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464 N o t e s o f M i d d l e A m e r i c a n A r c h a e o l o g y a n d E t h n o l o g y Carnegie Institution of Washington Division of Historical Research No. 108 February 18, 1952 A possible Early Classic Site in Northern yucatan William R. Coe ornamentation was found, beat an exposed section in the other mound showed black and red striping on the lower wall zone of a buried structure, which, although there eras little to go on, is identical perhaps in type to that just described. If doorways, windows, or “vents” do exist, the visible sections fail to show them. Their absence, together With the quantity of surface rubble and the generally square plan of the structure, suggests that this was a substructure; resting on ground level, with a lower wall zone depth of about 1.5 m. This conjecture is very indefinite as exposures were relatively slight. The traits associated with both Puuc and Mexican period architecture are almost surely absent here. Certain resemblances are noticeable in receding upper and lower wall zones of substructures between Colonia Yucatan and Uaxactun, Holmul, Naachtun, Calakmul, and La Muñeca. Inset corners of substructures are found at Coba, Piedras Negras, Tikal, Calakmul, Uaxactun, and elsewhere. The most apparent similarities, perhaps, are those found at Acanceh, particularly the large pyramidal substructure that stands just off the town’s plaza. Andrews (1942:258) mentions that this structure contains rounded inset corners; and, from a photograph, it is further characterized by receding upper and lower zones of the apron type on the terrace walls (Fernandez 1947, Fig. 1). With due regard to the inadequacy of information on Colonia Yucatan, about all one can say is that its architecture suggests stylistic and perhaps While recently in Valladolid, I heard of the discovery of ruins near Colonia Yucatan, the center of the Yucatecan plywood industry. As they are in an area little known archaeologically, a visit promised to be of some value. The site is approximately 1.5 km south of Triplay, which in turn is said to be 31 km south of El Cuyo, a coastal port, and 48 km north of Tizimin. A good road connects all three points. The five principal mounds constituting the site (though workers in the area report scattered, relatively insignificant mounds peripheral to the main group) are arranged as two parallel mounds to the north (the only ones considered here) and three others approximately 100 m to the south. There is some evidence that the intervening area was paved with small square cut stones. The group is uncleared but removal of surface rubble (perhaps a structure) for purposes of local road building has exposed in the north mounds an architecture somewhat unlike types usually found in adjacent areas. Unfortunately, only a brief study of the rains was possible. The removal of rubble towards the north end of one mound was sufficient to disclose the following distinctive elements: non-veneer masonry with a heavy smooth stucco overlay, inset corners, receding upper wail zones of a building or terrace which decidedly project beyond lower wall zones, and lower zones which appear to be set on a noticeable batter (Fig. 108.1). The corners of upper and especially lower wall zones are rounded. Moldings, other than the broad aprons formed by the upper wall zones, are absent as far as could be determined. No A Possible Early Classic Site in Northern Yucatan 465 108.1. Early Classic site in northern Yucatan: (a) ground plan and elevation of structure principally described; (b) northeast corner; (c) southeast corner. temporal affiliation with Classic sites in both central and northern areas. If there is any truth in this, the Colonia Yucatan material may possibly represent a northern Early Classic site far closer in type to Acanceh, thought by many probably to be Early Classic, than, say, to the pre-Puuc architecture of Oxkintok (Shook 1940:168–69, Fig. 3). It is worth noting that Acanceh, on ceramic evidence, was occupied in Late Formative times (Brainerd 1951). Though the evidence is admittedly shaky, Colonia Yucatan, as now exposed, does seem, to represent an Early Classic site of the northern area. Two distinct types of architecture may have co-existed in this area during Early Classic times, namely, that represented by Colonia Yucatan and, perhaps, Acanceh in the northern and central parts, and bar...

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