Secondary walls

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Introduction

Within the JP area we documented a series of walls which are of unclear function. These are listed below and grouped in:

1. “Courtain walls” in the Plaza

2. Walls of unclear function

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“Courtain walls” in the Plaza

Stone walls, one stone wide and preserved to a height of one or two courses, were found throughout Area JP, within the Plaza.

These walls served to block debris accumulating in the Plaza coming from the south, protecting the structures of the Temple Terrace, particularly the staircase and revetment wall, and from the collapse of buildings to the east.

In addition to their practical function, the walls may have demarcated the sacred area, establishing symbolic boundaries around ritual spaces.

Therefore these walls are often named in the unit books “courtain walls”.

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Walls of unclear function

To the east of the monumental staircase, in the northeastern part of the Plaza (unit J6) sediments accumulated more rapidly as early as the third millennium BC. By the EDIII Period, a height difference of 4 m had already developed between between wall1 and the Plaza, which is located 12 m to its south.

This topic is discusses in JP depositional history and specifically for Unit J6 here.

We recorded in Units J6 and J4 portions of stone walls of unclear function: