Becán
Becán is an archaeological site and a former center of the Maya of the pre-Classical period. It is located in the Mexican state of Campeche , in the center of the Yucatán Peninsula , 150 kilometers north of Tikal .
The name Becán means “canyon formed by water” in Mayathan and refers to the surrounding moat, which is unique to a Maya site. The place was scientifically described for the first time in 1934 by Karl Ruppert and John Denison, who are also responsible for the naming. The historical name is unknown.
History and structure
Becán, which is built in the Rio Bec style , was a regional religious and political center of the Maya. The first evidence of human settlement dates back to 600 BC. BC back. However, the city's heyday was in the years 600–1000; the city was inhabited until around 1250.
The city is surrounded by a moat that was interrupted in seven places. It was not an effective military obstacle, or was not completed as such. However, the great amount of work involved in digging bears witness to a strategically important location in the center of the peninsula and possibly to ongoing disputes with other cities in the region. The moat could just as well have served as a spatial separation of the inner area with the monumental buildings from the dwellings of the common people in the vicinity.
In the area enclosed by the moat, there are several groups of buildings that are arranged around almost rectangular courtyards or squares. In keeping with the Rio Bec style, the large buildings are mostly combinations of palatial buildings with numerous interiors and tall side towers that were not accessible.
Outside the trench are four larger groups of buildings, most of which also have steles, as well as a large number of smaller ones on an area of at least 72 hectares.
Southern place
This place is closest to the modern access. It is almost square and surrounded on all sides by very different buildings. Near the center is a round altar platform that was obviously built at a later date.
Building I.
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The building is a rather unusual combination of a wide complex arranged over different levels. On the lower level there are two parallel rows of seven rooms that are oriented to the south, to the outside of the square. A transverse room on the east side lies next to an angled internal staircase that leads up to the level of the square. On the second level, set back by the width of its rooms compared to the lower level, there are again two rows of five rooms, also facing south. The entrances to these rooms are divided into three openings by wall panels. This building was erected in the Late Classical period (730–830 AD) . The rear of the building towards the square is taken up by two unusually massive towers with a square floor plan, between which a block of wall forms a lower connection. This was one of the last building works in Becán at the beginning of the End Classic after 800 AD.
At the transition from the end classical to the early post classical period , an extension was built in front of the building, which consisted of a simple residential building. Elements from older buildings were reused as building material, the roof was no longer bricked, but formed on a low wall plinth made of wood and palm leaves. A little later a small temple was built nearby in a similar construction on a low, four-tier pyramid.
Building II
It is a square building on the west side of the square. So far only the part facing the square has been excavated: Two rows of rooms with five entrances run here. Behind the middle three rooms are further rooms. On the façade, two narrow entrances are also visible on both sides of the central entrance, one of which opens into a smaller room, while behind the other there is an internal staircase that leads to the second level. From the second level, further internal stairs lead to the third, on which there is a temple building facing west.
Building III
Opposite Building II, on the east side of the square, is a building arranged on two levels. On the lower level is a simple row of rooms facing the square. Each of the two building parts consists of two rooms, between which a more or less well-preserved staircase leads to a platform in front of the rooms on the upper level, which originally also included the roof of the lower rooms and was correspondingly wide. A narrow, internal staircase to the same level also runs between the building sections. There is another room on the northern narrow side.
On the second level, the two parts of the building, which are separated by a corridor extending from the internal staircase, have two rows of rooms. It is no longer possible to determine where the corridor led. The northern part comprises six rooms, all of which are accessible from the side of the square. The southern part has only five rooms, while the space of the middle room in the front row is taken up by a massive tower with the usual false staircase. Through the right room, the one behind it and the one next to it, one arrives at another entrance that led to a platform, presumably east of the building on the second level. It can be assumed that there was a similar design to that on the side facing the courtyard.
Building IV
The most complex building in Becán and certainly one of the most complicated in the entire Maya area, is located on the north side of the square, but had faces in all four directions. While on the southern square it gives the impression of a high temple building, into which the characteristic snake mouth portal leads at the top of the stairs, on the opposite side, in the north, there is a palace building staggered over several levels. The original staircase and facade are only preserved in small fragments.
It is particularly noteworthy that there is no temple room at the top of the pyramid-like building behind the snake mouth entrance, but a somewhat lower-lying courtyard, from which the interior rooms are accessible on all four sides. This inner courtyard was reached not only via the monumental staircase in the south, from the southern courtyard, but also through several internal staircases from the northern part of the palace and via a very narrow, concealed staircase that was concealed under the steep false staircase on the west side and running in gentle serpentine lines Niche of one of the side rooms opened.
This courtyard and the adjoining rooms as well as the rooms on the north side on three levels are the residence of one of the local ruling families, in which a sacred aspect (emphasized by the snake mouth entrance) was cleverly combined with that of a representative residential area. Excavations have shown that an older structure is hidden inside the massive building core.
Central place
To the northwest of the southern square is another square, which is less closed, but considerably larger. Buildings VIII and X face each other, while the tallest pyramid at around 32 meters occupies part of the north side.
