Palenque

Friday, 21 December 2012

National Geographic Live! - Palenque and the Ancient Maya World

Palenque San Basilio, Bolivar, Maroon Community in Colombia

SEXTETO TABALA DE SAN BASILIO DE PALENQUE

Vergangene Welten, Die Maya-Stadt Palenque 1/5

Tomb of Mayan Astronaut (Lord Pakal Ahau) Discovered Under Pyramids In Palenque Mexico

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Acacoyagua, Chiapas
Acacoyagua is a city and one of the 119 municipalities of the Mexican state of Chiapas.
Coordinates: 15°21′N 92°39′W / 15.35°N 92.65°W / 15.35; -92.65

wn.com/Acacoyagua,_Chiapas
Acala, Chiapas
Acala is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the town itself has a population of 12,686 with 24,800 in the municipality.
It covers an area of 295.6 km².

wn.com/Acala,_Chiapas
Acanceh
Acanceh is an ancient Maya archaeological site located in Mexico's Yucatán state. The modern town of Acanceh, where the ruins are located, is 21 kilometers from Mérida, the capital of Yucatán. Acanceh means "groan of the deer" in the Yucatec Maya language.
Acanceh was founded sometime between 200 and 300 A.D., during the Early Classic period. The ancient Maya city covered more than 4 square kilometers, and had about 400 buildings. Three of these buildings have been restored and are open to the public, although recent excavations have uncovered more structures. The three-leveled step pyramid in Acanceh is 11 meters high. One of the older layers of the pyramid has been uncovered revealing several distinctive carved masks as part of the pyramid's decoration. The "Palace of the Stuccos" is 50 meters wide, 6 meters high, and contains many elaborate friezes. This building's design is very complex, with many rooms and detailed carvings. The architecture of the structures at Acanceh show a Teotihuacano influence, leading some to believe it was a "colony" of Teotihuacan.

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Acapetahua
Acapetahua is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality has a population of 14,189.
The precise date that the town was founded is unknown. However, it existed well before the Spanish conquered the continent. In 1524, Pedro de Alvarado conquered the region known as Soconusco, In 1526 the region formed part of the Spanish colonization and in 1529 was annexed to México. In 1774 it was formed as part of the town of Escuintla. In 1861, it had more than 100 inhabitants. On November 10, 1947, César A. Lara, governor of the state, declared it an official municipality.
The municipality is known for its avocado production.

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Aguateca
Aguateca is a Maya site located in northern Guatemala's Petexbatun Basin, in the department of Petén. The first settlements at Aguateca date to the Late Preclassic period (300 BC - AD 350). The center was occupied from about 200 B.C. until about 800 B.C, when the city was attacked and ransacked. Because the city was rapidly abandoned by its population, Pompeii-style assemblages were left scattered on the floors of elite residences. Horizontal excavation of these residences has revealed ancient elite activity and household level craft production areas. Aguateca sits on top of a 90 metres (300 ft) tall limestone bluff, creating a highly defensible position. This steep escarpment overlooks Petexbatun Lagoon in the Southwestern Guatemalan lowlands and is accessible by boat. There is an extensive system of defensive walls that surrounds the city, reaching over 3 miles (4.8 km) in length. Its epicenter consisted on the Palace Group, which was probably a royal residential compound, and the Main Plaza. These monumental complexes were connected by a causeway, along which was a densely occupied elite residential area. During the reign of Tan Te' K'inich the city was invaded and burned. The city was completely abandoned around 830 AD. A 6-metre (20 ft) tall temple at the site was left unfinished, the centre of the city was destroyed by fire, valuables were left scattered in elite residences, and ceramics were left in their original domestic positions, all of which demonstrate the sudden abandonment of the city. The ruins of Aguateca are considered to be among the best preserved in Guatemala.

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Ake
Ake (or Aké in Spanish orthography) is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the municipality of Tixkokob. in the Mexican state of Yucatán; 40 km (25 mi) east of Mérida, Yucatán.
The name Ake is a toponym that means "place of reeds" in Yucatec Maya. One notable feature of the site is its system of pre-Columbian sacbeo'ob or roads that facilitate access with other settlements in the region.
The architecture dates from the Post-Classic era (800-1000CE). They were first described in print by John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood in the early 1840s.
Aké is bounded by two concentric walls, one defines the core of the settlement with an area of 4 km², while the other protects the core housing. The core is a large and square in shape surrounded by tall buildings measuring about 25 m². Structure One, also called the palace, with rows of stone columns atop a step-pyramid platform; is the site's most impressive feature. While most Maya pyramids are built steep with many narrow steps, Structure One is a gradual climb of huge, flat stone slabs. The remains of an ancient Maya raised pedestrian causeway, or sacbe, runs from Aké to Izamal. It was part of a road system running from the site of Ti'ho at modern Mérida to the Caribbean Sea. The ruins are all within a 19th century henequen estate.

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Aldama, Chiapas
Aldama is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, there are 3,635 in the municipality. It covers an area of 26.57 km².

wn.com/Aldama,_Chiapas
Altar de Sacrificios
Altar de Sacrificios is a ceremonial center and archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, situated near the confluence of the Pasión and Salinas Rivers (where they combine to form the Usumacinta River), in the present-day department of Petén, Guatemala. Along with Seibal and Dos Pilas, Altar de Sacrificios is one of the better-known and most intensively-excavated sites in the region, although the site itself does not seem to have been a major political force in the Late Classic period.
Altar de Sacrificios is located on the Guatemalan side of the international border with Mexico, which follows the Salinas and Usumacinta rivers. It is 80 kilometres (50 mi) upriver from the important Classic period Maya city of Yaxchilán and 60 kilometres (37 mi) west of Seibal. The site is located on a small island located among seasonal swamps along the south bank of the Pasión River near where it joins the Salinas River (also known as the Chixoy River). This island measures approximately 700 metres (2,300 ft) from east to west, with the ceremonial architecture located on the higher eastern end and the residential groups on the lower western end.

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Amatenango del Valle
Amatenango del Valle is a town and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 6,559, with 3,351 in the municipal seat.
It covers an area of 236 km².
The territory of the municipality was originally settled during the Classic Period of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica by a group of Tzeltal settlers. Their settlement, in 1486, was invaded by Aztec troops under Tiltototl. In 1528, following the Spanish Conquest, an encomienda was established in the area.

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Amatán
Amatán is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 18.775.
It covers an area of 109.3 km².

wn.com/Amatán
Angel Albino Corzo
Ángel Albino Corzo is one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico. Its municipal seat is the town of Jaltenango de la Paz.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 21,848. It covers an area of 1748.81 km².
The municipality was created on 24 February 1933 during the administration of Governor Victórico R. Grajales. It was named for 19th-century Chiapas politician Ángel Albino Corzo (after whom Chiapa de Corzo was also renamed).

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Antigua Guatemala
Antigua Guatemala (commonly referred to as just Antigua or la Antigua) is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala famous for its well-preserved Spanish Mudéjar-influencedBaroque architecture as well as a number of spectacular ruins of colonial churches. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Antigua Guatemala serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. It also serves as the departmental capital of Sacatepéquez Department.
The city had a peak population of some 60,000 in the 1770s; the bulk of the population moved away in the late 18th century. Despite significant population growth in the late 20th century, the city had only reached half that number by the 1990s. According to the 2007 census, the city has some 34,685 inhabitants.
Antigua Guatemala means "Ancient Guatemala" and was the third capital of Guatemala. The first capital of Guatemala was founded on the site of a Kakchikel-Maya city, now called Iximche, on Monday, July 25, 1524—the day of Saint James—and therefore named Ciudad de Santiago de los Caballeros de Goathemalan (City of Saint James of the Knights of Guatemala). Naturally, St. James became the patron saint of the city.

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Arriaga, Chiapas
Arriaga is a city and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 34,032. It covers an area of 653.3 km² and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean and the neighbouring state of Oaxaca, as well as by the Chiapas municipalities of Cintalapa, Jiquipilas, Villaflores and Tonalá.
The name of the city honours Ponciano Arriaga, the name given to it upon creation of the municipality on 28 May 1910. It was given city status on 1 December 1943.

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Arroyo de Piedra
Arroyo de Piedra is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in Guatemala located approximately 2-3 km east/northeast of Dos Pilas and 3 km west of Tamarindito. The site dates to the middle half of the Classic period. While initially a center of some regional importance, with the rise of Dos Pilas, Arroyo de Piedra was subsumed as a secondary center within the Petexbatun region.
The architecture of Arroyo de Piedra is different from that of Dos Pilas and nearby Aguateca, but bares similarities to Tamarindito. Hieroglyphic data shows that together Arroyo de Piedra and Tamarindito formed an independent polity prior to the establishment of Dos Pilas by Tikal. It appears that Arroyo de Piedra was abandoned during the 8th century following the collapse of Dos Pilas and the disintegration of the polity centered there.
Coordinates: 16°28′N 90°16′W / 16.46°N 90.26°W / 16.46; -90.26

wn.com/Arroyo_de_Piedra
Balberta
Balberta is a major Mesoamerican archaeological site on the Pacific coastal plain of southern Guatemala, belonging to the Maya civilization. It has been dated to the Early Classic period and is the only known major site on the Guatemalan Pacific coastal plain to have exposed Early Classic architecture that has not been buried under posterior Late Classic construction. The site was related to the nearby site of San Antonio, which lies 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) to the west.
Balberta first appears to have been occupied in the Late Preclassic period, when it was a small site of minor importance. After a period of rapid growth it became one of the largest Early Classic sites on the Guatemalan Pacific coast and reached the height of its power between AD 200 and AD 400, after which it rapidly declined and was replaced by a new capital at the nearby site of Montana. It traded with the distant metropolis of Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico, with other recovered artifacts having their origin on the Gulf coast of Mexico.Cacao was probably one of the city's main exports, being a particularly valued perishable product in Mesoamerica. At its height Balberta demonstrated true state-level political organisation and dominated a wide swathe of the Guatemalan coast. Balberta was suddenly abandoned around AD 400.

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Bejucal de Ocampo
Bejucal de Ocampo is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 6,673. It covers an area of 82 km².
It is the least-Catholic municipality in Mexico’s least-Catholic state, with only 19% of residents being Catholic, and most being Jehovah’s Witnesses or Baptists.

wn.com/Bejucal_de_Ocampo
Belize
Belize ⁱ/bəˈliːz/ (formerly British Honduras) is a country located on the north eastern coast of Central America and it is the only country in the area where English is the official language, although Kriol and Spanish are more commonly spoken. Belize is bordered to the north by Mexico, south and west by Guatemala, and to the east by the Caribbean Sea. Its mainland is about 290 kilometres (180 mi) long and 110 kilometres (68 mi) wide.
With 22,960 square kilometres (8,860 sq mi) of land and a population of only 333,200 inhabitants (2010 est.), Belize possesses the lowest population density in Central America. The country's population growth rate of 2.21% (2008 est.), however, is the highest in the region and one of the highest in the western hemisphere. Belize's abundance of terrestrial and marine species, and its diversity of ecosystems give it a key place within the globally significant Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.
Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages and it is the only nation in the region with a British colonial heritage but as a part of the Western Caribbean Zone, it also shares a common heritage with the Caribbean portions of other Central American countries. In general, Belize is considered to be a Central American nation with strong ties to both the Caribbean and Latin America. Belize is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (SICA).

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Bella Vista, Chiapas
Bella Vista is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 18,205. It covers an area of 114.3 km² and borders Guatemala.

wn.com/Bella_Vista,_Chiapas
Berriozábal
Berriozábal is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 28,719. It covers an area of 300.6 km².

wn.com/Berriozábal
Bochil
Bochil is a town and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 22,722. It covers an area of 372.7 km².
Bochil serves as the head town for the Second Federal Electoral District of Chiapas.

wn.com/Bochil
Cacahoatán
Cacahoatán is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 39,033. It covers an area of 173.9 km².

wn.com/Cacahoatán
Cahal Pech
Cahal Pech is a Maya site located near the Town of San Ignacio in the Cayo District of Belize. The site was a hilltop palacio home for an elite Maya family, and though most major construction dates to the Classic period, evidence of continuous habitation has been dated to as far back as far as 1200 BCE during the Early Middle Formative period (Early Middle Preclassic), making Cahal Pech one of the oldest recognizably Maya sites in Western Belize.. The site rests high near the banks of the Macal River and is strategically located to overlook the confluence of the Macal River and the Mopan River. The site is a collection of 34 structures, with the tallest temple being about 25 meters in height, situated around a central acropolis. The site was abandoned in the 9th century CE for unknown reasons.
The name Cahal Pech, meaning "Place of the Ticks", was given when this site was fallow during the first archaeological studies in the 1950s, led by Linton Satterthwaite from the University of Pennsylvania Museum. It is now an archaeological reserve, and houses a small museum with artifacts from various ongoing excavations.

wn.com/Cahal_Pech
Campeche, Campeche
San Francisco de Campeche (pronounced: [san fɾanˈθisko de kamˈpetʃe]) (Ahk'ìin Pech - /aχkʼiːn˥˧ pʰetʃ/ in Yucatec Maya) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Campeche, located at 19°51′N 90°32′W / 19.85°N 90.53°W / 19.85; -90.53, on the shore of the Bay of Campeche of the Gulf of Mexico. The city's population at the 2005 census was 211,671 people. The municipality for which it serves as the municipal seat had a population of 238,850.
The city was founded in 1540 by Spanish conquistadores as San Francisco de Campeche atop the pre-existing Maya city of Canpech or Kimpech. The Pre-Columbian city was described as having 3,000 houses and various monuments, of which little trace remains.
The city retains many of the old colonial Spanish city walls and fortifications which protected the city (not always successfully) from pirates and buccaneers. The state of preservation and quality of its architecture earned it the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. Originally, the Spaniards lived inside the walled city, while the natives lived in the surrounding barrios of San Francisco, Guadalupe and San Román. These barrios still retain their original churches; the one in Guadalupe is almost 500 years old.

wn.com/Campeche,_Campeche
Cancuén
Cancuén is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the Pasión subregion of the central Maya lowlands in the present-day Guatemalan Department of El Petén. The city is notable for having one of the largest palaces in the Maya world.
Cancuén was a major city during the Classic Period, reaching its peak during the 7th century. The city was a major trade center, specializing in jade, pyrite and obsidian. Its strategic position on the river Pasion helped it dominate trade in the region. Tajal Chan Ahk, one of the city's most powerful rulers, built the city's palace in 770 A.D. The palace covered nearly 23,000 square meters and contained 200 rooms, making it the largest in the Maya area.
The city had two ball courts, a large marketplace and a dock on La Pasión River. The city does not contain many large temples or burial sites; it is thought that the inhabitants of Cancuén worshipped and buried their dead in the mountains near the city. Several dozen bodies dressed in royal garments were discovered near the base of the central pyramid. Investigations have shown that the bodies, including the city's ruler at the time, Kan Maax, had been executed and dumped in a cistern. The massacre occurred around 800 A.D., the time when the Mayan civilization collapsed, leading some scholars to believe that it was connected to the upheaval that accompanied the collapse of the Maya civilization.

wn.com/Cancuén
Casas Grandes
Casas Grandes (Spanish for Great Houses; also known as Paquimé) is the contemporary name given to a pre-Columbian archaeological zone and its central site, located in northwestern Mexico in the modern-day Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is one of the largest and most complex sites in the region. Developed as multi-storied dwellings about 1350 CE after earlier settlement beginning after 1130 CE, the community was abandoned approximately 1450 CE. Regarded as one of the most significant archaeological zones in the northwestern region, Casas Grandes is located in a wide, fertile valley on the Casas Grandes or San Miguel River, 35 miles (56 km) south of Janos and 150 miles (240 km) northwest of the state capital, the city of Chihuahua. The settlement relied on irrigation to support its agriculture. Casas Grandes has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The archaeological zone is contained within the eponymous modern municipio (municipality) of Casas Grandes. The valley and region have been inhabited by indigenous groups for thousands of years.

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Catazajá
Catazajá is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 15,709. It covers an area of 621 km².

wn.com/Catazajá
Cerros
Cerros is a Maya archaeological site in northern Belize that reached its apogee during the Mesoamerican Late Preclassic. At its nadir, it held a population of approximately 1,089 people. The site is strategically located on a peninsula at the mouth of the New River where it empties into Chetumal Bay on the Caribbean coast. As such, the site had access to and served as an intermediary link between the coastal trade route that circumnavigated the Yucatán Peninsula and inland communities. The inhabitants of Cerros constructed an extensive canal system and utilized raised-field agriculture.
The core of the site immediately abuts the bay and consists of several relatively large structures and stepped pyramids, an acropolis complex, and two ballcourts. Bounding the southern side of the site is a crescent-shaped canal network that encloses the central portion of the site and encloses several raised-fields. Residential structures continue outside of the canal, generally radiating southwest and southeast; raised-fields are also present outside of the canal system.

wn.com/Cerros
Chacchoben

Chacchoben (chak-CHO-ben; Maya for "the place of red corn") is the name of a Mayan ruin approximately 110 mi (177 km) south of Tulum and 7 mi (11 km) from the village from which it derives its name.
Settlement by the Maya at the site is estimated at 200 BC, and the structures date from 700 AD.
In the 1940s a farm was established near the site by the Cohuo family, but the ruins were officially reported to the Mexican government in June 1972 by Dr. Peter Harrison, an American archaeologist who was working on a project for Tulane University, and who also made the first maps of Chacchoben. Harrison stumbled upon this site while flying a helicopter over Mexico and noticed numerous hills in predominately flat lands. Harrison realized there were temples beneath these hills, which were naturally covered over a period of 2000 years.
In 1994 the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) excavated and restored the site, which was closed to the public until 2002.
Visitors to the site today walk a circular path that includes three excavated and restored pyramids, as well as many walls and staircases. Excavation is continuing on several mounds which are known to contain further buildings. Some structures still bear traces of the red paint with which they were originally coated, and INAH has set up shaded areas to prevent further degradation of this pigment by the sun. Also notable at the base of the largest pyramid is a large stone slab called a stela with a Mayan hieroglyphic inscription. Chacchoben is one of the more popular ruin sites in southern Quintana Roo, with regular tourist trips from the port of Costa Maya.

wn.com/Chacchoben
Chalchihuitán
Chalchihuitán is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 12,256. It covers an area of 74.5 km².

wn.com/Chalchihuitán
Chamula
San Juan Chamula is a municipio (municipality) and township in the Mexican state of Chiapas, with over 50,000 inhabitants. It is situated some 10 km (6.2 mi) from San Cristóbal de las Casas.
Chamula is located in the Chiapas highlands, at an altitude of 2,200 meters (7,200 feet), inhabited by the indigenous Tzotzil Maya people, whose Tzotzil language is one of the Mayan languages.
The town enjoys unique autonomous status within Mexico. No outside police or military are allowed in the village. Chamulas have their own police force.
The church of San Juan, in the municipal cabecera (headtown), is filled with colorful candles, and smoke from burning copal resin incense, commonly used throughout southern Mexico. Along the walls of the church, as in many Catholic churches, are dressed-up wooden statues of saints in large wooden cases, many wearing mirrors to deflect evil.^{[citation needed]} The local form of Catholicism is a blend of pre-conquest Maya customs, Spanish Catholic traditions, and subsequent innovations.

wn.com/Chamula
Chanal
Chanal is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 7,568 . It covers an area of 295.6 km².

