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25 The initial surveys of Mayapán disclosed the existence of a great number of field-stone walls running everywhere among the ruins (Pollock 1951:226; Ruppert and Smith 1951:232). While some walls were clearly milpa fences or cattle enclosures of postconquest construction, others seemed contemporary with the occupation of the site. Many of the latter appeared to surround house structures and it was consequently thought that they might delimit property boundaries. During the season of 1952, we followed out and plotted on the Mayapán map all the walls in certain representative portions of the city. It was hoped that such a study might reveal the function of the walls and cast light on land tenure, city organization, and similar features. While stone fences around the houses are a regular feature of modern Yucatecan villages, they have not previously been reported from a preconquest Maya site. The walls were completely plotted in roughly 1 sq km of the city, comprising specifically Squares D and K in the north-central part and Squares 2, AA, BB, DD, and EE in the southwest part (Jones 1952, map). In addition, other areas of Mayapán were reconnoitered in order to determine the value of additional work. The entire site is covered by what seems a maze of stone walls, ranging in age from the occupation of the city to the present day. For many years Mayapán was the site of a Spanish cattle ranch, and stone corrals and enclosures were built throughout the central part of the ruins. Moreover, probably ever since the conquest there have been milpas within Mayapán, as there are today. Finding plentiful stone at hand in the ruined buildings and walls, the Maya farmers often erect stone fences around their fields, not hesitating to repair and reuse older walls when convenient. Centuriesofsuchdestructionandrebuildinghaveconfused to a large extent the old wall patterns. Relatively few ancient walls are complete and in many instances only short sections could be followed. Although even C u r r e n t R e p o r t s Carnegie Institution of Washington Department of Archaeology No. 3 December 1952 Residential Property Walls at Ma yapán William R. BullaRd JR. William R. BullaRd JR. 26 fragmentary walls could usually be related to house structures, the complete pattern of ancient walls over a large area was all too often obscured. In this respect, the walls plotted in the extreme southwestern part of the site proved most satisfactory since here disturbance had been relatively slight (Fig. 3.1). Another perplexing problem was to distinguish ancient from postconquest walls. Technologically, there are few reliable criteria that can be applied to tell a postconquest wall from a rebuilt ancient wall, or an ancient wall from an old and much destroyed postconquest wall. Thus, although the majority could be identified without difficulty, many had to be marked as questionable. The ancient walls themselves are essentially alignments of uncut stones, set on edge, either touching or placed a few centimeters apart (Fig. 3.3a,b). The average height of the standing stones is 50–70 cm, but some walls are composed of large slabs up to 1.5 m high. Walls in areas free of postconquest disturbance often have smaller stones and spalls lying near their base, suggesting that the spaces between the slabs were chinked and filled so that the tops of the walls were level rather than jagged as they appear today. Occasionally chinking stones remain in place in a few walls. In no case, however, was sufficient debris found to warrant the belief that the walls rose substantially higher than the stones now standing. Many modern stone walls in Yucatán are similar in that they utilize large slabs set on end as a base, but today they must be built high enough to prevent cattle and horses from crossing, a problem the ancient Maya did not have to consider. In nearly all instances the walls wholly or partly surround individual dwelling houses or individual house groups (Fig. 3.2). House groups, although there is considerable variation, generally consist of two or three dwelling-type structures in a quadrangular arrangement, often built on a single terrace. Only rarely is more than one such house group surrounded by the same wall. Although many walls are fragmentary, enough remains were found to indicate that almost every domestic house or group had a wall. In contrast, present evidence suggests that 3.1. Plot of Walls in Southwest...

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