Building VIII
The floor plan is typical of the Rio Bec style, but the high position on a large, pyramid-like substructure deviates from the scheme, as does the design of the central entrance with brick pillars. The hidden rooms with high vaults inside, which could be reached through a low entrance on the south side, are remarkable. Since the walls of these rooms were not plastered, it is assumed that they were only built for the purpose of saving material and reducing weight, but that they were not used for any other purpose. The monumental external staircase leads to a platform between the bases of the two towers with false stairs. On the platform - quite unusual - there is a stele. Behind it is a kind of columned hall, the front of which was supported by six solid, thick columns. From this room a wide passage led through two rooms to the other side of the building, to what was originally a wide platform, which provided access to the two rooms on either side of the passage rooms. These rooms are unusually long. Entrances also led from the platform into transverse rooms at both ends. From the northern room, a narrow interior staircase with multiple kinks led into the northern tower.
Building X
Similar to building IV, this also combines a palace with a sacred part. To the east, towards the square, there is only a wide, monumental staircase that leads to an entrance with snake-mouth decor. The usual towers with false stairs rise on both sides of this facade. At the rear, in the west, there is a confusing network of interiors on several levels, to which narrow, originally mostly interior stairs led.
To the north and south of the massive part of the building are two courtyards with rooms on all sides. These rooms are at ground level, only those that connect to the central part of the building are of a significantly higher level. Access to the courtyards is through arched passages from the outside.
Pyramid IX
The conception of this building deviates from the Río Bec style and is reminiscent of buildings further to the south and southwest, for example Calakmul structure II. On both sides of the large staircase there are small room units with three entrances each on three different levels. Only small remains of the actual temple building at the top have survived. The building has a long history. First, in the late pre-classical period (between 100 BC and 250), a pyramid was erected that was almost as tall as the current building. She wore the large stone and stucco masks characteristic of the period on the front on both sides of the stairs. At the beginning of the classical period, a small building with an interior was erected on the top of the pyramid. In the late classical period, the entire pyramid was encased and the rooms were created to the side of the staircase built at the same time.
In front of the stairs is the badly damaged and broken stele 3, the only stone monument in Becán with at least partially legible text.
Ball court
Behind the building X is the ball court of Becán in north-south orientation .
Exploration and development
Becán was first described in the scientific literature in 1934 by archaeologists Karl Ruppert and John Denison , who explored the site as part of an expedition from the Carnegie Institute , Washington. These established the current name. From 1969 to 1971 excavations were carried out under the direction of E. Wyllys Andrews IV of the Middle American Research Institute at Tulane University , which were then continued by the INAH under the direction of Román Piña Chan . Later Ricardo Bueno was responsible for further excavations. Today the main structures have been restored and made accessible to tourism.
gallery
Individual evidence
- ↑ Karl Ruppert, John H. Denison, Jr .: Archaeological reconaissance in Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Peten , Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington 1943. pp. 54–62.
- ↑ David L. Webster: Defensive earthworks at Becán, Campeche, Mexico; implications for Maya warefare . Tulane University, Middle American Research Institute, New Orleans 1976
- ↑ Prentice M.Thomas: Prehistoric settlement patterns at Becan Campeche, Mexico . Tulane University, Middle American Research Institute, New Orleans 1981
- ↑ Ricardo Bueno Cano: Entre un rio de robles; An acercamiento a la arqueología del la region Río Bec . Conaculta, México, DF 1999. ISBN 970-18-2514-4
- ↑ George F Andrews: Structure IV, Becán, Campeche, form, organization, and function . In: George F.Andrews: Pyramids and palaces, monsters and masks, the golden age of Maya architecture, vol. 3: Architecture of the Rio Bec region and miscellaneous subjects . Labyrinthos, Lancaster (CA) 1995. ISBN 0-911437-34-7 . Pp. 129-156.
- ^ Hasso Hohmann: A Maya palace in Mexico: Structure IV at Becán, Campeche . Academic Printing and Publishing House, Graz, 1998.
- ^ David F. Potter: Maya architecture of the Central Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Tulane University, Middle American Research Institute, New Orleans 1977.
- ↑ Luz Evelia Campaña Valenzuela: Contribuciones a la historia de Becán . In: Arqueología mexicana No. 75, 2005. ISSN 0188-8218 . Pp. 48-53.
- ^ Karl H. Mayer: The inscribed stela 3 from Becan, Campeche, Mexico . In: Mexicon 31 (2009) pp. 104-107.
literature
- Karl Ruppert, John H. Denison, Jr: Archaeological Reconnaissance in Campeche, Quintana Roo, & Peten. Publication 543. Washington DC Carnegie Institution of Washington. 1943. ( Chapter on Becán as PDF )
- Hasso Hohmann : A Maya palace in Mexico: structure IV at Becan, Campeche . Academic Publishers, GRaz 1998. ISBN 3-901519-05-X
Web links
- official site of the site (Spanish)
- Becán at mayaruins.com: further information, maps and pictures
- High-resolution detailed map at http://geomaps.aum.edu (status 1936)
Coordinates: 18 ° 31 '3 " N , 89 ° 28' 2" W.