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Chapultenango
Chapultenango is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 6,965. It covers an area of 161.5 km².

wn.com/Chapultenango
Chenalhó
Chenalhó is a town and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 27,331. It covers an area of 113 km².
The Acteal Massacre of 22 December 1997 occurred in the municipality of Chenalhó.

wn.com/Chenalhó
Chiapas
Chiapas (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtʃjapas]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las Casas, Comitán, and Tapachula. Located in Southwestern Mexico, it is the southernmost State of Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tabasco to the north, Veracruz to the northwest and Oaxaca to the west. To the east Chiapas borders Guatemala, and to the south the Pacific Ocean.
In general, Chiapas has a humid, tropical climate. In the north, in the area bordering Tabasco, near Teapa, rainfall can average more than 3,000 mm (120 in) per year. In the past, natural vegetation at this region was lowland, tall perennial rainforest, but this vegetation has been destroyed almost completely to give way to agriculture and ranching. Rainfall decreases moving towards the Pacific Ocean, but it is still abundant enough to allow the farming of bananas and many other tropical crops near Tapachula. On the several parallel "sierras" or mountain ranges running along the center of Chiapas, climate can be quite temperate and foggy, allowing the development of cloud forests like those of the Reserva de la Biosfera el Triunfo, home to a handful of Resplendent Quetzals and Horned Guans.

wn.com/Chiapas
Chiapilla
Chiapilla is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 4,957. It covers an area of 86.9 km².

wn.com/Chiapilla
Chicanná
Chicanná was a Maya town from the Classic period. The name means "House of the Serpent Mouth" in the Mayan language. The site is located just two kilometers west of Becan in the Mexican state of Campeche on the Yucatán peninsula. Chicanná was inhabited from 300 to 1100. There is evidence that Chicanná may have been dependent on Becán for much of its existence. Chicanná is one of the most striking examples in the region of the mixing of architectural styles. It's buildings have features of the Río Bec, Chenes and even the Puuc style from the north. It does not have large pyramids, but relatively small buildings with an ornateness and quality of decoration that suggests that this was a center for the regions elite. It's tallest structure is that of Structure XX.
Media related to Chicanna, Campeche at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 18°30′25″N 89°29′11″W / 18.5069°N 89.4863°W / 18.5069; -89.4863

wn.com/Chicanná
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza (( /tʃiːˈtʃɛn iːˈtsɑː/,Spanish: Chichén Itzá [tʃiˈtʃen iˈtsa], from Yucatec Maya: Chi'ch'èen Ìitsha' [tɕʰɨɪʼtɕʼeːn˧˩ iː˧˩tsʰaʲ]; "at the mouth of the well of the Itza"), was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya civilization. The archaeological site is located in the municipality of Tinum, in the Mexican state of Yucatán.
Chichen Itza was a major focal point in the northern Maya lowlands from the Late Classic (c.600–900 AD) through the Terminal Classic (c.800–900) and into the early portion of the Early Postclassic period (c.900–1200). The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, reminiscent of styles seen in central Mexico and of the Puuc and Chenes styles of the northern Maya lowlands. The presence of central Mexican styles was once thought to have been representative of direct migration or even conquest from central Mexico, but most contemporary interpretations view the presence of these non-Maya styles more as the result of cultural diffusion.
Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya cities and it was likely to have been one of the mythical great cities, or Tollans, referred to in later Mesoamerican literature. The city may have had the most diverse population in the Maya world, a factor that could have contributed to the variety of architectural styles at the site.

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Chicoasén
Chicoasén is a town and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, located in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 3,346. It covers an area of 82 km².

wn.com/Chicoasén
Chicomuselo
Chicomuselo is a municipio (municipality) in the Mexican state of Chiapas, and also the name of the municipality's largest settlement and the seat of the municipal government. The municipality has an area of some 1,043 km², and had a census population (INEGI 2000 figures) recorded of 24,994 inhabitants. Chicomuselo is currently suffering the exploitation of land in the hands of the Blackfire exploration LTD a mining company from Canada url=http://www.blackfireexploration.com/
Coordinates: 15°46′N 92°16′W / 15.767°N 92.267°W / 15.767; -92.267

wn.com/Chicomuselo
Chilón
Chilón is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 77,686. It covers an area of 2490 km².

wn.com/Chilón
Chinkultic
Chinkultic, sometimes Chincultic, is a moderate-size archeological ruin in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, some 56 km from Comitán, the nearest city. It is part of the Lagunas de Montebello National Park.
This pre-Columbian city belongs to the ancient Maya civilization. The city flourished in the Maya Classic Era, from about the 3rd through the 9th century. Most of the sculptures were produced in the last 300 years of this era, with hieroglyphic inscriptions dating from 591 to 897. Post-Classic-Era occupation of the site continued until the 13th century, after which it was abandoned.
The site has some step-pyramids and some 200 smaller buildings, most in undisturbed ruin. Chinkultic has carved stone stelae depicting the site's rulers. The site contains a court for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame, which a marker tells us was dedicated on 21 May 591.
The first published account of the site was made by Edward Seler in the late 19th century. A detailed description of the site was made by Enrique Juan Palacios in 1926.

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Chitinamit
Chitinamit (or Chitinamit-Chujuyup) is an archeological site of the Maya civilization in the highlands of Guatemala. It has been identified as Jakawitz, the first capital of the K'iche' Maya. The site is located in the El Quiché department, in the municipality of Uspantán. Chitinamit dates from the Early Classic through to the Late Postclassic periods and covers approximately 2 hectares (220,000 sq ft), making it the largest site in its region.
The site overlooks the Queca River in a rugged region that is considered particularly poor for agriculture, it is therefore likely that the mountain-top location was selected because it was readily defensible. The site is located on the mountain of Chujuyup, on the western edge of the Chuyujup Valley and was excavated in 1977 by Kenneth Brown of the University of Houston. It is defended by a stone rampart and possesses stone terraces, together with a ballcourt and a temple to the K'iche' patron god, also named Jakawitz. Its occupation seems to have come to a violent end, with many projectile points being found together with evidence of the burning of buildings.

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Chocolá
Chocolá is a Preclassic Southern Maya site whose developmental emphasis was from ca. 1000 BC to AD 200. The site lies within the Southern Maya area, long thought by scholars to have been seminal in the development of "high traits" of Classic Maya civilization, and a supposed nexus of Olmec, Maya, and other ethnolinguistic groups and cultures.
Chocolá is in the San Pablo Jocopilas municipality in the southern Suchitepéquez department of Guatemala. A modern village lies on top of and within the ancient site.
Lying on a plateau below volcanic mountain ridges to the north and east, and at a height of 500-1000 meters, the site consists of three general groupings extending over ca. 6 by 2 kilometers, oriented north-to-south. To the north, great platform mounds consisted of elite residences, with elaborate hydraulic networks of stone-lined canals bringing water in from underground springs.
In these precincts, large palaces were built; from Structure 7-1, ca. 25 by 25 meters and 5 meters high, caches of fine complete vessels were recovered, likely dedicatory offerings placed during the construction of the edifice.

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Chunchucmil
Chunchucmil was once a large, sprawling pre-Columbian Maya city located in the western part of what is now the state of Yucatán, Mexico.
Although the famous explorer and author John Lloyd Stephens traveled within a few kilometers of Chunchucmil during his historic journey across the Yucatán Peninsula (he even met with the owner of the nearby Haciendas), the archaeological site went relatively unnoticed by Maya scholars for more than a century because virtually no monuments (stelae) or other grand sculptures have been found there. The lack of royal monuments, combined with other archaeological data (see below), may indicate that Chunchucmil was not a city ruled by a single divine king, as most other Maya polities. Instead, it may have been a commercial center, organized by various lineages and focused upon funneling goods between regions—such as the trade between the Gulf of Mexico and the interior of the Yucatán Peninsula.
The site center is located ca. 27 km (16.8 mi) inland from the Gulf of Mexico and approximately half-way between the coast and the next largest archaeological site of Oxkintok. It was named in the late 1970s after the nearest modern settlement (the Hacienda and village of Chunchucmil), however the archaeological site is so large that it extends onto the ejido lands of at least five modern communities: Chunchucmil, Kochol, San Mateo, Coahuila and Halachó. The majority of the ancient Maya site is located within the municipality of Maxcanú, however a portion of it is situated on land pertaining to the municipality of Halachó.

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Cintalapa
Cintalapa is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 64,013. It covers an area of 2404.6 km².

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Ciudad del Carmen
Ciudad del Carmen is a city in the southwest of the Mexican state of Campeche. Ciudad del Carmen is located at 18°38′N 91°50′W / 18.63°N 91.83°W / 18.63; -91.83 on the southwest of Carmen Island, which stands in the Laguna de Términos on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The 2005 census population was 154,197 people. In July 2006 Ciudad del Carmen celebrated its 150th anniversary as a city.
The city is nicknamed "The Pearl of the Gulf". Ciudad del Carmen was a small city mostly devoted to fishing until the 1970s when oil was discovered in the region; since then it has grown and developed substantially. To this day Carmen is known as one of the best locations to find seafood in Mexico. As late as the early 1980s the city could long be reached only by ferry boats called "pangas"; this changed with the construction of a causeway bridge to the mainland in the 1980s and another one in 1994 before the term of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari ended. The construction of the first bridge was motivated by the sinking of one of the island's pangas which resulted in the death of nearly everyone on board. The bridge Puente El Zacatal, constructed in 1994, is one of the longest in Latin America.

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Ciudad Universitaria
Ciudad Universitaria (University City), Mexico, is UNAM's main campus, located in Coyoacán borough in the southern part of Mexico City. Designed by architects Mario Pani and Enrique del Moral, it encloses the Olympic Stadium, about 40 faculties and institutes, the Cultural Center, an ecological reserve, the Central Library, and a few museums. It was built during the 1950s on an ancient solidified lava bed in Coyoacán called "El Pedregal" to replace the scattered buildings in downtown Mexico City where classes were given. It was completed in 1954 at a cost of approximately $25 million dollar. At the time of its completion it was the largest single construction project in Mexico since the Aztecs. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2007.
Although the University has other buildings in Mexico City (mostly for undergraduate studies and cultural purposes), in other Mexican states and in other countries (such as Canada and the United States), Ciudad Universitaria, known simply as "C.U.", is the prime symbol of the University.

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Coapilla
Coapilla is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 7,217. It covers an area of 106.8 km².

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Coba
Coba (Cobá in the Spanish language) is a large ruined city of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It is located about 90 km east of the Maya site of Chichen Itza, about 40 km west of the Caribbean Sea, and 44 km northwest of the site of Tulum, with which it is connected by a modern road. The 2010 Mexican federal census reported a population of 1,278 inhabitants.
Coba is located around two lagoons. A series of elevated stone and plaster roads radiate from the central site to various smaller sites near and far. These are known by the Maya term sacbe (plural sacbeob). Some of these causeways go east to the Caribbean coast, and the longest runs over 100 kilometres (62 mi) westwards to the site of Yaxuna. The site contains several large temple pyramids, the tallest, in what is known as the Nohoch Mul group of structures, being some 42 metres (138 ft) in height.
Coba is estimated to have had some 50,000 inhabitants (and possibly significantly more) at its peak of civilization, and the built up area extends over some 80 km². The site was occupied by a sizable agricultural population by the 1st century. The bulk of Coba's major construction seems to have been made in the middle and late Classic period, about 500 to 900, with most of the dated hieroglypic inscriptions from the 7th century. However Coba remained an important site in the Post-Classic era and new temples were built and old ones kept in repair until at least the 14th century, possibly as late as the arrival of the Spanish.

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Comalcalco
Comalcalco is both a modern-day city located in Comalcalco Municipality about 45 miles (60 km) northwest of Villahermosa in the Mexican state of Tabasco and a Pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site. The literal English translation of "Comalcalco" is "In the house of the comals". A comal is a pan used to prepare tortillas.
The present-day city of Comalcalco reported a 2005 census population of 39,865 inhabitants, while the municipality of which it serves as municipal seat had a population of 173,773. The city is the third-largest community in the state of Tabasco, behind Villahermosa and Cárdenas. The municipality, which has an area of 723.19 km² (279.225 sq mi), includes many smaller outlying communities, the largest of which are Tecolutilla, Chichicapa, Aldama, and Miguel Hidalgo.
The site of Comalcalco, whose coordinates are 18°16′N 93°10′W, is notable for two characteristics. First, it is the westernmost known Maya settlement. Second, and due to a dearth of locally available limestone (the primary material used in architectural construction), the city's buildings were made from fired-clay bricks held together with mortar made from oyster shells. The use of bricks at Comalcalco was unique among Maya sites, and many of them are decorated with iconography and/or hieroglyphs. Important architectural features include the northern plaza and two pyramids, the Gran Acropolis and the Acropolis Este.

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Comitán
Comitán (formally: Comitán de Domínguez, for Belisario Domínguez) is the fourth-largest city in the Mexican state of Chiapas. It is the seat of government of the municipality of the same name.
It is located in the east-central part of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala at 16°15′N 92°08′W / 16.25°N 92.13°W / 16.25; -92.13. In the 2005 census the population was 83,571 people. Its municipality total was 121,263. The municipality has an area of 1,043.30 km² (402.82 sq mi). Its largest other community is the town of Villahermosa Yalumá.
The original name given by the local Maya peoples is Balún Canán ("Nine stars"). It was later changed to Comitán de las Flores and, in 1915, to Comitán de Domínguez, after Dr. Belisario Domínguez, who gave a memorable speech in Congress against the dictator Victoriano Huerta for which he was murdered.
Comitán is also a popular tourist destination, mostly for Mexican nationals, though some foreign visitors can also be seen. The town itself is one of the most pleasant and pretty in Mexico, with colonial architecture, narrow avenues, and clean streets. The climate is cool most of the year, and can get quite chilly from October to March. The town square is active almost every night, with live music, or some kind of presentation/play (though often they seem to be somewhat evangelical). The main road (currently under repairs) into and out of town is planted with flowers and monuments to many of the states of Mexico.

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Copainalá
Copainalá is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 19,298. It covers an area of 330.4 km².

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Copan
Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. It was the capital city of a major Classic period kingdom from the 5th to 9th centuries AD. The city was located in the extreme southeast of the Mesoamerican cultural region, on the frontier with the Isthmo-Colombian cultural region, and was almost surrounded by non-Maya peoples. In this fertile valley now lies a city of about 3000, a small airport, and a winding road.
Copán was occupied for more than two thousand years, from the Early Preclassic period right through to the Postclassic. The city developed a distinctive sculptural style within the tradition of the lowland Maya, perhaps to emphasize the Maya ethnicity of the city's rulers.
The city has a historical record that spans the greater part of the Classic period and has been reconstructed in detail by archaeologists and epigraphers. Copán, probably called Oxwitik by the Maya, was a powerful city ruling a vast kingdom within the southern Maya area. The city suffered a major political disaster in AD 738 when Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil, one of the greatest kings in Copán's dynastic history, was captured and executed by his former vassal, the king of Quiriguá. This unexpected defeat resulted in a 17-year hiatus at the city, during which time Copán may have been subject to Quiriguá in a reversal of fortunes.

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Copán
Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. It was the capital city of a major Classic period kingdom from the 5th to 9th centuries AD. The city was located in the extreme southeast of the Mesoamerican cultural region, on the frontier with the Isthmo-Colombian cultural region, and was almost surrounded by non-Maya peoples. In this fertile valley now lies a city of about 3000, a small airport, and a winding road.
Copán was occupied for more than two thousand years, from the Early Preclassic period right through to the Postclassic. The city developed a distinctive sculptural style within the tradition of the lowland Maya, perhaps to emphasize the Maya ethnicity of the city's rulers.
The city has a historical record that spans the greater part of the Classic period and has been reconstructed in detail by archaeologists and epigraphers. Copán, probably called Oxwitik by the Maya, was a powerful city ruling a vast kingdom within the southern Maya area. The city suffered a major political disaster in AD 738 when Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil, one of the greatest kings in Copán's dynastic history, was captured and executed by his former vassal, the king of Quiriguá. This unexpected defeat resulted in a 17-year hiatus at the city, during which time Copán may have been subject to Quiriguá in a reversal of fortunes.

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Cotzumalhuapa
Santa Lucía Cotzumalhuapa (or Cotzumalguapa) is the name of a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological zone dating mainly to the Late Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology, although it was occupied since the Middle Preclassic period and there is evidence of a major development during the Late Preclassic period. The famous Stela 1 from El Baúl has one of the earliest inscriptions in Mesoamerica, with the earliest legible hieroglyphic Long Count date in Guatemala: AD 37.
Cotzumalhuapa is located on the Pacific piedmont of southern Guatemala, in the department of Escuintla, on the outskirts of the modern city. During the Late Classic period, Cotzumalhuapa was a major city that extended more than ten square kilometers, encompassing three major compounds, known as El Baul, Bilbao, and El Castillo, with extensive settlements between and around them. A corpus of more than 200 monumental sculptures are known from the city and from neighboring sites that include Palo Verde, Aguna, Palo Gordo, and others. Examples of the Cotzumalhuapa sculptural style are found across the Pacific Coast and highlands of Guatemala, and into El Salvador, where Cara Sucia marks the southeastern limit of the Cotzumalhuapa zone.

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Cuello
Cuello is a Maya archaeological site in northern Belize. The site is that of a farming village with a long occupational history stretching back to approximately 1200 BC, during the Middle Preclassic period. Its inhabitants lived in pole-and-thatch houses that were built on top of low plaster-coated platforms. The site contains residential groups clustered around central patios. It also features the remains of a steam bath dating to approximately 900 BC, making it the oldest steam bath found to date in the Maya lowlands. Human burials have been associated with the residential structures; the oldest have no surviving burial relics, but from 900 BC onwards, they were accompanied by offerings of ceramic vessels.
Ceramics from the earliest phase of the settlement at Cuello belonged to an established lowland Maya pottery tradition, suggesting that the region was already settled by the Maya when the site was founded. Although Cuello appears to have been a typical, relatively unimportant rural village in the Preclassic era, it participated in regional trade networks with obsidian being imported from the Maya highlands from 800 BC onwards, and a small amount of jade arriving in the community a few centuries later.

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Dos Pilas
Coordinates: 16°26′45″N 90°17′45″W / 16.44583°N 90.29583°W / 16.44583; -90.29583
Dos Pilas is a Pre-Columbian site of the Maya civilization located in what is now the department of Petén, Guatemala. It dates to the Late Classic Period, being founded by an offshoot of the dynasty of the great city of Tikal in AD 629 in order to control trade routes in the Petexbatún region, particularly the Pasión River. In AD 648 Dos Pilas broke away from Tikal and became a vassal state of Calakmul, although the first two kings of Dos Pilas continued to use the same emblem glyph that Tikal did. It was a predator state from the beginning, conquering Itzan, Arroyo de Piedra and Tamarindito. Dos Pilas and a nearby city, Aguateca, eventually became the twin capitals of a single ruling dynasty. The kingdom as a whole has been named as the Petexbatun Kingdom, after Lake Petexbatún, a body of water draining into the Pasión River.
Dos Pilas gives an important glimpse into the great rivalries and political strife that characterised the Late Classic. Much of the history of Dos Pilas can now be reconstructed, with a level of detail which is almost unparalleled in the Maya area.

