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Since there are still a few weeks to go before we start operations again, we're going to review the last season one last time. Accordingly, the picture above shows the west side of Temple XX before we went to work on it early last year.

One of the interesting discoveries of last season came when we were investigating Structure XXc, the narrow 50-meter-long platform that runs almost the complete length of Temple XX's western side (colored green in this map). An addition connects about halfway down the platform at 90 degrees and continues to the edge of the terrace overlooking the Otolum River. Before excavations, it appeared to be connected to the temple itself, which made a good deal of sense, since using the backside of the building would have saved some considerable amount of labor. But the platform proved to be more interesting than it looked. We soon realized that it was actually a separate structure altogether, with a passageway — seen in the photograph — separating Temple XX from the platform.

In the passageway that we talked about last week is a drain, seen in this photograph. As we excavated the whole passageway, we realized that it was just a continuation of the drain, and it too carried water all the way to the north of the building. We caught onto this trick when after several weeks of rain and the build-up of water, we had to place an opening at the end of the passageway to let out the water. This drain was still working after being buried for over one hundred years.

Here's a view of some of the work that we have accomplished so far in restoring the Temple XX pyramid.

Here's another view of the restored Temple XX pyramid as it appeared towards the end of last season.

Here's one last view of the pyramid.