Désiré Charnay, Frans Blom, Oliver LaFarge, George F. Andrews, Ponciano Salazar Ortegón, Gordon Ekholm, Román Piña Chan, Ricardo Armijo University of Tulane, American Museum of Natural History, INAH
Comalcalco is an ancient Mayaarchaeological site in the State of Tabasco, Mexico, adjacent to the modern city of Comalcalco and near the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It is the only major Maya city built with bricks rather than limestone masonry and was the westernmost city of the Maya civilisation. Covering an area of 7km2 (2.7sqmi), Comalcalco was founded in the Late Classic period and may have been a satellite or colony of Palenque based on architectural similarities between the two.[1] The city was a center of the Chontal Maya people.[2]
The name is linked to the adjacent modern city of Comalcalco and derives from the Nahuatl words comalli (comales) calli (house) and the locative co, literally meaning "At the House of the Comales" or "Place of the House of the Comales". This name is a reference to the bricks of the ruined Maya site, which later people thought resembled comales.[1] The ancient place name associated with Comalcalco is Joy Chanpronounced[hojtʃan], (also spelled Hoi Chan),[3] which means "round sky" or "clouded sky".[2][4]
Location
Comalcalco's location in relation to other eastern Maya cities
Located in the Chontalpa region on an extensive alluvial plain once covered by low evergreen rainforest interspersed with mangrove swamps, Comalcalco lies 2km (1.2mi) west of the modern city of Comalcalco on a small rise surrounded by lowlands. It is 51km (32mi) from the city of Villahermosa,[5] and approximately 100mi (160km) north of Palenque.[1] Before modern times the important Mezcalapa River flowed 900m (3,000ft) east of the main buildings in the site.[4][6]
Economy
The city's strategic placement on the old Mezcalapa River meant that Comalcalco controlled the important trading link between Yucatán and the Gulf Coast and the highlands of Chiapas and Guatemala.[6] Archaeologist George F. Andrews of the University of Oregon believes that since Comalcalco was in the largest cacao production zone in Tabasco, it must have been involved in the distribution of this commodity.[7]
Pottery
Comalcalco was also an important centre of clay figurine production and commerce between 600 and 1000 CE[8] In and around the site, archaeologists have found identical clay moulds and figures, as well as tools, pit kilns and dumping grounds, indicating standardized mass production. Figurines found on Jaina Island, approximately 350km (220mi) away on the Yucatán Peninsula, use clay with the same chemical composition as those of Comalcalco. Unlike the funerary objects used on Jaina Island, the figurines of Comalcalco seemed to be meant for daily use. Certain representations appear more frequently in the ceremonial core (rulers, dwarfs, articulated figures), while others (women) are more common in residential areas.[9]
History
The site reached its peak during the classic period in around 500 CE, although the area had been inhabited long before this date.[10] The oldest item found on the site has been dated to August10, 561 CE.[11]
The only known ruler of Comalcalco was Ox Balam, who appears in an inscription from the Tortuguero archaeological site. According to that text, Ox Balam was defeated by Tortuguero's Balam Ahau on December20, 649 CE.[12][13] In later times, Comalcalco used the Emblem Glyph of B'aakal associated with Palenque and Tortuguero, presumably due to conquest by the latter polity.[11]
A tomb found in Temple II (see below) references numerous late 8th century rituals associated with rain deities. The city possibly suffered from the severe drought that may have occurred throughout the region, and may have been at least partly responsible for the Classical Maya collapse.[11]
The last date found on inscriptions at the site is March7, 814,[11] although habitation continued into the post-classic period until the site was abandoned around 1000 CE.[2]
Modern history
A lithograph of Comalcalco by Désiré Charnay
Désiré Charnay was the first person to bring outside attention to the ruins following his 1880 visit. He reported "Thousands of pyramids of colossal dimensions." Charnay examined what would later be termed the Great Acropolis in some detail, noting the architectural affinities of the palace with that of Palenque.[14]
Comalcalco native Pedro Romero was the first Mexican to report on a dig at the site. He discovered that the buildings were made of bricks in 1892.[6][15]
Frans Blom and Oliver LaFarge, conducted a survey of the site in 1925 and refuted Charnay's claims about its monumental size.[16] Later, in the 1950s, Gordon Ekholm excavated other buildings and removed some bricks that are still stored in the American Museum of Natural History.[6] Román Piña Chan was in charge of archaeological work when Comalcalco was first surveyed in detail and its structures catalogued by George F. Andrews in 1966.[7][16]
Ponciano Salazar Ortegón also worked extensively at the site beginning in 1972 until his death.[15][16] Later, Ricardo Armijo was in charge of excavations in the 1990s.[15]
The most unusual feature of the ancient city is its use of fired clay bricks for construction as opposed to the quarried limestone common in the vast majority of Classical Maya sites. The bricks are of irregular sizes and seem to have been made by cutting longer sections of clay rather than with moulds. Many have designs and inscriptions painted, printed or etched into them. The bricks were joined by mortar made of calcinated seashells and oysters possibly gathered at the nearby Mecoacan Lagoon.[1]
Bricks from Comalcalco
The carved sides of bricks faced inward, and were not visible.