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Dzibilchaltun
Dzibilchaltún (Yucatec: Ts'íibil Cháaltun /IPA: d̥z̥ʼiː˧˥biɭ tɕʰɒːl˦˥tuŋ/) is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Yucatán, approximately 10 miles north of state capital Mérida.
In the view of the modern researchers, the ancient builders of Dzibilchaltún may have chosen the site of the city to be as close possible to the coastal salt-producing region (some 22 km away), while still being located on a reasonably fertile and habitable terrain. The region between Dzibilchaltún and the sea coast is less suitable for human habitation, being either mangrove swamps or bare rock.
The site has been continuously occupied for thousands of years, although it has expanded and contracted from mid-sized city to small town more than once in its long history. It is about 30 minutes from Merida and the famous sea that supposedly was the site of impact of the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs.
The most famous structure is the Temple Of The Seven Dolls, so named because of seven small effigies found at the site when the temple was discovered under the ruins of a later temple pyramid by archaeologists in the 1950s. On the Spring equinox, the sun rises so that it shines directly through one window of the temple and out the other. This is a similar event to the descending snake of Chichen Itza designed to show the power of the gods.^{[citation needed]} The temple is connected to the rest of the site by a sacbe, or "white road," so-called because they were originally coated with white limestone, built over stone-and-rubble fill.

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Edzna
Edzná is a Maya archaeological site in the north of the Mexican state of Campeche. The site is open to visitors.
The most remarkable building at the plaza is the main temple. Built on a platform 40 meters high, it provides a wide overview of the surroundings. Another significant building located in the plaza is a ball court. Two parallel structures make up the ball court. The top rooms of the ball court were possibly used to store images of the gods associated with the events, along with items needed for the games.
Edzná was already inhabited in 400 BC, and it was abandoned circa 1500 AD. During the time of occupation, a government was set up whose power was legitimized by the relationship between governors and the deities. In the Late Classic period Edzná was part of the Calakmul polity. Edzná may have been inhabited as early as 600 BC but it took until 200 AD before it developed into a major city. The word Edzná comes from "House of the Itzás" which may suggest that the city was influenced by the family Itzá long before they founded Chichen Itzá. The architectural style of this site shows signs of the Puuc style, even though it is far from the Puuc Hills sites. The decline and eventual abandonment of Edzná still remains a mystery today.

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Ek' Balam
Ek' Balam (20.9 degrees N, 88.1 degrees W) is a pre-Columbian archaeological site in municipality of Temozón in Yucatán, Mexico, which is in the Mideast of the Northern lowlands. The people who lived in and built this city belonged to those of the Maya civilization. The site is located 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of Valladolid, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) away from a small Maya village by the same name. It is 51 kilometres (32 mi) northeast of Chichen Itza, another Maya site that flourished in the Late Classic. In Yucatec Mayan the name means "Dark (Black) Jaguar". In its time, it was a large city, controlling a populous and prosperous countryside. Its impressive architecture dates, for the most part, to the Late Classic..
Ek’ Balam (also called Talol) was occupied from the Middle Preclassic through the Postclassic, although it ceased to thrive as a major city past the Late Classic. Beginning in the Late Preclassic, the population grew and the city expanded throughout the following periods. It eventually became the capital of the polity that constituted the region around the beginning of the Common Era. Ek’ Balam, at its height from 770 to 840 CE, provides a rich resource of information for understanding northern Classic cities, due to the poor preservation of many other notable northern Maya sites (e.g. Coba, Izamal, and Edzna). It was during this height that the Late Yumcab ceramic complex (750-1050/1100 CE) dominated the architecture and pottery of Ek’ Balam . The population decreased dramatically, down to 10% of its highest, during the Postclassic period as Ek’ Balam was slowly becoming vacant. There are several theories to why it was eventually abandoned and to the degree of haste at which it was abandoned (see: Defensive Walls).

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El Baúl
El Baúl is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in present-day Escuintla Department, Guatemala. El Baúl, along with the sites of Bilbao and El Castillo, is part of the Cotzumalhuapa Archaeological sites Zone. It is in the prehistoric Formative stage of the Americas.
The El Baúl acropolis is located 4 km north of Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, 550 metres (1,800 ft) above sea level, 50 kilometres (31 mi) from the Pacific. Its southern acropolis complex was destroyed in 1997 by an urbanization of this city, and the main groups are now sugar cane fields. the ballcourt is located 500 metres (1,600 ft) north of the acropolis with several residential groups in between, united by 2 causeways. Its geologic context is volcanic: the Fuego volcano is active and located just north of the site.
This site shows monumental architecture in its acropolis as well as a sweet house and obsidian workshops. Analysis of these deposits is particularly important for the study of the ancient obsidian industry. The P31 stratigraphic pit continued below these deposits to a depth of 3.78 metres (12.4 ft), revealing volcanic ash layers derived from the adjacent Fuego volcano. Obsidian debitage continued below these ash layers, suggesting that the area was used as a refuse deposit for a prolonged period.

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El Bosque, Chiapas
El Bosque is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 14,993. It covers an area of 241 km².

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El Mirador
El Mirador is a large pre-Columbian Mayan settlement, located in the north of the modern department of El Petén, Guatemala.
El Mirador was first discovered in 1926, and was photographed from the air in 1930, but the remote site deep in the jungle had little more attention paid to it until Ian Graham spent some time there making the first map of the area in 1962. A detailed investigation was begun in 1978 with an archaeological project under the direction of Dr. Bruce Dahlin (Catholic University of America) and Dr. Ray Matheny (Brigham Young University). Dahlin's work focused primarily on the bajo swamps and mapping, while Matheny's team focused primarily on excavations in the site center and architecture. This project ended in 1983. To the surprise of the archaeologists, it was found that a large amount of construction was not contemporary with the large Maya classic cities in the area, like Tikal and Uaxactun, but rather from centuries earlier in the Pre-Classic era (see: Mesoamerican chronology).

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El Perú (Maya site)
El Perú (also known as Waka' ), is a pre-Columbian Maya archeological site occupied during the Preclassic and Classic (roughly 500 BC to AD 800). The site was the capital of a Maya city-state located near the banks of the San Pedro River in the Department of Petén of northern Guatemala. El Perú is 60 km (37 mi) west of Tikal.
The Maya city of Waka' was rediscovered by oil prospectors in the 1960s. In the 1970s Ian Graham, a Harvard researcher, documented monuments at the site. Then in 2003 David Freidel, of Southern Methodist University, and Héctor Escobedo, of the University of San Carlos, began to excavate Waka'.
The site was named "El Perú" when rediscovered in the 20th century. Hieroglyphs identified and deciphered at the site have indicated that the ancient name for the site was “Waka'.” While both names are currently used interchangeably, El Perú predominates on extant maps. In the published literature, a conflated name is generally used, El Perú-Waka'.
The first recorded meeting between Teotihuacan and the Maya occurred at Waka' in 378, 10 days prior to their arrival at Tikal. This moment is known among Mesoamerican archaeologists as “La Entrada.” During the early phases of the Early Classic, Waka’ was allied with Tikal.

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El Pilar
El Pilar is an ancient Maya city center located on the Belize-Guatemala border. It can be accessed from the Cayo District in Belize, 12 miles (19 km) north-west of the town of San Ignacio, or from the department of El Petén in Guatemala, 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of Melchor de Mencos.
The El Pilar Archeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna, was declared a cultural monument both in Guatemala and Belize, and covers 5,000 acres (2,000 ha), half of which lies in each country. It is jointly managed by the Belize Institute of Archeology (IoA) and Guatemala's Instituto de Antropología e Historia (IDAEH). El Pilar is the largest site in the Belize River area with over 25 plazas, hundreds of other buildings, covering about 50 hectares (120 acres).
Based on ceramic analyses, it is known that monumental constructions at El Pilar began in the Middle Preclassic around 800 BCE. By 250 BCE there were major public works and extensive occupation in the El Pilar area. At its height, El Pilar housed more than 20,000 people. Monumental construction continued with the last major remodeling in the Terminal Classic (1000 CE), after which the monuments were neglected. The name “El Pilar” is Spanish for “watering basin,” reflecting the abundance of water in the area, which is rare for the Maya world.

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El Porvenir, Chiapas
El Porvenir (Spanish: "The Future") is a municipio (municipality) and township in the Mexican state of Chiapas.
El Porvenir was given town status with the creation of the municipality on 13 January 1890. The city was formally known as El Porvenir de Velasco Suárez in honour of prominent neurologist Manuel Velasco Suárez, Governor of Chiapas during the period 1970 to 1976, but that nomenclature is now considered obsolete.
The town (locality) of El Porvenir is located at an official elevation of 2,839 m (9,314 ft) above mean sea level in the Sierra Madre highlands of Chiapas, at 15°27′20″N 92°16′46″W / 15.45556°N 92.27944°W / 15.45556; -92.27944, close to the Guatemalan border. It is the second-highest municipal seat in Mexico, trailing only the seat of Emiliano Zapata Municipality, Tlaxcala. The municipality covers a total surface area of 121.70 km² and, in the 2010 census, reported a population of 13,201 inhabitants. Of this total, 1,436 lived in the municipal seat, its only urban locality.

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El Salvador
El Salvador ⁱ/ɛl ˈsælvədɔr/ (Spanish: República de El Salvador, literally 'Republic of The Savior') is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country as well as Central America. El Salvador borders the Pacific Ocean on the west, and the countries of Guatemala to the north and Honduras to the east. Its easternmost region lies on the coast of the Gulf of Fonseca, opposite Nicaragua. As of 2009, El Salvador had a population of approximately 5,744,113 people, composed predominantly of Mestizos.
The colón was the official currency of El Salvador from 1892 to 2001, when it adopted the U.S. Dollar.
In 2010 El Salvador ranked in the top 10 among Latin American countries in terms of the Human Development Index and in the top 3 in Central America (behind Costa Rica and Panama), due in part to ongoing rapid industrialization. In addition, tropical forests and overall forest cover has expanded by nearly 20 percent from the year 1992 to 2010. Making it one of the few countries experiencing reforestation.

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El Tajín
El Tajín is a pre-Columbian archeological site and one of the largest and most important cities of the Classic era of Mesoamerica. A part of the Classic Veracruz culture, El Tajín flourished from 600 to 1200 C.E. and during this time numerous temples, palaces, ballcourts, and pyramids were built. From the time the city fell in 1230 to near the end of the 18th century, no European seems to have known of its existence, until a government inspector chanced upon the Pyramid of the Niches in 1785.
El Tajín was named a World Heritage site in 1992, due to its cultural importance and its architecture. This architecture includes the use of decorative niches and cement in forms unknown in the rest of Mesoamerica. Its best-known monument is the Pyramid of the Niches, but other important monuments include the Arroyo Group, the North and South Ballcourts and the palaces of Tajín Chico. In total there have been 17 ballcourts discovered at this site. Since the 1970s, El Tajin has been the most important archeological site in Veracruz for tourists, attracting over 650,000 visitors a year.

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El Tintal
El Tintal is a Maya archaeological site in the northern Petén region of Guatemala, about 25 kilometres (16 mi) northeast of the modern-day settlement of Carmelita, with settlement dating to the Preclassic and Classic periods. It is close to the better known sites of El Mirador (20 kilometres (12 mi) to the north), to which it was linked by causeway, and Nakbé (20 kilometres (12 mi) to the northeast). El Tintal is a sizeable site that includes some very large structures and it is one of the four largest sites in the northern Petén; it is the second largest site in the Mirador Basin, after El Mirador itself. El Tintal features monumental architecture dating to the Middle Preclassic similar to that found at El Mirador, Nakbé and Wakna.Potsherds recovered from the site date to the Late Preclassic and Early Classic periods, and construction continued at the site in the Late Classic period.
The causeway system linking the sites of El Tintal, El Mirador and Nakbé involved a significant labour investment and an enormous quantity of construction materials, indicating an accomplished engineering programme in the Preclassic Period.

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El Zotz
El Zotz is a Mesoamerican archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the Petén Basin region around 20 kilometres (12 mi) west of the major center of Tikal and approximately 26 kilometres (16 mi) west of Uaxactun. It is so called because of the large number of bats living in caves in the nearby cliffs (the original Mayan name was Pa'Chan). The site is located within the San Miguel la Palotada National Park bordering the Tikal National Park in the present-day department of Petén, Guatemala. It is a large Classic Period site and contains many unexcavated mounds and ruins.
El Zotz shared its Emblem Glyph with the powerful city of Yaxchilan in Chiapas, Mexico, and it is likely that the Yaxchilan royal dynasty had its origin in El Zotz.
The tallest temple structure is approximately 45 m (148 ft) high and is known as "El Diablo" (the devil), allegedly because the sides of the temple are dangerously steep. Conservation work has been carried out here by the University of San Carlos of Guatemala, including the construction of a rudimentary campsite for tourists. The area has caves and swamps and is a protected biotope. It is known for the hundreds of thousands of bats that fly out from under the cliffs at sunset.

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Escuintla, Chiapas
Escuintla is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 28,064. It covers an area of 206.2 km².

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Francisco León
Francisco León is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
In 1982 it was buried in the eruption of El Chichón Volcano. As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 5,236. It covers an area of 114.3 km².

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Frontera Comalapa
Frontera Comalapa is a town and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 52,168. It covers an area of 717.90 km².
In March 2012, authorities discovered the remains of at least 167 people in a cave at a ranch in Frontera Comalapa. A subsequent investigation revealed the remains date back to the pre-Colombian era, between 700 and 1200. There were no obvious signs of violence, and officials believe the cave was previously used as a cemetery. A number of clay works were also recovered.

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Frontera Hidalgo
Frontera Hidalgo is a town and one of the 118 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
The municipality had a total population of 10,902 (2005). It covers an area of 106.8 km².
"Frontera Hidalgo". Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México. Instituto Nacional para el Federalismo y el Desarrollo Municipal / Gobierno del Estado de Chiapas. http://www.e-local.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/chiapas/municipios/07035a.htm. Retrieved July 25, 2008. </ref>

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Guatemala
Guatemala (ⁱ/ˌɡwɑːtəˈmɑːlə/ GWAH-tə-MAH-lə), officially the Republic of Guatemala (Spanish: República de Guatemala [reˈpuβlika ðe ɣwateˈmala]), is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast. Its area is 108,890 km² (42,043 mi²) with an estimated population of 13,276,517.
A representative democracy, its capital is Guatemala de la Asunción, also known as Guatemala City. Guatemala's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems contributes to Mesoamerica's designation as a biodiversity hotspot. The former Mayan civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization, which continued throughout the Post-Classic period until the arrival of the Spanish. The Mayas live in Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, the southern part of Mexico and northern parts of El Salvador.
Guatemala became independent from Spain in 1821, joining the Mexican Empire. After it became an independent country in its own right, it was ruled by a series of dictators, assisted by the United Fruit Company. The late 20th century saw Guatemala embroiled in a 36-year-long civil war. Following the war, Guatemala has witnessed both economic growth and successful democratic elections. In the most recent election, held in 2011, Otto Pérez Molina of the Patriotic Party, won the presidency.

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Gulf of California
Coordinates: 28°0′N 112°0′W / 28°N 112°W / 28; -112
The Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez or Sea of Cortés or Vermilion Sea; locally known in the Spanish language as Mar de Cortés or Mar Bermejo or Golfo de California) is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland. It is bordered by the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, and Sinaloa with a coastline of approximately 4,000 km (2,500 mi). Rivers which flow into the Gulf of California include the Colorado, Fuerte, Mayo, Sinaloa, Sonora, and the Yaqui. The gulf's surface area is about 160,000 km² (62,000 sq mi).
The Gulf is thought to be one of the most diverse seas on the planet, and is home to more than 5,000 species of macro-invertebrates. Home to over a million people, Baja California is one of the longest peninsulas in the world, second only to the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia. The Gulf of California is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the southern limit of the Gulf of California as: "A line joining Piastla Point (23°38'N) in Mexico, and the Southern extreme of Lower California".

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Holmul
Holmul is a pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Maya civilization, located in the northeastern Petén Basin region in Guatemala, near the modern-day border with Belize. The site was first visited by an archaeological research team in 1911, led by Harvard archaeologist Raymond Merwin. The initial work by Merwin at Holmul (later expanded by George Vaillant) produced the first stratigraphic ceramic sequence to be defined at a Maya region site. However, the results of this Peabody Museum expedition were not formally published until some twenty years afterwards, and subsequently the site remained relatively little-studied. Excavation and research at Holmul resumed only in the year 2000, as an archaeological group from Boston University, organized by Dr. Francisco Estrada Belli, began to explore the site. Shortly after its start, this archaeological project received funding from Vanderbilt University, until 2008, when Boston University took over the exploration's funding again.
Holmul, as a city, began its existence at around 800 B.C., and was abandoned by 900 A.D., at around the time that the Maya civilization collapsed due to unknown causes. This made the city one of the longest occupied by the Maya. Holmul reached the height of its power at between 750 and 900 A.D., and may have had a considerable social influence over the many communities located in the compact area around it. The region likely influenced by Holmul is sometimes referred to as the Holmul Domain.

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Holtun
Holtun, originally named La Maquina, is a Maya archaeological site located in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala on the road to Melchor de Mencos from Flores. The city had a long period of occupation that lasted from the Middle Preclassic through to the Late Classic periods. The site was discovered in the 1990s as a result of looting activity being reported to the Guatemalan authorities. This looting had revealed large masks sculpted onto the side of one of the principal structures at the site. Holtun is the southernmost site in the Maya lowlands that is known to have such masks.
The site was originally named as La Maquina after the nearest village but was renamed as Holtun by Agustín Estrada Monroy, the then director general of the Patrimonio General Cultural y Natural (General Cultural and Natural Heritage). The new name is derived from the local Itza Maya language and means "stone head". The land surrounding the site has been completely deforested and is used for the cultivation of maize, beans and plantain, with ownership divided among the municipality and private landowners .

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Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was at times referred to as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize. The country is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea.
Honduras was home to several important indigenous cultures, most notably the Maya. Much of the country was conquered by Spain who introduced its predominant language and many of its customs in the sixteenth century. It became independent in 1821 and has been a republic since the end of Spanish rule.
Its size is just over 112,492 km² with an estimated population of almost eight million. Its capital is Tegucigalpa. Its northern portions are part of the Western Caribbean Zone.
It is notable for its production of minerals, tropical fruit, and recently for exportation of clothing for the international market.

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Hospicio Cabañas
The Hospicio Cabañas in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, a World Heritage Site, is one of the oldest and largest hospital complexes in Spanish America.
The complex was founded in 1791 by the Bishop of Guadalajara in order to combine the functions of a workhouse, hospital, orphanage, and almshouse. It owes its name to Juan Ruiz de Cabañas who was appointed to the see of Guadalajara in 1796 and engaged Manuel Tolsá, a renowned architect from Mexico City, to design the structure.
Tolsá's design was based on classic examples such as Les Invalides in Paris and El Escorial near Madrid. The buildings form a rectangle measuring 164 m by 145 m. These are single-storey structures which are 7.5 m in height. The chapel is twice as high and has a dome rising to 32.5 m. The complex is erected on one level, "so as to facilitate the movement of the sick, the aged, and children."
Following the death of Cabañas in 1823, construction continued until 1829. Although it served for a time as a barracks in the mid-19th century, the hospital lasted well into the 20th century and continued to function until 1980, when the Cabañas Cultural Institute, with affiliated schools for arts and crafts, moved in. The highlight of the interior decoration is a series of monumental frescoes by José Clemente Orozco, including one of his most famed creations, the allegory of The Man of Fire (1936–39).

