Recent Research in an E-Group (Group AA) at Nixtun-Ch’ich’, Guatemala

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Hydro-Ecological System of the Maya in Petén, Guatemala" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

E-Groups in the Maya world are believed to have had ritual purposes, serving as meeting centers where political meetings or markets may have taken place. They are also believed to have celebrated solar cycles. At Nixtun-Ch’ich’ three or four E-Groups are aligned on the site’s east-west axis. Our excavation in one of the E-Groups (Group AA) found that it contained construction phases from the Middle and Late Preclassic periods. This group is in the central part of the site and was accessed by two avenues that we believe were site entrances. The exact uses of these building groups are debated, but the buildings’ east-west axial alignment suggests that the structures could be used as astronomical observatories marking dates throughout the year as well as having astronomical references applied to its very architectural design, standing as a monumental representation of time. Water pools yearly on the eastern side of Group AA, suggesting that it was also tied to cycles of rain—the rainy season.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Hydro-Ecological System of the Maya in Petén, Guatemala

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 41624.0