Archaeologists have identified two distinct construction stages so far.[1] After conducting his 1966 survey, Andrews concluded that the lack of significant differences in architectural style between the buildings indicated that they were built within a relatively short period of time. Buildings of the first stage were made with flattened earth covered with lime, while those of the second were covered with brickwork.[7]
Palenque-style architecture was apparently superimposed on the local buildings, giving further credence to the theory that Comalcalco was conquered by Palenque's B'aakal kingdom and perhaps even became a successor state.[7] Similarities with Palenque's architecture abound and include floor plans of temples, vaulted ceilings and built-in altars. Several bricks show drawings of temples with roof combs, another feature of Palenque, though no roof combs have survived into modern times.[1][17]
Well executed stucco decorations, once painted in bright colours, are another characteristic of the site.[18] As in Palenque, these refer to religious, mythological or ceremonial elements.[1]
A photo of the Palace, showing the brickwork.
General Site Description
To date, 432 structures have been identified at the site,[11] including temples, an administrative building, elite dwellings and functional buildings such as a pib'naah (sweat bath) and a popol naah (council chamber). These dot the ceremonial core of the site[7] and cover an area of 1,000m2 (11,000sqft) surrounded by residential complexes, which can consist of individual mounds, groups of mounds surrounding a central "plaza" or complexes of two to five plazas. These mounds are made of flattened earth and covered with stucco. Beyond these complexes, rural dwellings were built from perishable materials on mounds of flattened earth.[1]
Three great complexes forming the ceremonial site core survive: the North Plaza, the East Acropolis and the Great Acropolis. The ceremonial center displays the key features of Maya architecture: terraces with temples, palaces, platforms and plazas. Several temples have vaulted inner chambers, which allowed them to also function as tombs.[1][2]
North Plaza
Temple IDigital recreation of the North Plaza from the top of Temple I. In the upper right shows the Great Acropolis and The Palace. In this square were made grandiose events of dedication and rituals activities with offerings of blood.
The western end of the North Plaza is Temple I, a large brick pyramid that dominates the complex. Its central stairway rises 20m (66ft) from the plaza floor,[10] passing through ten tiers with slanted sides and narrow ledges. The three upper tiers were once decorated with stucco, and were built at a later stage than the lower seven. Atop the pyramid there was a structure with three openings leading to an entryway, from which a sanctuary with a built-in altar was entered.[1]
The North Plaza itself is a rectangular enclosure aligned so that the long side runs from east to west. Along the northern and southern edges are raised terraces. Temples II, IIa and IIb sit along the northern terrace, with Temple II on the western end closest to Temple I. On the opposite side of the plaza, the southern terrace also has a temple on its western end (Temple III), followed by temples IIIa, an opening and then temple IIIb. Three small altars are placed along an east–west axis in the center of the plaza. On the eastern end are the remains of Temples IIIc and IIId. The complex has a typical Palenque layout, while the grouping is one of the features of early classical Maya architecture.[1] Temples I, II and III have been excavated, yielding some of the complex's most important tablets inscriptions and funerary bone objects.[2][10]
Temple II was reached from the plaza through a single staircase leading into a room with three entrances, and in turn an inner chamber. In 1998, the remains of a man identified as Ah Pakal Tan (alternatively spelled Aj Pakal Tahn) were discovered between Temples II and IIb in a funerary urn. Two factors lead archaeologists to speculate that he was an important religious personage: the similarity of objects in the burial with those used by modern Maya shamans, and inscriptions on burial objects found with him. These associate him with religious ceremonies rather than with the events more typical of a ruler. In total, 260 glyphs appear written on conch pendants and stingray barbs, covering 14 years of Ah Pakal Tan's life. They reference self-sacrifice and bloodletting rituals and narrate events where Ah Pakal Tan was accompanied by rain deities. Only 80 of the 260 glyphs found on the inscriptions have been translated by epigraphers.[11][19]
The gap on the southern terrace, in between Temples IIIa and IIIb, opens onto the Great Acropolis.[1][2]
Great Acropolis
South of the Northern Plaza is a large artificial platform measuring 35m (115ft) in height with diverse buildings on top. It was named the Great Acropolis by Gordon Ekholm.[1][2]
Frieze from Temple VII
