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Kaminaljuyu Edición Especial Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes Dirección General del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural Sub Dirección de Investigación y Registro Sub Dirección del Instituto de Antropología e Historia KAMINALJUYU EDICIÓN ESPECIAL Guatemala, 2009 Derechos Reservados ® KAMINALJUYU EDICIÓN ESPECIAL Primera Edición, 2009 Departamento de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Arqueológicas e Históricas Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes Dirección General del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural Sub Dirección de Investigación y Registro Departamento de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Arqueológicas e Históricas Sub Dirección del Instituto de Antropología e Historia Departamento de Monumentos Prehispánicos y Coloniales EDITORES Hugo Fidel Sacor Quiché División Investigación en Historia Patricia del Águila Flores Jefe del Departamento de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Arqueológicas e Históricas. Subdirección de Investigación y Registro Dirección General de Patrimonio Cultural y Natural 12 Avenida 11-11 zona 1, Ex convento de Santo Domingo, Ciudad de Guatemala. E mail [email protected] Guatemala, América Central, 2009 Las opiniones expresadas en notas, informaciones, reseñas y trabajos publicados son exclusivamente responsabilidad de sus respectivos autores. Portada y contraportada: Marcador de Juego de Pelota de Kaminaljuyu, Vasija trípode con tapadera estucada, Soporte de Altar No. 5, Kaminaljuyu, Colección del Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología. Panorámica de La Palangana, Incensario con Espiga. Contenido Artículos 1. Alfred Maudslay: El primer plano de Kaminaljuyu. ...............................7 José Crasborn Chavarría 2. Kaminaljuyu: Rutas de Comercio y Ritos Funerarios .................................25 Patricia del Águila Flores 3. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Rescate Montículo D-III-10 Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala .................................41 Erick Ponciano Carolina Foncea (QEPD) 4. Kaminaljuyu: Aspectos de su Organización Política .................................85 Hugo Fidel Sacor Q. 5. Acuerdo Ministerial sobre Protección de Kaminaljuyu ...............................99 6. Jornadas de Kaminaljuyu 2007 ...............................101 7. Síntesis de Talleres Plan de Gestión Zona Arqueológica...........................109 de Kaminaljuyu 2009-2013. Dr. Héctor Escobedo A. Mstro. Erick Ponciano A. Licda. Patricia del Águila F. ALFRED MAUDSLAY: EL PRIMER PLANO DE KAMINALJUYU José Crasborn Chavarría Introducción Es seguro que ninguna investigación acerca de Kaminaljuyu, deje sin mención el primer plano del sitio elaborado por Alfred Maudslay a finales del siglo XIX. Al observar detalladamente este mapa, es posible identificar algunos de los principales montículos o grupos que conformaron este sitio, los cuales años más tarde, serían asignados con una nomenclatura por parte de la Institución Carnegie durante sus trabajos en Guatemala, nomenclatura que sigue vigente hasta el día de hoy. Y aunque este primer mapa fue elaborado con una gran calidad, la mayoría de investigadores utilizan el plano de la Institución Carnegie elaborado por E. Shook y T. R. Johnson en los años 40, por ser el plano mas completo que existe del sitio, que a través del tiempo ha servido de base para la elaboración de otros mapas, algunos de carácter interpretativo como los de la Universidad de Pennsylvania y otros enfocados en la paulatina destrucción de Kaminaljuyu. Como ya mencionamos, en el primer mapa pueden identificarse algunos de los montículos principales. Sin embargo, este no incluye todos los montículos que conformaron Kaminaljuyu, por lo que cabe preguntarse ¿Cuáles montículos documentó este viajero, durante su paso por la Ciudad de Guatemala? El trabajo que aquí se presenta podemos considerarlo de carácter experimental, ya que se ha tratado de identificar, en base a la distribución de los montículos dentro del sitio y a la superposición de este mapa con el de la Institución Carnegie, cuantos y cuales fueron los montículos que quedaron plasmados en este primer mapa del sitio y determinar el grado de precisión con el que fueron ubicados. 