for Puuc construction.

A Chaac face with a dark drooping nose peers out of the upper facade. Chaac was the god of rain and cenotes. In an area of scarce water, this made him an extremely important deity. Consequently, Puuc architecture is richly decorated with Chaac masks on its stone facades. The drooping nose of this one is a bit unusual, since Chaac masks usually have noses that writhe upwards, like a snake preparing to strike. Above the nose you can see the two square eyeholes, and below them, a protruding mouth.

Abstract design on a Central Area wall. Puuc architects also tended to use either plain facades or abstract designs on the lower part of a wall, reserving the upper facade for Chaac faces or designs from the natural world. This wall reminded me of the designs we saw at the ruins of Mitla in Oaxaca. Mitla, a city of palaces built by the Mixtec people, was built later and was a considerable distance away. However, there were trade links between Oaxaca and the Maya areas, so there could have been some cultural exchange, including architectural influences.

A graceful arch separates the Central Area from the East Wing. The stairway under the arch leads up to the second story of the complex. Unforunately, I didn't have time to visit the three buildings on the upper story. Notice the Chaac mask on the upper side of the building to the right. The Chaac's nose curls snakily upward in the way it is most usually represented.


The East Wing

A classic Puuc Chaac mask. This is the same mask seen in profile in the last photo. The nose curls upward, and above it on either side are openings representing eye sockets. Often sockets like these are filled with large, round stones representing Chaac's eyes. Directly below the nose is a magnificent mouth with fearsome-looking fangs. There is a glyph carved into the nose with a date that is the Maya equivalent of 862 AD. Chaac was believed to create thunder and lightning by beating the clouds with stone clubs or snakes. The Maya sacrificed young men and women in order to persuade him to provide rain. Chaac was believed to live in cenotes (collapsed limestone sinkholes filled with water), and human bones have been found in a number of them. However, there is some dispute about whether these were the result of sacrifices or simply accidental drownings over the centuries.

A florette with a pendant, backed by a feather. The stone carvings above, located near the Chaac mask just seen, are fine examples of Puuc architectural decorations. Keep in mind that the Maya were doing all this fine stone carving without metal tools.

Lower torso of a human figure. The upper body is missing above the belted waist. Hanging from the belt, the torso wears a finely decorated loincloth and some sort of leggings up to the knee.

Upper left corner of the East wing. For me, this was one of the most interesting parts of the whole palace complex. On the corner itself, the human face peers out of the snake jaws. On either side are a cornucopia of shapes and abstract designs.

Profile of the snake jaws. Looking out from the toothy upper jaw is the clear profile of the human face. Notice how the individual stone blocks on the left of the photo each have designs carved into them. An immense amount of work went into this corner of the structure.

Abstract or natural designs adjacent to the snake jaws. The rosette feature is repeated, this time without the pendant, but still with the feather extending above. A tall curled carving may represent an opening bud. One of the most interesting objects is the one at the lower left. This appears, for all the world, like a cog wheel from a modern machine, complete with gear teeth. The Maya clearly understood the concept of the wheel, they just never found a use for it.

The East Wing is actually much larger than it appears here. This south-facing side has six doors entering a like number of rooms. However, if you refer back to the site map of El Palacio, you will see that the far right (east) end is actually a corner, with a long block containing 10 more rooms stretching out to the north. The stairway on the left of the photo leads to a long narrow terrace above the rooms whose 4 doors you can see. The wall on the second level is mostly rubble, but contains some abstract designs.

View of the sacbé looking south from El Palacio's Central Area patio. Just visible at the end of the roadway is the residential complex containing the Labná Arch. We will view this area next week, along with a pyramid temple called El Mirador, and a sunken plaza.

This completes Part 19 of my NW Yucatan series. Next week we will complete Labná, and the following week we'll visit the cacao plantation of Tikul. I hope you have enjoyed this posting and that I haven't bored you with my obsession with piles of old rocks. If you have any thoughts you'd like to share, including corrections or additions to the information I have provided, please do so either in the Comments section below or by return email.

If you'd like to leave a question in the Comments section PLEASE leave your email address so that I can respond.

Hasta luego, Jim