Temple VII is on a protruding spur of the Great Acropolis that forms its northern edge. The temple is on a small base with a north-facing central staircase. Like many temples at the site, the structure at the summit had an entryway with three openings into a sanctuary with a constructed altar. It is also known as the Temple of the Seated Chieftains because of the seated figures modeled from stucco that can still be seen on the two upper tiers of the Temple's sloped sides.[1]
Mask of Kinich Ahau in Temple VI
On the same spur, immediately east of Temple VII and also facing north, is Temple VI, or Andrews' Temple. During the first constructive stage identified at Comalcalco, the upper structure had mud walls. Later, it was replaced by two rectangular rooms made of bricks. The upper structure is the same design as that of Temples I, V and VII. In the remains of the central stairway, archaeologist Román Piña Chán discovered a mask of the sun God Kinich Ahau in stucco. The mask is still visible to visitors and has earned the temple the nickname Temple of the Mask.[1][10]
The terrace of Temples VI, VII and their ruined neighbour, Temple VIII, is on the northern edge of the Plaza of the Great Acropolis. The Palace (Structure 1) is on a larger terrace at the eastern end of the plaza and is the centrepiece of the acropolis. The Palace could once entered through eight framed doorways which led to a 2.5-metre-wide (8.2ft) main gallery oriented on a north–south axis. The gallery connected with a long room on the north end, and other rooms on its south end. It was separated from another parallel eastern gallery by a wall with five openings. From this gallery, nine bays exited to the rear of the palace. Two of these bays had built-in benches or altars. The roof of the two galleries of the palace has collapsed, but its corbel vault is still hinted at by some standing walls, as are window-like openings. The inner spaces of the galleries show evidence of adaptation through the placement and removal of inner diving walls.[1]
At the palace's southeast exit lies the Sunken Patio Group at the southern end of the Great Acropolis terrace. On the north side are the ruins of a residential building (Structure 2). To the east was a long building whose exposed remains seem to indicate two construction phases. The south boundary is Temple IV.[1]
Temple IV is also known as the Stucco Tomb. In ancient times, the central staircase leading to the sanctuary covered the entrance to a vaulted funeral chamber that was once decorated with stucco figures.[1]
Temple V is in very poor condition but shares the same features as Temple IV. It had an inner tomb and a sanctuary with two spaces. It is west of the southern end of The Palace.[1]
West of Temple V, Temple IX was built above the Tomb of the Nine Lords of the Night. The tomb's walls were decorated with nine stucco figures, now badly eroded.
On the western side of the Great Acropolis plaza are the overgrown remains of a ballcourt.
East Acropolis
No brick buildings are immediately visible in this complex, which is a smaller version of the Great Acropolis. Like the North Plaza, it is also aligned to the cardinal directions and the main axis is very close to that of the plaza.[1]
Burials
As in Palenque, funerary offerings contain jade beads, obsidian blades and inscribed manta ray barbs.
A funerary urn from Comalcalco
In late 2010, a survey of a site 2.8km (1.7mi) north of the Great Acropolis led to the discovery of the largest burial ground found in the region to date. Three mounds yielded 116 sets of skeletal remains, with 66 individuals found in urns showing signs of belonging to the Maya elite through features such as cranial deformation, teeth filing and tooth incrustations. Another 50 people were buried around these urns. Preliminary studies led archaeologists to conclude that the remains were approximately 1,200 years old when discovered, placing the burial to the late classic period.[20]
Palenque, also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ, was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD. After its decline, it was overgrown by the jungle of cedar, mahogany, and sapodilla trees, but has since been excavated and restored. It is located near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas, about 130 km south of Ciudad del Carmen, 150 meters (490 ft) above sea level. It is adjacent to the modern town of Palenque, Chiapas. It averages a humid 26°C (79°F) with roughly 2,160 millimeters (85 in) of rain a year.
Tonina is a pre-Columbian archaeological site and ruined city of the Maya civilization located in what is now the Mexican state of Chiapas, some 13 km (8.1 mi) east of the town of Ocosingo.
El Mirador is a large pre-Columbian Middle and Late Preclassic Maya settlement, located in the north of the modern department of El Petén, Guatemala. It is part of the Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin of northern Guatemala.
Comalcalco is a city located in Comalcalco Municipality about 45 miles (60 km) northwest of Villahermosa in the Mexican state of Tabasco. Near the city is the Pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site of Comalcalco. The literal English translation of "Comalcalco" is "In the house of the comals". A comal is a pan used to prepare food.
