Bilbao (Mesoamerican site)
Encyclopedia
Bilbao is a Mesoamerica
n archaeological site about 1 miles (1.6 km) from the modern town of Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa
in the Escuintla department of Guatemala
. The site lies among sugar plantations on the Pacific
coastal plain and its principal phase of occupation is dated to the Classic Period
. Bilbao was a major centre belonging to the Cotzumalhuapa
culture with its main occupation dating to the Late Classic (c. AD 600–800). Bilbao is the former name of the plantation on which the site lies and from which it has derived its name.
. The archaeological sites of Bilbao, El Baúl
and El Castillo were all parts of the same urban centre that extended over about 10 square kilometres (3.9 sq mi). This extended urban area is known as the Cotzumalhuapa Nuclear Zone by archaeologists and Bilbao lies in the southernmost part of this area. The urban growth of modern Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa has expanded to the edge of the monumental architecture of the site.
The dominant geographical feature close to the Cotzumalhaupa Nuclear Zone is the Volcán de Fuego
, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, its crater rising to an altitude of 3835 metres (12,582 ft) above mean sea level at only a distance of about 21 kilometres (13 mi) from Bilbao itself. The activity of the volcano must have impacted upon the population of the site, which must regularly have suffered from falls of volcanic ash
, affecting agriculture, transport routes and perishable dwellings.
and was the most important site dating to the Preclassic within what became in later periods the Cotzumalhuapa Nuclear Zone.
Austrian physician Simeon Habel drew some of the sculptures at Bilbao in 1863, his drawings were published by the Smithsonian Institution
in 1878. Adolph Bastian of the Royal Museum
in Berlin
visited the site in 1876 and entered into a contract with Pedro de Anda to explore the remains. At this time Carl H. Berendt was hired to move the finest monuments to the Royal Museum in 1877. The monuments were shipped from Puerto San José
on the Pacific coast, where one of the monuments was lost overboard. The rest arrived in Berlin in 1883 and totalled 31 in all, including some well-preserved stelae depicting ballplayers. In 1884 engineer Albert Napp mapped the site, his original map being lost for more than a century before being found in 1994 in Berlin.
plantations. The sculptural style of the site differs from that of the Classic Maya
and may represent the vanguard of the Nahua
-speaking Pipil who migrated from central Mexico
and settled the Pacific coastal plain of Guatemala and El Salvador
in the Postclassic Period
. The Mexican influence evident at Bilbao may not have arrived directly but could instead have been transmitted via a neighbouring polity such as groups from the Tiquisate
or La Gomera
areas of the Guatemalan Pacific coastal region.
When first discovered the site was covered in forest, this was cleared for coffee plantations that have since been replaced with sugarcane.
Archaeological investigations were carried out by Lee A. Parsons and S. F. de Borhegyi. Parsons has suggested that Bilbao was a colony founded during the Middle Classic (c. 400–550) by the distant metropolis of Teotihuacan
in the Valley of Mexico
, with El Tajín
as an intermediary, and that it became independent between AD 550 and 700. However, archaeologist Marion Popenoe de Hatch has since redated the site to the Late Classic period. Bilbao's architecture is buried under a thick layer of volcanic soil to an extent that only the largest structures can be distinguished as mounds.
The core of Bilbao is formed by a series of platforms that descend gradually to the south. These platforms do not have any surviving evidence of boundary walls and appear to have been open and accessible. The monumental architecture of Bilbao may have served as an elite residential compound and a place of worship.
The Monument Plaza contained the majority of the site's sculpture, including Monuments 1 through to 8, a group of stelae now in Berlin. The Plaza was externally accessible via ramps and stairways.
Group A lies immediately to the west of the Monument Plaza and contains 6 structures.
Group B is immediately to the north of Group A and contains 4 structures.
Group C is immediately north of Group B and possesses 3 structures.
Group D is immediately north of Group C and contains 4 structures.
Groups A to D are all bordered on the east side by the Canilla River.
The Gavarrete Causeway is 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long and links Bilbao with El Baúl. It was the main avenue of the city and varied between 11 and 14 m (36.1 and 45.9 ft) wide. The causeway is named after Guatemalan historian Juan Gavarrete.
The Berendt Causeway is an extension of the Gavarrete Causeway that links Bilbao with El Castillo, it is 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) long.
The Habel Causeway is 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long and links El Castillo with Golón, only 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) from Bilbao itself.
