Castillo (Str. 8I-13)

Castillo (Structure 8I-13)

            The Castillo (Structure 8I-13, Figure 1, Photograph 8), is a 17-m-tall vertically stepped pyramid. It is the tallest structure at Muyil and one of the tallest structures along the east coast of northern Quintana Roo. It sits astride the line of sacbes at the junction of Sacbe 1 and Sacbe 3. The construction consists of a rubble core with an exterior covering of dressed stones. It rises in four terraces (five, according to Spinden 1926), each with a vertical face and rounded corners. Each terrace is capped with a thin layer of flat low-profile stones, set so that their edges extend several centimeters past the verge of the terrace. The structure has a central stairway in several sections, with balustrades that are rectangularly stepped. There is no evidence that there was ever any sloping portion to these balustrades. The front stairway shows evidence of having been over-built at least once. The overall perception of the structure is one of height, with the vertical sides of the four terraces rising sharply above one another. The terraces become progressively smaller in height as well as in area toward the top of the pyramid. The top of the structure provides a vista of all of the Muyil lagoon and a moderately clear view of much of the Chunyaxche and Nopalitos lagoons. On a very clear day it is possible to see the surf at Boca Paila 12 km away. The height of the Castillo has aided the natural processes of erosion, and the talus slope of fallen construc­tion materials now rises 4-5 m above the supporting plat­form. In style and construction technique, the Castillo is quite closely matched at other sites by Structure 12 at Tancah, and two pyramids at Chamax on the coast south of Tulum and east-southeast of Muyil. At Muyil, the style and construction of four structures in the Entrance Plaza Group (Structures 7H-1, 7H-4, 7H-5, 7H-6) is similar that of the Castillo except for the round turret on the Castillo.

Figure I  Structure 8I-13 (the Castillo) after Mason (1927: frontispiece)

Photograph 8  Castillo (Structure 8I-13) front (west) face 

           A triple-entrance structure sits atop the fourth terrace (Photograph 9). The entryway is formed by two rectangular-section pillars which supported the lintels of the three doorways. In plan, it is similar to the two-room temples at the site and elsewhere on the east coast whose outer C-shaped room encloses an inner room on three sides. In this case, there is no evidence of an inner room. The space is occupied instead by solid masonry, which at its upper extent forms a solid round flat-topped masonry turret. To the best of my knowledge, this small circular turret atop a temple is unique, although round structures whose uppermost level is turret-like are known from Mayapan, Chichen Itza, and Paamul, for example. There is no remaining evidence of rear doorways and, like other structures in the area, this upper room probably had a solid masonry back wall, perhaps with small air vents. The room has stucco flooring, and much of the exterior shows traces of stucco on the walls and red paint.

Photograph 9  Structure 8I-13 (castillo) upper temple front (west) face

           The entrances to the topmost structure consist of a 1-m-wide central doorway flanked by two 50-cm narrower ones. The right-hand doorway has an original wooden lintel still in place. A radiocarbon date has been established for this lintel (see below.) The left-most doorway obviously once had such a lintel. The central doorway probably had one. The front facade had niches between the doorways at mid-height. All three doorways had recessed areas above the lintel in the form of a negative space the size of a lintel. This architectural element is frequently found along the east coast and is one of Lothrop's traits for the East Coast Style.

            Mason reported that the upper temple had the face of a god at each of its four corners (1927:127), but neither we nor Peissel observed any such sculpture or modeled stucco (Photograph 10). The state of collapse of this structure is much advanced from its condition in 1926. Much of the exterior facing of the terraces and large sections of the upper temple have collapsed.

Photograph 10 Structure 8I-13 (Castillo) upper temple north face

            The pyramid sits upon a low (about 1 m) rubble platform whose height is accentuated by its proximity to the adjacent natural depression to the northwest, and by the natural slope of the terrain falling away to the southeast. To judge from the adjacent terrain, this platform probably sits upon a low raised area of natural bedrock outcropping that formed one of the higher points of elevation at the site. The platform extends natural­ly into the line of Sacbe 3, which runs westward to pair of structures (Structures 7I-11, and 7I-13) that divide Sacbe 3 from Sacbe 2, and thence with Sacbe 2 to a cluster of three smaller pyramids adjacent to the highway. This cluster is approximately midway between the Great Platform and the Entrance Plaza Group. On top of the principal platform (and the west end of Sacbe 3) in front of the Castillo and in close proximity are four small ½-m-high platforms whose size and location indicate they may have been altars. There are two similar small platforms to the west. Peissel, however, reported that there were six small one-room shrines in this location: "These oratories resembled small bunkers with no openings except for a low door on one side. The oratories were too small to have admitted human beings with comfort and were once probably minute chapels sheltering idols." (Peissel 1963:287) We can only assume that the ravages of earth's most destructive animal (H.s.) has taken its toll on these shrines, leaving only small rubble piles in their wake.

