Miniature Masonry Shrines
The best examples of preserved architecture at Punta Laguna are miniature masonry shrines, all of which date to the Postclassic period (AD 900 to 1500). These shrines are one room buildings – constructed using uncut stones and significant amounts of mortar – that are no more than few meters in length, width, and height. Many are too small for a person to enter.
Such shrines remain poorly understood. Archaeologists agree that they form part of the so-called “East Coast” style of Maya architecture, but debate the function and use of these buildings. Some suggest they may have been locations for ancestor or deity veneration. Others suggest they were associated with fertility or water rituals. Regardless, offerings of food or incense, long since decomposed, may have been left inside.
Miniature masonry shrines similar to those at Punta Laguna can been seen at other sites in the Yucatan Peninsula. At Tulum, for example, these shrines form an integral part of the architecture, and are found dispersed throughout the site. At Cobá, to take another example, Postclassic period miniature masonry shrines sit atop large Classic period (AD 250 to 900) structures, including both Nohoch Mul and the “Iglesia.”
