Kaminaljuyu

Kaminaljuyu is a Pre-Columbian site of the Maya civilization, in highland Guatemala, now within modern Guatemala City.

Kaminaljuyu has been described as one of the greatest of all archaeological sites in the New World by Michael Coe, although the remains of the site today are less impressive than many other Maya sites more frequented by tourists. The site lies in a valley in the outskirts of Guatemala City and contains a total of over 100 platforms and mounds created before the end of the Middle Culture period (ending approximately AD 150). The valley is surrounded by hills which culminate in a string of lofty volcanoes to the south that separate the area from the Pacific coastal plain. The climate is temperate and the soil is rich. The area was largely swallowed up by real estate developments in the late 20th century, although a portion of the center of Kaminaljuyu is preserved as a park.

The site was first excavated in 1925 by Manuel Gamio when he made stratigraphic excavations and found deep cultural deposits yielding potsherds and clay figurines from the Middle Cultures (from 1500 BC to AD 150). Later the extent of the site’s importance was discovered in 1935 when a local football club began cutting away the edges of two inconspicuous mounds to lengthen their practice field. They uncovered a buried structure and Lic. J. Antonio Villacorta C., the Minister of Public Education in Guatemala City, requested archaeologists Alfred Kidder, Jesse Jennings and Edwin Shook to investigate. Lic. Villacorta gave the site its name Kaminaljuyu from a Quiché word meaning “hills of the dead.”

The Middle Cultures, sometimes called Miraflores, were the underlying base that made a foundation for later cultures of the Classic Maya to flourish. Cultures of this phase had a stable agricultural community. The remains from this time period are very abundant at Kaminaljuyu. One period of the Middle Culture is the Middle Formative period, which lasted from approximately 800 to 300 BC. Excavations at Kaminaljuyu indicate the communities of the Middle Formative were sedentary and large enough to produce heavy refuse deposits. They grew cotton and practiced loom-weaving and were expert potters. Religious practices that would later be further developed throughout Mesoamerica were taking root at this time, such as mounds to serve as substructures for small shrines or temples and ritual burial of the dead. The abundance of remains from this period at Kaminaljuyu indicate it was the seat of a large community.

The Las Charcas culture inhabited Kaminaljuyu during this Middle Formative Period, which is evident by the stratigraphic position of Las Charcas deposits below those of the Late Formative period. Scattered Las Charcas remains throughout the Valley of Guatemala mark a major occupation of the area.

There are two major mounds at the site of Kaminaljuyu: Mound A and Mound B. Mound A contains most of the material culture of Las Charcas, although there is evidence for a small amount of activity at Mound B during the Middle Formative.

The architecture of structures found in the context of the Middle Formative are unadorned earthen blocks that would serve as foundations for single-slope pyramids and later sophisticated temples. There is one pit burial and one tomb associated with Las Charcas culture in Mound A. There is evidence the pit burial was dug into partly by later Las Charcas people to create the tomb. All that remains in the pit burial of its original fill is worn igneous rocks, quantities of coarse sherds and parts of human skull that had been cut through by the digging of the tomb. The tomb contains the remains of eight people, but the bones are so decayed that it is impossible to determine the sex. It appears through excavation that one corpse may have received special treatment, as evident by the considerable amount of jewelry and the offerings left with it. There appears to be no evidence that human sacrifice played a role in the burial of these eight individuals. The bodies seemed to have been placed on some sort of perishable material that is unidentifiable because only traces remain. Excavators suggest the possibility of fabric mats or animal hides. Among the objects found as offerings in the tomb were jade beads around the necks of two of the corpses, wafer-like disc shells forming a choker on one skeleton, jade earplug flares, an unusually large amount of shells, a fine obsidian blade, a tortoise shell, metates, and various fine pottery pieces including a whistling jar and a carved tripod vessel. There was also several coarse brown ware vessels heaped against the wall of the tomb.

Many of the artifacts from Las Charcas not associated with burials were found in pits. There were principally two types of pits: shallow bowl-like pits and bottle-shaped pits. The shallow pits were possibly used for digging clay to be used in building and later to hold refuse. Carbonized avocado seeds, maize cobs and remnants of textiles, basketry and mats and rope fragments have been found in those that are bottle-shaped. It is thought these pits were perhaps used for cooking, storage and/or refuse containers. These pits are not found in any other occupation in Guatemala but similar ones have been found at the Tlatilco site in central Mexico.

The distinctive Maya style of pottery had its beginnings in Las Charcas culture. The pottery during this time period shows more careful shaping and more tasteful decorations than the later pottery of Kaminaljuyu. The exquisite white ware with red designs such as spider monkeys, dragon masks and abstract designs are unique to Las Charcas village culture. Tripod vessels, incense burners and whistling vessels with human and animal effigies are among the other clay pottery created by Las Charcas. A majority of these pieces survive only as potsherds in middens. Those that remain intact are found primarily in the mortuary offerings of the tomb in Mound A. They give an indication of the expert pottery skills and artistic development of Las Charcas people.

Hand-modeled clay female figurines are also highly characteristic of Las Charcas culture. Those found at Kaminaljuyu are generally of reddish brown clay and some have a white slip. These female figurines are often pregnant and are thought to have been offerings to promote fertility in the fields. Usually the arms and legs of the figures are mere stumps but some attempt at a realistic body shape has been made. The head has received the most attention to detail. The nose was pinched into the relief and nostrils were made by punctuating the clay. The eyes and the mouth were formed by strategically applied lumps. The figurines often have earplug flares.

Kidder, Jennings and Shook describe the Middle Cultures as the trunk of the Mesoamerican tree. The archaic cultures provided a root system for these later cultures. The Classic Mayan culture is merely an exquisitely blooming branch that stems from these original foundations and further develops their art, religion and societies.

References

Kidder, Alfred V.; Jennings, Jesse D.; Shook, Edwin M. (1946). Excavations at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Carnegie Institution of Washington publication 561, Washington. (ISBN 0271005351)