7 Antecedentes Es bien sabido que Maudslay no fue el primero en hacer una referencia sobre Kaminaljuyu, sin embargo, a criterio de Kidder (et al 1946), es con este viajero que inicia el periodo de exploraciones científicas en el sitio y otros de Centro América, ya que anterior a este, otros investigadores como C. H. Berendt y J. L. Stepehens, pasaron por el sitio pero no le prestaron mayor importancia. Medrano (et al 1995) señala que Alfred Maudslay, originario de Inglaterra, trabajó como funcionario en las islas del Pacífico hacia finales del siglo XIX y vino al Nuevo Mundo para atender negocios particulares. Pero una visita a Copán en 1881, lo motivó a invertir su tiempo y dinero en explorar varios sitios del área maya, como Tikal, Palenque y Yaxchilan entre otros. Es así como en 1899, Maudslay y su esposa publican el libro A Glimpse at Guatemala and some notes on the ancient monuments of Central América. Esta publicación es una reseña del viaje que ambos realizaron por la región durante esta época. En este libro encontramos una descripción de cómo encontraron estos viajeros a Kaminaljuyu por estos años, mientras se dirigían de la Ciudad Capital hacia Mixco. De esta descripción citamos la siguiente información: En la llanura a través de nuestro camino debe de haber estado de pie en tiempos antiguos un pueblo, uno puedo juzgar esto por la gran cantidad de montículos de tierra esparcidos sobre la superficie; pero ahora no es más que un pueblo fantasma, sin historia y sin nombre, y dos figuras en cuclillas talladas en una piedra dura se ubican a un lado del camino en la puerta de una pequeña hacienda, esto es todo lo que resta para mostrar el arte de estos constructores, aunque una cuidadosa investigación revelaría mucho más de interés. Planteamiento que fue confirmado años más tarde ya que desde las primeras excavaciones realizadas en Kaminaljuyu a principios del siglo XX, este sigue siendo un foco de estudio hasta la fecha. Por otro lado, cabe recordar que en años posteriores a esta visita, Kaminaljuyu era denominado de varias formas debido a que este se encontraba distribuido dentro de varias fincas (Miraflores, Arévalo, La Majada, Las Charcas, La Esperanza y La Providencia), hasta que en 1936 J. A. Villacorta da un solo termino al sitio denominándolo Kaminaljuyu que en kiche significa Cerro de los Muertos (Kidder et al: 1946:7). El mapa que incluye Maudslay cuenta con algunos datos que también vale la pena mencionar: Los montículos de tierra van desde unos pocos pies hasta sesenta pies (18 m) de altura y cubren más de una milla cuadrada de terreno.1 Sobre este dato hablaremos más adelante. 1. Las traducciones del Ingles son del autor del artículo. 8 La tierra ha estado bajo cultivo por muchos años, lo que ha provocado que las esquinas de los montículos hayan perdido su agudeza. En este caso observamos que los montículos de Kaminaljuyu ya eran objeto de algún tipo de alteración, la cual aparentemente era provocada casi exclusivamente por labores agrícolas y probablemente por alguna que otra excavación ilegal. La verdadera destrucción del sitio inicia en 1945 con la expansión de la ciudad capital hacia esta zona (Schávelzon y Rivera 1987:536). Por otro lado Maudslay, entre los años 1899 y 1902, publica su obra Archaeology Biology Centrali-Americana, trabajo que consta de 6 volúmenes. En el volumen V también se hace una mención sobre Kaminaljuyu, mientras que en el volumen II, el autor incluye otro mapa del sitio y dos fotografías, una probablemente corresponde a una vista hacia el sureste del grupo A-IV ya que al fondo se observan los volcanes de Agua, Fuego y Acatenango (Ilustración 1) y la otra es un detalle de la entrada a la finca del señor Arévalo, donde se muestran dos esculturas de barrigones (Ilustración 2).2 De la Archaeology Biology Centrali-Americana, citamos a continuación la siguiente información: En la planicie al oeste de la Ciudad de Guatemala, entre esta y la villa de Mixco, hay remanentes de una ciudad antigua... El plano muestra solo los principales grupos de montículos, algunos del lado Suroeste no fueron bien colocados. Este último dato también será discutido más adelante. Cerca del frente de la casa del señor Arévalo encontramos algunos fragmentos de ranas de piedra de alrededor de 9 pulgadas de largo (22 cm) tallados toscamente así como varias piedras y brazos de moler. Cabe mencionar que el trabajo de Lee Parsons: The Origins of Maya Art: Monumental stone sculpture of Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala and the southern Pacific Coast. publicado en 1988 incluye un catalogo de las esculturas de Kaminaljuyu, en el cual no aparecen estos fragmentos de ranas, por lo que podemos considerar que estas piezas están perdidas o se encuentran en alguna colección privada no documentada. Los montículos fueron hechos de tierra, en algunos cortes al examinarlos no encontramos evidencia del uso de piedra, sin embargo el señor Arévalo quien construyó su casa sobre un montículo (C-IV-8), me informó que el recuperó algunas piedras del interior de los montículos, las cuales utilizó para construir sus establos, estas piedras labradas miden alrededor de 3 pies x 1 pie x 6 pulgadas (91 cm x 30 cm x 15 cm). Una de estas piedras presenta una cabeza de animal tallada en bajo relieve. 2 Estos barrigones fueron denominados por Villacorta como Monumentos L y M, y en la actualidad estos se designan como Monumentos No. 6 y 7 y se encuentran en el Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología y en el Parque Zoológico La Aurora respectivamente
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