In May, 2018, archaeologist Brent Woodfill was contacted by an old acquaintance about a potentially important archaeological discovery.  A newly-discovered site was being bulldozed by a contractor on the outskirts of the highland city of Coban, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, but the contractor wanted to work with archaeologists to document and preserve what remained. Upon arriving at the contractor?s house, Woodfill was confronted with hundreds Late Classic figurine, mold, and censer fragments that were uncovered while leveling the property for future constructions, and upon visiting the site, he saw several hundred more.

The archaeological site, here denominated Arag?n, was found to contain what is probably the largest figurine workshop yet identified in Mesoamerica.  Funds from the NSF RAPID grant allowed Woodfill and his team of American and Guatemalan students and professionals to document the site and excavate housemounds, middens, and other parts of the site associated with the workshop; unfortunately, the workshop itself had already been demolished and its location buried.  In total, the archaeological team was able to excavate 39 units, conduct an extensive surface collection, map the terrain using a combination of on-the-ground and aerial techniques, and analyze several thousand figurine and mold fragments and potsherds. 

Arag?n and its workshop dated to the latter years of the Classic period and survived well past the Classic collapse (approximately A.D. 750-950).  The gifting of these figurines?among the highest quality in the Americas?helped to cement and maintain alliances with neighboring states, all of whom were involved in the production and exchange of a variety of important trade goods.  This network included better-known cities like Cancuen, responsible for jade and obsidian products; Salinas de los Nueve Cerros, a large-scale producer of salt, salted fish, cacao, and achiote; and Chama, which controlled a key part of the river system that connected disparate parts of the western Maya world.  Residents of Arag?n and other nearby settlements, similarly, together controlled the largest breeding grounds of the resplendent quetzal in Mesoamerica, whose feathers were coveted by rulers and lesser elites from the Valley of Mexico down well into Central America. 

This research opens up a new area of the Maya world to investigation and reveals the richness of its history and the active role this zone?previously dismissed as part of ?the periphery??played at the height of Maya civilization, and hints at a sinister role that its residents might have played in the Classic collapse.  Unlike its lowland neighbors to the north, Arag?n and other surrounding cities thrived and grew, and by the time of the Spanish conquest, the city?s descendants were among a handful of areas that the conquistadores could not take by force. 

Last Modified: 03/31/2019
Modified by: Brent K Woodfill