Ixkun

Ixkun lies some 9 km north of Dolores, a long-established town in southeastern Peten. The trail from Dolores to the ruins threads through narrow valleys among karst hills for nearly 5 km until it crosses a saddle between hills; thereafter it passes through a basin of flat terrain surrounded by hills. Near the middle of this basin stands the isolated hill that is seen on the site plan as the locus of Structures 26 to 31.

The first published notice of the site resulted from the visit of Colonel Modesto Méndez, the Corregidor of Peten, accompanied by the artist Eusebio Lara in 1852. Copies of most of Lara's drawings were published in a German journal in the following year (Ritter 1853), among them drawings from the sites "Yxkun" and "Yxtutz." Blom (1940) correctly identified numbers 10 and 11 of those drawings as Ixkun Stelae 1 and 4, although he was mistaken in seeing number 12 as Stela 5. Lara's drawing of Stela 5 is, however, to be found among the set of pen and wash drawings - probably Lara's originals - that are in the library of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Alfred Maudslay, who had been told of the site in Flores, succeeded in finding it in 1887. He then spent three weeks clearing the site, mapping it, and making a mold of Stela 1; he also cleared rubble from the top of Structure 6, so as to establish the plan of the building. Maudslay published Stela 1 and his plan of the site in his Biologia (Maudslay 1889-1902,vol. 2, pIs. 67-69) and in A Glimpse at Guatemala (Maudslay and Maudslay 1899, pp. 174-176).

In April 1914, Sylvanus G. Morley and Herbert J. Spinden spent three days at Ixkun, photographing the stelae and taking notes on the inscriptions.

My own visits to the site were made in 1971, 1972, and 1978, the first in the company of Eric von Euw, the second prompted by a rumor of damage done by looters to Stela 5. The rumor proved to be only too true: The stela had been wrecked no more than three weeks earlier.

The heart of this ceremonial center consists of two plazas oriented some 10 degrees west of north. The plaza farther to the north is dominated by Structures 3 and 6, which measure 15 m and 11 m high respectively. In this plaza, in addition to the carved stelae described in this volume, there are the standing Stela 10, a poorly trimmed shaft 0.60 m wide, 0.38 m thick, and now only 0.90 m high, and, lying broken on the ground, the remains of Stela 11, also apparently uncarved. In the area between the two plazas the plain Stela 8 still stands, 2.75 m high, 2.58 m wide, and 0.42 m thick.

The larger, southern plaza is defined on its north side by a ball court, and on its west by an acropolis containing an elevated court. This acropolis was evidently raised upon a natural eminence, as attested by rock outcroppings on its northern edge. Structures 20 and 21 rise about 10 m above plaza level.

From this central area two causeways run in directions some 20 degrees east of north and 10 degrees west of south. Both causeways are edged with low masonry walls. The southern causeway terminates at a platform 6 m high built against the foot of a hill. Upon this platform stood Stela 5; at the foot of the platform is an oval altar 1.17 m by 0.98 m across, 0.24 m in thickness. On the north side of the altar can be seen the stump and fragments of a stela which show faint signs of carving.

Up the hill, 41 m above this altar, is a terrace, upon which stands a small acropolis, its floor about 6 m above the terrace. The principal edifice, Structure 29, rising 6 m from the floor of the acropolis, has a doorway 1.3 m wide spanned by a lintel which is still in place, although the building is otherwise in ruins. Stela 7, still standing in front of it though inclined sharply forward, is an unsculptured shaft of stone very similar to that of Stela 5. It is 0.52 m wide, 0.18 m thick, with 1.6 m of exposed height. The associated altar is an oval 1.05 m by 0.97 m across. A cave on the west side of the hill (marked on the plan) penetrates some way into the hill and contains the remains of ancient masonry and potsherds, which were not closely examined or recorded.

The arroyo that flows into the southeast corner of the area covered by the site plan is said to fail very seldom, although during the dry season the entire flow sinks into the stream bed as it approaches the hill mentioned above and seems to pass beneath it. At the back of the nearby cave water can be drawn, coming presumably from this source, and on the opposite side of the hill there are two springs, one of them enlarged in antiquity into a rectangular pool 1.9 m by 1.3 m with a border of cut stone. During the rainy season the area on either side of the arroyo near Structures 32 and 33 is liable to flooding.

The survey from which the site plan is drawn was begun by von Euw in 1971, and finished by Graham in 1978. Structure 34, missed by us, is copied from Maudslay's plan, which can now be appreciated for its impressive completeness and accuracy. The absence of the ball court from his plan as reproduced in the Biologia, and from Morley's version (1937-38, vol. 5, pI. 196) which was based upon it, may be attributed to an error by Maudslay in copying from his original, as reproduced in A Glimpse at Guatemala (p. 174). The monument that Morley tentatively labeled Y on his plan owes its origin to a smudge on the lithographic plate in the Biologia.

Stelae 1-5
Altar of Stela 3

References Cited

BLOM, FRANS

1940    "Coronel Modesto Méndez," Anales de la Sociedad de Geografía e Historia de Guatemala, vol. 16, pp. 167-179. Guatemala City.

MAUDSLAY, ALFRED P.

1889-1902    Biologia Centrali-Americana: Archaeology, 5 vols. London.

MAUDSLAY, ALFRED P., and ANNE CARY MAUDSLAY

1899    A Glimpse at Guatemala. London.

MORLEY, SYLVANUS G.

