Archaeology and Architecture
Built atop a leveled natural hill 1 kilometer long and 700 meters wide, the center of the site is characterized by a royal palace, several temple-pyramids, and elite residences. The site is noteworthy for its numerous monuments to the ancient Maya kings. Immediately outside this center are several mound groups, including one characterized by a pyramid 35 meters in height.
Although the general scale of construction at Zapote Bobal is quite large and would normally be characteristic of a long-lived ancient Maya center, it is clear that the city center was occupied for a brief period of time. The royal dynasty at Zapote Bobal seems to have flourished for only 200 years, disintegrating by A.D. 800. This is in marked contrast to most ancient Maya sites of the Classic Period (A.D. 200-900), which typically had long histories of occupation prior leading to the general collapse of Maya civilization in the 9th century.
Recent archaeological evidence suggests that the peripheral areas of Zapote Bobal were densely occupied before the site’s fluorescence and the construction of its central monumental core. Over 400 buildings have been discovered within a radius of 2.5 kilometers from the city center. According to Fitzsimmons, there was an “imposition of a relatively new center upon an older sociopolitical landscape.” Compounding this with the site's short occupational history suggests a rapid program of construction and raises questions about how and why the central core of Zapote Bobal was built in the first place. The fact that the surrounding area was previously occupied "calls to mind dynastic splits or other social upheavals at Late Classic sites elsewhere in the Maya lowlands, particularly those based in the Petexbatún."
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