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Huehuetán
Huehuetán is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 31,464. It covers an area of 313 km².

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Huitiupán
Huitiupán is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 20,041. It covers an area of 149 km².

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Huixtla
Huixtla is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 48,476. It covers an area of 385 km².

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Huixtán
Huixtán is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 18,630. It covers an area of 181.3 km².

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Ixhuatán, Chiapas
Ixhuatán is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 8,877 . It covers an area of 72 km².

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Iximche
Iximche (or Iximché using Spanish orthography) is a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the western highlands of Guatemala. Iximche was the capital of the Late Postclassic Kaqchikel Maya kingdom from 1470 until its abandonment in 1524. The architecture of the site included a number of pyramid-temples, palaces and two Mesoamerican ballcourts. Excavators uncovered the poorly preserved remains of painted murals on some of the buildings and ample evidence of human sacrifice. The ruins of Iximche were declared a Guatemalan National Monument in the 1960s. The site has a small museum displaying a number of pieces found there, including sculptures and ceramics. It is open daily.
For many years the Kaqchikel served as loyal allies of the K'iche' Maya. The growing power of the Kaqchikel within the alliance eventually caused such friction that the Kaqchikel were forced to flee the K'iche' capital and found the city of Iximche. The Kaqchikel established their new capital upon an easily defensible ridge almost surrounded by deep ravines. Iximche developed quickly as a city and within 50 years of its foundation it had reached its maximum extent. The rulers of Iximche were four principal lords drawn from the four main clans of the Kaqchikel, although it was the lords of the Sotz'il and Xahil clans who held the real power.

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Ixkun
Ixkun (Ixcún or Ixkún in Spanish orthography) is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site, situated in the Petén Basin region of the southern Maya lowlands. It lies to the north of the town of Dolores, in the modern-day department of Petén, Guatemala. It is a large site containing many unrestored mounds and ruins and is the best known archaeological site within the municipality of Dolores.
Ixkun was the capital of one of the four largest kingdoms in the upper Mopan Valley, the others being Curucuitz, Ixcol and Ixtonton. Eight sites fell within the boundaries of the kingdom, showing a clear hierarchy. Stela 1 at Ixkun is one of the tallest stone monuments in the entire Petén Basin.
Although the main period of activity was during the Late Classic Period, the site was occupied from the Late Preclassic right through to the Postclassic Period.
Ixkun is located within the municipality of Dolores, 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) north of the town itself. The site is situated upon the Dolores plateau in the southern portion of the Petén Department of Guatemala, in the northwestern portion of the Maya Mountains. It occupies a series of karstic hills within a wide valley that covers 25 square kilometres (9.7 sq mi). The Mopan River flows 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) east of the ruins. The area covered by the kingdom included wide expanses suitable for agriculture, parts of the floodplains of the Mopan and Xa'an Rivers. The city was situated upon a north-south trade route that linked the Dolores Valley to the Mopan River, controlling access to Ucanal and other cities within the Mopan drainage.

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Ixlu
Ixlu is a small Maya archaeological site that dates to the Classic and Postclassic Periods. It is located on the isthmus between the Petén Itzá and Salpetén lakes, in the northern Petén Department of Guatemala. The site was an important port with access to Lake Petén Itzá via the Ixlu River. The site has been identified as Saklamakhal, also spelt Saclemacal, a capital of the Kowoj Maya.
The site has over 150 structures, the majority of which in the site core display typically Postclassic characteristics. The site was briefly investigated by Don and Prudence Rice in 1980.
Ixlu is located approximately 23 km (14 mi) east of the departmental capital of Flores and 275 km (171 mi) north of Guatemala City. Ixlu is approximately 28 km (17 mi) south of the ruins of the major Classic Period city of Tikal.
Archaeological investigations have uncovered potsherds dating as far back as the early Middle Preclassic (1000 BC–800 BC). Postclassic potsherds are widely distributed in the upper levels of the site to a depth of 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16 in). Evidence from the Temple of the Hidden Jars indicates a continuous occupation from the Preclassic right through the Classic (AD 200–900) to the Postclassic Period (AD 900–1525), with occupation continuing until approximately 1700, well after the Spanish Conquest of most of Guatemala, according to ethnohistoric sources. The Petén Lakes region finally fell to the Spanish Crown in 1697, at which time Ixlu was in disputed territory between the mutually hostile Itza and Kowoj kingdoms.

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Ixtacomitán
En español: Ixtacomitán
Ixtacomitán is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 9,143 . It covers an area of 149 km².

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Ixtapa, Chiapas
Ixtapa is a town and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 18,533. It covers an area of 313 km².

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Ixtapangajoya
Ixtapangajoya is a town and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 4,707, with 826 in the municipal seat. It covers an area of 201.2 km².

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Ixtutz
Ixtutz was an important Classic Period Maya city located south of Ixkun in southeastern Petén, Guatemala. Ixtutz is situated in the valley of the Poxte River in the western portion of the Maya Mountains. The site was inhabited during the Preclassic Period to the end of the Terminal Classic Period of Mesoamerican chronology and dominated the western portion of the Dolores valley.
In the Late Classic Ixtutz was one of the most important centres in the Dolores region, competing fiercely with other sites in the area, and maintained strong political relations with the cities of the southwestern Petén such as Dos Pilas and Machaquila.
Ixtutz is located in the municipality of Dolores, 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) southwest of that town, in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala. The site is situated at an altitude of 400 metres (1,300 ft) above mean sea level in the valley of the Poxte River, surrounded by hilly terrain. The river itself flows westwards of the site.
An area of 1 square kilometre (0.39 sq mi) is protected by the Guatemalan Institute of Anthropology and History. This area is covered by primary rainforest, although the surrounding countryside has been cleared for agriculture.

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Izapa
Izapa is a very large pre-Columbian archaeological site located in the Mexican state of Chiapas; it was occupied during the Late Formative period. The site is situated on the Izapa River, a tributary of the Suchiate River, near the base of the Tacaná volcano), the fourth largest mountain in Mexico.
The settlement at Izapa extended over 1.4 miles, making it the largest site in Chiapas. The site reached its apogee between 600 BCE and 100 CE; several archaeologists have theorized that Izapa may have been settled as early as 1500 BCE, making it as old as the Olmec sites of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán and La Venta.^{[citation needed]} Izapa remained occupied through the Late Classic period. The period of Izapa’s height is still unknown due to little material for carbon dating, so the issue is still widely debated.
Due to the abundance of carved Maya stelae and monuments at Izapa, the term "Izapa style" is used to describe similarly executed works throughout the Pacific foothills and highlands beyond, including some found at Takalik Abaj and Kaminaljuyu.

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Jaina Island
Jaina Island is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in the present-day Mexican state of Campeche. A small limestone island on the Yucatán Peninsula's Gulf coast with only a tidal inlet separating it from the mainland, Jaina served as an elite Maya burial site, and is notable for the high number of fine ceramic figurines excavated there.
The term "Jaina" translates to "Temple in the Water".
Both Jaina Island and nearby Piedras Island (Isla Piedras) were the sites of small towns or villages. Jaina was settled circa 300 CE, lasting until its abandonment some time circa 1200 CE. The principal occupation occurred near the end of this period, during the Late Classic and Terminal Classic eras. Present-day ruins consist of two small plaza groups and a ballcourt.
Jaina Island's notability is tied to its estimated 20,000 graves, of which over 1,000 have been archaeologically excavated. Within each grave, the human remains are accompanied by glassware, slateware, or pottery as well as one or more ceramic figurines, usually resting on the occupant's chest or held in their hands.

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Jiquipilas
Jiquipilas is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 34,937. It covers an area of 1197.3 km².

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Jitotol
Jitotol is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 13,076. It covers an area of 203.7 km².

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Juárez, Chiapas
Juárez is a town and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 19,956. It covers an area of 161.5 km².

wn.com/Juárez,_Chiapas
Kabah (Maya site)
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Kabah (also spelled Kabaah, Kabáh, Kahbah and Kaba) is a Maya archaeological site in the south-east of the Mexican state of Yucatán.
Kabah is to the south of Uxmal, and is connected to that city by a grand 18 km long raised pedestrian causeway 5 meters wide with monumental arches at each end. Kabah is the second largest ruin of the Puuc region after Uxmal.
The name "Kabah" or "Kabaah" is usually taken to be archaic Maya language for "strong hand". This is a pre-Columbian name for the site, mentioned in Maya chronicles. An alternative name is Kabahaucan or "royal snake in the hand".
The area was inhabited by the mid 3rd century BC. Most of the architecture now visible was built between the 7th century and 11th centuries AD. A sculpted date on a doorjamb of one of the buildings gives the date 879, probably around the city's height. Another inscribed date is one of the latest carved in the Maya Classic style, in 987. Kabaah was abandoned or at least no new ceremonial architecture built for several centuries before the Spanish conquest of Yucatán.

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Kaminaljuyu
Kaminaljuyu (pronounced kaminalχuʲu) is a Pre-Columbian site of the Maya civilization that was primarily occupied from 1500 BC to AD 1200. Kaminaljuyu has been described as one of the greatest of all archaeological sites in the New World by Michael Coe, although its remains today - a few mounds only - are far less impressive than other Maya sites more frequented by tourists. When first mapped scientifically (by E. M. Shook over a period of decades from the 1930s on), it comprised some 200 platforms and pyramidal mounds, at least half of which were created before the end of the Preclassic period (AD 250). Debate continues about the size, scale, and degree by which, as an economic and political entity, it integrated both the immediate Valley of Guatemala and the Southern Maya area.
The known parts of Kaminaljuyu lie on a broad plain beneath roughly the western third of modern Guatemala City. The Valley of Guatemala is surrounded by hills which culminate in a string of lofty volcanoes to the south. At an altitude of ca. 7,000 feet above sea level, the climate is temperate. Soils are rich because of frequent volcanic eruptions; volcanic ash in the form of hardened tuff reaches depths of several hundred meters in and around Kaminaljuyu, and deep clefts or barrancas mark the landscape.

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Kinal
Kinal is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in the Petén Basin region, modern-day Petén Department, Guatemala. The major occupational phase for the site dates from the Late Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology, with evidence for a substantial and expansionary building program dating from the first half of the 8th century CE.
The site of Kinal (“Place of the Sacred Fire”) consists a ballcourt, 21 plazas and more than 500 structures, many of which contained preserved vaults. The site contains 32 sculptured monuments, including stelae and altars, arranged along a sacbe oriented east-west. The tallest pyramid at the site is 27 metres (89 ft) high. The site covers an area of approximately 2 square kilometres (0.8 sq mi).
A dam at the site dates to the Preclassic period. This feature was used for intensive agricultural production, as were terraces also built at Kinal.
Coordinates: 17°42′00″N 89°14′36″W / 17.7°N 89.24333°W / 17.7; -89.24333

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Kohunlich
Kohunlich (X-làabch'e'en in Modern Mayan) is a large archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located on the Yucatán Peninsula about 25 km east of the Rio Bec region, and about 65 km west of Chetumal on Highway 186, and 9 km south of the road. The Spanish name does not actually derive from Mayan but from the English Cohune Ridge where cohune palm grew.
The site covers about 21 acres (85,000 m²), surrounded by dense sub-tropical rainforest, and it contains almost 200 mounds, that remain largely unexcavated. The city was elaborately planned and engineered, with raised platforms and pyramids, citadels, courtyards and plazas surrounded with palace platforms, all laid out to channel drainage into a system of cisterns and an enormous reservoir to collect rainwater.
The site was settled by 200 BC, but most of the structures were built in the Early Classic period from about 250 to 600 AD. Many of them are still covered with thick vegetation and overgrown by trees. The city appears to have functioned as a regional center and stop along the trade routes through the southern Yucatán from Campeche and Rio Bec area to the west, and the cities along the east-coast and to the south, in the el Petén region of Guatemala and neighbouring Belize.

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La Amelia

La Amelia is a Pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site near Itzan, in the lower Pasión River region of the Petén Department of Guatemala. It formed a polity in the Late Classic (AD 600 to 830), and was involved in the war between Tikal and Calakmul followed, in 650, by the take over of Dos Pilas, leading to centuries of war until this region collapsed around 830, being the first of the Classic sites in this area to be abandoned.
La Amelia is located on a series of low hills in the municipality of Sayaxché, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south of La Florida and the Pasión River. The site sits at a level of 150 to 160 metres (490 to 520 ft) above mean sea level. The low lying areas around the hills are prone to flooding. The main site area is maintained as a forest park by the nearby village of San Francisco El Tumbo. More than 90 percent of the mounds at the site have been looted.
La Amelia was a subordinate site in the Classic Period Petexbatún kingdom of Mutal that was first ruled from Dos Pilas and then from Aguateca. The site is located to the northwest of Dos Pilas, and may have originally been called B'ahlam. The rapidly expanding Dos Pilas kingdom conquered La Amelia in the early 8th century. The occupational history of La Amelia appears to have been brief and limited to the Late Classic.

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La Blanca, Peten
La Blanca is a Maya archaeological site in the municipality of Melchor de Mencos in the northern Petén Department of Guatemala. The site is located in the lower reaches of the Mopan River valley and features a large acropolis complex. Activity at the site has been dated as far back as the Early Classic (AD 250–600), with principal occupation of the site occurring in the Late Classic period (AD 600–900), although some level of occupation continued into the Early Postclassic (AD 900–1200).
La Blanca occupied a frontier zone between the northeastern and southeasten Petén regions and the site is dominated by the acropolis, an especially well built palace complex. The city appears to have been an administrative centre with comparatively little emphasis upon religious or ceremonial activity. It is likely that La Blanca was a subsidiary of a major Maya city such as Yaxha or Naranjo, given the complete absence of hieroglyphic texts and sculpted monuments, and archaeologists presume that La Blanca served as a frontier post or trading centre.

wn.com/La_Blanca,_Peten
La Grandeza
La Grandeza is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 5,969. It covers an area of 52.2 km².

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La Libertad, Chiapas
La Libertad is a town and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 5,288. It covers an area of 1,964.90 km² and is adjacent to the municipality of Palenque and the state of Tabasco.

wn.com/La_Libertad,_Chiapas
La Muerta
La Muerta is a Maya archaeological site in the northern Petén region of Guatemala, located between the sites of El Mirador and El Tintal. It is located on a promontory 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) south of the El Tigre complex of El Mirador, and it is considered a satellite of that city. La Muerta was inhabited during the Early to Late Classic Period. The site has been extensively looted.
Although the precise origin of the name is unknown, the site takes its name from when it was used as a gum-gatherers' camp, the name meaning "the dead (woman or thing)" in Spanish.
La Muerta was investigated by archaeologist Richard D. Hansen in the 1980s. Some of the roof combs of the structures remain in good condition. The site is divided into North and South Groups, located approximately 400 metres (1,300 ft) apart. Eleven residential areas have been identified within these two groups.
Structure A1 is a temple with a north-facing stairway. The building measures 11.5 metres (38 ft) by 8.6 metres (28 ft) and is 9.4 metres (31 ft) high, with walls built of limestone. The structure has been severely damaged by looters. During archaeological investigations of the building, a damaged but finely crafted stucco face was excavated.

wn.com/La_Muerta
Labna
Labna (or Labná in Spanish orthography) is a Mesoamerican archaeological site and ceremonial center of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the Puuc Hills region of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is situated to the south of the large Maya site of Uxmal, in the southwest of the present-day state of Yucatán, Mexico. It was incorporated with Uxmal as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.
The site is a comparatively small and compact one. Among its notable structures is a large two-storey 'palace' ("El Palacio"), which is one of the longest contiguous structures in the Puuc region at approximately 120 m (393.7 ft) in length. From the palace, a ceremonial road (sacbe) extends to an elaborately decorated gateway arch ("El Arco"). This structure is 3 m (9.8 ft) wide and 6 m high, with well-reserved bas-reliefs. The arch is not an entrance to the city, but rather is a passageway between public areas. Next to this gateway stands "El Mirador", a pyramid-like structure surmounted by a temple. Also on the site is the Temple of the Columns.

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Lamanai
The Mayan ruins of Lamanai Belize once belonged to a sizable Mayan city in the Orange Walk District. "Lamanai" comes from the Maya term for "submerged crocodile", a nod to the toothy reptiles who live along the banks of the New River. Lamanai Belize jungle, which brims with exotic birds and hydrophilic iguanas. There is evidence on Mayan life that dates from about 1500 B.C. through Postclassic (A.D. 950-1544) and Spanish colonial times (A.D. 1544-1700)
Among the many important aspects of Postclassic and early Spanish colonial period Maya life at Lamanai is shown by the presence of significant numbers of copper artifacts. Copper indicates broader trade relations in the southern Maya lowlands, and as a reflection of technological change, the history of metal artifact use at Lamanai is an invaluable element in the reconstruction of Postclassic and early historical dynamics.(cite)The archaeological contexts of copper objects recovered at Lamanai beginning ,with the appearance of metal at the site by around A.D. 1150.

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Larráinzar
Larráinzar is one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico. The municipal seat is the town of San Andrés Larráinzar.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 16,538. It covers an area of 171.04 km².

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Las Rosas, Chiapas
Las Rosas is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 21,100. It covers an area of 233.5 km².

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Lubaantun
Lubaantun (also Lubaantún or Lubaantán in Spanish orthography) is a pre-Columbian ruined city of the Maya civilization in southern Belize, Central America. Lubaantun is in Belize's Toledo District, about 42 kilometres (26 mi) northwest of Punta Gorda, and approximately 3.2 kilometres (2 mi) from the village of San Pedro Columbia, at an elevation of 61 metres (200 ft) feet above mean sea level. One of the most distinguishing features of Lubaantun is the large collection of miniature ceramic objects found on site; these detailed constructs are thought to have been charmstones or ritual accompanying acoutrements.
The city dates from the Maya Classic era, flourishing from the AD 730s to the 890s, and seems to have been completely abandoned soon after. The architecture is somewhat unusual from typical Classical central lowlands Maya sites. Lubaantun's structures are mostly built of large stone blocks laid with no mortar, primarily black slate rather than the limestone typical of the region. Several structures have distinctive "in-and-out masonry"; each tier is built with a batter, every second course projecting slightly beyond the course below it. Corners of the step-pyramids are usually rounded, and lack stone structures atop the pyramids; presumably some had structures of perishable materials in ancient times.

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Machaquila
Machaquilá refers to a ruined city of the Maya civilization in what is now the El Peten department of Guatemala. There is also a small Guatemalan village several kilometers from the site that bears the name Machaquilá.
Machaquilá flourished in the middle Classic to late Classic era, reaching the height of its power in approximately the ninth century CE. The archaeological remains of the city are located 45 km. northeast of Cancuén and 30 km east to Ceibal, in a relatively isolated region, and the site is notable for its finely sculptured stelas, religious altars, hieroglyph panels, and ornate staircases. There are nine plazas in Machaquilá, along with ceremonial buildings, temples, and a residential complex to the south.
There are several smaller cities surrounding Machaquilá and the nearby San Miguel caves. There is evidence of human habitation at the sites dating from the pre-Classic to the early post-Classic periods. The Guatemalan sites known as Esquipulas, El Pueblito, and Achiotal have E-Groups and Mesoamerican ball courts, although Mayan scholars do not believe these sites were part of a formal state. There is evidence of political and trade relationships between El Pueblito and Machaquilá during the late Classic period, and with Ceibal and Cancuén. Mayans likely used the Machaquilá River as a waterway, as it is one of the main tributaries of the Pasión River.

