La Blanca is a Maya pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the municipality of Melchor de Mencos in the northern Petén Department of Guatemala.Muñoz Cosme 2006, p.340. It has an occupation dating predominantly from the Middle Preclassic (900–600 BC) period of Mesoamerican chronology. This site belongs to the later period of the Mokaya culture. The site is located in the lower reaches of the Mopan River valley and features a large acropolis complex.Muñoz Cosme 2006, pp.340-341. Activity at the site has been dated as far back as the Early Classic (AD 250–600), with principal occupation of the site occurring in the Late Classic period (AD 600–900),Muñoz Cosme 2006, p.343. although some level of occupation continued into the Early Postclassic (AD 900–1200).Vidal Lorenzo et al. 2007, p.563.
La Blanca occupied a frontier zone between the northeastern and southeastern Petén regions and the site is dominated by the acropolis, an especially well built palace complex.Vidal Lorenzo 2006, p.790. The city appears to have been an administrative centre with comparatively little emphasis upon religious or ceremonial activity.Vidal Lorenzo et al. 2007, p.575. It is likely that La Blanca was a subsidiary of a major Maya city such as Yaxha or Naranjo, given the complete absence of hieroglyphic texts and sculpted monuments, and archaeologists presume that La Blanca served as a frontier post or trading centre.
During the Late Classic there was greater public access to the acropolis; as the threat of warfare grew during the Terminal Classic (AD 800–900), access became much more restricted. The end of formal occupation of the city in the Terminal Classic appears to have been violent, with evidence of a battle recovered during excavations of the acropolis. Refugees appear to have occupied the city centre immediately after the collapse of formal settlement at La Blanca, but they abandoned the city for good in the 11th century, after which it was never reoccupied.
The acropolis buildings contain inscribed graffiti dating to the last phase of occupation in the Early Postclassic, including human and animal figures, deities, temples and courtly scenes. Colonial graffiti is also evident from the visit to the ruins by captain Pedro Montañés in the middle of the 18th century.
Location
La Blanca is accessed by a dirt road leading to the highway linking Flores with Melchor de Mencos; the dirt road joins the highway at La Pólvora. In the other direction this road leads approximately to a village, also called La Blanca; this modern village extends along the shores of a small lake. The archaeological site is located to the south of a range of hills reaching a maximum height of .Vidal Lorenzo & Muñoz Cosme 2007, p.45.
The site occupies a small pocket of forest amongst an extensive region of cleared agricultural land.Vidal Lorenzo 2006, p.791. The agricultural land closest to the ruins is largely dedicated to livestock grazing, particularly cattle and horses. La Blanca is located close to the Mopan River and its tributary, the Salsipuedes River. Some of the land between the ruins and the rivers is subject to frequent flooding, a factor that must have had some impact upon the inhabitants of the city. At its peak, this was one of the largest known Mesoamerican sites of that era. It is located on the western Pacific coast, where it rose to become the major regional center following the decline of an earlier polity at Ojo de Agua, Chiapas. La Blanca's regional dominance appears to have lasted approximately three centuries, until it was eclipsed by Ujuxte, 13 km east. This 300-year period is defined as belonging to the Conchas phase. The site covered over 200ha at its peak and boasted some of the earliest monumental architecture in Mesoamerica.
The forest covering the archaeological site reaches an average height of . It contains around 60 tree species, among which the most notable are breadnut trees (Brosimum alicastrum) and corozo palms (Orbignya cohune).
History The earliest occupation at La Blanca was concentrated in the South Group and dates to the Early Classic Period. However, major occupation of the site appears to have begun in the Late Classic Period.Vidal Lorenzo et al. 2007, p.571. Public spaces were covered with white stucco and the first architecture was erected at the site. The basal platform of the acropolis appears to have been built before the Great North Plaza was laid out.Vidal Lorenzo 2006, p.800.
In the Late Classic there appears to have been greater public access to the acropolis, with stairways communicating between the various terraces leading up to the south range.Vidal Lorenzo et al. 2007, p.574. During the Terminal Classic, these stairways were filled in, as were many of the access doorways to the acropolis itself, with some buildings being sealed completely. This closing of public access to the palace reflects the greater political instability engulfing the entire Petén region at this time. The acropolis complex was abandoned by the city's elite in the Terminal Classic, a time when most of the city centre was also deserted by its residents. Many flint projectile points were recovered from the south terraces of the acropolis, this combined with the remains of two individuals very near the surface indicates that a violent confrontation took place around the time that the city was abandoned.Vidal Lorenzo & Muñoz Cosme 2007, p.49.
