Angélica’s gaze traveled around the inside of the wall. “There looks to be buildings similar to Structures I and II abutting each side of the inner wall near the center. Four in total.” Again, she stared across at her dad. “Why the same? Could they have been planetariums in line somehow with the cardinal directions?” She’d read somewhere once that the number 4 also represented stability tothe Maya people.
“Why planetariums?” Pedro asked.
“For prophecy-telling reasons,” her father answered. “You know, like predicting when to plant or harvest, among other things.” He rubbed his chin, his brown eyes narrowed in thought. “What else do you see?”
She focused on the image again. “It looks like there are also some square structures in each corner.” She turned to Dr. Fernel. “Unless those are some sort of fortifications used to help hold up the wall?”
“I believe them to be buildings as well.”
“Like lookout towers?” Quint asked on his way over to the water jug María had left out.
Pedro yawned loudly. “Looking out for what, though?”
“What are these lines here?” Angélica asked, pointing at what appeared to be lines connecting to form a smaller rectangle partway between the outer walls and the center point of the image. “It sort of looks like a raised courtyard or plaza.”
Dr. Fernel tapped his index finger on his freckled chin. “That is a possibility, especially considering the larger structure that is visible at the center.”
“My turn,gatita,” her father said, indicating that he wanted her to turn the laptop computer his way.
She spun it around for him, curious what his architecturally tuned brain would notice.
He, Pedro, and Daisy all stared at the image.
“I don’t think that’s a platform,” her dad said, leaning closer to the screen. “It looks like another wall to me.”
“Is there a way to see contour lines on this?” Pedro asked, pointing at the laptop.
“Yes.” Dr. Fernel turned the computer back his way. He hit a few keys and tapped on the screen, then swiveled it back for Pedro to look.
“That slopes down inside of the inner rectangle,” Daisy said, frowning at Juan’s profile. “Why would they build a structure in the center of a natural cavity like that? It seems like flooding would be an issue.”
“Maybe the structure in the center is sinking,” Pedro said. “Sinkholes typically form in the northern part of the Yucatán Peninsula, not this far south, but we shouldn’t rule out geological forces at work here.”
“Could the weight of the structure cause a sinkhole to form underneath it?” Daisy asked Dr. Fernel.
“We can’t rule that out without bringing in geologists and geomorphologists to take some scans and measurements.”
“Let me look at it again,” Angélica said, waiting for her father’s nod before turning the laptop back in her direction.
With the contour lines now showing, it was clear how the whole site seemed to be one big sink drain. She focused on the structure in the center. It had squared edges, wider at the bottom and narrowing inward at the top, like most temples, with what appeared to be a small raised platform next to it. But according to the contour lines, the structure was definitely sitting in a depression. No wonder it wasn’t visible above the canopy.
“I wonder how many levels there are on that structure,” she said to nobody in particular. It was hard to tell with this overhead view.
“It certainly looks like a temple, though,” her dad said.
“Yeah, but just one.” She sat back, scratching absently at her neck. “Why are there no other structures dotting the landscape inside the wall? I see no other smaller temples. No living quarters or a ballcourt or any public buildings for gatherings to listen to the shaman or royal authorities. Only what appears to be a small platform to the side of the temple.” Although that could be just an anomaly in the LIDAR data thanks to how thick the trees were.
“How certain are we that this is a sacred site?” Quint asked, returning with an extra cup of water that he placed on the table next to Dr. Fernel.
“Thank you,” Fernel said, gulping down the water.
She frowned at the screen. “I was a lot more certain of that before laying eyes on that wall—and this imagery.”
“When some archaeologists find things they don’t understand,” Juan said, “they do tend to label it as ‘religious.’ That could have been the case here,gatita. I’m not saying Marianne thought that, but it could have been the theory she overheard.”
Dr. Fernel indicated toward the structures located near the inside-middle of each tall outer wall. “These other three buildingsappear to be similar in size and footprint to Structures I and II. I propose we skip clearing a path to them at this time and focus on moving farther inward tomorrow, do more ground truthing to figure out if that is an interior wall or a raised platform.”
“Or a line in the sand,” Quint said, now standing at the end of the table.
