Today was our day trip to Tonina, the classic Maya city near Ocosingo, about 2 1/2 hours by road from here. Actually, it should take an hour, but there are topes (road bumps to slow traffic) about every 100 meters. It also requires descending about 1500 meters in altitude into the tropical lowlands from the chilly San Cristobal highlands. Fortunately, the weather at Tonina was quite moderate today, not uncomfortably hot at all.
The military base build just below Tonina is stlll quite active. It was built to counter the heavy concentration of Zapatista communities in the Ocosingo area, the place of a massacre in which a group of Zapatistas were cornered in early 1994.
Tonina is a terraced hillside. From the public plaza to the top of the most elevated structure is about 80 meters gain in height. The photos posted above include the group still smiling at the beginning of the tour, on the north end of the great ball court of Tonina, which itself is 80 meters long. The second photo, taken on my camera by James, just returned from Oaxaca, is a general view of the hillside city. Note the highest structure in this slide, because that is the location of the next detail, also taken by James (now my official photographer, since I cant take photos and lecture monotonously at the same time).
The photos say a lot, but for those who need words, here is a short summary of what we did at the site.
We began in the ball court (that's right, IN it), discussing the ball game in general, the formation and symbolism of ball courts, and the specific symbolism (prisoners of war) of the decorations of this ball court. Unfortunately, the decorations have all been moved to musuems and blank stones put in their place in the ball court. We had the inevitable discussion about whether the winner or loser might be sacrificed. I'll let you keep guessing. Before leaving the great plaza, we also looked at the small radial platform, likewise for ceremonies involving the renewal of time, and at the rows of stela platforms for erecting the stelae that commemorated rulers' performance of such ceremonies.
At the base of the hillside acropolis, we talked about the assignment that would structure much of the tour. This is to develop criteria of form that might help us differentiate the buildings on the acropolis that could be used for residence from those that seem purely ritual in function. We carefully looked at room plans, windows, benches, etc. so the students could make their own assessments. This tour was interrupted by lunch, a picnic on the middle level of the hillside, while James and I went down to sketch the "labyrinth" plan. We only toured a few buildings after lunch, primarily E5-5, which imitates the plan of the Palenque Cross Group temples.
After finishing our investigation of ritual and residential facilities, we explored the top level of the acropolis, including the fairly small structure (D5-3) featuring a row of niches each filled with a plaster sculpture of a bound prisoner. Then most of us climbed the steep and narrow steps to D5-2, the tall structure at the top (it's twin, D5-1, has not been restored). Again, the last photo above shows some of us climbing the steps of D5-2. We all look very confident and speedy going up, but we took the descent a lot slower and more carefully!
We then broke up and at our own pace investigated the large residential complexes that descend the eastern edge of the hillside acropolis. There are basically three groups of residential patio arrangements. The highest is a pleasant, small, fairly isolated patio. Stucco sculpture uncovered at its north end shows four figures dancing with serpent-wing costumes. The middle level residential group involves a very formal quadrangular patio surrounded by a maze of rooms. Two stairways descend through this patio to a lower level patio to the east. Here one room on the west side of the patio contains a mural painting. At the northwest corner is what appears to be an early sanctuary-style structure (again like the Cross Group) incorporated into a later room mass. On the north side is an elaborate bench decorated with stucco serpents. But it is clear from what is uncovered that building this structure required removal of a considerable portion of an early classic structure. One can look down at the cleared remains of a deity mask in stucco that was at least 4 meters tall. It has been removed from the base of the eye upward. From this level stairways descend farther to converge on a chamber with an elaborately decorated stucco bench or throne. The stucco pieces have all been removed, but they included jaguar imagery and the Jaguar God's trident obsidian blade, misinterpreted by some as a "flower." From this "throne" an incredibly narrow stairway leads down to a plaza backed up by giant stepped frets on the hillside terrace.
Finally, the lowest of the residential groups is known popularly as the "labyrinth" or the "underworld." Three unusual vaulted doorways lead into a complex system of corridors in what is a kind of maze, going deep into the hillside. One portion encloses what appears to be a sunken patio. Visiting this area from above has been forestalled by planting a dense wall of nopal cactus.
After the labyrinth, we visited the museum only briefly, since we were already late and the drivers were impatiently waiting. The ride home was uneventful, and about a dozen of us decided to meet at Casa del Pan for supper. They had an attack of inefficiency, probably due to short staffing. It took 2 1/2 hours to serve us. Ewan was the last served. Then another half hour to correct their mistake on the bill, to pay, and for them to run around the neighborhood looking for change.
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