Chapter Eleven #3
Or it could have been a hot property that other rulers of the time wanted to seize in a political-religious power grab, so there was a constant need to defend it against outsiders.
Dr. Fernel pointed at the wall opposite the one they’d already scaled. “In the previous image, it was here that the wall appeared to have crumbled some.”
“It looks more solid now,” Quint said from behind her.
“I believe there might be trees close to the wall at that point, possibly even growing on it, causing some irregularity in the data.” Dr. Fernel zoomed in, showing the slight ripples in the otherwise straight lines of the wall. “We will need to ground truth to be sure, of course.”
Angélica’s gaze traveled around the inside of the wall.
“There looks to be buildings similar to Structures I and II abutting each side of the inner wall near the center. Four in total.” Again, she stared across at her dad.
“Why the same? Could they have been planetariums in line somehow with the cardinal directions?” She’d read somewhere once that the number 4 also represented stability to the Maya people.
“Why planetariums?” Pedro asked.
“For prophecy-telling reasons,” her father answered. “You know, like predicting when to plant or harvest, among other things.” He rubbed his chin, his brown eyes narrowed in thought. “What else do you see?”
She focused on the image again. “It looks like there are also some square structures in each corner.” She turned to Dr. Fernel. “Unless those are some sort of fortifications used to help hold up the wall?”
“I believe them to be buildings as well.”
“Like lookout towers?” Quint asked on his way over to the water jug María had left out.
Pedro yawned loudly. “Looking out for what, though?”
“What are these lines here?” Angélica asked, pointing at what appeared to be lines connecting to form a smaller rectangle partway between the outer walls and the center point of the image. “It sort of looks like a raised courtyard or plaza.”
Dr. Fernel tapped his index finger on his freckled chin. “That is a possibility, especially considering the larger structure that is visible at the center.”
“My turn, gatita,” her father said, indicating that he wanted her to turn the laptop computer his way.
She spun it around for him, curious what his architecturally tuned brain would notice.
He, Pedro, and Daisy all stared at the image.
“I don’t think that’s a platform,” her dad said, leaning closer to the screen. “It looks like another wall to me.”
“Is there a way to see contour lines on this?” Pedro asked, pointing at the laptop.
“Yes.” Dr. Fernel turned the computer back his way. He hit a few keys and tapped on the screen, then swiveled it back for Pedro to look.
“That slopes down inside of the inner rectangle,” Daisy said, frowning at Juan’s profile. “Why would they build a structure in the center of a natural cavity like that? It seems like flooding would be an issue.”
“Maybe the structure in the center is sinking,” Pedro said. “Sinkholes typically form in the northern part of the Yucatán Peninsula, not this far south, but we shouldn’t rule out geological forces at work here.”
“Could the weight of the structure cause a sinkhole to form underneath it?” Daisy asked Dr. Fernel.
“We can’t rule that out without bringing in geologists and geomorphologists to take some scans and measurements.”
“Let me look at it again,” Angélica said, waiting for her father’s nod before turning the laptop back in her direction.
With the contour lines now showing, it was clear how the whole site seemed to be one big sink drain.
She focused on the structure in the center.
It had squared edges, wider at the bottom and narrowing inward at the top, like most temples, with what appeared to be a small raised platform next to it.
But according to the contour lines, the structure was definitely sitting in a depression.
No wonder it wasn’t visible above the canopy.
“I wonder how many levels there are on that structure,” she said to nobody in particular. It was hard to tell with this overhead view.
“It certainly looks like a temple, though,” her dad said.
“Yeah, but just one.” She sat back, scratching absently at her neck.
“Why are there no other structures dotting the landscape inside the wall? I see no other smaller temples. No living quarters or a ballcourt or any public buildings for gatherings to listen to the shaman or royal authorities. Only what appears to be a small platform to the side of the temple.” Although that could be just an anomaly in the LIDAR data thanks to how thick the trees were.
“How certain are we that this is a sacred site?” Quint asked, returning with an extra cup of water that he placed on the table next to Dr. Fernel.
“Thank you,” Fernel said, gulping down the water.
She frowned at the screen. “I was a lot more certain of that before laying eyes on that wall—and this imagery.”
