FASES DE LA IMPLEMENTACIÓN

to entirely fragmented during his restoration activities. Columns featuring niches, however, are present at various other sites, outside Oaxaca. Acosta mentions Teotihuacán, Tizatlán and Tlaxcala (1992: 158).

Two small surfaces delimited by aligned stones are located in the frontal part of the struc- ture, which in turn is delimited by a staircase on one side and an external wall on the other. Interpretation as rooms is impossible through mere surface prospecting alone since no entrances seem to be present. Both measure approximately 2.6 by 3.2 meters. They appear to have had a minimum depth of 50 cm (i.e. the southern example) and 75 cm (i.e. the northern example) in relation to the surface on which Structure 2-Este rests, as determined by the staircase. The remains of two adobe walls are still visible on the platform surface that separated the western (i.e. frontal) side of the structure from the central part. A step crosses the entire building form north to south where this wall would have been. The two flattened columns cross this separating line. The central segment of this wall is currently not visible. It may be argued therefore, that the two separating walls ran from the northern extremity to the column and vice versa for the southern side, as such leaving an opening between the columns. The platform floor was treated with stucco and two fire pits were still registered in the eastern (i.e. back) side of the structure. These fire pits (tlecuiles in nahuatl) were constructed from small unworked pebbles. The one who was best discernable had a radius of 55 cm (see also Acosta and Romero 1992: 39). Acosta also makes reference to an altar that he found to be associated to this structure:

‘En un altar del Templo X […] se descubrió un magnífico brasero cilíndrico con cara típicamente “olmeca”, es decir, con “boca de tigre”, el cual plantea interesantes relaciones con Monte Albán y la cultura de La Venta.’ [Acosta and Romero 1992: 80; see also Figure 46]

Acosta also encountered a stone axe (ibid.: 125-127). The only C14 date associated with Monte Negro came forth from this structure (ibid.: 167). The walls have a general thickness of about 60 cm, with facings consisting of stones of various sizes, cut in such a way as to produce a smooth surface. The interior of the walls consist of small stones mixed with earth and at times an adobe brick. The walls have a height of 2 meters.

3.2.2.2.2 Structure 2-Oeste (‘Templo Y’)

This structure is a very poor state of conservation. It needs to be emphasized that the excavated buildings have been left largely unattended since then and this has resulted in extraordinary problems for further study of the site. In this case, the map published by Acosta provides more information then the structure currently demonstrates. For this reason, the description will be based on both the observations in the field and the Acosta map. The structure consists of a platform with a superimposed building. The platform has an eastward entrance, towards Plaza X. The east side measures 14.2 meters in length and the central segment measures 13.6 meters.

Several of the walls that Acosta included in the map are still vaguely discernable. For example, the main staircase is utterly destroyed and measurements are impossible. It seems that this stair- case was already in this state during the Caso project. The staircase provides access to the top building. This building has a rectangular shape and measures 5.7 by 7.8 meters. The east wall is located at 50 cm from the edge of the platform. In the center of the building a small, north- south oriented wall is visible. On one side of the wall a small pit was registered. This pit is not mentioned by Acosta, so its reason of existence is also uncertain: it may be an old looting pit, an excavation unit or even part of the original architecture. This latter option is rather unlikely though given the size and slope characteristics of the pit. The southern edge of the platform is utterly destroyed, as it already was when Caso registered it. A modest staircase, consisting of 5 steps and 3.6 meters in width, is located at the northern side of the top building and provides access to the back part of the platform structure. This back part can be defined as a separate U-shaped platform encircling the western side of the entire structure.

3.2.2.3 Plaza 3

This plaza does not appear in any of the Acosta maps, even though it is situated between the two main architectural clusters that were proposed by Caso and Acosta. Perhaps it was not identified as a plaza due to its relatively large size: it measures 26 by 28 meters. Four platform structures surround the plaza, but leaving room between them at the corners (Figure 3.14). It seems a plausible route that the main avenue would have entered the plaza on the southwest side and continued again by curving around Temple T-S (see below) and then passing by Temple T. On the northern side structure 3-Norte is located. It is a platform structure with low height on the plaza side and considerably greater height at the back (northern) side. Precise dimensions of this structure are impossible to provide, given the rate of destruction, but an estimate can be given of about 17 by 5 meters. It featured a staircase that descended toward the plaza, and two banquettes along its sides. Overall, it demonstrates great similarity to several other Monte Negro platform structures, such as 1-Norte and 1-Sur. The staircase measures about 10 meters in width. The structure seems to have been built on top of a low mound.

