book chapter

Uaxactun, Guatemala: Group E -- 1926-1931

Carnegie Institution of Washington • (477) • Published In 1937 • Pages: xiii, 314

By: Ricketson, Oliver Garrison, Ricketson, Edith Hill Bayles, Mrs..

Abstract

Uaxactun was one of the first Mayan sites excavated so few absolute dates are given other than Mayan Long Count dates. The time period for this site is given as Uaxactun Periods I-III. Therefore, the reader is also advised to exercise caution as artifacts, etc. from Period I may have been mistakenly included in the analysis. (Period I is mostly outside the time period of 2100 B.P. to 1100 B.P. for the Classic Maya.) This may be especially true of the burials found under the plaza floor in Group E and some of the earliest buildings in Group E that were destroyed by later construction. This report is mostly about the investigations of Group E. The buildings of other groups investigated in the same field seasons are also described but in much less detail. Also described are the artifacts, burials, and miscellaneous structures or features (such as CHUTUNS, cists, and caches) found. One of the most interesting finds of Group E is that several buildings and stelae form a solstice site. The buildings were aligned so that the solstices and equinoxes can be noted when an observer standing on the stairway of one pyramid looks across the plaza at a group of temples ontop another pyramid. The sunrise will be behind a central temple for the the equinoxes and along a corner of one of the two outer temples for the solstices. Ricketson also conducted a house mound survey which estimated a population density far higher than slash and burn agriculture would have supported. So Ricketson was one of the first to realize the Maya must have practiced intensive agriculture.

HRAF PubDate

2000

Region

Middle America and the Caribbean

Sub Region

Maya Area

Document Type

book chapter

Evaluation

Creator Type

Archaeologist

Document Rating

4: Excellent Secondary Data

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

Sarah Berry; 1999

Field Date

1926-1931

Coverage Date

Uaxactun Periods II-III

Coverage Place

Uaxactun; El Peten, Guatemala

Notes

Part I: The excavations, by Oliver G. Ricketson, Jr. Part II: The artifacts, by Edith Bayles Ricketson. Appendices by Munroe Amsden, A. Ledyard Smith [and] H.E.D. Pollock

Includes bibliographical references (p. 303-306)

Large, folded maps not included (figures 1, 2, 71-74, 197, and 198)

LCCN

37022243

LCSH

Mayas--Antiquities