The dominant natural feature in the karst Petexbatun region is a series of uplifted horsts and dropped grabens along faults in the underlying limestone (Dunning et al. 1997; Dunning and Beach 2004). The most dramatic of these is the Petexbatun escarpment, which runs in a roughly northwest-southeast direction, rising nearly one hundred meters from the adjacent graben that contains the Laguna and Rfo Petexbatun, themselves tributaries of the Pasion River. The low-lying grabens include large areas of uninhabitable swampland, while the horsts are well drained and dotted with springs, along with sinkholes with rich, deep deposits of soil lining their bottoms. The land at the foot of the escarpment along some sections of the Laguna and Rio Petexbatun is among the richest in the region, with bedrock lying two to four meters below the modem ground surface. It is in this fertile ecozone that the earliest inhabitants of the region settled. Atop the escarpment, much of the bedrock is covered by only ten to fifty centimeters of soil, although deep, cumulic soils are found within the numerous rejolladas (sinkholes) that dot this elevated terrain. Yet it is along this ridge that nearly all of the Classic-period occupation was located, centered primarily around natural springs and caves and exploiting the deep soils in sinkholes.
It was apparent from the start of the Petexbatun project that, in order to understand the nature of Late Classic changes in the region, a program of mapping, sampling, and excavation outside of the large sites was needed. Thus, the Intersite Settlement Pattern Subproject (ISPS) was initiated in 1991 under the direction of Tom Killion (Killion et al. 1991). Dirk van Tuerenhout took over this work in 1992 and 1993 (Van Tuerenhout et al. 1993) and the field research was completed under the guidance of Matt O’Mansky in 1994 and 1996 (O’Mansky and Demarest 1995; O’Mansky 1996). The primary goals of the ISPS were to determine chronologies and spatial variation of regional settlement, calculate demographic estimates for all periods, document evidence of warfare in intersite zones, and examine how all of these factors interacted with local ecology and subsistence systems. Toward these goals, four transects were mapped and tested in order to produce a complete overall picture of regional settlement in relation to ecology and changes in settlement strategy over time. These transects included areas within each of the seven ecozones described by Dunning and colleagues (Dunning et al. 1991; Inomata 1995: 43-45).
Each transect was oriented east-west and was mapped in a “fishbone” pattern wherein a central line was cut along the length of the transect. Every fifty meters along this line, 90-degree angles were turned to the north and south. One-hundred-meter-long side trails were then cut perpendicular to the central line.
Resulting in a total transect width of 200 meters. Archaeologists and local workers, spaced at intervals between five and twenty meters (spacing varied according to foliage and visibility), then walked parallel to the main line between side trails. All structures and features encountered were flagged, cleared, and mapped. Finally, a minimum sample of 10 percent of these features within each transect was tested, primarily through lx2-meter excavations.
The first transect. Transect 1, began on the western shore of the southern tip of Laguna Petexbatun approximately two kilometers northeast of the epicenter of Aguateca. The two-kilometer-long transect, which was mapped in 1991 (Killion et al. 1991) and excavated in 1993 (Van Tuerenhout et al. 1993), ran west up and onto the escarpment. A total of sixty-seven structures and several walls were discovered within the transect. The main concentration of settlement was the fortified village Quim Chi Milan, which contained twenty-nine structures and a series of defensive walls. Sinkholes dotted the terrain west of Quim Chi Milan and a number of structures, walls, and terraces were located in that area. A second, smaller village, Tix Li Poh, was located at the base of the escarpment (Van Tuerenhout et al. 1993; Van Tuerenhout 1996).
Transect 2 was mapped initially in 1991 (Killion et al. 1991) and was extended in 1996 (O’Mansky and Wheat 1996a). It was excavated during the 1994 and 1996 field seasons (O’Mansky, Minson, Wheat, and Sunahara 1995; O’Mansky and Wheat 1996a). It began just south of Punta de Chimino on the western shore of Laguna Petexbatun at the modem village of Excarvado. The first 800 meters of the transect proved to be largely uninhabitable as it crossed perennial swampland before climbing the escarpment. Atop the escarpment, the transect turned south for 300 meters before returning to a west heading for an additional 800 meters. Several small villages were discovered along the transect and reconnaissance by Dunning and Killion to the north of the transect discovered additional clusters of settlement. This fairly dense occupation may be due to the presence of the minor center of El Excavado just to the north. An additional three structures were located at the foot of the escarpment near a spring.
In general, settlement in Transects 1 and 2 followed upland ridges in the rolling terrain, leaving the lower-lying areas clear for agricultural fields. Extensive wall systems were encountered along these two transects, most obviously field or property boundaries, quite distinct in form and placement from the defensive walls found elsewhere in the region. Dunning, Beach, and Rue (1997; 261) suggest that these walls, which often are associated with agricultural terraces, were used to partition the land, indicating that this productive land was controlled and managed at the household or corporate group level. This area between Tamarindito and Aguateca had some of the most fertile and valued lands in the region and the presence of low boundary walls here indicates intensive use for gardening. Soil phosphate analysis also suggests intensive cultivation within walled areas, as well as in rejolladas.
Transect 3 began on the western shore of the northern tip of Laguna Petexbatun east of Tamarindito (Van Tuerenhout et al. 1993). This was the only transect that did not map areas on the escarpment. It began on a small bluff above the modem village of El Faison and gradually descended to the west over its 1.2-kilometer length before terminating near the eastern shore of Laguna Tamarindito. Two villages, dubbed Bayak and Battel, were mapped along the transect (Van Tuerenhout et al. 1993) and, to the surprise of the ISPS team, no walls, defensive or otherwise, were identified.
Transect 4 was mapped and tested in 1994 and 1996 in order to more completely sample the variety of environmental zones in the Petexbatun region (O’Mansky, Hinson, Wheat, and Demarest 1995; O’Mansky and Wheat 1996b). It began atop a hill 120 meters west of Cerro de Mariposas, one of a series of north-south running hills west of Aguateca. The terrain in the region consists of steep karst towers with very thin soils and no conveniently located water sources. Despite such unfavorable conditions, a total of seventy-nine stmctures in three villages, in addition to several terraces and wall systems, were discovered within the 1.75-kilometer-long transect.
Within intersite zones members of the ecology subproject examined ancient land-use practices. This research consisted of both informal reconnaissances and field and laboratory soil phosphate analysis. The reconnaissances, at times in conjunction with the transect work of the ISPS, identified ancient modifications to the landscape, including wall systems and terraces. Soil phosphate tests were conducted within each of the first three transects (save for the Transect 2 extension mapped in 1996) at intervals ranging from ten to fifty meters in order to identify human activity areas overlooked in other analyses (see Dunning and Beach 2004: Chapter 6 for a complete discussion of the methodology, limitations, and results of soil phosphate testing).
World History
