This map is adopted from H.E.D. Pollock's "The Puuc: An Architectural Survey of the Hill Country of Yucatan and Northern Campeche, Mexico" sponsored by Carnegie Institution of Wash. D.C.
Click ORANGE ARROWS for photos of buildings, or access an annotated Labná reading list
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Two main architectural complexes define the core of ancient Labná: the sprawling multi–storied group known as The Palace on the north, and the Mirador-Archway-Plazoletas patio groups to the south. These complexes are interconnected with a ceremonial Sacbé (White Road) running between them.
The Mirador-Arch-Plazoletas group is the oldest part of the site and believed to have begun as a early Puuc civic center supporting public rituals, civic functions, and potentially housing public buildings for administrative activities. The two western-most plazas were probably used for community functions such as markets, religious festivals and other community gatherings, while El Mirador, the only temple at the site and its oldest building, had its own plaza for religious ceremonies. The Arch served as a passageway between areas within this ceremonial group.
The Palace was constructed later. Here, over generations, the ruling elite of Labná expressed and consolidated their religious and political authority through the construction and elaboration of the Palace complex.
The Sacbé was originally built to connect an earlier throne room of the palace with the El Mirador/Arch complex, then later re-directed to the throne room of the succeeding ruler in another part of the palace. Besides serving practical purposes, the Sacbé held profound religous and symbolic meaning, orchestrating movement and structuring ritual performances within the site's ceremonial core, so connecting the El Mirador temple/pyramid to thrones in the palace is politically significant.
Note: Tómas Gallareta Negrón, the archaeologist who developed the multi-year Labná Project and directed nine archaeological field seasons here, believes the architectural plan of Labná may reflect a successful organizational structure which integrated the ruling dynasty of the palace with wealthy non-royal landowners of the El Mirador/Plaza group.
The Bolenchén District where Labná is located is characterized by 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 —suggests to him that Labná may provide an example of successful community organization among the Maya during the Terminal Classic period.
Manuel Tómas Gallareta Negrón, The Social Organization of Labna, a Classic Maya Community in the Puuc Region of Yucatan, Mexico, Ph.D. Dissertation, Tulane University, 2013