Ceibal in Historical Context:

Geo-Politics, Cosmology and the Design of Structure A-3

David Stuart
The University of Texas at Austin

Abstract and Images from Paper Presented at the 2016 Maya Meetings, Austin, TX

Draft

2016
 Ceibal in Historical Context:
Geo-Politics, Cosmology and the Design of Structure A-3

David Stuart

2016

The following abstract is for a paper presented on January 16, 2016 at Maya Meetings at the
University of Texas at Austin. The images of this presentation are attached. A full written version
of this paper currently in preparation. Please cite this presentation as:

Stuart, David. 2016. Ceibal in Historical Context: Geo-Politics, Cosmology and the Design
of Structure A-3. Paper presented at the 2016 Maya Meetings, Archaeology and History
of the Pasión River, January 12-16, 2016. The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.

Abstract

Structure A-3 at Ceibal (Seibal), Guatemala, is one of the best known examples of
Terminal Classic religious architecture from Maya civilization. It was thoroughly excavated
during archaeological investigations by Harvard University in the 1960s and its associated
inscribed monuments – five stelae in all -- have received a has received a good deal of attention
since their discovery over a century ago. In this paper I revisit the monuments associated with
Structure A-3, offering new interpretations of their ritual and historical significance.
All of the monuments associated with Structure A-3 were dedicated on or around the
k’atun ending 10.1.0.0.0 (849 CE), and depict the local king Wat’ul K’atel in different ceremonial
identities. Four were placed at ground-level before the four staircases of the radial pyramid,
oriented to the four cardinal directions. The texts of each monument cite the same date and
protagonist, but, significantly, they each feature ruler(s) from distant kingdoms. I argue that
these foreign references are key to understanding the placement of the stelae in relation to the
building and the wider geopolitical landscape. Stela 11, facing eastward, bears the date
9.19.18.17.15 6 Men 18 Zip, precisely one solar year before the bak’tun ending (a revision of
the date proposed by Morley and more recently by Schele and Mathews). The associated event
is the arrival of an individual who may be Wat’ul K’atel himself, under the supervision of a noble
from distant Ucanal, located to the east northeast of Ceibal. This is perhaps the first monument
of the set surrounding Structure A-3, establishing the arrival of the king shortly before the turn
of the bak’tun at 10.0.0.0.0. Stela 10 is north-facing, and mentions three foreign rulers as
“witnesses” of Wat’ul K’atel’s k’atun ceremony, perhps a figurative reference rather than a
record of direct visitation. The three foreign rulers are those of Mutul (Tikal), Kaanul (Calakmul)
and Ik’a’ (The Lake Peten region), located to the north of Ceibal. Stela 9, on the western
centerline of the pyramid, mentions another foreign ruler from a court named Lamakmtuun.
This can be identified this as a little-known Classic period center on or near the Rio Lacantun,
directly to the west of Ceibal. The south-facing monument of the complex, Stela 8, mentions
Wat’ul K’atel’s ritual in association with yet another foreign ruler as witness, named by a unique
emblem glyph (PUJ?), currently impossible to associate with any known archaeological site or
historical dynasty. The place glyph mentioned in connection with this emblem reads ?-HA’, and
is attested at several sites associated with Río Pasion, including Cancuen, located to the south
of Ceibal.
The pattern that emerges shows a correlation between the placement of at least three
of the four stelae around Structure A-3 and the geographic/spatial directions of the foreign
kingdoms mentioned in their respective texts. This is to say that the Seibal ruler Wat’ul K’atel
“faces” those who serve as “witnesses” or co-ritualists, according to the captions on the stela.
The design of the A-3 complex thus serves to document ceremonial interaction over a most the
central lowlands at a particular moment in history, encompassing numerous kingdoms of the
Terminal Classic period and couching them all within a cosmological template. Earlier scholars
attempted to discern larger geopolitical hierarchies and arrangements from these references
(especially on Stela 10), but the A-3 stelae say nothing directly of political alliance; the
relationships mentioned are ceremonial in nature, focused on the “witnessing” of a local k’atun
ceremony by distant rulers who may or may not have been politically associated with Ceibal.
A fifth monument, Stela 21, was erected in the center of the complex, within the upper
room of Structure A-3. Although heavily eroded, inspection of photographs reveals that its text
makes reference to the “era formula,” a verbal phrase often repeated in texts describing the
creation event of 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumku. Important to this phrase is a well-known
mythological place name YAX-“Hearth”-NAL, referring to the creation event as taking place at
the “new hearth place”(?).” Stela 21 also prominently displays the Ceibal emblem glyph in its
final block, depicting the same hearth sign. The juxtaposition of the two references is clearly
intentional, linking the Ceibal emblem name to its mythic precursor. Moreover, the central
placement of this stela atop the radial pyramid probably also invokes the idea of fire and
centrality, emphasizing Structure A-3 as a spatial representation of the place of “creation” and
of primordial temporal ceremony.
When taken together, these sources reveal how Structure A-3, dedicated at the very
end of the Classic era, stands out as an unusual statement of ancient Maya ritualism, cosmology
and geopolitics on the cusp of the so-called “collapse.” Its outward-facing design and narrative,
encompassing numerous mythic and regal actors and places, may well reflect a particular
moment in late Maya history when political and ritual systems were under considerable stress
and transformation, and when the ancient rhetoric of ceremony sought increasing support and
affirmation from distant kingdoms.
 Seibal in Historical Context
Geo-Politics, Cosmology and the Design of Structure A-3

