Reusing Dzibilchaltún South Plaza, Yucatan

Abstract

Surface evidence of pre-Hispanic structures in the open space in the South Plaza of Dzibilchaltun led to the proposal that these were a good example of possible late habitational occupation in the central part of the site, which modified the architectural setting of the plaza and therefore its function. It was suggested that the group of structures formed a housing unit, because of their arrangement, shape and architectural features. This resulted in conducting a research program in this area of the site based on horizontal and vertical excavation to yield sufficient data to clarify and infer the processes through which the central part of the site—with an eminently elite residential character—could have gone on to become an area with simple room foundations and a structure special for its architectural layout in the shape of an inverted “L”, associated with late times and the first reported at the site of Dzibilchaltun.