Ancient Maya art is the visual arts of the Maya civilization, an eastern and south-eastern Mesoamerican culture made up of a great number of small kingdoms in present-day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. Many regional artistic traditions existed side by side, usually coinciding with the changing boundaries of Maya polities. This civilization took shape in the course of the later Preclassic Period, when the first cities and monumental architecture started to develop and the hieroglyphic script came into being. Its greatest artistic flowering occurred during the seven centuries of the Classic Period.
La Joyanca is the modern name for a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site located south of the San Pedro Martir river in the Petén department of Guatemala. It is east of the Maya site of La Florida (Namaan), now the modern town of El Naranjo on the Mexico-Guatemala border. The site was discovered in 1994 during the construction of the Xan-La Libertad oil pipeline in Guatemala. It was immediately recognized as an important, undiscovered Classic period Maya city and became the focus of an archaeological project. Directed by Charlotte Arnauld, Erik Ponciano, and Veronique Breuil, the La Joyanca project conducted excavations here between 1998 and 2003. Several members of this group have continued work at other related locations in the Northwest Peten, including the sites of Zapote Bobal and Pajaral, as part of the Proyecto Peten Noroccidente (PNO).
Yaxha is a Mesoamerican archaeological site in the northeast of the Petén Basin in modern-day Guatemala. As a ceremonial centre of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, Yaxha was the third largest city in the region and experienced its maximum power during the Early Classic period.
Nakum is a Mesoamerican archaeological site, and a former ceremonial center and city of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the northeastern portion of the Petén Basin region, in the modern-day Guatemalan department of Petén. The northeastern Petén region contains a good number of other significant Maya sites, and Nakum is one of the three sites forming the Cultural Triangle of "Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo". Nakum is approximately 17 kilometres (10.6 mi) to the north of Yaxha and some 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) to the east of Tikal, on the banks of the Holmul River. Its main features include an abundance of visibly restored architecture, and the roof comb of the site's main temple structure is one of the best-preserved outside Tikal.
Palenque is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Chiapas in southern Mexico. The city was named almost 200 years before the nearby Mayan ruins were discovered in the 18th century. The area has a significant indigenous population, mostly of the Ch'ol people, a Mayan descendant. The city is the only urban area in a municipality of over 600 communities, and is surrounded by rainforest. Deforestation has had dramatic effects on the local environment, with howler monkeys occasionally seen in the city as they seek food. While most of the municipality's population is economically marginalized, working in agriculture, the Palenque archeological site is one of the most important tourist attractions for the area and the state of Chiapas. It is the poorest major city in the state of Chiapas.
Balamku is a small Maya archaeological site located in the Mexican state of Campeche. It features elaborate plaster facades dating to the Early Classic period. It has one of the largest surviving stucco friezes in the Maya world. Balamku was first occupied from around 300 BC. Its most important buildings date from AD 300–600.
Itzan is a Maya archaeological site located in the municipality of La Libertad in the Petén Department of Guatemala. Various small structures at the site were destroyed in the 1980s during oil exploration activities by Sonpetrol and Basic Resources Ltd, prompting rescue excavations by archaeologists. In spite of its small size, the site appears to have been the most politically important centre in its area, as evidenced by its unusually large quantity of monuments and the size of its major architecture.
Triadic pyramids were an innovation of the Preclassic Maya civilization consisting of a dominant structure flanked by two smaller inward-facing buildings, all mounted upon a single basal platform. The largest known triadic pyramid was built at El Mirador in the Petén Basin of Guatemala; it covers an area six times as large as that covered by Tikal Temple IV, which is the largest pyramid at that city. The three superstructures all have stairways leading up from the central plaza on top of the basal platform. Triadic pyramid structures are found at early cities in the Maya lowlands.
La Blanca is a Maya pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the municipality of Melchor de Mencos in the northern Petén Department of Guatemala. It has an occupation dating predominantly from the Middle Preclassic period of Mesoamerican chronology. This site belongs to the later period of the Mokaya culture. The site is located in the lower reaches of the Mopan River valley and features a large acropolis complex. Activity at the site has been dated as far back as the Early Classic, with principal occupation of the site occurring in the Late Classic period, although some level of occupation continued into the Early Postclassic.
The Plaza of the Seven Temples is an architectural complex in the ruins of the Maya city of Tikal, in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala. It is to the south of Temple III and to the west of the South Acropolis; it is 300 metres (980 ft) to the southwest of the Great Plaza. The Plaza of the Seven Temples is situated directly to the east of the Mundo Perdido Complex and takes its name from a row of seven small temples dating to the Late Classic Period. The plaza has a surface area of approximately 25,000 square metres (270,000 sq ft), making it one of the three largest plazas in the city.
