Iximche - Site Description

Site Description

The site was largely preserved by the Spanish due to their alliance with the Kaqchikel against the K'iche'. The site’s central core is flanked by deep ravines and is separated from the main residential area by a defensive ditch. The city developed very quickly and within 50 years of its foundation it had reached its maximum extent. This explosive population growth at the city caused the residential area to spill over into the edges of the ravines themselves. The site center consists of four large and two small plazas, each of which contained at least two temples. Along with elite palaces, there are two ballcourts, the larger of which is 40 metres (130 ft) long and had zoomorphic markers. The plazas are named A, B, C, D, E and F, running from northwest (A) to southeast (F). The ceremonial centre of the city was separated from the residential areas by a wall.

Today the ruins are accessed via the modern town of Tecpán Guatemala, which replaced Iximche when it was destroyed. The modern entrance to the site is on the northern side of the ruins and includes visitor parking, a small museum, a picnic area and a football field, as well as the custodian's house. In an area of woodland to the south of the central portion of the ruins is a modern ceremonial area used by the modern Kaqchikel to carry out their rituals. This ceremonial area is linked to the ruins by a footpath and includes six concrete altars arranged around an unexcavated building. Flowers, food and drink are placed on these altars as sacrifices. The museum displays a number of pieces from the site, including sculptures and ceramics.

Plazas A and B are thought to have comprised a single complex belonging to the Sotz'il clan and included the palace of the Ahpo Sotz'il. Plaza A possesses a ballcourt, two temples and ten palace structures, five of which are interconnecting.

Plaza C was separated from Plazas A and B by a 0.91-metre (3 ft) wall and was the palace complex of the Ahpo Xahil, the junior co-ruler. Plaza C also had two temples facing each other across the plaza. The Xahil ballcourt was on the southwest side of Plaza C and the palace proper of the Ahpo Xahil was on the southeast side of the plaza. The Xahil Palace was built with an east-west alignment with the entry courtyard on the western side of the palace and had a central altar. The main palace was entered from the eastern side of the entry courtyard. The rooms and courtyards of the Xahil Palace contained a great deal of domestic artefacts. The Xahil Palace was destroyed by a major fire that resulted in the collapse of the adobe walls and it may be that this was the complex where Pedro de Alvarado was lodged with his Spanish soldiers. It would also be the same building that Spanish deserters burned in 1526. The collapse of the building preserved the domestic contents of the palace for archaeologists, unlike the palace of the Ahpo Sotz'il where comparatively few artefacts were recovered.

Plaza D has not been excavated although it was cleared and mapped by archaeologists. It is a large plaza surrounded by fairly high mounds although it does not appear to have had the large east and west pyramids present on the other main plazas. It had a palace on the south side with three interior courtyards, the westernmost of which had a cross-shaped altar. The palace was smaller than those of the Ahpo Sotz'il and the Ahpo Xahil and is believed to have been the palace of the Ahuchan.

Plazas E and F are to the east of Plaza D and also included palace buildings. These plazas were not mapped by Guillemín and remain covered by trees. The two plazas formed a single complex, believed to have been that of the K'alel Achi.

The defensive ditch running across the promontory was originally 8 metres (26 ft) deep. It was largely filled in soon after the Conquest in order to render the city less defensible. In the middle of the 19th century the defensive ditch was measured as 3 yards (2.7 m) deep, in the 1960s it was still visible on the ground although it is now almost totally filled in.

Ceramic finds at the site include frequent finds of incense-burners with handles and molded decoration. The most common domestic ceramics are of a micaceous ware and include ceramic comals (a type of griddle). Imported ceramics include Chinautla Polychrome and White-on-red, they are reasonably common at the site. Brown bowls are of a type also found in Zaculeu and Mixco Viejo, both of which also had a Late Postclassic occupation. Three-legged metates (a kind of mortar) were frequently recovered from the excavations and black obsidian blades were found in great quantities. Simple jade jewellery was also found.

Human sacrifice is evidenced at the site by the altar upon Structure 2, of a type used in heart sacrifice, and by a cylindrical cache of skulls taken from decapitated victims accompanied by obsidian knives. A pentatonic flute crafted from a child's femur was recovered from one of the temples and is also indicative of human sacrifice.

Because of the very brief nature of the Spanish occupation of the city, very few European artefacts were found. Those few pieces that were found consisted of forged iron crossbow bolts.