page_title: Motul de San José
section_title: Group C
hierarchical_section_title: Motul de San José / Site description / Architectural groups / Group C
caption_attribution_description: English: Late Classic Maya ruins of Motul de San José, Petén, Guatemala. South side of the north pyramid of the Twin Temples, Group C. Español: Ruinas mayas del período clasico tardío. Motul de San José, Petén, Guatemala. Lado sur de la pirámide norte de los Templos Gemelos, Grupo C.
context_page_description: Motul de San José is an ancient Maya site located just north of Lake Petén Itzá in the Petén Basin region of the southern Maya lowlands. It is a few kilometres from the modern village of San José, in Guatemala's northern department of Petén. A medium-sized civic-ceremonial centre, it was an important political and economic centre during the Late Classic period.
  The site was first settled between 600 and 300 BC, in the latter portion of the Middle Preclassic period, when it most likely was a fairly small site. This Maya city then had a long and continuous occupational history until the Early Postclassic, up to around AD 1250, with peaks in the Late Preclassic and Late Classic periods. Motul de San José had begun to refer to Tikal as its overlord in the late 4th century AD; by the 7th century it had switched its allegiance to Calakmul, Tikal's great rival, before returning its allegiance to Tikal in the early 8th century. In the late 8th century Motul de San José appears to have been conquered by Dos Pilas, capital of the Petexbatún kingdom.
  Most natural resources were easily available in the immediate vicinity of the city.
context_section_description: Group C is the principal group at Motul de San José. It includes the Main Plaza, which is surrounded by pyramids and palaces. The tallest pyramid is 20 metres (66 ft) high. The three largest pyramids in Group C belong to the architectural style possibly dating to the Terminal Classic, being built of thin, flat stones. Excavations have revealed that Group C was occupied from around 300 BC, in the Late Preclassic.
  The Main Plaza in Group C measures approximately 100 by 200 metres (330 by 660 ft) and is bordered by the Acropolis on the north and west sides, twin pyramids on the east side and the South Pyramid on the south side. It is the largest plaza at Motul de San José, encompassing an area greater than 11,000 square metres (120,000 sq ft). There are five stelae in the plaza commemorating Classic Period rulers, they have all been badly damaged by bushfires. On the west side of the plaza is a lower pyramid, measuring 7.8 metres (26 ft) high, that has been damaged by looters. A badly eroded stela was found close to this pyramid, another stela was erected in front of the South Pyramid. All three of the principal pyramids in Group C still support the remains of their summit shrines, possibly even with parts of their roofs and roof combs. The construction of these remaining structures consists of the thin, flat stones associated with the Terminal Classic occupation of the site.
  The Twin Temples were both built on the same platform on the east side of the Main Plaza and have heights of 17 metres (56 ft) and 18 metres (59 ft), three stelae (Stelae 3, 4 and 5) were erected in front of them in a north–south line. The south pyramid of the two has been somewhat damaged by looters. Both of these pyramids probably originally supported roof combs and were accessed by twin stairways rising from the plaza to the west.
  The Acropolis is a palace complex laid out around six small plazas, which it completely encloses, and forms the north side of the Main Plaza. It is a massive architectural complex covering an area of more than 83,000 square metres (890,000 sq ft) and is likely to have been the palace of the royal family. Two structures lying immediately to the south of the central plaza within the complex itself measure as high as 10.8 metres (35 ft) and 8.7 metres (29 ft) respectively. Investigations at the northern extreme of the Acropolis uncovered a piece of a plate dated to the Terminal Classic period. Excavations in the northwestern portion of the Acropolis have revealed a series of stucco floors and large amounts of ceramic remains, as well as fragments of worked stone, obsidian, bone and shell. Among the artefacts recovered were three polychrome vessels, two tripod vessels, a flute and a drum. Ceramic remains dated to the Late Classic have been found in all levels of the Acropolis. One of the ceramic vessels excavated from the acropolis was in a style associated with Tikal. Investigations behind the west structure of the northwest plaza in the Acropolis recovered fill that included ceramic fragments dating as far back as the Late Preclassic and Early Classic.
  The South Pyramid is the highest structure at the site, measuring 20 metres (66 ft) tall. As its name suggests, it forms the south side of the Main Plaza. Excavations on the north (plaza) side of this temple uncovered Stela 6.
caption: Summit of the north twin temple, viewed from the saddle between the two pyramids
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