The Holmul region in
Northeastern
Petén has been the focus of investigating lately, although it was
first studied in 1911 (Merwin and Vaillant 1932). In Holmul there are evidence of
an early Preclassic settlements at around 850 BC, up to Late Classic around
850 AD.
The current data suggest that
Holmul was a large city in the Late Classic period with
settlement
extending in a 3km radius from its center, in every direction and with peripheral large
centers located in a ring around it at 5 km distance. 
The evidence also shows that Holmul may have been but the latest of a
series of primary centers in this region, the earliest of which may have
been Cival, followed by
La Sufricaya. Such repeated shifts in the
location of centers of power in a relatively small region (a 6 km. radius
of Holmul) has profound implications for our understanding of the
volatile political and
military milieu of emerging Maya polities, with increased
competition, warfare and complex rituals of succession to power.
Architecture
The imposing
Ruin X Pyramid
stands at the centre of Holmul,
flanked by three massive plazas and an acropolis containing 5 Stela
and 4 altars. An elaborate Pre-Classic palatial complex, identified as
Group III, lies to the south of the acropolis. Connecting the
main plaza with a second complex to the west is a broad causeway. Known
as Group II, these immense ruins include an elite residential
area adjacent to a large open-ended
ball-court, and are adorned with
giant masks on the east and west facades. The main plaza
is bound by
Group I terrace to the north, Group 3 to the south, Ruin X
to the east and a small structure to the west with a total
area of 0.9 hectares.
The East Plaza is about 1 hectare in area and 130 by 68 m,
bounded by Ruin X to the west, Structure 7 on the east,
Structure 5 to the north and Structure 46 on the south. The
paired layout of Ruin X and Structure 7 appears to match the
model of Late Preclassic Group E at Uaxactún, and
Tikal’s Mundo
Perdido, as well as the Late Classic version of the same
model known from several Eastern
Petén sites as "Complejo
Ritual Publico" (see Fialko 1988: 13-21; formerly known as
“E-Groups”). In addition, three stelas (1, 2, 12)
and two altars are located in this plaza along E-W and N-S
axes and three fragments of monuments are on the south end
of the plaza. Stela 2 and Altar 2 are located in front of
Structure 5 at the north end of the plaza, while the
small altar 9, is located to the south end. Stela 12
is located centrally on the summit of Structure 7 and forms
an E-W alignment with the eastern doorway of Ruin X at the
opposite end of the plaza. In the center of the plaza, are
Stela 1 and Altar 1, oriented east-west and at the midpoint
between the E-W alignment between Ruin X and Stela 12, and
across the N-S axis connecting Stela 2 with Altar 9.
To
the north, the East plaza extends behind Structure 5, facing
Group I to the west and three small structures to the east.
A large multi-chambered
chultún with an orifice of about 3.5 m in diameter is
located in the center. The combined areas of the northern
and southern portions of the East plaza which are separated
by Str. 5 measure 2.4 hectares. Group III Court A is a
rectangular elevated courtyard whose access might have been
through a ramp on the northeastern corner from the East
Plaza and a narrow passage/bridge linking the northwestern
corner with the adjacent Court B. The court is elevated 6 m
above the surrounding plaza level. The west side of Court A
is occupied by a 12 m high pyramid, the north east and south
sides are occupied by several low range structures of
apparent residential function. Str. 44 is a 18 m-long range
structure on the south edge of Court A. It has a narrow
central room with a central doorway, two side benches and
two blocked doorways to the east and west. A rear central
doorway also leads out to the steep-sloped back of the
elevated Court A. Court B is a rectangular platform rising 6
m from the main plaza to the east and 12 m from the western
sloping terrain. It supports vaulted multi-roomed buildings
on all sides. The main access may have been from a stairway
leading up the Main Plaza and through an alley (possibly
vaulted, Figure 5) between two structures with two and three
rooms (vaulted)
facing the plaza below. The
ball court I (Structures 11 and 12) is
located about 100 m west of Group 1 along the edge of a
causeway connecting Group I and Group II. These two
structures are N-S oriented, have identical dimensions
(17x10x4m) and are separated by a 5 m-wide alley. with
a ball-game marker in its center. Adjacent to Ball-Court I
and to the west of it, is a C-shaped courtyard open-ended to
the south. Structure 13 is the main building of this
courtyard enclosing it on the north side and measuring
32x7x3 m.
The Holmul region has a distinctive
feature, because in a radius of 6 Km. from Holmul centre there are
several smaller sites, as
Cival,
La Sufricaya,
Ko’, Tot , Riverona,
Hahakab, and Hamontún, the earliest of them being Cival, followed by La
Sufricaya
There have been Amazing discovering
in all the sites, such as the impressive Pre Classic Burials at Holmul,
the Giant Mask from the Preclassic at Cival and Mural painting with
iconography at La Sufricaya, that are subject of study by Guatemalans
and Vanderbilt University, Lead by Francisco Estrada- Belli sponsored by
National Geographic, since 2000, that have showed that Holmul was a
large Maya city in the Late Classic with strong links to all the other
cities in the 6 Km radius.
Holmul is located at the Holmul
river Basin, 25 Km. north of
Naranjo, and 40 Km Northeast of
Tikal, an
area with few small sites, such as Jobal and
El Pilar (shared with
Belize), this is due to a lot of
bajos, that exist between
Naranjo
and
Holmul sites, known as Low Holmul river basin, the largest site between
Naranjo and Holmul is Witzná, that has 2 story palaces, a
ball court and
a Central Acrópolis.
The investigation in 1911 gave birth to
the first
ceramic lowland classification known as
Holmul I to V
Bench 4 in south room of
Structure 43.