Tlaloc
carved into a boulder by a stream. A significant amount of the architecture and relief
sculpture at the site features ballgame
imagery. Ballgame reliefs at Bilbao feature blossoming and fruiting plants symbolic of agricultural fertility. Stelae at Bilbao depict ballplayers with disembodied heads and various sculptures depict dismembered body parts. Sculptures of dismembered limbs are carved in the round and show the bones protruding.
Well-preserved examples of Late Preclassic
potbelly sculpture
s have been found at Bilbao. These are boulders carved to represent obese human figures and are found at many sites along the Pacific coast.
Monument 1 dates to the Classic Period. It depicts a ballplayer wielding a knife in one hand and a severed head in the other. This figure stands on a dismembered human torso lacking limbs and head. Around the main figure are four smaller figures, also carrying severed heads. It was originally found in the Monument Plaza but was removed to the Ethnological Museum of Berlin
.
Monument 2 was located in the Monument Plaza and was removed to the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.
Monument 3 depicts a larger ballplayer figure and a smaller death god, both of whom are wearing ballgame yokes, standing in front of a temple. The ballplayer is offering a human heart to the sun. The monument was found in the Monument Plaza but was removed to the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.
Monument 4 depicts a shaman whose tongue is in the form of a knife. It was located in the Monument Plaza and was removed to the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.
Monument 5, Monument 6, Monument 7 and Monument 8 were all from the Monument Plaza and were removed to the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.
Monument 16 is one of the few sculptures to remain at the site, being located in a sugarcan field.
Monument 17 was lost overboard when it was being loaded onto a ship for transport to Berlin. The sculpture was one of a pair and depicted a vulture devouring a human torso. Only the tip of one wing survived and is stored in the museum warehouse.
Monument 18 is a large sculptured stela that is roughly rectangular in shape and has a raised border. It depicts three standing figures. The left-most figure faces the other two on its right. Between the left figure and the central figure is a rectangular object sprouting crab claws at the bottom. There is a circle containing the head of a monkey at the top of the sculpture. Monument 18 has been dated to the Classic period. Monument 18 was located on the west side of Mound 4 of Group B.
Monument 19 depicts three figures, the principal individual wears an elaborate headdress with a Xiuhcoatl
("turquoise/fire serpent") plume. He appears to be offering aid to a less fortunate person.
Monument 21 is a basalt boulder in a sugarcane field. The boulder has an artificially flattened upper surface bearing a bas-relief sculpture. The carved face has a 35° slope and measures 11 by. The sculpture depicts three main figures. The central figure is the largest and faces towards a second figure seated on a throne. The third figure is behind the central figure, it is smaller and holds a hand puppet. The scene is filled out with twisting vines that sprout cocoa pods bearing human faces. Other details of the monument include birds, snakes and a butterfly with a human head. Monument 21 has been dated to the Classic period. Monument 21 is located east of Mound 2, in the centre of Group B. The decoration on the skirt of one of the figures may be the face of the central Mexican deity Xipe Totec
.
Monument 24 was moved to the Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología
in Guatemala City
.
Monument 46 is a potbelly sculpture.
Monument 47 is a potbelly sculpture.
Monument 58 is a potbelly sculpture. When it was excavated by Parsons it was found lying on its side with its head resting upon the lowest step of a stairway with Monument 59 (a throne or altar) upside down on top of it. The potbelly sculpture may originally have sat upon the throne. Alternatively, it may have been set at the base of the stairway with the throne at the top.
Monument 59 is a stone altar or throne with four legs. It was found resting inverted on top of Monument 58, a potbelly sculpture, at the bottom of a stairway. It may originally have supported this potbelly monument.
.
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
n archaeological site about 1 miles (1.6 km) from the modern town of Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa
Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa
Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa is a municipality in the Escuintla department of Guatemala.The municipality includes the pre-Columbian archaeological sites of El Baúl and Bilbao....
in the Escuintla department of Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
. The site lies among sugar plantations on the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
coastal plain and its principal phase of occupation is dated to the Classic Period
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
. Bilbao was a major centre belonging to the Cotzumalhuapa
Cotzumalhuapa
Santa Lucía Cotzumalhuapa is the name of a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological zone dating mainly to the Late Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology, although it was occupied since the Middle Preclassic period and there is evidence of a major development during the Late Preclassic period...
culture with its main occupation dating to the Late Classic (c. AD 600–800). Bilbao is the former name of the plantation on which the site lies and from which it has derived its name.
