POLOL

    Polol is Located south of Flores, some 9 km west-southwest from La Libertad, Central  Petén,  Polol is a Late Preclassic site (ca 200BC), with occupation to the early Post Classic, believed to survive the Classic Maya Collapse due to its fertile soils. The center of the city is a plaza bounded on the south by a great terraced pyramid, Structure E, which dominates the site. At the base the pyramid measures 96 meters east and west and 118 meters north and south, on the steep incline, the total height is approximately 51 meters. On top of the pyramid there are remains of temples and a sunken court covering an area 31 meters by 30 meters. On the west side of the pyramid about 12 meters above the forest floor there is a cave  whit a chamber; the entrance had been sealed with stones and mud, but later opened. No remains of any kind were found in the room. The cave appears to be of recent origin and its occupation postdates the occupation of the city. At least the basal portion of the pyramid is a natural knoll, for the cave is formed by a break in a solid limestone stratum. To the west of the central plaza there is a large mound, Structure A, which measures approximately 66 meters in length, 15 meters in width and 6 meters in height. To the south of the plaza are two small mounds, Structures B and C; each measures about 12 meters square. Leading from these two structures there are remains of what appear to have been two walls, each approximately 150 meters in length, forming a main entrance to the central plaza. Both Nakum and Ixkún have similar approaches. Structure D measures 33 meters in length with a maximum width of 18 meters. The central section of the mound to the east of the plaza, Structure F, measures 18 meters square and  about 10 m. high. In the plan of the ruins, the positions and relative sizes of the other principal mounds are shown. The 1980 survey, mapping and partial excavation by San Francisco State University revealed 73 structures ranging in size from house mounds to a Late Classic elite palace/sunken courtyard complex and an occupational history extending from the Late Preclassic through the Late Classic, There are  five plaza areas.  No ball game field has been found. In 1980  James L. Patton and co-workers, changed Lundell's nomenclatures from A-E to numbers 1-5, etc. Due to the Surveys by Margaret Rice and Patricia Duff, that located approximately 70 structures in the immediate vicinity of Polol and alphabetical references to the structures would no longer work.  

Stela 1

Sixteen Stelas were discovered in the central plaza, six of which, Stelas 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, are sculptured. Except by the Stela 5, all the monuments had fallen, the majority being largely buried under humus. Stela 4 is of particular interest, not only by its size (measurements are 2.26 m in width, 84 cm thick and approximately 3.67 m high), but as well as it's carving; it has both, Late Classic and Terminal Late Classic carvings and dates, its back side is similar to Stela 1 at La Amelia. 

Lundell found this monument at the bottom of the stairway to Structure 3, between Structure 3 and Stela 5. The monument is presently located at the former  FYDEP. This may not have been its location during Terminal Late Classic or Early Postclassic times, since the photograph was taken after a considerable period of 20th century agricultural activity at the site. In terms of the evolution of rendering calendric material, Polol's Altar 1 is similar to other Cycle 7 monuments (Late Preclassic). The horizontal bar and dot pattern is present on Chiapa de Corzo Stela 2 (7.16), El Baul Stela 1 (7.19),  Tak'alik Abaj Stela 2 (7.16), and Tres Zapotes Stela C (7.16). Paired glyphs first appear at 7.19, on Stela 1 at El Baul. The Tuxtla Statuette has a horizontal bar and dot notation, paired glyphs, and no cycle glyphs, and it dates to 8.6. Cycle glyphs do not occur until Tikal's Stela 29 (8.12.14.8.15 or

Altar 1

A.D. 292) (Coe 1976:107-122). Polol's monument then would most likely date between 7.16 and 7.19, or contemporary with other monuments displaying similar configurations of calendric material, or bar and dot patterns without cycle and paired glyphs.

Norman Hammond (1992:143), further supporting a Late Preclassic date for Polol's Altar 1, wrote in 1987: "Perhaps the earliest

inscribed monument in the Maya Lowlands is a fragment of an altar from Polol, in the Petén, which shows two richly clad figures on either side of a column of Maya bar-and-dot numbers. The top sign is the Initial Series Introducing Glyph, indicating a date in the Maya calendar.” John Graham of the University of California at Berkeley believes it to be in Cycle 7 of Maya time, that is, before A.D. 41, and points out the parallel composition of two stelas, Numbers 2 and 5, at the site of Tak'alik' Abaj, which he has investigated on the Pacific coast of Guatemala. The designs are strikingly similar, in detail as well as overall conception, and the latest date for the Tak'alik' Abaj  monuments is early in the second century A.D., whereas the earliest could be up to four centuries earlier".