            The rear of the supporting platform of the Castillo attaches to the western end of Sacbe 1 at the northeast corner of the platform. It appears to parallel the construction alignment at the eastern end of Sacbe 1, at Structure 10H-1, where Sacbe 5 approaches from the east toward the northeast corner of Structure 10H-1. In both cases, the pyramid-temple may be passed either clockwise or counterclockwise by a sacbe pedestrian, but passing the structure on its north side is a somewhat shorter route to the front of the structure.

            Excavation of test pit 4 into the front apron of the Castillo adjacent to the slump line of debris revealed a single construction level for the platform. At 26 cm below ground level, we encountered a layer of chich (4-6 cm stones) and stucco fragments which probably formed the original upper surface of the platform. The platform itself consists of 70 cm of large stones without mortar or earth between them. These stones were placed on the soil beneath, a 40‑cm layer above the bedrock. The soil nearest the bedrock is whitish, due to the deteriora­tion of the limestone beneath. More than 50 percent of the identifiable ceramics recovered from the upper 26 cm of soil were from the Late Postclassic Navula Group. This material, over a third of it fragments of Chen Mul Modeled censers, demon­strates the ceremonial use of this structure in the Late Postclassic.

            The material from below the platform-fill stones also consists of much Late Postclassic material: 3 Navula Unslipped sherds in level 5, and 26 in level 10 (together with 9 Late Postclassic Payil Group sherds.) There are also Classic period sherds: Muna Slate and Vista Alegre Striated in level 4, Ticul Thin-slate in level 8, and polychromes in several levels. The material from this test pit supports a construction date in the Late Postclassic, which calls into question its dating in the Terminal Classic or Early Postclassic period, as has been thought by some. Similar interpretative difficulties occur when considering findings at Tancah and Chamax. Structure 12 at Tancah, for example, which bears closest resemblance to the Castillo at Muyil, has been dated by Sanders to the Classic (1960:172) on the basis of ceramics, although it has Postclassic style murals. Chamax, the only other site with similar architecture, has not been dated. One cannot overlook the possibility that the particular test pits we excavated were placed into a Postclassic extension to an original Classic platform. Test pit 69, for example, excavated at the back, east side of the Castillo, contained Postclassic ceramics at all levels, including a high proportion of Postclassic Kukula Cream (eleven sherds.)

Photograph 11 Structure 8I-13 (the Castillo) upper temple right doorway lintel. Arrow indicates source of sample for radiocarbon assay.

           A sample of the right (southernmost) lintel, taken from its right end, lower front edge (Photograph 11), was submitted for radiocarbon assay to the laboratory of Beta Analytic, Inc. The wood sample was "pretreated by first examining for rootlets" then given an "acid, alkali, acid series of soakings to remove carbonates and humic acids. ... The following bezene synthesis and counting went normally." (Tamers 1992) Tamers said in a subsequent telephone conversation (1992) that "it was a perfect sample — everything went well." The sample was reported as: Lab number Beta-54853; Lot number MU91-1211, 930 ± 50 years BP (radiocarbon years before 1950 A.D.) The report of Beta Analytic gave calibrated ages (using the calibration techniques and datasets of Stuiver and Pearson (1986) and Pearson and Stuiver (1986)) as follows:

Method A (Intercepts) 

 Method B (Probability Distribution)                   Proportion

                                                                                    (Tamers 1992)

            While is is tempting to take such a clear date at face value, the sample of wood may not have been from the outermost portion of the tree from which the lintel beam was cut. Although we believe that the wood was taken from near one corner of the beam, it is impossible to know whether the sample gives a somewhat early date by failing to include the outermost rings of the tree. If this were the case, then the ages above could be shifted later by as much as a century.

            Evidence for dating Structure 8I-13 is equivocal. The Castillo is stylistically similar to structures at Tancah that date to the Classic; yet, based on ceramics from Muyil, the portions of the platform sampled were built in the Postclassic. The radiocarbon date from the lintel suggests that the upper temple was constructed in the Early Postclassic. Further investigations may find that the Castillo was built in the Terminal Classic or Early Postclassic (the period of the radiocarbon date from the lintel) and then modified and enlarged in Late Postclassic times by the extension of the basal platform, and building a new front stairway over the old. Given the constraints of our research permits, which precluded excavating any structures, no evidence is offered here to support a construction date earlier than the Early Postclassic. Based upon the apparent overbuilding of Structure 7H-1 in the Entrance Plaza Group, indicated by portions of an inner structure revealed at the upper southwest corner, and the fact that Temple 8 (Structure 9K-1) was obviously overbuilt at least once, it would not be surprising to encounter an inner structure concealed within the Castillo. A speculation that portions of the Castillo were built in the Early Postclassic and covered with later construction in the Late Postclassic is consonant with our documentation of a population increase in the Postclassic at Muyil.

© Copyright 2000-2005 Walter R. T. Witschey   Page last updated Wednesday, April 02, 2008