Chiapas - 2005
Tonina
The Temple Complex
The 4th Level and higher
The right temples on the 4th level of the Temple Complex at Tonina

The 4th Level contains the 30 meter Tomb.  Above the 4th level is the Acropolis, consisting of temples, including the Temple of the Earth Monster.  Some of these temples have roof combs and stucco murals and a couple of stelae.  That is all I recall about these levels.


According to the LONELY PLANET: Guide to Mexico, 9th Edition,  (2004), ISBN 1-74059-686-2, page 811, the Temple of the Earth Monster has Tonina’s best preserved roof comb and was built around 713 A.D.  The Acropolis was the rulers’ adobes and had 8 of Tonina’s most important temples, 4 on each side of 2 levels.


According to MAYAS and ZOCQUES Southeastern Mexico: Chiapas, ISBN 798-970-678-031-7, Page 42, (Laura Pescador Canton author), the Mayans decorated the Temple of the Earth Monster (also called Temple V [“5”]) with a huge mask of Witz, symbolizing the Sacred Cave, the entranceway into the underworld.  With this temple the Mayans began a tradition of associating the nobility with mythic figures by placing disks and stelae on the Grand Plaza and the terraces of the Acropolis.

The mask of Witz in the Temple of the Earth Monster