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Maní, Yucatán
Maní is a small city and surrounding municipality of the same name, in the Mexican state of Yucatán. It is about 100 km to the south south-east of Mérida, Yucatán, some 16 km east of Ticul.
Maní has been continuously occupied for approximately 4,000 years. In the postclassic Mesoamerican era it was home to the Tutal Xiu Maya dynasty, which moved their capital here from Uxmal in the 13th century. The Xiu were the dominant power in the western Yucatan after the fall of Mayapan in 1441. A yearly festival in honor of the deity Kukulcan was held here.
With the arrival of the Spanish the Xiu of Maní allied themselves with the Spanish and assisted in the conquest of the rest of the peninsula.
The town has an old Franciscan monastery established in 1549, the Parroquia y Exconvento de San Miguel Arcangel. The large building was built using many cut stones from Pre-Columbian buildings of Maní. Inside are some early colonial era fresco murals. Restoration work on the monastery building and its artwork began in 2001.

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Mapastepec
Mapastepec' Raccoon( Tepec ) means in the "Hill of the Raccoon." It is located in the southern state of Chiapas, Mexico, falls within the region VII, known as the region Soconusco. This municipality is part of the biosphere reserve of triumph and the crossroads
Mapastepec was founded as a people tributary of the Aztecs in 1486 under the name of Mapachtépec. In the first population census raised by the colonial authorities in 1611 had 265 inhabitants Mapastepec. On July 5, 1955, was upgraded to a villa by decree issued by Ephraim A. Osorio, Governor of the State of Chiapas.

The municipality of Mapastepec, is located south of Chiapas, between 15 ° 26 '30 "N and 92 ° 53' 30" W, has an area of 1085.6 km ², which represents 1.44 % of the state, its boundaries are: west, northwest and north by the municipality of Pijijiapan, La Concordia, on the north and northwest, with Angel Albino Corzo, on the east Siltepec, with Motozintla southeast, with the Acacoyagua and Acapetahua south and the Pacific Ocean to the south, southwest and west. The latitude of the municipal cabecar is 32 m, the average altitude of the municipality is 46 meters

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Maravilla Tenejapa
Maravilla Tenejapa is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 10,526. It covers an area of 411.32 km².

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Marco Gonzalez
Marco Gonzales is a Maya archaeological site located near the southern tip of Ambergris Caye off the coast of Belize. It was first recorded in 1984 by Drs. Elizabeth Graham and David Pendergast, and was named by them after their local guide.
The existence of the site, which is located approximately 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south of San Pedro, had been known to town's inhabitants for many years, as had most of the other sites that presently dot the island. The site was excavated by Drs. Graham and Pendergast between 1984 and 1994.
The ruins are about 185 by 355 metres (607 by 1,165 ft) in size, and are easily visible from the air flying into San Pedro town. The low-lying area around the site is predominated by red (Rhizophora mangle) and black (Avicennia nitida) mangroves. The site itself is covered by white mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa), gumbo-limbo (Bursera simaruba), white poisonwood (Cameraria belizensis), silver palmettos (Thrinax sp.), cabbage palms (Roystonea oleracea) and a variety of shrubbery. It is roughly 3.6 metres (12 ft) above sea level, slightly higher than the surrounding swamps due to accumulated anthrosol, soil composed primarily of artefacts (e.g., pottery, tools), conch and other shells, building remains and other debris resulting from millennia of human habitation. The presence of artefacts beneath the mangal swamps indicates that the site was once larger than what is presently exposed.

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Marqués de Comillas
Marqués de Comillas is one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico. Its municipal seat is Zamora Pico de Oro.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 8,580. It covers an area of 933 km².

wn.com/Marqués_de_Comillas
Mazapa de Madero
Mazapa de Madero is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 7,180. It covers an area of 116.8 km².

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Mazatán, Chiapas
Mazatán (mathhátan) is a village Mexican municipality in the state of Chiapas located in the southeast. The municipality borders the municipalities Mazatán Tapachula Huixtla and Huehuetan, all these municipalities are part of the region Soconusco which is the area coastal region of the coast of chiapas. Urban areas in the municipality of Mazatlán are the center of Mazatlán and the ejido of Buenos Aires. This release only 30 KM to the east with the municipality of Tapachula which is the 2nd state economy Chiapas. Mazatlán is located at 20 meters, which makes having a warm climate all year round with temperatures of 33 ° C in summer and 18 º C in winter.
The name Mazatán comes from pre-Hispanic origin derived from the Nahuatl <<-Toltec and means place of many deer >> Mazat "deer" as "earth" or "place") .. its origin dates from the arrival of the Olmec fishermen, (becoming culture Mokaya which gives rise to culture Mayan) seeking a place of work and commerce, inundacionnes free allowing them to carry out their agricultural activities without any problems.

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Metapa, Mexico
Metapa (Metapa de Domínguez) is a town and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 4,794. It covers an area of 101.8 km².

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Mexico
Mexico (ⁱ/ˈmɛksɨkoʊ/; Spanish: México, IPA: [ˈmexiko] ( listen)), officially the United Mexican States (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos (help·info)), is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States of America; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometres (over 760,000 sq mi), Mexico is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the thirteenth largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of over 113 million, it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, the capital city.
In Pre-Columbian Mexico many cultures matured into advanced civilizations such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya and the Aztec before the first contact with Europeans. In 1521, Spain conquered and colonized the territory from its base in México-Tenochtitlan, which was administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain. This territory would eventually become Mexico as the colony's independence was recognized in 1821. The post-independence period was characterized by economic instability, the Mexican-American War and territorial cession to the United States, a civil war, two empires and a domestic dictatorship. The latter led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the country's current political system. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time that an opposition party won the presidency from the Institutional Revolutionary Party.

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Mitontic
Mitontic is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
In 2005, the municipality had a total population of 7,602. It covers an area of 82 km².

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Mixco Viejo
Mixco Viejo ("Old Mixco"), occasionally spelt Mixcu Viejo, is an archaeological site in the north east of the Chimaltenango department of Guatemala, some 50 kilometres (31 mi) to the north of Guatemala City and 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the junction of the rivers Pixcaya and Motagua. It is a moderate sized ruined city of the Postclassic Maya civilization.
The archaeological site and tourist attraction of Mixco Viejo was named after being erroneously associated with the Postclassic Poqomam capital referred to in colonial records by that name. The archaeological site has now been identified as Jilotepeque Viejo, the capital of the Chajoma Kaqchikel kingdom. To distinguish between the two, the ruins of the Chajoma capital are now referred to as Mixco Viejo (Jilotepeque Viejo) while the former Poqomam capital is referred to as Mixco Viejo (Chinautla Viejo).
This confusion in the identification of the site has hindered study. The Chajoma capital has been investigated archaeologically, under the assumption that it was the Poqomam capital. Although the Chajoma ruins of Jilotepeque Viejo have been well described archaeologically, the archaeological data has been associated with the history of a different site entirely. Doubts about the identification of the archaeological site were first raised by Robert M. Carmack, who realised that the supposed Poqomam capital was not located within the Poqomam linguistic area but rather within the linguistic area of the Kaqchikels. The Poqomam who were settled in the new colonial settlement of Mixco by the Spanish had a long history of fine polychrome ceramic production, but no evidence of such production had been recovered during archaeological investigations, and the ruins were considered too distant from colonial Mixco.

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Monte Albán
Monte Albán is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site in the Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán Municipality in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca (17.043° N, 96.767°W). The site is located on a low mountainous range rising above the plain in the central section of the Valley of Oaxaca where the latter's northern Etla, eastern Tlacolula, and southern Zimatlán & Ocotlán (or Valle Grande) branches meet. The present-day state capital Oaxaca City is located approximately 9 km (6 mi) east of Monte Albán.
The partially excavated civic-ceremonial center of the Monte Albán site is situated atop an artificially-leveled ridge, which with an elevation of about 1,940 m (6,400 ft) above mean sea level rises some 400 m (1,300 ft) from the valley floor, in an easily defensible location. In addition to the aforementioned monumental core, the site is characterized by several hundred artificial terraces, and a dozen clusters of mounded architecture covering the entire ridgeline and surrounding flanks (Blanton 1978). The archaeological ruins on the nearby Atzompa and El Gallo hills to the north are traditionally considered to be an integral part of the ancient city as well.

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Morelia
Morelia is a city and municipality in the north central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital of the state. The main pre-Hispanic cultures here were the P'urhépecha and the Matlatzinca, but no major cities were founded in the valley during this time. The Spanish took control of the area in the 1520s. The Spanish under Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza founded a settlement here in 1541 with the name of Valladolid, which became rival to the nearby city of Pátzcuaro for dominance in Michoacán. In 1580, this rivalry ended in Valladolid’s favor and it became the capital of the colonial province. After the Mexican War of Independence, the city was renamed Morelia in honor of José María Morelos y Pavón, who is from here. In 1991, the city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its well preserved colonial buildings and layout of the historic center.
Human settlements in the Guayangareo Valley in which Morelia is located have been dated back as far as the 7th century. Artifacts found here have shown Teotihuacán culture influence on early cultures in this area. In the 12th century, the Tarascos or the P'urhépecha arrived in the valley. They dominated it politically for the rest of the pre-Hispanic period but did not build any major settlements here. Between the 12th and the 15th century, Matlatzincas moved into the area with permission of the Tarascos, who were based around nearby Pátzcuaro Lake. The main Matlatzinca settlement was where Júarez Plaza in the city is today.

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Motozintla
Motozintla (Motozintla de Mendoza) is a city and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
Motozintla occupies part of Mexico's border with Guatemala and is adjacent to the municipalities of Siltepec (to the north), Escuintla and Huixtla (to the west), Tuzantán and Tapachula (to the south), and Mazapa de Madero and El Porvenir (to the northeast). It covers an area of 782.5 km².
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 59,875, with 17,613 in the municipal seat.

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Motul de San José
Motul de San José is an ancient Maya site located just north of Lake Petén Itzá in the Petén Basin region of the southern Maya lowlands. It is a few kilometres from the modern village of San José, in Guatemala's northern department of Petén. A medium sized civic-ceremonial centre, it was an important political and economic centre during the Late Classic period (AD 650–950).
The site was first settled between 600 and 300 BC, in the latter portion of the Middle Preclassic period, when it most likely was a fairly small site. This Maya city then had a long and continuous occupational history until the Early Postclassic, up to around AD 1250, with peaks in the Late Preclassic and Late Classic periods. Motul de San José had begun to refer to Tikal as its overlord in the late 4th century AD; by the 7th century it had switched its allegiance to Calakmul, Tikal's great rival, before returning its allegiance to Tikal in the early 8th century. In the late 8th century Motul de San José appears to have been conquered by Dos Pilas, capital of the Petexbatún kingdom.

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Naachtun
Naachtun is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, situated at the northeastern perimeter of the Mirador Basin region in the southern Maya lowlands, now in the modern-day Department of El Petén, northern Guatemala. Naachtun was a major center of the region by the late Formative (or Pre-Classic) Period, and was one of the few Formative Period Mirador Basin centers which continued to flourish into the succeeding Classic period.
Situated in one of the areas most remote from contemporary settlements, the site was first rediscovered and documented in 1922 by the American archaeologist and Mayanist scholar, Sylvanus Morley. The name Naachtun was given to the site by Morley, taken from a Mayan construction glossed as "distant stones", in recognition of its remoteness. Its ancient name was Masuul, and it was in the middle of the Classic Maya, cities. The site is being investigated by the Calgary University, where they have found, that the site served as a link between Tikal and Calakmul, that were the superpowers in the Classic, and in constant wars between them, perhaps using Massul, as a "Neutral Talk Place". A carved Stela with the "Lady of Tikal" has been recently found there. The site is quite large, with several Pyramid temples and Acropolis, linked with sacbeob, as well as 2 ballcourts.

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Nakbe
Nakbe is one of the largest early Maya archaeological sites, rivaled by El Mirador. Nakbe is located in the The Mirador Basin, in El Petén region of Guatemala, approximately 13 kilometers south of the Largest Maya city of El Mirador. Excavations at Nakbe suggest that habitation began at the site during the Early Formative period (circa 1400 BC) and continued to be a large site until its collapse during the Terminal Formative period (100-200 BC). The fall of Nakbe and El Mirador took place at roughly the same time.
The site was first discovered in 1930 by aerial photos taken of the region, but excavations of the site did not take place until 1962. Archaeologist Ian Graham was the first person to start excavations, but it wasn’t until the 1980s and 90s that real excavation began by UCLA’s Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, and the Institute of Anthropology and History of Guatemala. The combined efforts of these two groups resulted in the RAINPEG Project, which was headed by Dr. Richard D. Hansen. One of the main focuses of the RAINPEG Project was to investigate the limestone quarries in the area of Nakbé

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Nakum
Nakum ("House of the pot") is a Mesoamerican archaeological site, and a former ceremonial center and city of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the northeastern portion of the Petén Basin region, in the modern-day Guatemalan department of Petén. The northeastern Petén region contains a good number of other significant Maya sites, and Nakum is one of the three sites forming the Cultural Triangle of "Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo". Nakum is approximately 17 kilometres (10.6 mi) to the north of Yaxha and some 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) to the east of Tikal, on the banks of the Holmul River. Its main features include an abundance of visibly-restored architecture, and the roof comb of the site's main temple structure is one of the best-preserved outside of Tikal.
This city has evidence of occupation dating from the Late Preclassic period of Mesoamerican chronology. However Nakum particularly flourished during the Late Classic (c. 8th century—10th century), due to its strategic situation north of Holmul river which was an important trade and communication route during this era. All the visible architecture belongs to this period, there are 15 stelae, Structure A with a triadic top, form along with structure C an astronomical complex. Structure V has vaults and vertical walls. Outside Tikal, it shows the largest corpus of ancient Maya script graffiti in a Classic Maya site.

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Naranjo

Naranjo is an ancient city of the Maya civilization in the Petén Basin region of the central Maya lowlands. It is located in the present-day department of Petén, Guatemala west of the border with Belize and is the northern most of the three sites that form the Cultural Triangle with Yaxha and Nakum. The city lies along the Mopan and Holmul rivers. Naranjo was the capital of the most powerful Classic Maya kingdom of Saal. The ancient Classic Maya language name for the city was Wak Kab'nal and Maxam but the distinction between these two is still unclear. The divine owner of the city, its patron, and the founder of the dynasty was a deity with a yet-undeciphered name, nicknamed "Black Square-Nosed Beastie" (possibly read as Ik' Miin)
The history of Saal is highly interesting in terms of several major disturbances in the dynastic rule when allegiances and identities of local kings were subject to change. Nothing is known about the Early Classic history of Naranjo. The sites of La Sufricaya and Holmul to the north of Naranjo were involved in the establishment of the new political order in Peten after the arrival of Siyaj K’ahk' in AD 378. It is plausible to assume that Naranjo might also be under the sway of Siyaj K'ahk's hegemony and later Mutal (Tikal) rulers. If there were any monuments from that time, they were destroyed and/or cached.

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Nicolás Ruíz
Nicolás Ruíz is a town and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 3,135, with 3015 in the municipal seat. It covers an area of 137 km².
The settlement was originally known as San Diego de la Reforma; it acquired its present name on 14 February 1934 to honour 19th-century Governor of Chiapas Nicolás Ruiz.

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Nim Li Punit
Nim Li Punit, is a Maya Classic Period site in the Toledo District of the nation of Belize, located 40 kilometres north of the town of Punta Gorda, at 16° 19' N, 88° 47' 60W. Nim Li Punit is sometimes known as Big Hat or Top Hat; the name is Kekchi Maya language for "Big Hat", referring to the large elaborate head-dress on a stela sculpture found on site depicting one of the site's ancient kings.
Nim Li Punit is a medium sized site from the Maya Classic Period, flourishing from the 5th century AD through the 8th century AD. It consists of structures around three plazas, including several step-pyramids, the tallest being 12.2 meters high. The site has a number of carved stelae illustrating the ancient city's rulers. Several stelae are in an unfinished state, suggesting a sudden halt to work. The site is near Belize's Southern Highway and is open to visitors subject to an admission charge.
Nim Li Punit is situated in the foothills of the Maya Mountains with proximity to clear mountain streams. The Maya Mountains form a difficultly penetrated backdrop forest to the north and east, while the expansive somewhat swampy coastal lowlands adjoing the Caribbean Sea lie to the east Low lying swampland between the Sarstoon and Temash Rivers is situated to the south.. The site is within two kilometres of Belize's Southern Highway, accessed by an unpaved road. (The Southern Highway itself is unpaved in the vicinity of the site as well.) Area soils are relatively fertile for tropical standards, and explain the region's ability to support sizeable prehistoric settlements such as Nim Li Punit. Local sandstones are found in nearby stream and river beds, and these materials were used as the principal building stones for the site's structures and stelae. The Maya Mountains and foothills are among the oldest surface rock formations of Central America ; these Paleozoic sediments were uplifted about 200 million years ago in the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) and early Permian periods.

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Oaxaca, Oaxaca
The city and municipality of Oaxaca de Juárez, or simply Oaxaca, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of the same name (Oaxaca). It is located in the Centro District in the Central Valleys region of the state, in the foothills of the Sierra Madre at the base of the Cerro del Fortín extending to the banks of the Atoyac River. This city relies heavily on tourism, which is based on its large number of colonial-era structures as well as the native Zapotec and Mixtec cultures and archeological sites. It, along with the archeological site of Monte Alban, were named a World Heritage Site in 1987. It is also the home of the month-long cultural festival called the “Guelaguetza,” which features Oaxacan dance, music and a beauty pageant for indigenous women.
It is nicknamed "la Verde Antequera" (the green Antequera) due to its prior name (Nueva Antequera) and the variety of structures built from a native green stone. The name Oaxaca is derived from the Nahuatl name for the place, Huaxyacac, which was Hispanicized to Guajaca, later spelled Oaxaca. “de Juárez” was added in honor of Benito Juárez, who was a native of this state. The coat of arms for the municipality bears the image of the decapitated Donaji, who was an indigenous princess in the years immediately after the Conquest.

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Ocosingo
Ocosingo is a city and its surrounding municipality (municipio) of the same name in the Mexican state of Chiapas.
The municipality borders the Usumacinta River along a portion where the river forms the international border with Guatemala. The city had a 2005 census population of 35,065 inhabitants, and serves as municipal seat of the municipality, which had a population of 170,280. The municipality has a relatively large area of 8,616.71 km² (3,326.93 sq mi). There are numerous smaller towns in the municipality, the largest of which are Nueva Palestina, Tenango, and Frontera Corozal.
Ocosingo was given city status on 31 July 1979.[1]
Several notable Maya archaeological sites are nearby, including Bonampak and Toniná.
Ocosingo rose to national prominence during the Zapatista uprising of 1994. It was occupied by the EZLN along with several other towns in Chiapas (including San Cristóbal). The EZLN retreated from most towns before the arrival of the Mexican army but not so in Ocosingo. Thus, the town saw several days of intense fighting, leaving dozens of rebels, soldiers and civilians dead.