1937-38    The Inscriptions of Peten. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication437, 5 vols. Washington, D.C.

RITIER, CARL

1853    "Ueber neue Entdeckungen und Beobachtungen in Guatemala und Yuca-tan," Zeitschrift, Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin, vol. 1, pp. 161-193. Berlin.

Location

This impressive stela stands near the center of the main plaza, in front of Structure 3. The associated altar is circular, 2.05 m in diameter, and 0.35 m thick.

Condition

Intact and erect. The surface shows some loss of detail through weathering. Saw cuts at the top testify to an attempt, fortunately soon abandoned, to cut off the carved surface.

Material

Limestone of uniform texture, flawed only by a fissure near the top.

Shape

Parallel sides with a nearly flat top. The front of the shaft is slightly narrower than the back. On either side four cord-holders have been drilled at intervals along the rear edge, passing through to the back.

Dimensions

Carved Areas

Front only.

Photograph

Graham, 1978.

Drawing

Graham, based on detail photographs and field drawings of the lower half of the stela and all the inscriptions. Through ill luck, Maudslay's plaster cast in the British Museum could not be studied when this volume was in preparation because it was hidden behind the display panels of a temporary exhibition.

Location

When Maudslay visited the site, this stela was already lying broken, with its sculptured face to the ground. It had been set directly in front of Structure 6, close to the foot of its stairway.

Condition

Broken into three large fragments and at least ten smaller ones. Morley reported that the butt, with the bottom row of glyphs, was still in situ; it has since been dug out. The carved surface, in fairly good condition when examined by Morley, has not deteriorated significantly since then. Three of the smaller fragments shown in Morley's photograph (carrying parts of glyphs A7 and A8) I was unable to find in 1971; on the other hand I did find a small fragment constituting the lower edge of glyph B11 and the upper portion of B12, which had eluded him.

Material

Limestone.

Shape

Parallel sides, with poorly trimmed (or damaged) slanting top.

Dimensions

Carved Areas

Front only.

Photograph

Graham, 1971; portions of Morley's 1914 photograph that show the fragments not found in 1971 have been incorporated. The small photographs reproduced in the Introduction (p. 1:12) show glyph C3 of this stela.

Drawing

Graham, based on a field drawing corrected by artificial light.

Location

Lying with its carved face up, in front of Structure 6 and just to the south of Stela 2. Apparently seen by Maudslay, it was first described by Morley.

Condition

Only the upper half of this stela survives, and its carved surface is badly weathered. Removal of soil down to the level of the plaza floor failed to disclose other fragments or the butt of the stela.

Material

Limestone.

Shape

Parallel sides with a flattish top, slightly rounded. The back of the shaft, which is smoothly dressed, is narrower than the front.

Dimensions

Carved Areas

Front only.

Photograph

Graham, 1978.

Drawing

Graham.

Location

Found by Graham to the west of Stela 3, buried below accumulated soil. It lay within 0.60 m of the broken lower edge of the stela, set in a floor of waterworn pebbles with its upper surface standing 10 cm above the level of that floor. The inscription appears to be oriented so as to read correctly for an observer facing west, with his back to the temple mound.

Condition

Two fragments are cracked from the main portion of the altar, but remain in place; another fragment is missing. The surface shows considerable erosion.

Material

Coarse limestone with shell inclusions, one of which adds spurious detail to the postfix at the right-hand side of glyph B1. A similar inclusion in the right-hand border of Stela 3, visible in the photograph, may be evidence of like origin.

Shape

Roughly oval, and poorly trimmed.

Dimensions

Carved Areas

Upper surface only.

Photograph

Graham, 1978.

Drawing

Graham, based on a field drawing corrected by artificial light.

Location

This stela was seen by Maudslay, already lying fallen on the west side of Structure 13 with its carved side up. It has not been moved since then.

Condition

The stela is broken off near the bottom of the lower panel of carving. No trace of the missing design can be retrieved from the fragments lying close to the butt, which is still in situ. The carved surface has suffered considerable, but uniform, erosion; it is also marred by several deep fissures. The upper righthand corner is broken off and lost.

Material

Hard and fine-grained limestone.

Shape

A narrow shaft tapering slightly toward the bottom, with a rounded top.

Dimensions

Carved Areas

Front only.

Photograph

Graham, 1971.

Drawing

Graham, based on a field drawing corrected by artificial light.

Location

The stela was found in 1852 by Colonel Modesto Méndez and the artist Eusebio Lara, who made an unpublished drawing of it. It stood on an elevated platform at the terminus of the causeway that leads southward from the site center. No altar was closely associated with it. In 1972 the stela was broken up by a looter who removed many, but not all, of the fragments. The remainder were taken by me to the alcaldía in Dolores, whence they may have been removed by the Instituto de Antropología e Historia.

Condition

Before its destruction the stela was in fair condition, the most eroded area being the upper panel of hieroglyphs. Reduction of the shaft to portable fragments was evidently accomplished by building a fire round it, and then perhaps, once it was hot, dousing it with water.

Material

Hard, white limestone.

Shape

A very poorly trimmed shaft of roughly rectangular shape. The carved surface was by no means flat.

Dimensions

Carved Areas

Front only.

Photographs

Morley, 1914; the very top of the stela, missing from Morley's photograph, has been supplied by Graham.

Drawing

Graham, traced from a properly aligned but otherwise poor photograph taken by him and based, as to details, on a field drawing corrected by artificial light.