The structure 3-Oeste is all but destroyed. Merely the differences in level are possible to discern today, given that they are considerable. In the Marquina map (1951), which was exclu- sively based on Caso and Acosta’s work in the 1930s a curving line is included on the north- western side that represents a recently constructed wall, made of stones placed against the side of the platform structure. This is all that remains of structure 3-Oeste and the northwestern limit of the plaza. Structure 3-Sur also merely consists of a rocky mound and its dimensions are uncertain. The plaza delimited on the east side by means of structure 3-Este (Temple T-S).

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Approx. scale 1:250 cm

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Approx. scale 1:640 cm

Figure 3.14 Drawing of Plaza 3.

3.2.2.3.1 Structure 3-Este (‘Templo T-S’)

This structure resembles Structure 2-Este (Temple X) primarily because the six columns that adorn the structure have a width comparable to those found at structure 2-Este (1.4 meters). Secondly, the entrance to the structure is located at the west, mainly recognizable by its staircase (5 meters in width) connecting Plaza 3 and the top of the platform (Figure 3.15). The dimen- sions of the structure are 19.2 by 18.5 meters, excluding the staircase that protrudes the west side. The columns on the west side are circular, so not comparable to the ones on Structure 2-Este. The distance between the frontal columns is less compared to the other two pairs. At the foot of both frontal columns a step is located that turns into a wall foundation, both to the north and the south. On top of this wall remains of abode bricks still continue to be discern- able. To both sides of the staircase traces of adobe describing squares still remain. These may have been alignments of walls similar to those found at Temple X. The western face of the structure, similar again to structure 2-Este, is wider than the other sides. It extends some 90 cm along a north-south axis. In addition, 2-Este features an extension on the back (east) side of 1.8 meters.

Of particular interest is a wall that extends on the north side from the northwest corner of the building (see Figure 3.14). It has a width of 86 cm and runs parallel to the north wall for 4.8 meters, leaving a distance between 2-Este and this semi-connected wall of 70 cm. On the north side of this wall a passage of formed of 1 meter wide by the wall and so-called Temple T. It features a current height of 1.8 meters, and is as such in accordance with the general height is the Platform Structure 2-Este. Furthermore, the construction of this wall appears to post- date the construction of the main structure since the stones used in the building process do not penetrate the wall on the north side of 2-Este.

Two tombs related to Structure 2-Este are reported by Caso and Acosta. They were found in the central section of the platform surface, slightly east of the central axis. Today, the traces of the excavation process remain visible as two pits of considerable size. It is uncertain whether Caso decided to leave them open (quite unlikely), or whether they were reopened by looters after Caso’s activities. In both tombs some of the architecture was still easily discernable today in the form of tombs walls constructed of adobe bricks and some semi-worked stones. The staircase has surfaces of 40, 43, 46 and 50 cm from bottom to top and steps of 30, 32, 30 and 30 cm respectively.

3.2.2.4 Plaza 4

This plaza is located in the extreme eastern segment of the monumental epicenter as recorded by Acosta. It measures 26 by 34 meters, reflecting the dimensions of the surrounding buildings. Of these surrounding mounds the two to east and west are both larger in size than those to the north and south (Figure 3.16).

The north mound, structure 4-Norte, is 19.6 meters wide and 5.6 meters in length. The base of this structure is characterized by its long rectangular shape. The frontal (south) side is defined by a staircase which is somewhat embedded in the structure itself; the architectural elements to the sides of the staircase thus protrude more into the plaza than the staircase itself. Its width is approximately 10 meters. A tentative identification of an additional staircase on the north

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