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Ocotepec, Chiapas
Ocotepec is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 9,271. It covers an area of 59.6 km².

wn.com/Ocotepec,_Chiapas
Ostuacán
Ostuacán is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 17,026 . It covers an area of 946.4 km².

wn.com/Ostuacán
Osumacinta
Osumacinta is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 3,132. It covers an area of 221.1 km².

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Oxchuc
Oxchuc is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 33,780. It covers an area of 72 km².

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Oxkintok
Oxkintok is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site on the Yucatán Peninsula, located at the northern tip of the Puuc hills - a few kilometers to the east of the modern town of Maxcanú, Yucatán, Mexico.
In the Maya language, the name "Oxkintok" can be parsed as "Ox" (three) and "Kin" (day/sun), but there are multiple possibilities for "Tok" (if the final letter is a soft /K/ then it may mean "snatch away / defend, lean, fall, or burn", but if the final letter is truly a glottalized /K’/ then it may mean "puncture, let blood, or chert / flint / hard stone"). Different translations, based upon the various meanings of "Tok" are found in the literature.
The site has provided evidence of habitation from the Late Preclassic through the Late Postclassic periods of Maya prehistory. However, Oxkintok became a major center between the Early Classic and Terminal Classic periods (including what Carmen Varela terms the "Middle Classic"). It is well known as possessing a very early Long Count date in AD 475 (on the lintel of Structure 6 in the "Canul" group). The latest dated monument at the site records a date in AD 859.

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Palenque
Palenque (Bàak' in Modern Maya) was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that flourished in the 7th century. The Palenque ruins date back to 226 BC to its fall around 1123 AD. After its decline it was absorbed into the jungle, which is made up of cedar, mahogany, and sapodilla trees, but has been excavated and restored and is now a famous archaeological site attracting thousands of visitors. It is located near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas, located about 130 km (81 mi) south of Ciudad del Carmen (see map) about 150 m (164 yd) above sea-level. It stays at a humid 26°C (79°F) with roughly 2160 mm (85 in) of rain a year.
Palenque is a medium-sized site, much smaller than such huge sites as Tikal or Copán, but it contains some of the finest architecture, sculpture, roof comb and bas-relief carvings that the Mayas produced. Much of the history of Palenque has been reconstructed from reading the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the many monuments; historians now have a long sequence of the ruling dynasty of Palenque in the 5th century and extensive knowledge of the city-state's rivalry with other states such as Calakmul and Toniná. The most famous ruler of Palenque was Pacal the Great whose tomb has been found and excavated in the Temple of the Inscriptions.

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Pantelhó
Pantelhó is a town and one of the 118 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 16,262. It covers an area of 136.6 km².

wn.com/Pantelhó
Penn State
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service. Its instructional mission includes undergraduate, graduate, professional and continuing education offered through resident instruction and online delivery. Its University Park campus, the flagship campus, lies within the Borough of State College and College Township. The Penn State Dickinson School of Law has facilities located in both Carlisle and University Park and the College of Medicine is located in Hershey. Penn State has another 19 commonwealth campuses and 5 special-mission campuses located across the state.
Penn State University is ranked among the top-fifteen public universities nationally and is considered to be one of America's Public Ivy universities, which recognizes top public research universities in the United States. Annual enrollment at the University Park campus totals more than 44,000 graduate and undergraduate students, making it one of the largest universities in the United States. It has the world's largest dues-paying alumni association. The university's total enrollment in 2009–10 was approximately 94,300 across its 24 campuses and online through its World Campus.

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Pichucalco
Pichucalco is a town and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 29,357. It covers an area of 1,078.1 km².
Pichucalco served as the head town for the Second Federal Electoral District of Chiapas between 1996 and 2005.

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Pijijiapan
Pijijiapan is a town and municipality in the Mexican state of Chiapas, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean about midway between the border with the state of Oaxaca and the international frontier with Guatemala. Pijijiapan reported a 2005 census population of 46,949 persons. It has a land area of 2223.3 km².
Coordinates: 15°41′N 93°13′W / 15.683°N 93.217°W / 15.683; -93.217

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Punta de Chimino
Punta de Chimino is a Maya archaeological site in the Petexbatún region of the department of Petén in Guatemala. Occupation at the site dates to the Preclassic and Classic periods of Mesoamerican chronology. Punta de Chimino experienced a population surge in the Late Preclassic, followed by a reduction in occupation levels in the Early Classic and another increase in the Terminal Classic when the city became one of the few population centres to survive the political disintegration of the Petexbatún region after the collapse of the kingdom based at Dos Pilas. The neighbouring city of Seibal on the Pasión River appears to have intervened at Punta de Chimino at this time and to have politically dominated the smaller site.
The site is located on a peninsula on the western side of Lake Petexbatún. In the Late Classic a series of defensive ditches were excavated across the base of this peninsula in order to fortify the site. The peninsula possessed deep fertile soils overlying limestone bedrock and gave easy access to the rich aquatic resources of the lake. Punta de Chimino is one of the better investigated sites along the Pasión River and its tributaries. The site is located south of the modern town of Sayaxché.

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Punta Sur
Punta Sur marks the southern point of Cozumel and is part of the Parque Punta Sur, a 247-acre (1.00 km²) ecological park that covers the reefs, beaches, lagoons, and the low forest of the surrounding area. The reef system is also part of the Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park.
The Celarain lighthouse (Faro de Celarain) sits on the Punta Sur promontory (Punta Celarain) and is part of a nautical museum. Just northeast of it is the Caracol (Tumba del Caracol), a Mayan site dedicated to Ixchel that also announced hurricanes through a whistle effect and was used to send signals to the mainland.
Some of the sandy beaches are protected to allow hatching for sea turtles. Observation towers have been erected at the Columbia lagoon to watch wildlife. Off Punta Sur is the Devil's Throat scuba diving area, while in the closer reef visitors can snorkel. The area is accessible to off-road vehicles.

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Q'umarkaj
Q'umarkaj, (K'iche: [qʔumarˈkah]) (sometimes rendered as Gumarkaaj, Gumarcaj, Cumarcaj or Kumarcaaj) is an archaeological site in the southwest of the El Quiché department of Guatemala. Q'umarkaj is also known as Utatlán, the Nahuatl translation of the city's name. The name comes from K'iche' Q'umarkah "Place of old reeds".
Q'umarkaj was one of the most powerful Maya cities when the Spanish arrived in the region in the early 16th century. It was the capital of the K'iche' Maya in the Late Postclassic Period. At the time of the Spanish Conquest, Q'umarkaj was a relatively new capital, with the capital of the K'iche' kingdom having originally been situated at Jakawitz (identified with the archaeological site Chitinamit) and then at Pismachi'. Q'umarkaj was founded during the reign of king Q'uq'umatz ("Feathered Serpent" in K'iche') in the early 15th century, immediately to the north of Pismachi'. In 1470 the city was seriously weakened by a rebellion among the nobility that resulted in the loss of key allies of the K'iche'.

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Querétaro, Querétaro
Santiago de Querétaro (Spanish pronunciation: [sanˈtjaɣo ðe keˈɾetaɾo]) is the capital and largest city of the state of Querétaro, located in central Mexico. It is located 213 km northwest of Mexico City, 96 km southeast of San Miguel de Allende and 200 km south of San Luis Potosí. The founding date of the city is given as 25 July 1531, when during a battle between the Spanish and the natives of the area, an eclipse occurred during which Saint James on a white horse carrying a pink cross supposedly appeared, causing the natives of the areas to surrender. In reality, Spanish dominion here was gradual.
In 1996, the historic center of Querétaro was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Today, the city is one of the fastest-growing in the country, with its economic base in industries such as chemicals, paper products and machinery. This has caused the city and the metropolitan area to attract many migrants from other parts of Mexico.
The city of Querétaro has had an outstanding industrial and economic development in the last 15 years. The metropolitan area of Querétaro has one of the highest GDP per capitas in Mexico at US$20,000 as of 2009.

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Rayón, Chiapas
Rayón is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 6,870. It covers an area of 94.4 km².

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Reforma, Chiapas
Reforma is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 34,809. It covers an area of 399.9 km².

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Río Azul

Rio Azul is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Maya civilization. in Río Azul National Park in present day Petén Department, in northern Guatemala, somewhat close to the Mexico and Belize borders. The Río Azul National Park has several Maya sites, the most important of which is Río Azul which is a Major Early Classic site along the Rio Azul banks.
The Rio Azul polity was the most important in this area of the Maya Lowlands and was populated by nobles who dominated the commerce routes. It was the main source of jester for axes and blades in the Lowlands, as the structures made entirely from jester debris show. Río Azul was built in 25 years, and the population is thought to have been 400,000 around 400 AD in a region measuring some 170 square kilometres (including Kinal and other cities in Belize). It was occupied from middle pre-classic to middle classic and was abandoned by 535 CE.
The site itself is 3 square kilometres with 41 plazas, 752 structures, 21 sculptured stelas, 26 plain stelas, and 16 altars documented to date. The tallest temple is 47 mt high - a typical Preclassic Triadic Temple (three small structures on the top, the one in the center at the back and the others facing each other). Stela 1 mentions the alliance with Tikal, and Stela 2 records the visit of the King of La Milpa (now in Belize), the area was around 170 km² and was structured as a feudal state where nobility lived in farms around the city.

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Río Bec
Río Bec is a Pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site located in what is now southern portion of the Mexican state of Campeche. The name also refers to an architectural style (Río Bec Style) that first appeared at Río Bec and subsequently spread to other nearby sites. The Río Bec Style is closely related to the Chenes architectural style found northwest of the Río Bec region.
The Río Bec site was first mentioned by Austrian explorer Teoberto Maler at the end of the 19th century, though he never visited the site. The French explorer Maurice de Perigny was the first European to visit and report on the Río Bec. The site is now being excavated and restored by a group of French archaeologists from the CNRS headed by Dominique Michelet. They have located several architectural groups and their surveys and maps of several square kilometers give us a better understanding of the ancient settlement. Excavation of the principal building at Río Bec A, a building with three towers and several rooms, is now underway.

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Sabanilla
Sabanilla is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 21,156. It covers an area of 171.4 km².
Sabanilla was founded in 1771 by 150 migrants from the surrounding villages of Moyos and Tila. They sent a letter to the Spanish King, Carlos III, signed by the only literate person, Matheo Diaz. The priest of Moyos approved the foundation of the settlement.
Boletin del Archivo Histórico Diocesano. Vol 6, Septiembre 1997. San Cristóbal de las Casas.

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Sacul, El Petén
Sacul is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the upper drainage of the Mopan River, in the Petén department of Guatemala. The city occupied an important trade route through the Maya Mountains. The main period of occupation dates to the Late Classic Period. In the late 8th century AD through to the early 9th century, Sacul was one of the few kingdoms in the southeastern Petén region to use its own Emblem Glyph, together with Ixtutz and Ucanal.
In AD 779 Sacul went to war against Ixkun and lost, but stelae at both cities record a visit to Ixkun by king Ch'iyel of Sacul just 11 years later and the two cities appear to have formed a military alliance at that time.
The site core is arranged around a number of plazas, one of which forms a monumental acropolis. The plazas were resurfaced in the Terminal Classic, when the city experienced a period of dense occupation. At this time Sacul experienced a major surge in construction activity, with many buildings being extended or altered. Sacul was inhabited into the Postclassic Period at a much reduced level, although it is not known if this represents a continuation of Classic Period occupation. This final phase of activity was spread throughout both the ceremonial core and the residential periphery and ceramic finds demonstrate links to the Belize Valley and the southern area of the Maya Mountains.

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Salto de Agua
Salto de Agua is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 49,300. It covers an area of 1289.2 km².

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San Andrés Duraznal
San Andrés Duraznal is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 3,423. It covers an area of 29.9 km².

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San Juan Cancuc
San Juan Cancuc is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 20,688. It covers an area of 233.5 km².

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San Lucas, Chiapas
San Lucas is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 5,673. It covers an area of 154 km².

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San Mateo Ixtatán
San Mateo Ixtatán is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Huehuetenango. It is situated at 2,540 metres (8,330 ft) above sea level in the Cuchumatanes mountain range and covers 560 square kilometres (220 sq mi) of terrain. It has a cold climate and is located in a cloud forest. The temperature fluctuates between 0.5 and 20 °C (33 and 68 °F). The coldest months are from November to January and the warmest months are April and May. The town has a population of about 10,000, and is the municipal center for an additional 20,000 people living in the surrounding mountain villages. It has a weekly market on Thursday and Sunday. The annual town festival takes place from September 19 to September 21 honoring their patron Saint Matthew. The residents of San Mateo belong to the Chuj Maya ethnic group and speak the Mayan Chuj language, not to be confused with Chuj baths, or wood fired steam rooms that are common throughout the central and western highlands.
The derivation of "Ixtatán" is uncertain. In Chuj, Ixta' = toy or doll; Ta'anh = lime, giving the translation of toy or doll of lime. These lime dolls can be seen on the Catholic Church facade dating back to colonial times. According to historian Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzmán (1690), the name means “ Land of the Salt” from the words of Ystat = salt and teail = land. On the other hand, historian Jorge Luis Areola considers 'Ixtatán' to be from the Nahuatl language, from the words Ixtat = salt and tlan = close or nearby.

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Santiago el Pinar
Santiago el Pinar is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 2,174. It covers an area of 17.76 km².

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Sayil
Sayil is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Yucatán, in the southwest of the state, south of Uxmal. It was incorporated together with Uxmal as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.
Sayil flourished principally, albeit briefly, during the Terminal Classic period. A number of badly damaged monuments suggest that Sayil was governed by a local royal dynasty, with wealth among lineages based, at least in part, upon control of the best agricultural lands.
The site is located in the karst limestone hills of the Puuc region of the northern Yucatan Peninsula.
Sayil is located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south of the contemporary Puuc archaeological site of Kabah, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Xlapak and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Labna. It was built in a shallow valley among low, steep hills.
The Puuc region that includes the site of Sayil possesses well defined wet and dry seasons and is characterised by a near absence of surface water due to the porous limestone bedrock.
Sayil first was settled circa AD 800, in the Late Classic Period, possibly by small Chontal warrior groups. The city reached its greatest extent c. 900, when it covered an area of approximately 5 km² and had a population of perhaps 10,000 in the city itself with an additional 5,000–7,000 living in the surrounding area.

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Seibal
Seibal, known as El Ceibal in Spanish, is a Classic Period archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the northern Petén Department of Guatemala. It was the largest city in the Pasión River region.
The site was occupied from the Preclassic Period through to the Terminal Classic, with a significant hiatus. The principal phase of occupation dates to the Late Preclassic (400 BC – AD 200), followed by a decline in the Early Classic (AD 200–600). Seibal experienced a significant recovery in the Terminal Classic immediately prior to its complete abandonment, reaching its second peak from about 830 to 890, with a population estimated at 8–10,000 people. The dates on the stelae at Seibal are unusually late, with monuments still being dedicated after the Classic Maya collapse had engulfed most of the Petén region. Many of Seibal's late monuments show artistic influence from central Mexico and from the Gulf Coast of Mexico.
The early history of the site is lost due to the catastrophic defeat of the polity in AD 735 by the nearby Petexbatun kingdom with its capital at Dos Pilas, resulting in the destruction of its earlier sculpted monuments. Seibal was reduced to being a vassal state until the destruction of the Petexbatun kingdom in the late 8th century AD. In AD 830 a new elite installed itself at the site with the arrival of Wat'ul Chatel from Ucanal to the east. This new arrival reinvigorated Seibal and allowed it to last to the dawn of the 10th century, well after the Classic Maya collapse had engulfed most of the region.

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Selva Lacandona
The Lacandon Jungle (Spanish: Selva Lacandona) is an area of rainforest which stretches from Chiapas, Mexico into Guatemala and into the southern part of the Yucatán Peninsula. The heart of this rainforest is located in the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas near the border with Guatemala in the Montañas del Oriente region of the state. Although most of the jungle outside the reserve has been partially or completely destroyed and damage continues inside the Reserve, the Lacandon is still the largest montane rainforest in North America and one of the last ones left large enough to support jaguars. It contains 1,500 tree species, 33% of all Mexican bird species, 25% of all Mexican animal species, 44% of all Mexican diurnal butterflies and 10% of all Mexico's fish species.
The Lacandon in Chiapas is also home to a number of important Mayan archeological sites including Palenque, Yaxchilan and Bonampak, with numerous smaller sites which remain partially or fully unexcavated. This rainforest, especially the area inside the Biosphere Reserve, is a source of political tension, pitting the EZLN or Zapatistas and their indigenous allies who want to farm the land against international environmental groups and the Lacandon Maya, the original indigenous group of the area and the one who has legal title to most of the lands in Montes Azules.

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Sian Ka'an
Sian Ka'an is a biosphere reserve in the municipality of Tulum in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It was established in 1986 and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
With the participation of scientists, technicians, students, fishermen, farmers, rural promotors and administrators, together with regional and international partners, have successfully carried out more than 200 conservation projects basing all conservation actions on scientific and technical information for planning and implementing environmental policies and the proposal of viable solutions for sustainable use of natural resources and focusing their efforts established within eight protected natural areas that include the reefs of Banco Chinchorro, and Xcalak at South of Quintana Roo, Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Cancun, the island of Cozumel that is located in front of Xcaret and Contoy Island up North, covering 780,000 acres (3,200 km²). These areas lie in parts of all seven Caribbean Sea coastal municipalities of the state, with the largest part being in eastern Felipe Carrillo Puerto Municipality, where the vast majority of Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve lies.

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Siltepec
San Lucas is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 32,457. It covers an area of 685.6 km² (265 sq mi).

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Simojovel
Simojovel is one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 31,615. It covers an area of 446.99 km².
The municipal seat is the town of Simojovel de Allende.
Until 1990 majority of the population worked on the harvest of coffee, nowadays mining and amber trade are the most important economic activities. It is also known for its extraordinary gastronomic traditions inherited from their ancient Mayan ancestors. Specially, for cooking 'zats' a tree worm that grows in 'caulote' trees typical of the region (known there as 'tapaculo'), also the 'yervamora' an exquisite seasonal vegetable, a chili variety 'simojovel' native to the town region, and the infamous 'suy' prepared food.
Native inhabitants of Simojovel do not allow tourists or foreign visitors neither interviews, as a measure to protect their patrimony and non-ethical profit. However, people is warm and friendly if you happen to walk pass.

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Sitalá
Sitalá is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 7,959. It covers an area of 178.9 km².

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Socoltenango
Socoltenango is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 15,171. It covers an area of 775 km².

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Solosuchiapa
Solosuchiapa is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 7,784. It covers an area of 362.7 km².

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Soyaló
Soyaló is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 7,767. It covers an area of 178.9 km².

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Suchiapa
Suchiapa is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 15,890. It covers an area of 355.2 km².

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Suchiate
Suchiate is a municipality in the Mexican state of Chiapas, on the border with Guatemala. It is in the Soconusco region, and is the southernmost municipality both in Chiapas and in all of Mexico. On the eastern edge of the municipality, flowing from north to south, is the Río Suchiate, which forms the international border. Two communities within the municipality are border crossings with Guatemala, Ciudad Hidalgo and Talismán. Ciudad Hidalgo is the municipal seat and has a customs house at the border. Suchiate reported a 2010 census population of 35,056 persons. It has a land area of 606.1 km² (234.0 sq mi).
The largest localities (cities, towns, and villages) are:
Coordinates: 14°40′45″N 92°08′59″W / 14.67917°N 92.14972°W / 14.67917; -92.14972

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Sunuapa
Sunuapa is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 1,936. It covers an area of 178.9 km².