Soon afterwards, at the dawn of the Postclassic, immediately after the Classic Maya collapse, the acropolis was reoccupied by refugees from the periphery of the city. These final occupants appear to have abandoned the city some time in the 11th century AD, after which it was never reoccupied.
Modern history
In the 18th century Pedro Montañés passed through the site and left graffiti with his name and the year 1752.Muñoz Cosme 2006, p.341. Archives have revealed that he was a Spanish captain who visited the site on 14 August of that year.Quintana Samayoa 1998, p.107. La Blanca was first documented in the early years of the 20th century. In 1905 explorer Teoberto Maler identified visible architecture at the site and marked it as El Castillito on a map of the region. Raymond E. Merwin visited La Blanca in 1913 on behalf of the Peabody Museum of Harvard University. He photographed the site and renamed it as Chac-Ha. At this time the site appears to have been covered in dense vegetation, making exploration of the ruins difficult and resulting in only a brief description of the acropolis.
Ian Graham published a plan of the site in 1980, based on explorations in preceding years. Further explorations have taken place on behalf of the Atlas Arqueológico de Guatemala and the Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo Project. The Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo Project started work at the site in 1994 with preliminary work consisted of mapping and photographing the ruins. In 1995 the ruins were cleared of undergrowth and in 1996 the Unidad de Arquelogía Regional de Guatemala (Guatemalan Regional Archaeology Unit) surveyed the ruins, recorded damage by looters and sank test pits, all under the direction of Vilma Fialko. From 1997 to 1998 looting damage was repaired and architecture deemed at risk of collapse was underpinned. In 1999 further underpinning work was undertaken as a result of earthquake damage and detailed plans were made of the architecture in 2000. The Atlas Arqueológico de Guatemala included La Blanca in its survey of three sites in the lower Mopan valley in 2001. More recently, investigations have been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture together with the University of Valencia and the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Excavations continued in 2004 both in the city centre and in the South Group, where looting damage was recorded and repaired.
Site description
The site covers an area of about and a great many structures have been identified by archaeologists.Muñoz Cosme 2006, p.342. Vidal Lorenzo & Muñoz Cosme 2007, p.45." The principal architecture has been dated to the Late Classic period. The layout of the city is somewhat unusual in that the north-south axis is oriented 12° west of north whereas most Maya cities have the major axis a similar amount east of north. The political and administrative functions were concentrated in the eastern portion of the city, which is taken to include the South Group, as evidenced by the superior architectural quality in these areas.
The Great North Plaza is a large square-plan plaza measuring . The Plaza was levelled by packing it with a clay-based mud, work that took place in the Late Classic Period based on the evidence of ceramic and flint artefacts recovered during investigations.Vidal Lorenzo 2006, p.792. This clay mud containing attapulgite was likely to have been brought to the city from the nearby swamps. Excavations in the plaza and close to the acropolis revealed the presence of a retaining wall probably related to the construction of the great platform supporting the acropolis itself.
A wide causeway runs south from the Plaza, running to the west of the acropolis and parallel to it. This causeway runs south for approximately to the South Group. The area west of the causeway contains a large number of smaller mounds and platforms and is believed to be an extensive residential area. This residential area includes three large plazas, the northern of which is divided from the Great North Plaza by a row of structures.Muñoz Cosme 2006, p.344. A stairway may have led southwards from this down to the Central West Plaza, which is on the opposite side of the causeway from the Acropolis. The south side of the Central West Plaza is bordered by a long structure that divides it from the South West Plaza. An area of smaller mounds extends further west and are believed to represent lesser residential districts of the city.
The area to the east of the city drops away rapidly and lacks extensive settlement remains, perhaps due to periodic flooding by the Mopan and Salsipuedes rivers discouraging the occupation of the eastern zone.
Acropolis
The most important architectural complex is the acropolis, a palace with an enclosed courtyard located within the Great North Plaza. The acropolis is also known as the Quadrangle due to its layout. A series of terraces lead down from the acropolis to a reservoir to the south, which appears to have been a private water source for the palace.Muñoz Cosme 2006, p.343. Vidal Lorenzo 2006, p.797. The reservoir itself is now dried out. The acropolis was accessed via a wide stairway from the Great North Plaza. The form of the plaza and the acropolis are unusual, although similar complexes have been identified at Nojpetén, Ixlu and Kinal.
Excavations in the acropolis revealed the presence of at least two superimposed platforms built with finely dressed stone blocks and covered with good quality stucco flooring.Vidal Lorenzo 2006, p.795. At a later date the platforms and courtyard were covered with unworked stones bound with mortar and covered with another stucco floor. The two platforms were built in the Late Classic and appear to have been covered over in the Terminal Classic.