Chapter Eleven #4
“Yes,” Daisy answered. “And just as there is a cave system in the base of the sacred mountain, many temples have a doorway or a ‘mouth’ built into them. Take Uxmal up north, for example. The Pyramid of the Magician there has a mouth at the top of the steps, acting as a cave monster of sorts guarding the entrance to Xibalba.”
Angélica took a sip of her tea before adding, “This is why kings later had their tombs built within the temples. They would be descending inside their version of the sacred mountain down into Xibalba.”
“Maybe the building in the center is like the sacred mountain,” her father said. “They could have built it down in the center of this natural basin because the leaders wanted to give the feeling of traveling down into the Maya Underworld.”
“Which they’d have to travel through before ascending to the heavens,” Daisy finished.
“I tell you one thing,” Pedro said, knocking twice on the table.
“If there is a door to that temple, I’m not going inside.
At least not until we make sure the building isn’t going to sink down and be swallowed by the ground while I’m holding the damned light for viejo here as he takes measurements. ”
Juan snickered. “Chicken.”
Bronko joined them, standing behind Pedro. He took a sip of coffee and stared down at the screen. “Looks like a prison layout to me,” he said without ceremony and then turned and left the tent.
Quint dropped his pencil and walked over to where Bronko had stood, looking at the screen. “Shit! He’s right. It does look like a prison with guard towers in the corners. That certainly would explain why the walls are higher on the inside than the out.”
“It can’t be,” Angélica said, turning the computer screen back toward her.
“Why not?” Quint came back around to her side, looking at the screen over her shoulder.
“Because the Maya didn’t have any jails. At least not long-term holding areas like what other civilizations had or what we have today.”
“What did they do with troublemakers?” Pedro asked.
Angélica glanced across at Daisy. “Do you know the answer to that?”
“I think so,” Daisy said, focusing on Quint.
“I had a class that focused on the sociology of ancient civilizations. The Maya had a hierarchical structure, with royalty or nobles at the top not only ruling the rest, but also acting as the supreme judges. Otherwise, there were shaman, who sometimes gained in power and ruled alongside the elite, and then below them were the artisans, commoners, and slaves. When it came to punishment for crimes committed, the Maya were into restorative justice, meaning they would try to fix any damage caused by a crime through communication between injured parties, mediation via local leaders or elders, or even by performing community service. If harm was done to a family that could be recompensated with service or goods, then that would be the so-called punishment. But if the crime was greater, then the wrongdoer would have to take part in rituals that would benefit the public or work that would help the local people, such as building temples and other civic projects.”
Quint returned to the end of the table. “But what if the person did something really bad?”
Daisy toyed with her glasses’ chain. “I remember the professor mentioning that they had labor camps where criminals were sent to work the fields or do more hardcore physical construction. Through this work, they could repay their debt to society.”
“They were also into public shaming,” Angélica said. “Neighbors would be told of a wrong committed. In tight communities where families are very important, this was a strong deterrent to most crimes.”
“So, they involved all of the people in keeping the peace,” Quint closed his field notebook. “Interesting.”
“But what about the murderers and serial killers?” Pedro asked.
“I read an article once about the use of banishment for removing dangerous criminals,” Angélica told them and then finished off her tea.
Quint raised one dark eyebrow. “Like exile?”
She nodded. “For the safety of the rest of the civilians.”
“Exactly,” Daisy said. “It would also allow the one who committed the crime the chance to find redemption somewhere else.”
“Didn’t they also use criminals as sacrificial victims?” Dr. Fernel asked while tapping some keys on his computer keyboard.
“So I’ve read,” her father said, finger combing his mustache as he stared Angélica’s way with a slight squint. “Could this site have been used by the rulers of Calakmul as a temporary holding tank for their more dangerous criminals?”
That was an interesting idea. Certainly, in a city as large as Calakmul, there would be multiple crimes being committed.
A temporary area for these criminals to reside until judgment took place would be unprecedented in the current Maya archaeological record; however, like Dr. Fernel had said, new concepts of the ancient Maya world were being birthed faster than ever thanks to LIDAR.
