Central Plaza Excavations at El Mirador

Summary

The Great Central Plaza of the West Complex at El Mirador lies on an early and important alignment for the entire city. Excavations of two small altar platforms, and test units of structures on the boundaries of the plaza and the Leon Plaza suggest that this was probably among the earliest areas of the city, and continued to have symbolic and ritual importance throughout the Middle and Late Preclassic periods at El Mirador. The Central Acropolis creates the southern boundary, the east and west boundaries are delimited by Leon Temple on the west and an elongated structure on the east ( E group complex) and the Cascabel Complex creates the northern boundary. The two small altar platforms are situated on the center line of the Central Plaza, creating a symbolic trajectory accessing the lower plaza and main stairway to the palaces of the Central Acropolis, with the center line extending through the E group and ending at the Cascabel group, the earliest grouping of temples yet known at the site. Evidence suggests that this may have been the earliest ritual center of the city and remained ritually significant to the inhabitants of El Mirador throughout its history.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• The Mirador Basin: New Investigations and Conservation Programs

Keywords

Spatial Coverage