STRUCTURE 7F-30-1ST-C
As a last major modification, the Maya increased the height of 7F-30 by 1.30 m. For this, they piled fill on top of U. 28, over which they laid a plaster floor (U. 31), mere traces of which now survive (Fig. 9 and 10:37). For access, seven or so new steps (U. 32) were added to the top of existing U. 27, although these are now so badly ruined that broken masonry is all that remains. Before these upper stairs were built, those leading to the top of 2nd were torn out, and so, at least two construction stages may be defined, the earliest (CS. 3) for partial demolition of 2nd and a later one (CS. 2) for construction of U. 31 and 32. The presence of deep debris E of the structure, and an abundance of modeled stucco all over the surface of the ruin mound, point to the existence of some sort of building as part of Str. 7F-30-1st-C, and for its construction, CS. 1 is proposed.
It is likely that, as part of CS. 3, the basal step of U. 27 was removed. (Reasons for supposing that such a step once existed have already been given.) That it was removed at this rather than some other time is suggested by the presently observable relationship between Plat. 7F-1-1st:Fl. 1 and U. 27, lack of a burial in the fill of Str. 7F-30-1st-C on the Bu. 160 axis, and the presence in front of 1st-C of Bu. 190 and 191, which flank that axis. These burials were intruded through Plat. 7F-1-2nd:Fl. 1, most probably when Plat. 7F-1-1st:Fl. 1 was laid (consistent are the dates for that surface and the burials). Since the interments flank the Bu. 160 axis, they may be regarded as the missing ones for Str. 7F-30-1st-C. Thus, it appears as if the burials were put in place, the bottom step of U. 27 was removed with Plat. 7F-1-2nd:Fl. 1, and the final pavement was laid to turn up to the base of what used to be the second step of U. 27.
Owing to exceedingly poor preservation of 7F-30-1st-C, an overall reconstruction has to be almost purely speculative. The one presented in Fig. 9 is conservative, in the assumption that, where possible, older substructure walls continued to be used in the new substructure. This is consistent with the overall configuration of the ruin mound, established earlier practices, and the little that is known of Str. 7F-31-1st. Also assumed is that, where not buried beneath U. 32, part of U. 26 continued to serve as a supplementary platform surface in front of the building platform of 1st-C. Possibly, though, U. 26 was removed where it was not to be covered by the stair fill, in which case the surface it represents was eliminated.
STRUCTURE 7F-30-1ST-B
The distinctly minor modification seen in 1st-B consists of U. 33, which is an addition to the bottom step of the U. 27 stairway (Fig. 10). Exposed in the original excavations of St. 23 (Table 1.1 and TR. 2:28, 36), Coe and Broman assumed that the entire stairway postdated Plat. 7F-1-1st:Fl. 1, on which U. 33 rests. As it turns out, U. 33 was a later addition that increased the depth of the lowest tread to 0.85 m. A secondary turnup to it from Fl. 1 can be seen.
STRUCTURE 7F-30-1ST-A
Defining this structure is a small platform, U. 34 (Fig. 9), added onto the base of the stairway on Fl. 1 of Plat. 7F-1-1st, on Str. 7F-30:U. 33, and on the lowest two steps of U. 27 (Fig. 10). Within its fill were several smashed censers, PD. 100. Excavated in 1957 by Coe and Broman, it is adequately described in TR. 2 (pp. 28 and 36–38; Table 1.1 herein).
Structure 7F-31
The only excavation of 7F-31, a small, squarish structure built against the S side of Str. 7F-30, was a trench through its front-rear axis, and a probe along the N side of its W wall (see Fig. 8, 9, and 11). Although few details are known, these, coupled with inferences from mound configuration and reconstructions of Str. 7F-30, permit a general understanding of the structure (see Table 2.3).
STRUCTURE 7F-31-2ND
Evidence from the axial trench shows that construction of 7F-31-2nd was preceded by partial destruction of Str. 7F-30-3rd (as CS. 3), which evidently extended this far S (Fig. 7). Apparently, the W fill, floors, and walls of 3rd were completely stripped back to Str. 7F-30:U. 25 (the front wall of the supplementary platform for 4th). In the process, the top of U. 25 (along with whatever floor existed behind it), the wall of the building platform of 4th, Str. 7F-30:U. 22, 23, and 24, and some of their fills were removed. Into what remained, a grave was dug for Bu. 159, the shaft of which was subsequently filled and sealed by a thin stratum of small stones (Str. 7F-31:U. 3).