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Takalik Abaj
Tak'alik Ab'aj (K'iche': [takʼaˈlik aˈɓaχ] ( listen); Spanish: [takaˈlik aˈβax]; English: /tɑːkəˈliːk əˈbɑː/) is a pre-Columbian archaeological site in Guatemala; it was formerly known as Abaj Takalik; its ancient name may have been Kooja. It is one of several Mesoamerican sites with both Olmec and Maya features. The site flourished in the Preclassic and Classic periods, from the 9th century BC through to at least the 10th century AD, and was an important centre of commerce, trading with Kaminaljuyu and Chocolá. Investigations have revealed that it is one of the largest sites with sculptured monuments on the Pacific coastal plain. Olmec-style sculptures include a possible colossal head, petroglyphs and others. The site has one of the greatest concentrations of Olmec-style sculpture outside of the Gulf of Mexico.
Takalik Abaj is representative of the first blossoming of Maya culture that had occurred by about 400 BC. The site includes a Maya royal tomb and examples of Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions that are among the earliest from the Maya region. Excavation is continuing at the site; the monumental architecture and persistent tradition of sculpture in a variety of styles suggest the site was of some importance.

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Tamarindito
Tamarindito is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located along an escarpment in the Petén department of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Petexbatún region of the southwestern Petén during the Early Classic period but was displaced by the newly founded conquest state of Dos Pilas. In the 8th century Tamarindito turned on its new overlord and defeated it. After the destruction of the Dos Pilas kingdom the region descended into chaos and suffered rapid population decline. The city was all but abandoned by the 9th century AD.
Tamarindito was the third largest city in the Petexbatún region. The site was one of the earliest cities established in the area of the Pasion River, together with Altar de Sacrificios and Tres Islas. Tamarindito was also the first site in the Petexbatún region to gain the right to use its own Emblem Glyph.
Archaeologists have excavated a Late Classic royal tomb from beneath one of the temples at the site, although the burial had been damaged by the collapse of the vaulted ceiling it still contained one of the richest funerary offerings in the entire Petexbatún region.

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Tapachula
Tapachula is a city and municipality located in the far southwest of the state of Chiapas in Mexico, near the Guatemalan border and the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the most important cities of Chiapas economically as the capital of the agriculturally rich Soconusco region as well as port for trade between Mexico and Central America. The city was established by the Aztecs but most of its economic importance has come since the late 19th century with the establishment of coffee plantations. This agricultural production began a history of migration into the area which continues to this day and has left the city with a significant Asian cultural presence.
The city of Tapachula is capital of the Chiapas region of Soconusco with the nickname of the “pearl of the Soconusco.” The name “Tapachula” comes from Nahuatl and means “between the waters” due to the area’s frequent flooding. It is located on a low lying coastal plain with various small rivers about 120 meters above sea level.

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Tapalapa
Tapalapa is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 3,639. It covers an area of 32.3 km².

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Tapilula
Tapilula is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 10,349. It covers an area of 126.7 km².

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Tayasal
Tayasal is a Maya archaeological site located in present day Guatemala. The bulk of the site’s artifacts date to the Postclassic Period. As many as fifty burials and twelve caches have been recovered from Tayasal. There is currently some debate among scholars about whether the location of the ethnohistoric Tayasal is actually the modern site of Topoxte, Guatemala. The ethnohistory records Lake Peten Itza as the site of Tayasal, but archaeologically, Lake Yaxha, where Topoxte is located, fits the data better.

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Tazumal
Tazumal is a Pre-Columbian Maya archeological site in Chalchuapa, El Salvador. Tazumal means, "the place where the victims were burned," in K'iche'.
The site is located in the heart of Chalchuapa in the department of Santa Ana, some 60 kilometers from the capital, San Salvador. This zone is within the archaeological area of Chalchuapa, which covers an approximate area of 10 km² and where other archaeological sites such as Pampe, Casa Blanca, Trapiche and Las Victorias are also located. Chalchuapa is a site which shows evidence of being influenced by Copán in Honduras, and also shares some stylistic elements that are more characteristic of central Mexican sites, such as Teotihuacan and the "Toltec"-style architecture at Tula.^{[citation needed]}
Tazumal includes a series of Maya ruins, including ceremonial architecture, that date to about AD 100-1200. The site includes an intricate water drainage system, a few tombs, adjacent minor pyramids, palaces and excavated ritual objects. Tazumal had a long and uninterrupted occupational history, from AD 100 until AD 1200, although its greatest development corresponds to the Classic period (AD 250–900). Around AD 900, the Toltec style pyramid in evidence today was constructed; a large ballcourt was also built at this time. The site was abandoned around AD 1200.

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Tecpatán
Tecpatán is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 38,383. It covers an area of 770.1 km².

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Tenejapa
Tenejapa is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 33,161. It covers an area of 99.4 km².

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Teopisca
Teopisca is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 26,996. It covers an area of 174 km².

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Teotihuacan
Coordinates: 19°41′33″N 98°50′37.68″W / 19.6925°N 98.8438°W / 19.6925; -98.8438
Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with a Spanish orthographic accent on the last syllable – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Apart from the pyramidal structures, Teotihuacan is also known for its large residential complexes, the Avenue of the Dead, and numerous colorful, well-preserved murals. Additionally, Teotihuacan produced a thin orange pottery style that spread through Mesoamerica.
The city is thought to have been established around 100 BC and continued to be built until about 250 AD. The city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD. At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population of perhaps 125,000 or more, placing it among the largest cities of the world in this period. Teotihuacan began as a new religious center in the Mexican Highland around the first century AD. This city came to be the largest and most populated center in the New World. Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population. The civilization and cultural complex associated with the site is also referred to as Teotihuacan or Teotihuacano.

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Tequila, Jalisco
Santiago de Tequila (Spanish pronunciation: [teˈkila], Nahuatl: Tequillan, Tecuila "place of tribute") is a town and municipality located in the state of Jalisco about 60 km from the city of Guadalajara. Tequila is best known as being the birthplace of the drink that bears its name, “tequila,” which is made from the blue agave plant, native to this area. The heart of the plant contains sugars and had been used by native peoples here to make a fermented drink. After the Spanish arrived, they took this fermented beverage and distilled it, producing the tequila known today. The popularity of the drink and the history behind it has made town and the area surrounding it a World Heritage Site. It was also named a "Pueblo Mágico" (Magical Town) in 2003 by the Mexican federal government. Tequila has also been famous for being the prime setting in the successful Televisa telenovela Destilando Amor, starring Angélica Rivera and Eduardo Yáñez.
The name comes from an ancient language called pedik and mean drink of life. The coat of arms of the municipality was officially adopted on 31 December 1983 by the municipal council. It contain the Latin phrase ALMA LAETA NOBILIS, meaning “great and noble soul.” Its representative symbols include the tower of the main church in the town of Tequila, the chimneys of the distilleries, the agave plant and Tequila Mountain.

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Tikal
Tikal (or Tik’al according to the modern Mayan orthography) is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centres of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala. Situated in the department of El Petén, the site is part of Guatemala's Tikal National Park and in 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Tikal was the capital of a conquest state that became one of the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient Maya. Though monumental architecture at the site dates back as far as the 4th century BC, Tikal reached its apogee during the Classic Period, ca. 200 to 900 AD. During this time, the city dominated much of the Maya region politically, economically, and militarily, while interacting with areas throughout Mesoamerica such as the great metropolis of Teotihuacan in the distant Valley of Mexico. There is evidence that Tikal was conquered by Teotihuacan in the 4th century AD. Following the end of the Late Classic Period, no new major monuments were built at Tikal and there is evidence that elite palaces were burned. These events were coupled with a gradual population decline, culminating with the site’s abandonment by the end of the 10th century.

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Tila, Chiapas
Tila is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 58,153. It covers an area of 705.5 km².
Tila was founded in 1564 by Fray Pedro Lorenzo de la Nada. In 1677 was a parish, and the documents of that time express the abuses of a Catholic priest, Father Cuevas, "a man with racist frustrations" who physically punished the indigenous inhabitants. In 1712 there was organized in Tila an uprising against the Spanish Authorities because of tax policies. In July 1829 the governor Emeterio Pineda granted Tila the category of "Villa". The postal service was founded in 1833. In 1920 there were made formalities that lasted for 10 years in Mexico and in Tuxtla Gutierrez to create in Tila the category of "ejidos" or communal land. In 1930 Tila became an Ejido of Chiapas. Since then on there coexists in Tila two main authorities, represented by the Commissioner Ejidal and by the municipal president. In the year 2005 there was a conflict by representatives of both authorities that divided the Tila between "ejiditarios" (indigenous owners of communal lands) and "pobladores" (new mestizo people who bought plots of land from former indigenous owners).

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Tonalá, Chiapas
Tonalá is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 78,438. It covers an area of 1766.2 km².

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Toniná
Tonina (or Toniná in Spanish orthography) is a pre-Columbian archaeological site and ruined city of the Maya civilization located in what is now the Mexican state of Chiapas, some 13 km (8.1 mi) east of the town of Ocosingo.
The site is medium to large, with groups of temple-pyramids set on terraces rising some 71 metres (233 ft) above a plaza, a large court for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame, and over 100 carved monuments, most dating from the 6th century through the 9th centuries AD, duiring the Classic period. Toniná is distinguished by its well preserved stucco sculptures and particularly by its in-the-round carved monuments, produced to an extent not seen in Mesoamerica since the end of the much earlier Olmec civilization.
Toniná was an aggressive state in the Late Classic, using warfare to develop a powerful kingdom. For much of its history, Toniná was engaged in sporadic warfare with Palenque, its greatest rival and one of the most important polities in the west of the Maya region, although Toniná eventually became the dominant city in the west.

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Topoxte
Topoxte (or Topoxté in Spanish orthography) is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in the Petén Basin in northern Guatemala with a long occupational history dating as far back as the Middle Preclassic. As the capital of the Ko’woj Maya, it was the largest of the few Postclassic Mesoamerican sites in the area. Topoxte is located on an island on Yaxha Lake across from the important Classic period center of Yaxha.
Topoxte was named by Teobert Maler in 1904; the name means "seed of the Ramón tree." There is no record of the name Topoxte prior to this. The Ramón tree, commonly known as breadnut, was an important component of the ancient Maya diet. Prior to this the site was known as Islapag, as noted in 1831 by Juan Galindo in his report to the Society of Antiquaries of London.
Topoxte occupies five of a cluster of six islands at the western end of Lake Yaxha in the municipality of Melchor de Mencos in the eastern part of the Guatemalan department of Petén. Due to the extreme fluctuations of the water level of the lake, these islands can sometimes become landlocked. The principal occupation existed on the three islands named Topoxte, Cante and Paxte. When the water level was higher the lake was connected via a natural canal to the neighbouring Lake Sacnab, which lies to the east. Three smaller lakes lie to the west, from west to east they are lakes Chompoxte, Colorada and Coloradita.

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Totolapa
Totolapa is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 5,513. It covers an area of 186.3 km².

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Tulum
Tulum (Yucatec: Tulu'um) is the site of a Pre-Columbian Maya walled city serving as a major port for Cobá. The ruins are situated on 12-meter (39 ft) tall cliffs, along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Tulum was one of the last cities inhabited and built by the Mayans, it was at its height between the 13th and 15th centuries and managed to survive about 70 years after the Spanish began occupying Mexico. Old World diseases brought by the Spanish settlers appear to have been the cause of its demise. One of the best-preserved coastal Maya sites, Tulum is today a popular site for tourists.
The Maya site may formerly have been known by the name Zama, meaning City of Dawn because it faces the sunrise. Tulum stands on a bluff facing east towards the Caribbean Sea. Tulúm is also the Yucatan Mayan word for fence, wall or trench, and the walls surrounding the site allowed the Tulum fort to be defended against invasions. Tulum had access to both land and sea trade routes, making it an important trade hub, especially for obsidian. From numerous depictions in murals and other works around the site, Tulum appears to have been an important site for the worship of the Diving or Descending god. Tulum had an estimated population of 1,000 to 1,600 inhabitants.

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Tumbalá
Tumbalá is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico. As of 2005, the municipality had a population of 26,866 . It covers an area of 109.3 km².

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Tuxtla Chico
Tuxtla Chico is a town and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 33,467, with 6,722 in the municipal seat. It covers an area of 857 km².

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Tuxtla Gutiérrez
Tuxtla Gutiérrez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtustla ɣuˈtjeres]) is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Chiapas. It is considered to be the state’s most modern city, with most of its public buildings dating from the 20th century. One exception to this is the San Marcos Cathedral which began as a Dominican parish church built in 1560 for Zoque natives. Prior to this, there had been no significant settlement on the site.
As there was no pre Hispanic settlement at the site, the first half of the name, “Tuxtla” refers to the valley area. Originally, this valley was called Coyotoc by the native Zoque population, which means “land or house of rabbits.” The Aztecs intruded into the area and named it “Tochtlán” which means the same thing. “Gutiérrez” was added to the city’s name in 1848 to honor Joaquín Miguel Gutiérrez, a Liberal politician.
After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, and the subjugation of the Chiapa people in 1528, the Dominicans constructed a monastery in nearby Tecpatán, which today is an independent municipality. There is no official founding date for Tuxtla, but it is known that in the middle of the 16th century, these monks gathered dispersed Zoques in the valley into communities centered on churches. Today’s San Marcos Cathedral is the parish church founded by the Dominicans for one of these communities in 1560. During much of the colonial era, this was a relatively small community, governed by nearby Chiapa de los Indios, today Chiapa de Corzo.

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Tuzantán
Tuzantán is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 23,180. It covers an area of 64.6 km².

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Tzimol
Tzimol is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 11,925. It covers an area of 32.3 km².
People living in Tzimol is a descendant of the ancient inhabitants of Escuintenango, missing population was located on the left bank of the upper Grijalva, whose name means exactly nahoa "fortified place of dogs." Some researchers (Culebro among them) believe that Comitan down several families (Gordillo, Abbey, Pinto, Guillén) which founded the villages of Mamantic, Las Margaritas and Islapa, those growing up had the idea to merge with the native Tojolabales formed the present town of Tzimol. In contemporary times, and according to the testimony of its own people, Tzimol participated in the events of the Mexican Revolution that shook the state, some of these historical facts as the stage had its own geographical area.

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Unión Juárez
Unión Juárez is a town and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 13,934. It covers an area of 268.3 km².

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Uxbenka
Uxbenka (or Uxbenká in Spanish orthography) is a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site located in Belize's southernmost district of Toledo. An urban settlement of the pre-Columbian Maya, it is the earliest-known Maya polity in the southern Belizean lowlands, with evidence of occupation dating to the Early Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology (ca. 250–500 CE). It is one of five major Maya sites in this region, which archaeological sites also include Nim Li Punit and Lubaantun. Settlement of Uxbenka has been suggested to have occurred originally by Peten peoples.

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Villa Comaltitlán
Villa Comaltitlán is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 26,706. It covers an area of 72 km².

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Villa Corzo
Villa Corzo is a town and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
The only urban area is the Villa Corzo City (municipal seat). (16 ° 11'N 93 ° 16'W / 16,183, 93,267 and 580 meters.)
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 68,685. It covers an area of 4,026.7 km².

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Villaflores, Chiapas
Villaflores is a town and municipio (municipality) in the state of Chiapas, southern Mexico, and the name of its largest settlement and seat of the municipal government. Situated in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas range, the municipality has an area of approximately 1232km² at an average elevation of 540m above mean sea level. The total population of the municipality as recorded in the II Conteo de Población y Vivienda 2005 census conducted in October 2005 by INEGI was a little over 93,000.

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Xcaret
Xcaret is a Maya civilization archaeological site located on the Caribbean coastline of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the modern-day state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. The site was occupied by the pre-Columbian Maya and functioned as a port for navigation and an important Maya trading center. Some of the site's original structures are contained within a modern-day tourism development, the privately owned Xcaret Eco Park."While Xcaret [Eco Park] offers many tourist packages, ranging from about $75 and over, a visitor can request to visit the archaeological ruins only for about four dollars according to an agreement with the Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Historia (INAH). However, park officials report that only about one person every three months requests that opportunity."
Xcaret means "small inlet" in Mayan. Its name comes from its situation next to a small inlet that in the past served as a strategic location for navigation and commerce for the Maya. The original name of the site was p'ole', from the root p'ol that means "merchandise" or "deal of merchants", which gives an idea of the economical relevance of the site.

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Xelha
Xelha (Spanish: Xelhá; Yucatec Maya: Xel-Há) is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization from pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, located on the eastern coastline of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the present-day state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The etymology of the site's name comes from Yukatek Maya, combining the roots xel ("spring") and ha' ("water").
The site of Xelha is located south of the modern township of Playa del Carmen, in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico.
The evidence is inconclusive concerning a founding date for Xel-Ha, but it was occupied by the 1st Century and active during Classic and Postclassic times, with most of the buildings being rebuilt in the Late Postclassic. It was probably not fully abandoned until the 19th Century. A stela with an Early Classic date of 9.6.10.0.0 (AD 564) from Xel-Ha was discovered in 1841 by Stephens and Catherwood.
Xelha was one of several key ports of the Maya city of Coba; others included Tancah and Tulum. It was likely used as a point of intercultural exchange between the Maya and other sea-navigating peoples between the 7th and 12th centuries, and eventually was a beacon to which European colonial navigators were drawn.

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Xlapak
Xlapak (or Xlapac) is a small Maya archaeological site in the Yucatan Peninsula of southeastern Mexico. It is located in the heart of the Puuc region, about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the archaeological site of Labná and a similar distance from Sayil, lying directly between the two sites. It consists of three main groups in a valley of the Puuc Hills in Yucatán State, a region of karst limestone forming the only major topographical feature of the peninsula. The closest town is Oxkutzcab, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) to the northeast.
The site dates from the Late to Terminal Classic periods and was sited in an area suitable for agriculture.
Restoration at Xlapak, and other nearby archaeological sites, was carried out in the first half of the 20th century by the Mexican Instituto de Antropologia e Historia (Institute of Anthropology and History). Further archaeological investigation was carried out in 1965 under the direction of César A. Sáenz.
The site core is located in the flat valley bottom, while in the surrounding hills the remains of perishable structures have been found.

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Xochicalco
Xochicalco (Nahuatl pronunciation: [ʃotʃiˈkaɬko]) is a pre-Columbian archaeological site in the Municipality of Miacatlán in the western part of the Mexican state of Morelos. The name Xochicalco may be translated from Nahuatl as "in the (place of the) house of Flowers". The site is located 38 km southwest of Cuernavaca, about 76 miles by road from Mexico City. The site is open to visitors all week, from 10 am to 5 pm, although access to the observatory is only allowed after noon. The apogee of Xochicalco came after the fall of Teotihuacan and it has been speculated that Xochicalco may have played a part in the fall of the Teotihuacan empire.
The architecture and iconography of Xochicalco show affinities with Teotihuacan, the Maya area, and the Matlatzinca culture of the Toluca Valley. Today some residents of the nearby village of Cuentepec speak Nahuatl.
The main ceremonial center is atop an artificially leveled hill, with remains of residential structures, mostly unexcavated, on long terraces covering the slopes. The site was first occupied by 200 BC, but did not develop into an urban center until the Epiclassic period (AD 700 – 900). Nearly all the standing architecture at the site was built at this time. At its peak, the city may have had a population of up to 20,000 people.

