Dzibilchaltún - Temple of the Seven Dolls

(Local Name: Templo de las Siete Muñecas) The building known as the Temple of the Seven Dolls (Templo de las Siete Muñecas) or Building 1 sub, is most unusual.

Radio carbon tests on remains of timber have established that the temple dates back to the 7th c. ad It differs from all other known examples of Mayan architecture not only in its simplicity of style but also in having a square ground-plan and a window either side of the entrance. No such apertures have previously been found in any Mayan building. The temple roof-comb also departs from the traditional style, consisting as it does of a pyramid-like stump. This perhaps suggests an early form of roof-comb, possibly reflecting adjustment of the internal vaulting to the square ground-plan. Seven primitive clay figures were found inside, these being the so-called "dolls" which give the building its name. The temple, with flights of steps leading up to it on all four sides, stands, together with a number of other smaller structures, on a rectangular platform measuring some 250 3 90 m (820 3 295 ft).