The Small Acropolis

The Small Acropolis is among the oldest groups at Edzná and forms a fourth part of the Great Acropolis. Like the Great Acropolis, its principal building stands on the eastern side and a roadway runs along its west side. It has a quadrangular base seventy meters on each side and five meters high, with four structures built on top, three of them good examples of the early Petén architectural style from 300-600 A.D. These buildings were modified during the Terminal Classic period from 900-1000 A.D. and again in the Postclassic from 1000-1500 A.D. In the Postclassic, several stelae previously associated with other buildings in the ancient city were gathered at the foot of the central stairway. The base that interrupts access from the stairway to the upper patio was built during the Early Classic period from 300-600 A.D. The clearest Postclassic traces appear in the eastern structure, whose steps are decorated with anthropomorphic reliefs of seated or standing figures, crouching jaguars, geometric motifs, and fragments of stelae or reliefs that are now unrecognizable.

Campeche · Mexico