MayaMayan
Uaxactun Structure E-7-sub, the focal point of the first E-Group. (Photo by Aric Monts-Homkey)
When observed from E-7, the three small structures facing the larger pyramid marked the equinoxes and solstices, so that the "E-group" functioned as a giant chronographic marker.
Uaxactun "E-Group"
E-7-sub
E-1
E-2
E-3
Uaxactun
(pron. wah-shahk-TOON)
Location: Maya lowlands12 miles from Tikal in the northern part of the Department of Peten in Guatemala
Name: Maya for "eight stone" coined by Sylvanus Morley on his 1916 expedition when he was the first to discover a Cycle 8 stela.
Dates: Thought to have existed from 900 BC to about AD 900 flourishing mainly in the Classic Period from AD 500-900. 
an "E-Group." This configuration is now widely recognized at sites with a strong Early Classic presence.
Functionally, the Uaxactun E-Group is a simple observatory. From a point on the eastern stairs, lines of sight can be drawn to the three small buildings which identify the sunrise on the days of the solstices and equinoxes. Rebuilt time and again throughout the first millennium, E-7's alignment remained in tact. Although modest in comparison to the contemporary effort at El Mirador, E-7-sub was an  important building in its day, a giant chronographic marker that confirmed the movements of the sun.
Structure E-7-sub
Early in the first millennium AD, the lords of Uaxactun constructed a large radial pyramid known today as E-7 in the area of Uaxactun designated as Group E. It had a staircase flanked by large stucco-covered masks of lords and the Witz monster on each side aligned with the four cardinal directions. Archaeologists worked through layer after layer of Structure E-7during the 1920s, finally reaching an original construction ("sub") that was completed in the first 200 years AD.
E-7-sub was uncovered on the east face, where in later phases a stela was placed at the base of the stairs. On the east, this pyramid formed a calculated chronographic arrangement with three smaller buildings on a low platform, creating what has become know as
CHAAK
Incense
Burner from
Mayapan.
(Photo by
Irmgard Groth)
Last updated June 10, 2007
m.monts