“I suppose,” she said to her father in particular, “until we find a stela telling us something about the site, we can’t rule anything out.
I’m still leaning toward some sort of sacred site.
” As her father had said before, when archaeologists couldn’t make sense of something, religion was usually in play.
“If we’re brainstorming possibilities,” Daisy said, “I’d like to add that maybe a non-local cult leader ruled here. A group that fractured off and built walls, so that they could worship whatever gods they wanted without interference.”
“That would explain all the weapons,” Pedro said.
“But wouldn’t there be some statues or symbolism on the structures or carved into the wall itself?” Quint asked. “You know, something showing they worshipped a pink feathered dragon that breathed out rainbow-colored fire.”
Angélica chuckled. “Nice, Parker. I like your monsters better than the ones the Maya came up with.”
“What about all those skulls?” Dr. Fernel made a cringing face at just the mention of them. “Why stack them outside like that?”
“And why the holes in each skull?” Pedro asked.
Angélica had thought about the skulls off and on over the last few days, wondering the same thing and coming up with no answers, same as now.
Quint stretched his lower back. “Do we know if they were prisoners or jailers?”
“Maybe both,” Pedro said.
“Maybe they are a warning that the site is cursed,” her father said.
Angélica groaned. “Of course you’d go there, Dad.”
Warnings and curses were his favorite go-to reasonings, same as “religion” was the easiest answer for the unknown. Honestly, though, until she was able to find more glyphs somewhere in the site to prove him wrong, her father could be right.
“A warning for what?” she asked him, trying to keep any tone out of her question.
His brow lined. “A statement from those who resided on the inside of the wall to stay out and mind your own business or be killed for interfering. You know, the old head on a pike billboard.”
Dr. Fernel frowned over his computer screen at Juan. “Or it could be a warning to those on the outside to stay out because of whoever was being jailed inside the wall.”
“Give me an example of what you’re thinking,” Angélica’s father said.
“If this were some sort of holding tank for the losing warriors of a recent battle,” Dr. Fernel said, “they were most likely not happy with the idea of being sacrificed, so you might not want to drop in on them.”
There were a lot of “maybes” being thrown around tonight, but Angélica needed more concrete answers to give to INAH on her next check-in.
She focused on the LIDAR image on the screen.
“Can you show me a horizon type of view of that image? Something that would allow me to see the height of the structures?”
Dr. Fernel nodded. “I need to fine-tune this with the new data, but I should be able to soon.”
“Good. Tomorrow, let’s split into groups and focus our energy on clearing a path to some of these other structures abutting the outer wall.”
Dr. Fernel pointed at his computer screen. “But if these are all of the same types of structures around the wall, as they appear to be, why not go for the unique building in the middle first?”
She stood up from the table. “Archaeology is not treasure hunting. Going for the big prize right away is the mark of an amateur. We’ll spiral inward eventually, but first, I want to take a look around the perimeter and see if we can find any other clues to the site’s purpose.
Glyphs, stelae, additional caches. There has to be something telling about this site somewhere, dammit.
The Maya were proud of their ability to write and record their achievements.
Why can’t we find anything here bragging about who ruled when and what battles were won? ”
“Maybe they didn’t want anyone to know,” her dad offered. “Not then, and not in the future. Maybe it was that bad of a place.”
Pedro nodded. “Maybe they hoped the jungle would swallow it up for good.”
Angélica shook her head at the two of them.
“Don’t be putting any horror ideas in the crew’s heads, especially Esteban’s.
” The boy was skittish as hell when he went inside the temples and often ended up getting hurt while trying to run away from his own shadow.
“If this site is going to have any potential for ecotourism in the future, I’d like to get a handle on what we are dealing with so that we can dig deeper responsibly. ”
Quint blew out a breath. “So, we’re talking about more machete work tomorrow, boss lady?”
She nodded. “Except for Daisy, Dad, and Dr. Fernel.”
Daisy rose from the table. “What will I be doing instead?”
“What you do best,” Angélica said with a smile. “Finding clues to help us figure out what in the hell we’ve stumbled into.”