Ixtonton is a Maya archaeological site in the department of Petén in northern Guatemala. It is located in the northwestern portion of the Maya Mountains in the municipality of Dolores. The ruins are situated approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) east of the town of Dolores itself. Ixtonton was the capital city of one of the four Maya kingdoms in the upper Mopan Valley. The site was occupied from the Late Preclassic period through to the Terminal Classic, with some evidence of continued activity into the Postclassic. For the majority of its history Ixtonton was the most important city in the upper Mopan Valley, with its only rivals emerging in the Late Classic. The acropolis at Ixtonton is laid out around two plazas on top of an artificially modified karstic hill.
Sak tzʼi is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the municipality of Ocosingo of the Mexican state of Chiapas. The ruins are notable for having the earliest urban remains in the Upper Usumacinta region, as well as a unique ancient theater for elite use. The ancient identity of the site is subject to debate.
The North Acropolis of the ancient Maya city of Tikal in Guatemala is an architectural complex that served as a royal necropolis and was a centre for funerary activity for over 1300 years. The acropolis is located near the centre of the city and is one of the most studied of Maya architectural complexes. Excavations were carried out from 1957 to 1969 by the University of Pennsylvania, directed by Edwin M. Shook and William Coe.
The Central Acropolis of the ancient Maya city of Tikal is an architectural complex located immediately to the south of the Great Plaza. Tikal is one of the most important archaeological sites of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization and is located in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala. The complex served dual administrative and residential purposes. The Central Acropolis was first established in the Late Preclassic period of Mesoamerican chronology, and it remained in use until approximately 950 AD.
Guaytán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in the municipality of San Agustín Acasaguastlán, in the department of El Progreso, in Guatemala. It is the most important pre-Columbian archaeological site of the middle drainage of the Motagua River.
San Clemente is a ruin of the ancient Maya civilization in Guatemala. Its main period of occupation dates to the Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology. The ruins were first described in the late 19th century, before being visited by a number of investigators in the early part of the 20th century.
References
Armijo Torres, Ricardo; Socorro Jiménez Álvarez (2006). "Ofrendas y ceremonias a la fertilidad durante el Clásico en Comalcalco, Tabasco". In Laporte, J.P.; Arroyo, B.; Mejía, H. (eds.). XIX Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2005(PDF). Guatemala: Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología. pp.450–454. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2011-09-14. Retrieved 2013-05-05.
Armijo Torres, Ricardo; Laura Castañeda Cerecero; Carlos M. Varela (2008). "La arquitectura de Comalcalco, Tabasco, a través de sus ladrillos". In Laporte, J.P.; Arroyo, B.; Mejía, H. (eds.). XXII Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2008(PDF). Guatemala: Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología. pp.1496–1507. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2014-08-02. Retrieved 2013-05-05.
Charnay, Désiré (October 1881). "The Ruins of Central America. Part IX". The North American Review. University of Northern Iowa. 133 (299): 390–404. JSTOR25101006.
Gallegos, Miriam Judith (2009). "Manufactura, Iconografía y Distribución de Figurillas en Comalcalco, Tabasco". In Laporte, J.P.; Arroyo, B.; Mejía, H. (eds.). XXII Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2008(PDF). Guatemala: Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología. pp.1052–1061. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2014-08-02. Retrieved 2013-05-06.
Grube, Nikolai; Linda Schele (November 1993). "Naranjo Altar 1 and Rituals of Death and Burial". Texas Notes on Precolumbian Art, Writing, and Culture. Austin, Texas: Center of the History and Art of Ancient American Culture of the Art Dept. of the University of Texas at Austin (54). OCLC50475364.
Romero Rivera, José Luis (1995). "Un Estudio del Patrón de Asentamiento en Comalcalco, Tabasco". In Vargas Pacheco, Ernesto (ed.). Seis Ensayos Sobre Antiguos Patrones de Asentamiento en el Área Maya. Mexico, Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas. pp.15–26. ISBN968-36-3311-0.
Images of the Comalcalco Site Museum
Funerary offering found in the archaeological.
Female head elaborate in stucco.
Mascaron in stucco adorning the temples
Mascaron in stucco.
Mascaron in stucco adorning the temples.
Mayan head with skull deformation.
Sting ray tail, engraved, which was part of the funerary equipment of Aj Pakal Tahn.
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The carved sides of bricks faced inward, and were not visible.
Mexico 
