Inomata's investigations under the floor level of the Central Plaza revealed the construction of a long platform also dated to the Middle Preclassic, oriented north-south, and located east of structure A-20 (and its buried earlier phases). This arrangement--a square pyramid (often with a staircase on each side) situated on the west side of a plaza and paired with an elongated platform, usually supporting three structures that closes the east side of the plaza-- corresponds to an often-identified and long-debated architectural layout called E-Group.
- Learn more about E-Groups and their potential functions
Recent studies on E-Groups located at many central Maya Lowland sites, propose that during the Middle Preclassic period, these architectural compounds were not only the focus of ritual activities, but multipurpose spaces used for ritual gatherings as well as exchanges, celebration and social interaction. At Ceibal, Inomata and his team recovered numerous offerings deposited under the plaza floor, especially greenstone axes, which seem to be often associated with these spaces. A similar offering has been recovered under the plaza floor of the E-Group at Cival.
