Building 19
The back of this building is now used as the entrance to the site. The complex arrangement of the corridors on both its tiers has led it to be dubbed the Labyrinth. The upper tier, whose façade looks out on to the Great Plaza, has a main corridor and several rooms. Two narrow stairways lead to a series of underground chambers that end in small rooms. One of these chamber remains sealed up, so its size and use are to date unknown. As to the function of this building, some investigators believe that it and other similar ones were probably used for conducting initiation rites, probably for priests, during which journeys to the underworld were practiced.

Five buildings - numbers 17, 16 and 14 - in the first section of the Great Plaza stand between this cluster and the river. The first is a steam bath. All had a ritual function and it seems were employed only for purification ceremonies of the type related to the ball court. Building 14 [Ball Court]. Its two platforms provide an I-shaped space for a playing field. The field has five markers: three on the main body and the other two on the embankments. Although they all have inscriptions, only a few retain traces of their glyphs. This building was apparently built by Shield-Jaguar 1.

Buildings 12, 13, 10, 74 and 11 form an interesting harmonious cluster. This and the arrangement of its spaces and entrances suggest its use as a palace. It is similar in concept to the palaces at Palenque and Tikal, where you also see courtyards offset and ringed by galleries.

Building 12 has on its main façade the special attraction of seven doorways and one on each of its side facades. Its lintels records the sequence of the site's rulers, beginning with Jaguar-Progenitor's ascent to the throne in the year 360 AD

The third section of the Great Plaza is closed in on the west side by a low, unexplored platform called Building 8, and on the north side by Buildings 7, 6, and 5. Only the first two have been explored. They belong to the site's early phases. Excavations undertaken in 1980 revealed that Building 7 covers a substructure with major modifications.

Building 6
It is also known as the Red Temple of the River Bank because of its colorful stuccowork. It still retains the first part of its fretted cresting. Here, as in Building 33 and 25 as well, numerous Lacandon ceramic wares and prayer tablets were found. This is explained by the fact that, centuries after Yaxchilan was abandoned, various groups of Lacandon Indians made pilgrimages to the site to perform propitiatory ceremonies dedicated to their Gods.

Near the south end of the Grate Plaza is a series of platforms, which holds various clusters of buildings. Number 21 draws one's attention because of its stele and stucco decoration on the rear wall.

The stuccowork shows four women and a man seated on a bench whose sides have huge snakeheads. From their gaping jaws the figure of Tlaloc Rain God emerges. The theme of the group may be Lady Ik-Skull, who is seated in the middle and is furthermore depicted on the stele. The stele commemorates a major blood letting rite, as practiced by rulers and priests; the woman piercing their tongues, the men their penises.

Building 22
Although nothing remains of its vaulting, it has a magnificent series of lintels, which are comparable with Building 12's where the history of Yaxchilan's dynasty is also told. This building may have been constructed during the reign of Bird-Jaguar 4, who also included older lintels to complete the sequence.

Building 23
It housed four major lintels [numbers 23 - 26]. The first is placed above one of the side entries. The next two were sent by Alfred P. Maudslay to the British Museum. The fourth is on display in the Mayan Room of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. These lintels portray Shield-Jaguar 1 and his first wife Lady Fist-Fish subjecting themselves to a bloodletting ritual, which might have been connected with their rise to power. Between Buildings 21 and 22 there is a majestic stairway to Buildings 25, 26, and 33. The steps open directly onto the latter, which was constructed by Bird-Jaguar 4.

One of the building's distinctive features, in addition to its magnificent lintels, is the headless statue inside of Bird-Jaguar 4, about whom the Lacandons created a myth. For them he is King Ach-Bilam Ahau Balam, whose head, when it returns to its place, will bring about a cataclysm by virtue of the descent of the celestial tigers, called Kon, that will devour all living beings, and so devastate the world.

On the highest ground at the site, from where you can view the thick jungle in all its splendor, Buildings 39, 40 and 41 rise majestically. Number 40 still has part of its cresting and traces of interior wall paintings. According to Stele 11, this building was constructed by Bird-Jaguar 4.

On Building 41's carved stele and steps the exploits of its builder, Shield-Jaguar, are narrated.

The last group of structures that make up the site holds the cluster called the West Acropolis, who's Building 42 and 44 are outstanding for their lintels and steps.

Building 42
Its façade faces Building 33. It retains only its central lintel, on which you see Bird-Jaguar 4 holding his staff and talking with his warriors. As for the rest of the lintels, one was removed by Maudslay in 1882, and the other is in the National Museum of Anthropology. Building 44 was constructed by Shield-Jaguar 1 and commemorates his most important battles.

Building 48
A steam-bath house, it resembles Building 17 in its design and function. In general, this cluster functioned on the basis of two clearly ranked plazas, around which the buildings are placed. Entrance into both is highly restricted, a fact that leads one to assume that rites were carried out there by a select group presided by the ruler and his nobles.

AUTHORS: Daniel Juarez Cossio and Mario Perez Campa
Copyright INAH 1992