David Stuart
The University of Texas at Austin

A Talk Presented at the 2016 Maya Meetings

January 16, 2016
An obscure history…
Structure A-3
The Excavation of Structure A-3
1998
Seibal, Structure A-3
Stela 11
east-facing
10.1.0.0.0 5 Ahau 3 Kayab (27 November, 849)

jo’ ajaw uxte’ k’anasiiy

u juuntal winikhaab u kabjiiy
wat’ul k’atel

5 Ahau, the third of K’ayab

is the first k’atun, the ‘oversight’ of
Wat’ul K’atel
Stela 11
east-facing
 The Visitation Date on Stela 11

*9.19.19.17.19 6 Cauac 17 Zip (Morley; Schele and Mathews)

9.19.18.17.15 6 Men 18 Zip (J. Graham; Stuart) 1-HAAB-ta

10.0.0.0.0 7 Ahau 18 Zip

Stela 10
north-facing
“The four regional capitals in A.D.849,
recorded on Stela 10 at Seibal”

Joyce Marcus, Emblem and State

in the Classic Maya Lowlands (1976)
 Stela 9
west-facing

K’UH-HUL-(LAKAM-TUUN)-AJAW
K’uhul Lakamtuun Ajaw
 Stela 8
south-facing
Stela 21
central
Ceibal, Structure A-3
The Foreign Actors
Where’s Lakamtuun?

Seibal, Stela 8

Yaxchilan, Lintel 35 Itzan, Stela 17

Itzan, Stela 17
Photograph by Ian Graham
“The guardian of Ik’ Chij,
the Lakamtuun Lord.”
 Plotting the Political References
Tikal
Calakmul
Ik’a’

Lakamtuun Ucanal

?
?
 Directionality, Rulership,
and Radial Platforms
Copan Stela A and Structure 10L-4
Stela 21
central
 Stela 21, detail
Photograph by Linda Schele
 The “Era Expression” of
13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumku
Stela 21
The Seibal Toponym
The Three Main Architectural Groups of Seibal
The Three Main Architectural Groups of Seibal
Evidently Structure C-18 was an offertory location at a major
causeway junction, for the surface of the platform was covered
with pieces of broken pottery, much of it burned.

- A. Ledyard Smith (1982:164)

 In sum…

• The local king arrives at Seibal (at the “hearth’s center”) precisely
one year before the 10.1.0.0.0 k’atun ending. Ucanal (K’anwitznal)
is a major player in this event.

• Structure A-3’s four-part design “looks out” over the surrounding

political landscape at contemporary actors and celebrants
according to a directional format.

• Structure A-3’s central stela references the “first hearth” of

13.0.0.0.0, which is in turn replicated in the emblem glyph of
Seibal (and in its civic layout???).

• As a calendrical and cosmological model, Structure A-3 replicates

the most ancient of Maya architectural forms and may specifically
echo the far earlier radial platform (E Group) under Group A.