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The 2012 Season of the Chan Chich Archaeological Project
an eroded floor at the base of the mound, very
badly preserved steps on its face, an eroded
plaster landing (or other surface), and a wall
near the summit of the mound.
Topsoil and Collapse Debris
Lots KU-1-G-1 and KU-1-H-1 were the topsoil,
which consisted of a matrix of dark loamy
soil with many small roots and rootlets. The
thickness of these lots averaged between 10 to
25 cm. Below the topsoil was collapse debris
(Lots KU-1-G-1 and KU-1-H-1), which was
excavated over the entire area of both subops
and consisted of both cut and uncut, tumbled
limestone blocks above intact architecture.
Some of the blocks may have originally served
as steps; however, the final phase of architecture
was very poorly preserved, and the blocks had
clearly shifted from their original positions.
The matrix around the collapse consisted of a
lighter soil, with some small roots, rootlets, and
one medium size root (10 cm diameter) in the
northern half of Subop KU-1-G. The thickness
of collapse debris averaged approximately 25
cm in Subop KU-1-G. In Subop KU-1-H, the
thickness of the collapse debris ranged from 10
to 20 cm in the northern part of the unit and 25
to 60 cm in the southern section of the subop
above the landing, described below.
Courtyard Floor
A plaster floor (Lot KU-1-G-4) in extremely
poor condition was only recognizable from
the mixture of small limestone pebbles and
lighter matrix color at the base of the steps of
Structure 2. The matrix was light brownish gray
(10YR6/2). This eroded floor is presumably
part of a courtyard or similar surface in front of
Structure 2, but the thick vegetation prevented
us from investigating the area.
Steps
The steps (Lot KU-1-G-3 and 1-H-4) ascending
Structure 2 were in extremely poor preservation
with many of the cut stones missing. A total of
nine steps was documented. The lower eight
were located in the northern 3 m of Subop KU-
1-G and the ninth and uppermost step in the
southern 50 cm of Subop KU-1-H. The lowest
step was located 120 cm from the south edge
of Subop KU-1-G. From the courtyard floor,
the steps ascend the structure approximately 2
m to a plaster landing in Subop KU-1-H. The
steps average 21 cm in height, and their treads
average 21 cm deep. All were very poorly
preserved, and none were intact across the
width of the units.
Landing
At the top of the steps in Subop KU-1-H,
excavations encountered a plaster landing
extending 4 from the top of the steps to the base
of the wall, described below. Presumably, based
on the surface morphology of the mound, the
landing extends across the front of the central
part of the structure for approximately 26 m.
The plaster surface was in poor condition,
and it is unclear if there were any resurfacing
events. Although the plaster was poorly
preserved, it was the best-preserved plaster
surface excavated at Kaxil Uinic.
Wall
A wall (Lot KU-1-H-3) was uncovered during
excavation on the summit of Structure 2,
located in the northern 1.20 m of Subop H
(Figure 5.8). The wall runs perpendicular to the
subop, oriented east-west, and was preserved
at its highest point to 1.2 m. At the highest
point the wall has seven courses of cut stone,
each course averaging approximately 20 cm.
The wall is made of well-cut limestone blocks,
ranging in size from larger blocks averaging
40 cm wide by 20 cm high to smaller blocks
averaging 20 cm by 20 cm. The wall extends
outside of our subop to the north; however,
additional exposed cut stone on the surface of
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