The Arch & connecting wall
Photo by B. McKenzie
The great portal arch connects the western-most plaza to a central plaza of the Mirador group, which in turn connects to the Sacbé and the plaza of the El Mirador pyramid-temple. Through the arch, a small portion of the central courtyard can be seen, as well as stairs leading to the Sacbé and the El Mirador plaza itself.
The wall, with El Mirador
Photo by B. McKenzie
This courtyard was once surrounded by structures, most of which have collapsed into rubble. This portion of a surviving wall is an example of the care with which the buildings in this area were decorated.
Mosaic-work design frames doorway
Photo by B. McKenzie
The quality and decorations of the buildings in the Mirador Complex indicate a high degree of material prosperity in a land of severe water shortages in the dry season.
This paradoxical situation — communities with expensive buildings, having very high population densities, allegedly close to the maximum carrying capacity of the arable land in a marginal, drought-prone region, at a time when most other lowland Maya regions were facing severe demographic and economic problems — suggest to the archaeologist Tómas Gallareta that Labná is an example of successful community organization among the Maya during the Terminal Classic period.
Detail showing shallow surface design
Photo by B. McKenzie
Western plaza Overview
Photo courtesy of Kris Lamb. Thanks, Kris!
The archaeologist Manuel Tomá Gallareta Negrón, who has done extensive work at Labná.