Location
Bilbao lies of the outskirts of Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, situated approximately 370 metres (1,213.9 ft) above mean sea levelAbove mean sea level
The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
. The archaeological sites of Bilbao, El Baúl
El Baúl
El Baúl is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in present-day Escuintla Department, Guatemala. El Baúl, along with the sites of Bilbao and El Castillo, is part of the Cotzumalhuapa Archaeological sites Zone. It is in the prehistoric Formative stage of the Americas.-Site:The El Baúl acropolis is...
and El Castillo were all parts of the same urban centre that extended over about 10 square kilometres (3.9 sq mi). This extended urban area is known as the Cotzumalhuapa Nuclear Zone by archaeologists and Bilbao lies in the southernmost part of this area. The urban growth of modern Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa has expanded to the edge of the monumental architecture of the site.
The dominant geographical feature close to the Cotzumalhaupa Nuclear Zone is the Volcán de Fuego
Volcán de Fuego
Volcán de Fuego is an active stratovolcano in Guatemala. It is close to the city of Antigua Guatemala. It has erupted frequently since the Spanish conquest. "Fuego" is famous for being almost constantly active at a low level. Smoke issues from its top daily, but larger eruptions are rare. On...
, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, its crater rising to an altitude of 3835 metres (12,582 ft) above mean sea level at only a distance of about 21 kilometres (13 mi) from Bilbao itself. The activity of the volcano must have impacted upon the population of the site, which must regularly have suffered from falls of volcanic ash
Volcanic ash
Volcanic ash consists of small tephra, which are bits of pulverized rock and glass created by volcanic eruptions, less than in diameter. There are three mechanisms of volcanic ash formation: gas release under decompression causing magmatic eruptions; thermal contraction from chilling on contact...
, affecting agriculture, transport routes and perishable dwellings.
Preclassic Period
Bilbao was occupied since the PreclassicMesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
and was the most important site dating to the Preclassic within what became in later periods the Cotzumalhuapa Nuclear Zone.
Classic Period
A substantial quantity of Middle Classic and Late Classic ceramics were found in mixed deposits at Bilbao.Postclassic Period
Although Postclassic remains are found close to the surface in various parts of the Cotzumalhuapa Nuclear Zone, Bilbao has a residential compound that is the only major structure dating to this period within the Zone.Modern history
The land containing the archaeological remains was cleared in 1860 by Pedro de Anda, a local civic official, to establish a coffee plantation by the name of Finca Peor es Nada. In 1890 Finca Bilbao was formed from the merging of Finca Peor es Nada with another plot of land. The plantation was renamed to Finca Las Ilusiones in 1957.Austrian physician Simeon Habel drew some of the sculptures at Bilbao in 1863, his drawings were published by the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in 1878. Adolph Bastian of the Royal Museum
Altes Museum
The Altes Museum , is one of several internationally renowned museums on Museum Island in Berlin, Germany. Since restoration work in 1966, it houses the Antikensammlung of the Berlin State Museums...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
visited the site in 1876 and entered into a contract with Pedro de Anda to explore the remains. At this time Carl H. Berendt was hired to move the finest monuments to the Royal Museum in 1877. The monuments were shipped from Puerto San José
Puerto San José
Puerto San José is a city on Guatemala's Pacific Ocean coast, in the department of Escuintla. It contains about 20,000 people, making it the largest place along the Pacific coast of Guatemala. It was the Pacific port for Guatemala, but this was superseded in the 20th century by Puerto Quetzal, a...
on the Pacific coast, where one of the monuments was lost overboard. The rest arrived in Berlin in 1883 and totalled 31 in all, including some well-preserved stelae depicting ballplayers. In 1884 engineer Albert Napp mapped the site, his original map being lost for more than a century before being found in 1994 in Berlin.
The site
The architectural remains consist of earth mounds covered by sugarcaneSugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...
plantations. The sculptural style of the site differs from that of the Classic Maya
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
and may represent the vanguard of the Nahua
Nahuatl dialects
The many dialects of the Nahuatl language belong to the Nahuan branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family, and form a group of linguistic varieties spoken in central Mexico...
-speaking Pipil who migrated from central Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and settled the Pacific coastal plain of Guatemala and El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
in the Postclassic Period
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
. The Mexican influence evident at Bilbao may not have arrived directly but could instead have been transmitted via a neighbouring polity such as groups from the Tiquisate
Tiquisate
Tiquisate is a a municipality in the Escuintla department of Guatemala....
or La Gomera
La Gomera, Escuintla
La Gomera is a municipality in the Escuintla department of Guatemala....
areas of the Guatemalan Pacific coastal region.
