Archaeology Magazine - July/August 1982 - 18

The jaguar image of the sun on the summit of the
pyramid known as Structure 29B depicts the transformation of the sun into the night jaguar of the underworld.
orange vessels. Similarly molded effigy vessels of the
type found at Kaminaljuyu are paralleled at Cerros
in appliquéd effigy vessels. Curvilinear designs
resembling the highland decorative technique known
as Usulatan are found at Cerros combined with
black rim bands. Despite similarities, the means
used to produce these designs at Cerros are clearly
lowland in origin, and one of the techniques used
was derived from the earlier "trickle" decoration.
This brings us to the major transformation
Cerros underwent in the space of only 150 years (50
b.c. -a.D. 100), during the T'ilix Ceramic Complex.
While it is difficult to determine exactly when
this great transformation occurred, the effects on the
city are overwhelmingly clear. Drawing on labor
that must have included people from surrounding
communities in northern Belize, the emerging leaders
at Cerros built the pyramids and plazas that stand
in the center today. Excavation shows that the
largest pyramid in the center- with some 30,000
cubic meters of rubble fill- was raised in a single
great construction episode. This is roughly twice the
size of the famous Late Preclassic North Acropolis
at Tikal, which was built over generations. But
this great pyramid at Cerros- Structure 4- seems
to have been only one part of an even larger construction plan. The leaders who designed the pyramid mandated that the entire eastern village be
buried under a new plaza in front of their greatest
temple. Not only did this effort involve an additional 15,000 cubic meters of rubble, but it required
occupants of the village to relocate elsewhere in the
community.
The Tblix Phase "urban renewal" progam at
Cerros produced four pyramids and associated plazas
in the center that cover an area of more than 5.5
hectares. Raising massive structures with dry rubble
challenged both the engineering abilities and the
administrative expertise of the community leaders.
They evidently solved these problems simultaneously through the use of internal buttresses. Workers built rectangular masonry pens in layers and
then filled them up with loose rock and gravel. If a
building was to be tall, several layers of interlocking pens were built up in honeycomb fashion. The
internal walls helped to prevent the lower parts
of the building from slumping under the enormous
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ARCHAEOLOGY

weight of the rock above them. Construction pens
are quite uniform in size within a given building
(approximately four meters square in Structure 4),
and would have provided a handy unit of work
for those organizing the labor gangs from the various
communities participating in the construction
activity at Cerros.
But renovation of the center was not the beginning. Before this the Maya had excavated the canal
around Cerros, which was over 1,200 meters long,
more than six meters wide and two meters deep.
This canal, which tapped into the lagoon, enclosed an
area of 37 hectares including the center and most
of the dispersed buildings outside it. Some of
the dispersed platforms no doubt served to support
dwellings. Other buildings outside the center but
within the canal perimeter are clearly public facilities,
including two ballcourts and a large pyramidplaza complex.
The organization of the known public buildings
outside the center is related to the design of the
center itself. The two ballcourts are located on the
major north-south axis that divides the community
into eastern and western sectors. The pyramid-plaza
group lies between these ballcourts and forms
the apex of an isosceles triangle. Moreover, this pyramid, Structure 29B, faces west toward the ballcourts. The eastward-facing main pyramid in the
center, Structure 4, is thus balanced by Structure
29B. All other pyramids at Cerros face south or
southwest, paralleling the main axis of the site. Obviously, the entire area within the canal was deliberately organized.
Just when inhabitants of the eastern village
moved out to make way for the eastern plaza, the
western village was also paved over. One of the
problems facing archaeologists at Cerros is figuring
out where all the people went. All the new public
works indicate that there were more, not fewer,
of them in Tulix times. Yet the dwelling platforms
within the canal perimeter can only account for some
400 people. One possibility is that the others
lived on farms scattered about the little peninsula
on which Cerros is located. Recently, however,
archaeologists discovered that the canal is actually
part of a system of drained fields, ditches and
feeder canals surrounding the community. Because
there are substantial quantities of household trash
washed into the ditches, it is possible that some
people lived right on these fields. It is clear so far
that in Preclassic times lowland Maya leaders were
already turning their attention to programs that
would increase agricultural production. We know
with certainty that they grew maize, and probably
many other crops such as squash, beans and cotton.
Remains of the plants have been found in the
trash middens around houses in the community.
T he most dramatic glimpse of civilized life at
Cerros can be seen in the well-preserved decoration
found on Structures 5C-2nd and 29B. All of the
Cerros pyramids seem to have been adorned with
painted and modeled stucco images, but only the
images on these two buildings are well documented
so far. Structure 5C stands at the northern edge

Archaeology Magazine - July/August 1982

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - July/August 1982