The presence of Altar 1 at Polol and the absence of similar Cycle 7 monuments in sites nearby, has generated speculation in regard to the possibility of cyclical ritual destruction of monuments in the Maya area. Whether the monument mutilation and destruction was a cyclical ritual or not, other early Petén monuments in the have been found buried in the rubble of structures at Tikal, Uaxactún and El Mirador. What sets Altar 1 apart is that it was reset with a Late Classic dedicatory cache in the context of Late Classic monuments and structures

Summary:

Polol's place in hierarchy of Maya sites is practically impossible to-assess due to the absence of emblem glyphs for Polol in the regional centers of Tikal (although the glyph at E3 on the back of Stela 4 resembles the Tikal glyph), Ceibal, and Motul de San José on the badly eroded and fragmented monuments. Based solely on Polol's position along a major communication route between the larger sites of Tikal and Ceibal, Polol might rank as a tertiary center.

Although no sign of Preclassic occupation was recovered in the cave at Polol, it may well have been the original focus of both Late Preclassic and Postclassic occupation of the the site. “It is pretty clear from the dedicatory cache found in the cave that the cave may have been the reason for the establishment of the site of Polol as an oracular site along the lines of Delphi in ancient Greece. The largest structure in the entire site (Structure 5) was intentionally placed on top of the cave. Cave origins in many sites among the Mesoamericans (Teotihuacan Temple of the Sun) were established in their locale because of an oracular cave site on the spot (James Patton in communication with Gary Pahl, San Francisco State University, 2008.)

Subsequent occupations utilized the destroyed and deteriorating structures for building materials and built defensive walls around Room Complex A. Also, these post-elite abandonment populations probably inhabited what was left of the palace if the benches constructed on mural fragments in Room 7 are any indication. Those "rump" populations eventually abandoned the site and Structure 5, although the cave at it's base was possibly utilized by local populations. This is somewhat ironic given that the cave was the probably the reason the site was situated there in the first place.

Polol's destruction and eventual complete abandonment seems to fit into an overall pattern of warfare and site destruction in the Petén in the Late and Terminal Classic. The absence of any historical glyphic texts on the monuments (aside from the calendrics) or on the polychrome vase fragments is unfortunate. So far the gylph texts on Stelae 1, 2, and 4 have yielded no Polol emblem glyph, dynastic history, or any indication of relationships with other sites in the area. Given the condition of the existing monuments there seems little likehood that any new information is forthcoming. Further excavation might reveal such information . It might even reveal the lower half of Altar 1. (James Patton, personal communication, May 2009)

Tentative Chronology:

With this in mind, the following Polol chronology is tentatively offered.

A small settlement utilizing non-masonry type structures arose in the vicinity of the cave and Structure 5 during the Middle or Late Preclassic. The top and sides of Structure 5 were terraced and stairways were built leading to the small masonry temple structures on the upper platform. Stelae and altars were set up in ceremonial plazas near the cave and on top of the pyramid. Early Classic construction activity was limited to repaving and remodeling existing structures. During the Late Classic, or from 9.18 thru 10.0 (790-830 A.D.), the ruler (or rulers) depicted on Stelae 2 and 4, constructed the causeway and built (or rebuilt) all the structures defining Plaza I. Structure 5 was rebuilt to include a Palace Complex and Sunken Court that encompassed the temple structures on the upper platform. Six traditional stela/altar combinations were erected in Plaza I and one stela was erected in the Sunken Court. A foreigner, or Toltec, depicted on the back of Stela 4, took power at Polol sometime between 10.1 and 10.3 (856-908 A.D.), and ruled for an undetermined period, after which the site was abandoned by the elite population. Subsequent occupations utilized the deteriorating structures for building materials and lived in and built defensive walls around Room Complex A. Those "rump" populations eventually abandoned the site and Structure 5, although the cave at it's base was probably utilized as a "private temple" by local populations at least thru the Tayasal Itzá period.

For more information, drawings and photos visit www.polol.net A Master’s Thesis by James L. Patton submitted to the faculty of San Francsico State University. (Text, Drawings and Photos used with his permission).
 

Lundell’s Map of Kalto Savanah, Polol and Chakantún, 1934	Lundell’s Site Map, 1933	Polol Site Map by Margaret Rice and Patricia Duff, 1980-81
Stela 3 side by Lundell, 1933	Stela 2 details	Structure 1 reconstruction
Stela 11 dedicatory cache	Stela 4, 1933	Stela 6
	Polychrome shreds found in Room 7, Structure 5 Palace Complex