RR 3 Week of Jan. 31- Feb.4

Shaft Tomb at El Arenal

Good example of circles, stacks, and groups.

·         Was the chieftains and their families symbolic center of the society

·         Largest of the shaft tombs between 300 bce and 200 bce

·         Have been destroyed now

·         Circular complex with smaller circular complexes around the main tomb

·         Shaft tombs are about 8 meters deep

·         Shafts are center of the mounds and at the bottom open into a mound

·         Circles were found in groups of two or three

·         Later after 300 BCE came less important and were just huge surface circles with ball courts

I felt as though the shaft tombs showed good examples of circles, stacks, and groups because this is what they are. What is a better example than structures that are exactly this?  From the pictures it looks like the society of people lived relatively close to the tombs. The tombs were in a circle with three circling one big tomb. The thing that caught my attention the most was the shaft in the middle of the tomb. It was almost as if it was a stick pointing to the tombs.  The stacking is represented by the layers of earth that get smaller as it goes up with steps through the middle. It is hard to see these today because most have been destroyed or dug up for artifacts. Grouping was also good example because they grouped the circles together for purpose of the deceased.

Shows a tomb inside of the circle.