The Funerary Temple among the Classic Maya Author(s): Michael D. Coe Source: Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 12, No. + (Winter, 1956), pp. 387-394 THE FUNERARY TEMPLE AMONG THE CLASSIC MAYA* MICHAEL D. COE "[ SERECENT DISCOVERIES a: Palen by Albeo Ru Land his ol leagues have definitely reopened the question of the function of Classic Maya buildings. It has become clear that not only are we uncertain of the nature of the aggregations of structures sometimes termed cities, but the reason why the indi- vidual structures themselves were built, and the uses to which they were put, r= sain unclear, with certain exceptions. Leaving aside those structures for which the functions have been quite well established, such as sweat baths and ball courts there remain two architectural types which probably represent the bulk of above-ground architecture for any one Classic Maya site. These are the temple-pyramid and the palace. Actually there are many intergrading sub-types beeween these two. Te has long been suspected chat the term “palace” is a misnomer. This is a multiple roomed structure, usually resting on a large platform which may or may not be stepped. The type is best represented by the Palace at Palenque, which also has inner courts and a tower. That these buildings were devoted to ceremonies rather than utilized as royal dwellings is very likely. As Kidder remarks", . . hav- ing spent some far from agreeable nights in a ‘palace? I cannot imagine any sensible ruler having chosen to live and to install his family in such damp, gloomy chambers. They ate all alike. There are no specialized apartments, no fittings for domesticity. They are the most unhomelike quarters. And . . . they contain un- questionably ceremonial feavures such as shrines and altars and stelae.”® In this respect they may be considered as temple-pyramids in which the temple itself as been expanded to form a complex ceremonial establishment. Where, then, did the priest kings, or whoever ruled these “cities,” live? Structures clearly identifiable a royal residences are absent in the Classic Maya area! Te may have been that the Maya authorities, like the priestkings of che Khmer civilization, lived in lavish but temporary palaces of wood. The fresco in Structure B-XTIT at Uaxactun, would suggest this: three richly attired women are shown seated in what is evie dently a domiciliary structure of a temporary nature, pethaps the royal residence itself.* With the probable elimination of the “palace” as a residence, we must investigate its function in connection with that of the temple-pyramid, 1 The advice of Professor Gordon R. Willey in the preparation of this paper is gratefully acknowledged, 2 Tnredaction t Sait, 1950, p. 11. 3 Smith nd Kidde, 1951, pp. 81-82 4 Sait 1930, 46. 357 Vou. 12, 1956388 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY ‘There is general agreement that the Maya temple-pycamid was used for some sort of ceremonies. Exactly what these rites were, in Classic times, is uncertain. Depictions of ceremonies involving temple-pyramids are rare in Maya art. The ‘ceremonies shown in the Bonampak frescoes took place on some sort of open stepped platform, seemingly without superstructure. However, some graffti® show rituals being caztied on atthe summit of and near temple pyramids. Ifthe only function of temple-pyramids (and “palaces”) in the Maya Classic was ceremonial, why were they covered over with new constructions with such bewildering frequency? Why were the supersteuctures razed again and again to make way for superimposed buildings? Except in times of political and religious disturbances, sacred structures in other parts of the world were never treated in such a seemingly cavalier fashion. As Kidder has said, “One asks oneself why the ‘Maya, and for that matter all che more advanced Mesoamerican people, were sich indefatigable builders. A populous Olympus can be taken to account for the ‘original erection of many temples. But why the burying of structures still in per fect condition under new and larger ones?”* Tozzee” suggests thatthe covering of ‘old buildings with new ones, together with the replastering of walls and addition of further elements, occurred to mark the end of a time cycle, one of fifty-two years or longer. This theory, however, negleets to take into account a very importan fact: that in every case of extensive rebuilding thoroughly revealed by excavation in Lowland Classic structure, atleast one burial has been found in each layer, contemporary with the period of construction. Often, in the case of sizeable structures, these interments have been in elaborate tombs. In view of the often magnificent furni- ture accompanying these individuals, it seems unlikely that they could have been victims sacrificed to commemorate a cyclical rebuilding. In other words, these structures were initially erected to house a deceased person of some importance. Although it is somewhat dangerous to rely on information pertaining to a period which in view of recent radiocarbon dates, may have been a millenium Inte, and inspite ofthe reference being to cremation, a statement by Landa is of considerable significance here: “As for the nobles and persons of high esteem, they bumed their bodies and placed ther ashes in great urns, and they buile temples above ‘them, as those which are found at Izamal show was done in old times.”* At the time of the Conquest, then, Maya temples had a funerary function, The archaeo- logical evidence strongly suggests that in Classic times, they were built to the same ends. Of course, it must be emphasized that few field excavations ever penetrate 5 For insance at Ri Beg, illsraed in Ruppert and Denison, 1943, fig 38. 6 Introduction to Smith, 1950, pp. 1-12. 7 Tomer, 1941, p. 151, now 750. 8 Idem, p 130.FUNERARY TEMPLE AMONG THE MAYA 389 into the interiors of the basal pyramids themselves which could provide such evi dence. Therefore, in the following survey ofthe archaeological literature, it should be bome in mind that such information as we have comes largely from chance discovery rather than purposeful excavation beneath temple floors. Rio Bac Anza In Structure VII of Hormiguero, a Classic site in southern Campeche, Ruppert and Denison® describe what appears to be a burial vault. A stairway descends in two flights to an empty vaulted chatnber, Inthe southwest comer of the chamber, an opening in the flor leads down to a chulrun (underground chamber) carved from the living rock. Its probable that the chuleun at onetime contained a buial, thatthe vaulted chamber was constructed over it with another burial, and that then ‘Structure VIL was built as a mortuary temple. Undoubtedly both the chuleun and the burial vault wee rifed in ancient times. Perey Ansa, At Holmul, Building B of Group II was rather thoroughly investigated by Merwin.2® There were four major periods of construction, each enclosing one of ‘mote burials. The original pyramid was itself a burial mound containing a richly furnished burial vault, but no trace of skeleton. Subsequent construction con- sisted of the interment of persons in rooms which were then sealed and covered cover with new structures, ‘Smith™ states that in Structure A.5 of Uaxactun, major reconstruction fol- Towed the entombment of individuals in vaulted chambers accompanied by lavish offerings. One might therefore conclude that A-5 was a mortuary temple-pyramid during the Early Classic. However, by the Late Classic, burials were no longer placed in chambers, but under the floors of rooms and courts in simple, cist, and. crypt graves. Although some of these ate cleaely intrusive, the practice indicates that the temple retained its mortuary function. The major feature of Nohmul, a site in northern British Honduras, isa large pyramidal mound, sixty-eight feet high, on the southern portion of a rectangular platform substructure.!? Below the summit of the mound was found a small room, possibly a burial chamber. Approximately eleven feet beneath this chamber and thiry-sx feet beneath the summit, a stone cist was discovered containing an ex: tended burial, bt with no grave offerings. The Ganns™ suggest that the whole pyramid — which they estimate t0 contain 20-30,000 tons of material — was an 9 Ruppert and Deion, 183, Al 53 10 Merwin and Vaillant 1932, p. 40. 12 Gann, 1939, pp. 1.6. 11 Smith, 1950, p44, 1B Tem, 0.6.