Ruin B of Group II at Holmul

Presented at:

Maya at the Playa 2013 on September 26-29, 2013

Palm Coast, Fl

In 1910, Harvard’s Peabody Museum Expedition investigated, a small buried structure named Ruin B of Group II. It would be the first structure to be scientifically studied in the Maya lowlands. This study would produce many surprises. It provided the first proof that the Maya built new structures on top of existing structures. It also provided the first burial found inside a structure and not just one burial but six burials containing 22 skeletons.  These burials contained the first polychrome ceramics found.  The large and varied selection of ceramics produced the first ceramic sequence. Yet, one hundred years later the same structure provided an additional early burial, the largest sample of Pre-Mamon ceramics in the Lowlands and a pair of large witz masks dating from 400 B.C. This paper reviews what we have learned for this small structure located at a small and remote Maya site. (1 hour)