As CS. 2, a substructure wall (U. 1) was installed against the E face of fill for Str. 7F-30-4th. Built of well-dressed, rectangular blocks of stone, how high this stood is unknown, for its top has since collapsed. Suspected is that one course of masonry is missing, placing a substructure pavement that is no longer present just above U. 3. The latter would have served above the burial fill as a foundation for a plaster surface. This reconstruction accords reasonably well with what is known of the stairway for 7F-31-2nd, and places the summit of 2nd about 0.35 m below that of the lower level of the 30-2nd building platform (as seen in the deep trench, Fig. 10).
West of Bu. 159, medium-brown earth was dumped over what survived of Str. 7F-30-4th fill (Fig. 11:7). Although the later intrusion of Bu. 193 had disrupted the stratigraphy, it is probable that the packed gray earth fill for the stairs (U. 2) was piled up against this fill; the stairs themselves were built on Plat. 7F-1-2nd:Fl. 1 (beneath the stair fill, this joins Plat. 7F-3:U. 8). A projection upwards of the average tread and riser measurements of the surviving five steps that were not destroyed by intrusion of Bu. 193 accords reasonably well with the reconstructed elevation for the substructure floor, discussed above. Moreover, the juncture occurs in line with the later front wall of Str. 7F-31-1st. Since U. 1 was probably reused in that structure, the location of the front walls may have been about the same for the earlier one. In short, the reconstruction of Str. 7F-31-2nd up to this point is fairly secure.
Excavations did not encounter the N and S walls of U. 2 so there is no certainty about its width. In Fig. 8, it is reconstructed as being the same width as the stairway for Str. 7F-31-1st, making it about as wide relative to the N-S dimension of the structure as U. 27 is relative to the same dimension of the building platform for 7F-30-2nd. A reconstruction of the N and S faces of the structure is somewhat problematical (Fig. 8:63, 64). Since the E wall of 2nd seems to have been reused for 1st, the N and S walls may have been as well. It also appears that the location of the W face of 2nd was the same as that of 1st. Given all this, it is reasonable to project the reconstruction of 1st backwards to 2nd; moreover, it conforms well with a reconstruction of a building platform for Str. 7F-30-2nd that is symmetrical relative to its stairway. Worth noting, too, is that the posited location of the S end of 7F-31-2nd is virtually the same as the S end of the supplementary platform for Str. 7F-30-3rd and 4th (Fig. 7:56). Thus, it is possible that a portion of that wall, rather than being demolished, was incorporated into the new wall for Str. 7F-31-2nd; alternatively, the new wall for 7F-31-2nd could have been laid up against fill for Str. 7F-30-4th (as was done with Str. 7F-31:U. 1).
In sum, Str. 7F-31-2nd appears to have been roughly square in shape, and considerably smaller and lower than Str. 7F-30-2nd, which it abutted. Assumed is that some sort of building stood on its platform as was true of 1st; a final construction stage (CS. 1) is proposed for its construction.
STRUCTURE 7F-31-1ST-B
This structure is somewhat of an enigma, so far as its top is concerned, but its substructure can be reconstructed with a fair measure of confidence (Fig. 9). Work began with the partial demolition of 2nd (CS. 3), including removal of the substructure floor, and all but five of the U. 2 stairs (see Fig. 11). This demolition seems to have been specifically for the intrusion of Bu. 193 through stairway fill, and into the old Plat. 7F-3:U. 8. Following this, the burial shaft was filled with gray-colored earth, similar to that originally used for U. 2, mixed with blocks of masonry. The same material dug out for the grave was probably replaced, along with the stair masonry. New steps (U. 4) were then built directly over the old ones (CS. 2). Of these, only five now remain, but they once rose a total of 2.22 m above Plat. 7F-1-2nd:Fl. 1, on which they were built. Beginning at this elevation,