When first discovered the site was covered in forest, this was cleared for coffee plantations that have since been replaced with sugarcane.
Archaeological investigations were carried out by Lee A. Parsons and S. F. de Borhegyi. Parsons has suggested that Bilbao was a colony founded during the Middle Classic (c. 400–550) by the distant metropolis of Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with a Spanish orthographic accent on the last syllable – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas...
in the Valley of Mexico
Valley of Mexico
The Valley of Mexico is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with the present-day Distrito Federal and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several pre-Columbian civilizations, including...
, with El Tajín
El Tajín
El Tajín is a pre-Columbian archeological site and was the site of one of the largest and most important cities of the Classic era of Mesoamerica. The city flourished from 600 to 1200 C.E. and during this time numerous temples, palaces, Mesoamerican ballcourts and pyramids were built...
as an intermediary, and that it became independent between AD 550 and 700. However, archaeologist Marion Popenoe de Hatch has since redated the site to the Late Classic period. Bilbao's architecture is buried under a thick layer of volcanic soil to an extent that only the largest structures can be distinguished as mounds.
The core of Bilbao is formed by a series of platforms that descend gradually to the south. These platforms do not have any surviving evidence of boundary walls and appear to have been open and accessible. The monumental architecture of Bilbao may have served as an elite residential compound and a place of worship.
The Monument Plaza contained the majority of the site's sculpture, including Monuments 1 through to 8, a group of stelae now in Berlin. The Plaza was externally accessible via ramps and stairways.
Group A lies immediately to the west of the Monument Plaza and contains 6 structures.
Group B is immediately to the north of Group A and contains 4 structures.
Group C is immediately north of Group B and possesses 3 structures.
Group D is immediately north of Group C and contains 4 structures.
Groups A to D are all bordered on the east side by the Canilla River.
Causeways
Bilbao is connected to other sites in the Cotzumalhuapa Nuclear Zone by a system of stone-paved avenues, reinforcing the interpretation of the Zone as an articulated urban centre. There are three major causeways:The Gavarrete Causeway is 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long and links Bilbao with El Baúl. It was the main avenue of the city and varied between 11 and 14 m (36.1 and 45.9 ft) wide. The causeway is named after Guatemalan historian Juan Gavarrete.
The Berendt Causeway is an extension of the Gavarrete Causeway that links Bilbao with El Castillo, it is 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) long.
The Habel Causeway is 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long and links El Castillo with Golón, only 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) from Bilbao itself.
Sculpture
58 monuments were listed by Parsons at Bilbao, but only 3 remain in situ in Bilbao's Monument Plaza. Even before the extraction of the majority of the sculptures in the 19th century, many had already been damaged by locals who quarried them as a source of construction material. The remaining boulder sculptures of Bilbao lie among the earth mounds of the site's ceremonial centre; they include two sculptures of the central Mexican deityDeity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
Tlaloc
Tlaloc
Tlaloc was an important deity in Aztec religion, a god of rain, fertility, and water. He was a beneficent god who gave life and sustenance, but he was also feared for his ability to send hail, thunder and lightning, and for being the lord of the powerful element of water. In Aztec iconography he...
carved into a boulder by a stream. A significant amount of the architecture and relief
Relief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
sculpture at the site features ballgame
Mesoamerican ballgame
The Mesoamerican ballgame or Tlatchtli in Náhuatl was a sport with ritual associations played since 1,000 B.C. by the pre-Columbian peoples of Ancient Mexico and Central America...
imagery. Ballgame reliefs at Bilbao feature blossoming and fruiting plants symbolic of agricultural fertility. Stelae at Bilbao depict ballplayers with disembodied heads and various sculptures depict dismembered body parts. Sculptures of dismembered limbs are carved in the round and show the bones protruding.
Well-preserved examples of Late Preclassic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
potbelly sculpture
Potbelly sculpture
Potbelly sculptures are in the round sculptures of obese human figures carved from boulders, they are a distinctive element of the sculptural tradition in the southern Maya area of Mesoamerica. The precise purpose of potbelly sculptures is unknown, although they appear to have been the focus of...
s have been found at Bilbao. These are boulders carved to represent obese human figures and are found at many sites along the Pacific coast.