“When some archaeologists find things they don’t understand,” Juan said, “they do tend to label it as ‘religious.’ That could have been the case here, gatita. I’m not saying Marianne thought that, but it could have been the theory she overheard.”
Dr. Fernel indicated toward the structures located near the inside-middle of each tall outer wall.
“These other three buildings appear to be similar in size and footprint to Structures I and II. I propose we skip clearing a path to them at this time and focus on moving farther inward tomorrow, do more ground truthing to figure out if that is an interior wall or a raised platform.”
“Or a line in the sand,” Quint said, now standing at the end of the table.
“What do you mean by that?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I keep thinking about the fortresses I’ve visited in Europe. There are outer walls and then inside of those they sometimes have an inner defensive area where soldiers could fall back in the case of a breach.”
The tent flap shifted and Bronko stepped inside, heading for the jug of cold coffee next to the water carafe.
“A fortress?” Dr. Fernel shook his head. “Why would there be a fortress here, outside of Calakmul? It would make more sense to defend the city.”
“I agree,” Quint said. “Especially with the height of the wall on the inside. But why are we finding only weapons in the caches? No vases or other vessels. No jewelry. No statues or other forms of idolatry the ancient Maya kept on hand.”
“He has a good point,” Daisy said. “Typically, there is a variety in the caches at the sites I’ve worked. One cache might have mostly vessels or altars of some sort, but another cache would have something different.”
“Could the site have been sacred when they first built it, and then over time it changed roles?” Quint asked.
Angélica nodded. “That’s possible. It’s certainly happened at other Pre-Classic sites where the temples are built over previous structures from the older civilizations.” She turned to Dr. Fernel. “What about the drone footage?”
He scowled, shaking his head. “I couldn’t get under the canopy very well.
Too many branches and vines. The view from higher up shows only treetops.
A paleobotanist might enjoy the footage since this area probably hasn’t been touched by loggers in centuries, but it holds no value for those of us wanting to see what’s under the flora. ”
“Let me look at it again,” her dad said, turning the computer back his way. “Could this be a site older than Calakmul? Something from the Archaic period prior to 2000 BCE? I mean, we are in the vicinity of much more ancient sites in comparison to those in the north.”
“That’s a possibility, of course,” Dr. Fernel said. “But there would likely still be signs of at least one basic structure resembling a witz.”
That was true, especially if this was a sacred site. “That structure in the center could be their version of a witz,” Angélica said.
“What’s a witz?” Quint asked, reaching for his field notebook and pencil.
Daisy waited for him to open the book. “It’s a sacred hill or mountain from where the Maya tradition says their people first originated. Have you ever heard of the Candelaria Caves?”
Quint shook his head as he scribbled in his notes.
“They are a cave system in Guatemala that are referred to in the Popol Vuh and said to be an entrance to the Underworld.”
“The Popol Vuh?” Quint glanced up at Daisy. “As in the sacred text that tells the ancient history and some basic mythology of the Maya people?”
“Yes.” Daisy lowered her reading glasses. “The Candelaria Caves have a river flowing through parts of the cave system. This river travels underneath the witz, supposedly coming out in nine different places, according to Maya history.”
“Nine?” Quint repeated as he wrote.
Daisy nodded. “Yes, as in the number of levels of the Underworld. The Candelaria Caves were located along a major trade route and you can find offerings from all over the Maya world within them. This was a very powerful spiritual center that would inspire pilgrimages from those who could afford to travel there. This witz and cave system with the river underneath inspired the many temples built throughout the Maya lands. It’s believed to be why every town and city had a pyramid-shaped temple.
It was their version of the witz, and was designed to bring the Maya people closer to the Candelaria Caves where they believed everything started. ”
Pedro yawned again. “I read somewhere once that for every pyramid the Egyptians built, the Maya built ten.”
“They were certainly prolific architecturally,” Juan said.
Dr. Fernel nodded. “We are finding so many settlements and cities now under the trees thanks to LIDAR. In a previously unstudied corner of Campeche, over 6,000 structures alone have been discovered recently.”
“So these temples are basically each city’s version of a sacred mountain?” Quint asked as he wrote.