was left (CS. 5). Next, the E wall for the platform was assembled of masonry (CS. 4) that appears to be identical in size and form to that used in the rear wall (discussed below). This E wall was not completely excavated, but there is no reason to doubt its placement on fill of CS. 5. Once in place, gray earth was dumped behind, sloping down from the top of the masonry to the base surface to the W.
As CS. 3, work was begun on the W platform wall, and the front for the second platform level (there was undoubtedly work on the ends at this time, though these may have been begun in CS. 4). The well-cut rectangular masonry used for the outer veneer of the W wall was based on fill of CS. 5; just inside is rubble, some of which was actually put in place at the time of CS. 5. The loading in of brown earth to bring the fill up to the level of the second platform surface terminated CS. 3.
Completion of the uppermost platform level, very little of which has survived subsequent natural destruction, defines CS. 2. From what remains of its front face—built on fill of CS. 3—blocks of masonry, square in cross-section and installed as stretchers, were used for its construction. No postholes were found to attest to the presence of a building of perishable materials, but this occasions no surprise in view of the total destruction of platform floors. Moreover, fill beneath was sufficiently deep where excavated (1 m) so that there was no need to set posts into bedrock, nor into U. 1 and 2 of Plat. 7F-2 (in comparable structures elsewhere at Tikal, main posts were normally not set to a depth of more than 0.70 m; see Haviland 1963:278 and TR. 20B:2). Given the existence of midden material off the end of the structure (see part V), the onetime presence of a building makes sense, and CS. 1 is allowed for its construction.
Rectangular, three-level platforms are known elsewhere at Tikal in Gp. 2G-1 (Str. 2G-58-1st, 2nd, and 3rd); 3D-3 (Str. 3D-10-1st); 3F-1 (Str. 3F-24-1st); 3G-1 (Str. 3G-1-1st and 2nd); 4E-2 (Str. 4E-52); 4F-2 (Str. 4F-13); and 6C-1 (Str. 5C-46-1st; all in TR. 19 and 20B). Of these, 7F-35 resembles most closely 3D-10-1st, which is of comparable size (TR. 20B:table 2–13).
Structure 7F-36
This small, apparently rectangular structure on the S edge of Plat. 7F-1 faces, across Plaza 7F-1, Str. 7F-31. Time did not permit its thorough excavation in 1965, but its S end was tested as Op. 3I (Fig. 20 and 21b). Tentatively, two architectural developments may be posited (Table 2.6).
STRUCTURE 7F-36-2ND
A portion of its S end wall was exposed, built of well-cut rectangular blocks based on Plat. 7F-1:U. 8. It seems to run W to the plaza retaining wall, but its eastern extent is unknown. Structure 7F-36:Unit 1 is a surviving portion of a floor that runs N from the top of the veneer, but since it runs beneath other walls (to be discussed below), it is likely that 7F-36 originally took the form of a single-level rectangular platform, on which perhaps a building of pole-and-thatch was constructed (see TR. 19:106 and table 88 and TR. 20B:table 2.5 for comparable structures).
STRUCTURE 7F-36-1ST
Unit 2 is based on U. 1, and is masonry that runs N, probably originally from the S end of the structure, then turns to run W, turning again (about 1 m W of the NE corner of U. 2) once more to run N. Its placement appears to have converted 7F-32 from a one-level to a two-level platform (see TR. 19:106 and table 91 for comparable structures). If bilateral symmetry is assumed, the center portion of the front face of the upper level was inset about 1 m in relation to the ends.
Structure 7F-Sub.1
Located a short distance W of Str. 7F-30, this is the structure discovered in the fill of Plat. 7F-1 by Coe and Broman in 1957 (Table 1.1; TR. 2:30–32, 47, and TR. 2:fig. 2, 3, 5); their excavations exposed its front steps, a portion of its floor, and small portions of its front (E) wall. Their description was properly cautious, pointing out a number of things that ought to be checked by further excavations, as was done in 1965. Thus, a general reconstruction of Str. 7F-Sub.1 is possible, as in Fig. 22.
TABLE 2.5
Structure 7F-35: Time Spans
TABLE 2.6
Structure 7F-36: Time Spans
TABLE 2.7
Structure 7F-Sub.1: Time Spans
DESCRIPTION
Although the Maya seem to have been unable in this case to build a proper right angle, 7F-Sub.1 basically is a rectangular, one-level platform with axially placed steps, and as such, it is similar to platforms excavated elsewhere at Tikal (especially Str. 4F-7-D, which is of comparable size; see TR. 19:table 88 and TR. 20B:table 2.5). All other structures of this sort are thought to have had buildings of pole-and-thatch on their platforms, but Str. 7F-Sub.1 seems an exception, for there clearly is no posthole in its NW corner, where one would be expected (see TR. 19:118). It was, apparently, constructed as an open platform. Its stairs and front wall were built on Plat. 7F-1:U. 5, which ends at the top of a wall a short distance beneath the structure. A secondary turnup from U. 5 was accomplished by patches of plaster but, as discussed in conjunction with Plat. 7F-1, the structure and Plat. 7F-1:U. 5 are probably contemporary constructions. A projection W of the Bu. 160 axis from Str. 7F-30-5th falls on the first step of Sub.1, roughly on its front-rear axis, an orientation that was no doubt intentional. Ultimately, 7F-Sub.1 was partially destroyed, when Plat. 7F-1-2nd-D was constructed. For time spans, see Table 2.7.
Structure 7F-Sub.2
Located 0.76 m E of later Str. 7F-Sub.1, the very existence of this small structure would not be known had we not excavated beneath U. 5 of Plat. 7F-1, just to see what was there. All that remained was its floor and underlying fill, which were excavated down to bedrock as part of Op. 3D. For illustration, see Fig. 23a.
DESCRIPTION
All that survives are two portions of the interior floor, positioned a mere 0.30 m above the bedrock surface, which form a rough square. The outer edges turn up where an exterior wall must have stood, and there seems to have been an entrance from the E, for a portion of the floor extends beyond the wall line there. A small mass of rubble on the S side of the floor is all that remains of the walls; whether these were entirely of masonry cannot be determined, but at least the lower portion was. Since the overall form and size of this structure is highly reminiscent of Str. 4F-42 in Gp. 4F-2 (TR. 19:fig. 36a and 41a), this would suggest that, like its counterpart, 7F-Sub.2 had walls the thickness of a single block of masonry. If so, the stonework probably did not stand very high.