Monument 1 dates to the Classic Period. It depicts a ballplayer wielding a knife in one hand and a severed head in the other. This figure stands on a dismembered human torso lacking limbs and head. Around the main figure are four smaller figures, also carrying severed heads. It was originally found in the Monument Plaza but was removed to the Ethnological Museum of Berlin
Ethnological Museum of Berlin
The Ethnological Museum in Berlin is one of the largest ethnological museums in the world. It houses half a million pre-industrial objects, acquired primarily from the German voyages of exploration and colonialization of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries...
.
Monument 2 was located in the Monument Plaza and was removed to the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.
Monument 3 depicts a larger ballplayer figure and a smaller death god, both of whom are wearing ballgame yokes, standing in front of a temple. The ballplayer is offering a human heart to the sun. The monument was found in the Monument Plaza but was removed to the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.
Monument 4 depicts a shaman whose tongue is in the form of a knife. It was located in the Monument Plaza and was removed to the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.
Monument 5, Monument 6, Monument 7 and Monument 8 were all from the Monument Plaza and were removed to the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.
Monument 16 is one of the few sculptures to remain at the site, being located in a sugarcan field.
Monument 17 was lost overboard when it was being loaded onto a ship for transport to Berlin. The sculpture was one of a pair and depicted a vulture devouring a human torso. Only the tip of one wing survived and is stored in the museum warehouse.
Monument 18 is a large sculptured stela that is roughly rectangular in shape and has a raised border. It depicts three standing figures. The left-most figure faces the other two on its right. Between the left figure and the central figure is a rectangular object sprouting crab claws at the bottom. There is a circle containing the head of a monkey at the top of the sculpture. Monument 18 has been dated to the Classic period. Monument 18 was located on the west side of Mound 4 of Group B.
Monument 19 depicts three figures, the principal individual wears an elaborate headdress with a Xiuhcoatl
Xiuhcoatl
In Aztec religion, Xiuhcoatl was a mythological serpent, it was regarded as the spirit form of Xiuhtecuhtli, the Aztec fire deity, and was also an atlatl wielded by Huitzilopochtli...
("turquoise/fire serpent") plume. He appears to be offering aid to a less fortunate person.
Monument 21 is a basalt boulder in a sugarcane field. The boulder has an artificially flattened upper surface bearing a bas-relief sculpture. The carved face has a 35° slope and measures 11 by. The sculpture depicts three main figures. The central figure is the largest and faces towards a second figure seated on a throne. The third figure is behind the central figure, it is smaller and holds a hand puppet. The scene is filled out with twisting vines that sprout cocoa pods bearing human faces. Other details of the monument include birds, snakes and a butterfly with a human head. Monument 21 has been dated to the Classic period. Monument 21 is located east of Mound 2, in the centre of Group B. The decoration on the skirt of one of the figures may be the face of the central Mexican deity Xipe Totec
Xipe Totec
In Aztec mythology and religion, Xipe Totec was a life-death-rebirth deity, god of agriculture, vegetation, the east, disease, spring, goldsmiths, silversmiths and the seasons. Xipe Totec was also known by the alternative names Tlatlauhca, Tlatlauhqui Tezcatlipoca and Youalahuan...
.
Monument 24 was moved to the Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología
Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología
The Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología is a national museum of Guatemala, dedicated to the conservation of archaeological and ethnological artefacts and research into Guatemala's history and cultural heritage. The museum is located the capital Guatemala City, at Finca La Aurora...
in Guatemala City
Guatemala City
Guatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...
.
Monument 46 is a potbelly sculpture.
Monument 47 is a potbelly sculpture.
Monument 58 is a potbelly sculpture. When it was excavated by Parsons it was found lying on its side with its head resting upon the lowest step of a stairway with Monument 59 (a throne or altar) upside down on top of it. The potbelly sculpture may originally have sat upon the throne. Alternatively, it may have been set at the base of the stairway with the throne at the top.
Monument 59 is a stone altar or throne with four legs. It was found resting inverted on top of Monument 58, a potbelly sculpture, at the bottom of a stairway. It may originally have supported this potbelly monument.
Golón
Golón is an important area within the Cotzumalhuapa Nuclear Zone, located 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) from Bilbao and connected to the same system of paved causeways. Golón is an area that contains further monumental sculptureMonumental sculpture
The term monumental sculpture is often used in art history and criticism, but not always consistently. It combines two concepts, one of function, and one of size, and may include an element of a third more subjective concept. It is often used for all sculptures that are large...
.