The identity of the Classic Maya was expressed through public
architecture and the creation of sacred landscape, which incorporated the
landscape of creation and the concept of the world tree. Pyramids, plazas,
stelae, and ballcourts were important components of this landscape. In the
Peten, architectural complexes known as “E-groups” were
another component. E-groups are well-known astronomical “orientation
calendars” that were first built in the Terminal Preclassic period.
Named after Group E at Uaxactun, they consist of three buildings on the
east side of a public plaza and a fourth in the middle of the plaza or on
the west side. Terminal Preclassic E-groups functioned as solstice and
equinox markers. However, their function changed in the Early Classic
period, arguably due to influence from Teotihuacan, to a focus on
agricultural seasons. In this paper, I argue that pseudo–E-groups
were built well into the Late Classic period in the eastern Peten and were
a defining architectural complex for the region. The original, functional
Terminal Preclassic E-groups were based on ritual activities focused on
solar events. By the Early Classic, E-groups had become multipurpose parts
of the sacred landscape of public architecture. Late Classic
pseudo–E-groups, however, had become nonfunctional for either solar
or agriculturally oriented observation. Nevertheless, they had become so
deeply embedded into the template of sacred space and architecture that
pseudo–E–groups were constructed to reinforce the identity of
cities and the validity of their rulers.