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Xochimilco
Xochimilco (Spanish IPA: [ʃotʃiˈmilko]) is one of the sixteen delegaciones or boroughs within Mexican Federal District. The borough is centered on the formerly independent city of Xochimilco, which was established on what was the southern shore of Lake Xochimilco in the pre-Hispanic period. Today, the borough consists of the eighteen “barrios” or neighborhoods of this city along with fourteen “pueblos” or villages that surround it, covering an area of 125 km² (48 sq mi). While the borough is somewhat in the geographic center of the Federal District, it is considered to be “south” and has an identity separate from the historic center of Mexico City. This is due to its historic separation from that city during most of its history. Xochimilco is best known for its canals, which are left from what was an extensive lake and canal system which connected most of the settlements of the Valley of Mexico. These canals, along with artificial islands called chinampas attract tourists and other city residents to ride on colorful gondola like boats called “trajineras” around the 170 km (110 mi) of canals. This canal and chinampa system, as a vestige of the area’s pre-Hispanic past, has made Xochimilco a World Heritage Site; however, environmental degradation of both the canals and the chinampas is severe and ongoing, putting that status in question for the future.

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Xpuhil
Xpuhil Pronounced:/ʃpuχil̥/ (also Xpujil) is a Maya archaeological site located in the Mexican state of Campeche, in the vicinity of the modern-day town of Xpujil. The area surrounding Xpuhil, along Federal Highway 186, is rich with other Maya sites, including Becan and Calakmul.
The name xpuhil means "cat's tail" in reference to a type of vegetation found locally.
Evidence at the site indicates settlement as early as 400 BC. The pre-Columbian inhabitants of Xpuhil reached their zenith between AD 500 and 750, and went into decline around 1100.
Xpuhil was rediscovered in the late 1930s. To date, 17 groups of constructions have been uncovered, which mostly follow Río Bec architectural canons. Structure I is of particular interest because it is not in the Río Bec style, with its three towers and atypical distribution of interior spaces.
Media related to Xpuhil at Wikimedia Commons
Coordinates: 18°30′38″N 89°24′21″W / 18.510581°N 89.405869°W / 18.510581; -89.405869

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Xunantunich
Xunantunich (pronounced /ʃunantunit͡ʃ/) is an Ancient Mayan archaeological site in western Belize, about 80 miles (130 km) west of Belize City, in the Cayo District. Xunantunich is located atop a ridge above the Mopan River, well within sight of the Guatemala border – which is a mere 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) to the west. It served as a Maya civic ceremonial center in the Late and Terminal Classic periods to the Belize Valley region. At this time, when the region was at its’ peak, nearly 200,000 people lived in Belize .
Xunantunich’s name means "Stone Woman" in the Maya language (Mopan and Yucatec combination name), and, like many names given to Maya archaeological sites, is a modern name; the ancient name is currently unknown. The "Stone Woman" refers to the ghost of a woman claimed by several people to inhabit the site, beginning in 1892. She is dressed completely in white, and has fire-red glowing eyes. She generally appears in front of "El Castillo", ascends the stone stairs, and disappears into a stone wall.

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Yajalón
Yajalón is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 26,044. It covers an area of 162.3 km².

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Yaxchilan
Yaxchilan (also sometimes historically referred to by the names Menché and City Lorillard) is an ancient Maya city located on the bank of the Usumacinta River in what is now the state of Chiapas, Mexico. In the Late Classic Period Yaxchilan was one of the most powerful Maya states along the course of the Usumacinta, with Piedras Negras as its major rival.Architectural styles in subordinate sites in the Usumacinta region demonstrate clear differences that mark a clear boundary between the two kingdoms.
Yaxchilan was a large center, important throughout the Classic era, and the dominant power of the Usumacinta River area. It dominated such smaller sites as Bonampak, and had a long rivalry with Piedras Negras and at least for a time with Tikal; it was a rival of Palenque, with which Yaxchilan warred in 654.
The site is particularly known for its well-preserved sculptured stone lintels set above the doorways of the main structures. These lintels, together with the stelae erected before the major buildings, contain hieroglyphic texts describing the dynastic history of the city.

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Yaxha

Yaxha (or Yaxhá in Spanish orthography) is a Mesoamerican archaeological site in the northeast of the Petén Basin region, and a former ceremonial center and city of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. Located in the modern-day department of Petén, northern Guatemala, it is approximately 30 km (18.6 mi) southeast from Tikal, between the Yahxá and Sacnab lakes. It shares a unique relationship with two other cities (Nakum and Naranjo); together they form a triangle in the midst of which there are other minor sites. This area forms the core of the designated Cultural Triangle Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo National Park.
The site has more than 500 structures, including 40 stelae, 13 Altars, 9 Temple Pyramids, 2 Mesoamerican ballcourts, and a network of sacbeob (causeways) that connect the central, northern (Maler), and eastern 'acropoleis', and the Lake causeway that was the main entrance in the past. The top of Temple 216 (restored) provides a view of the two lakes on one side and the jungle and the stepped-pyramids on the other.

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Yo'okop
Yo'okop is an ancient Maya city located in the Cochuah region of central Quintana Roo, Mexico. This area is best known as the center of the Caste War of Yucatán waged during the 19th century, that resulted in an independent Maya state governed from the city of Chan Santa Cruz.
The site was first publicized by the archaeologist Herbert Spinden along with the New York Times journalist Gregory Mason during the 1920s, but intensive scrutiny did not begin until the 21st century. Recent archaeological work at Yo’okop has revealed that it was a large and significant urban center before the Spanish Conquest. It was continuously inhabited from the Formative Period through the Postclassic Period, as revealed by the presence of datable ceramic sherds and architecture. The name of the site, Yo’okop refers to a large shallow lake at the southern end of the settlement. (“Yo” is an article and “Okop” means lake. In older scholarship the site is referred to without the article as Okop.)
The grandeur of Yo’okop can be demonstrated by the fact that the site contains a pyramid (S4W1-1) overgrown with vegetation that is 28 meters tall—only two meters shorter than the celebrated Castillo of Chichen Itza. The site is organized around four groups of architecture made from stone and other enduring materials. These groups are connected with raised roads (sacbeob). The areas between these larger groups contained houses made from perishable materials that are no longer easy to see.

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Zacatecas, Zacatecas
Zacatecas (Spanish pronunciation: [sakaˈtekas]) is a city and municipality in Mexico, and the capital of the state of Zacatecas. It is located in the north central part of the country. The city had its start as a Spanish mining camp in the mid 16th century. Prior to this, the area's rich deposits in silver and other minerals were known. Due to the wealth that the mines provided, Zacatecas quickly became one of the most important cities in New Spain, with much of it silver enriching the Spanish crown. The area saw battles during the turbulent 19th century, but the next major event was the Battle of Zacatecas during the Mexican Revolution when Francisco Villa took the town. This event is still celebrated annually. Today, the city center is a World Heritage Site, due to the Baroque and other structures built during its mining heyday and mining still remains an important industry. The name Zacatecas is derived from the Zacateco people and has its roots in Nahuatl. The name literally means "people of the grasslands."

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Zacpeten

Zacpeten is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in Petén Department, northern Guatemala. It is notable as one of the few Maya communities that maintained their independence through the early phases of Spanish control over Mesoamerica.
The site of Zacpeten occupies a peninsula on Lake Salpeten in Peten in Northern Guatemala.It has been sporadically inhabited by Mayan peoples since the initial settlement during the Middle Preclassic (1000 – 300 BC). After abandonment during Late Preclassic and Early Classic, the site was resettled from the Late to Terminal Classic (A.D. 600 – 950). Abandoned again, it was reoccupied in the Late Postclassic by the Mayan peoples who survived the unexplained 10th century collapse of Classic Mayan Civilisation and migrated from Mayapan in Yucatán after the collapse of this city in the fifteenth century. These people, the Ko'woj Maya, brought their distinctive pottery and constructed typical Mayapan temple assemblages with a raised shrine lying at a right angle to a western facing temple rather than facing it,a very different pattern to ceremonial architecture outside central Peten. This civilisation flourished and remained independent of Spanish domination until late into the 17th century, usually recorded as 1697.

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Zaculeu
Zaculeu or Saqulew is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in the highlands of western Guatemala, about 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi) outside of the modern city of Huehuetenango. Occupation at the site dates back as far as the Early Classic period (AD 250–600) of Mesoamerican history. Zaculeu was the capital of the Postclassic Mam kingdom, and was conquered by the K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj, displaying a mixture of Mam and K'iche' style architecture. In AD 1525 the city was attacked by Spanish conquistadors under Gonzalo de Alvarado y Contreras during a siege that lasted several months. Kayb'il B'alam, the city's last ruler, finally surrendered due to starvation.
The site contains a number of temple-pyramids with talud-tablero style architecture and double stairways. The pyramids and governmental palaces are grouped around a series of plazas, and the site also possesses a ballcourt for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame. The site was originally fortified with walls.
The site was restored by the United Fruit Company in the late 1940s. It is open to tourists and includes a small museum.

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Zapote Bobal
Zapote Bobal is the modern name for a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site located south of the San Pedro Martir river in the Petén department of Guatemala. The name Zapote Bobal was coined by archaeologist Ian Graham, who discovered the site in the 1970s. It refers to the large number of Zapote Bobo (Pachira aquatica) trees, which grow near abundant sources of water in the Petén Basin. The site languished in archaeological obscurity until 2003, when epigrapher David Stuart connected the archaeological site of Zapote Bobal with a name repeatedly mentioned in the inscriptions of sites like Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan. That name was the toponym Hix Witz, or "Jaguar Hill" Scholars had recognized this name for over 20 years, and its connection to a real place prompted the creation of an archaeological project at Zapote Bobal in 2003, the Proyecto Peten Noroccidente (PNO). It is currently directed by James Fitzsimmons (Middlebury College) and Laura Gamez (University of Pittsburgh).
Built atop a leveled natural hill 1 kilometer long and 700 meters wide, the center of the site is characterized by a royal palace, several temple-pyramids, and elite residences. The site is noteworthy for its numerous monuments to the ancient Maya kings. Immediately outside this center are several mound groups, including one characterized by a pyramid 35 meters in height.

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Zinacantán
San Lorenzo Zinacantán is a municipio (municipality) in the southern part of the Central Chiapas highlands in the Mexican state of Chiapas. About 98% of its population are Tzotzil Maya, an indigenous people with linguistic and cultural ties to other highland Maya peoples.
Zinacantán literally means "land of bats" and comes from the Nahuatl language. People in Zinacantán speak Tzotzil (a Mayan language) and they call their own land "Sots'leb", that is, "land of bats" in their own language.
Many feasts are celebrated during the year. In every feast men are in charge of the celebration -- they are: martomoetik, alperesetik, and moletik. The first two of these three names are loan words from the Spanish mayordomos and alférez, respectively. They have to pay whatever is needed in order to celebrate the feasts. These three kinds of cargos (“charges”) are in fact a hierarchy. They constitute an ascending scale in the same order as they are described below. One can never become one of the moletik if he hasn't been a martomo first and then an alperes. These charges are just for men, although their wives have important roles in their husbands' charges. There are twelve martomoetik, twelve alperesetik and six moletik, who are chosen by the inhabitants of Zinacantan every year. Each one has a different feast assigned to him during the year, although they each have to assist in every feast throughout the year.

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Alfred Maudslay
Alfred Percival Maudslay (March 18, 1850 – January 22, 1931) was a British colonial diplomat, explorer and archaeologist. He was one of the first Europeans to study Mayan ruins.
Maudslay was born at Lower Norwood Lodge, near London, England into a wealthy engineering family descended from Henry Maudslay. He was educated at Royal Tunbridge Wells and Harrow School, and studied natural sciences at Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1868-72, where he was acquainted with John Willis Clark, then Secretary of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society.
After graduation, Maudslay enrolled in medical school but left because of acute bronchitis. He moved to Trinidad, becoming private secretary to Governor William Cairns, and transferred with Cairns to Queensland. He subsequently moved to Fiji to work with Sir Arthur Gordon, its governor, and helped campaign against rebellious local tribes. Later he served as British consul in Tonga and Samoa. In February 1880, Maudslay resigned from the colonial service to pursue his own interests, having spent six years in the British Pacific colonies. He then joined his siblings in Calcutta during their round-the-world trip, returned to Britain in December, and then set out for Guatemala via British Honduras.

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Antonio del Río
Antonio del Río (c. 1745 – c. 1789) was a captain who led the first excavation of the Mayan ruins of Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico. The expedition was undertaken in 1787 for Charles III of Spain, following reports of the ruins from native inhabitants. It took the team two weeks to dig, and it then spent three weeks studying the site. He was accompanied by Ricardo Almendáriz who created drawings of the ruins still considered scientifically useful.

wn.com/Antonio_del_Río
Casas Grandes
Casas Grandes (Spanish for Great Houses; also known as Paquimé) is the contemporary name given to a pre-Columbian archaeological zone and its central site, located in northwestern Mexico in the modern-day Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is one of the largest and most complex sites in the region. Developed as multi-storied dwellings about 1350 CE after earlier settlement beginning after 1130 CE, the community was abandoned approximately 1450 CE. Regarded as one of the most significant archaeological zones in the northwestern region, Casas Grandes is located in a wide, fertile valley on the Casas Grandes or San Miguel River, 35 miles (56 km) south of Janos and 150 miles (240 km) northwest of the state capital, the city of Chihuahua. The settlement relied on irrigation to support its agriculture. Casas Grandes has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The archaeological zone is contained within the eponymous modern municipio (municipality) of Casas Grandes. The valley and region have been inhabited by indigenous groups for thousands of years.

wn.com/Casas_Grandes
Casper (Maya ruler)
"Casper" (August 8, 422 – 487?), also known as 11 Rabbit, was a ruler of the Maya city of Palenque from 435 to 487. He was the immediate successor of K'uk' B'alam I, who founded the ruling dynasty.
Casper came to power in August 435 at the age of 13 and ruled the city for 52 years. Only Pacal the Great is recorded to have ruled Palenque longer.
The real name of the ruler has not been deciphered. He was given the nickname Casper by Mayanist scholar Floyd Lounsbury because his name glyph is said to resemble the cartoon character Casper the Friendly Ghost.

wn.com/Casper_(Maya_ruler)
David Freidel
David A. Freidel (born 11 July 1946) is an American academic archaeologist, Mayanist scholar and author. He is best known for the books he co-authored with Linda Schele, Maya Cosmos and Forest of Kings. Freidel received both his B. A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from Harvard University. He is married to Carolyn Sargent, an anthropology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, and has two daughters.

wn.com/David_Freidel
David H. Kelley
David Humiston Kelley (April 1, 1924, Albany, New York – May 19, 2011) was a Canadian American archaeologist and epigrapher, most noted for his work on the phonetic analysis and major contributions toward the decipherment of the writing system used by the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, the Maya script.
From the late 1950s, he was one of the first Mayanist scholars to give credence to the theories of the Russian linguist and ethnographer Yuri Knorozov concerning the phonetic and syllabic nature of the Maya script, which would later lead to breakthroughs in the script's decipherment. Kelley's landmark 1962 paper, Phoneticism in the Maya Script, would provide important corroborating data of the phonetic interpretation of Maya glyphs, which ran counter to the then-prevailing view that the script lacked phonetic elements.
In addition to his work on scripts and linguistics, he worked on calendrics and archaeoastronomy, particularly on application of archaeoastronomical data to the Maya calendar correlation problem. Kelley and Eugene Milone co-authored Exploring Ancient Skies: An Encyclopedic Survey of Archaeoastronomy (Springer, 2005).

wn.com/David_H._Kelley
Désiré Charnay
Claude-Joseph Désiré Charnay (2 May 1828 – 24 October 1915) was a French traveller and archaeologist notable both for his explorations of Mexico and Central America, and for the pioneering use of photography to document his discoveries.
He was born in Fleurie, and studied at the Lycée Charlemagne. In 1850, he became a teacher in New Orleans, Louisiana, and there became acquainted with John Lloyd Stephens's books of travel in Yucatan. He travelled in Mexico, under a commission from the French ministry of education, in 1857-1861; in Madagascar in 1863; in South America, particularly Chile and Argentina, in 1875; and in Java and Australia in 1878. In 1880-1883, he again visited the ruined cities of Mexico. Pierre Lorillard IV of New York City contributed to defray the expense of this expedition, and Charnay named a great ruined city near the Guatemalan boundary line "Ville Lorillard" in his honor; the name did not stick and the site is more commonly known as Yaxchilan. Charnay went to Yucatan in 1886.

wn.com/Désiré_Charnay
Elizabeth P. Benson
Elizabeth P. Benson (born May 13, 1924) is an American art historian, curator and scholar, known for her extensive contributions over a long career to the study of pre-Columbian art, in particular that of Mesoamerica and the Andes. A former Andrew S. Keck Distinguished Visiting Professor of Art History at the American University in Washington, D.C., Benson had also a long association with the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, where she served both as director of pre-Columbian studies and as curator of the institution's collection of pre-Columbian artworks.

wn.com/Elizabeth_P._Benson
Floyd Lounsbury
Floyd Glenn Lounsbury (April 25, 1914 - May 14, 1998) was an American linguist, anthropologist and Mayanist scholar and epigrapher, best known for his work on linguistic and cultural systems of a variety of North and South American languages. Equally important were his contributions to understanding the hieroglyphs, culture and history of the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.
Lounsbury was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin to John Glenn Lounsbury and Anna Louise Jorgensen. He was one of three children - he had a brother, Gordon, and a sister, Elva.
He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1941, majoring in Mathematics. During the period, Morris Swadesh was on the faculty, lecturing on American Indian linguistics. Lounsbury audited his courses, and when Swadesh received grants from the Works Progress Administration for a study of the Oneida Indian language and folk lore, he appointed Lounsbury as his assistant. When Swadesh left Wisconsin for Mexico City, Lounsbury took over as the director of the project. He created an orthography for the language, and taught it to students who gathered a variety of texts from Oneida language speakers. After the project, Lounsbury began work in 1940 on the phonology of the language for his Master's degree at the University.

wn.com/Floyd_Lounsbury
Frans Blom
Frans Blom (Frants Ferdinand Blom; August 9, 1893, Copenhagen – June 23, 1963, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico) was a Danish explorer and archaeologist.
Frans Blom was born in 1893 in Copenhagen, Denmark to a middle-class family of antique merchants. He was restless and started travelling eventually arriving in Mexico in 1919 where he found work in the oil industry as a paymaster. Travelling to remote locations in the Mexican jungle he became interested in the Maya ruins that he encountered where he was working. He started drawing and documenting these ruins. He was contracted by the Mexican National Museum of Anthropology which financed some of his expeditions. He met Sylvanus G. Morley who brought him to Harvard University in Boston and here he took a Masters degree in Archeology. He was employed at Tulane University in New Orleans and during his tenure here he undertook several expeditions to Mesoamerica. In 1923 his studies at Palenque documented a number of features neglected by earlier researchers. In 1924 Blom discovered the Maya archaeological site of Uaxactun in Guatemala. His explorations in around the Isthmus of Tehuantepec gave the first scholarly reports of a number of sites of the Olmec civilization. In 1926 he was made head of Tulane's newly established Department of Middle American Research.

wn.com/Frans_Blom
Frederick Catherwood
Frederick Catherwood (27 February 1799 – 27 September 1854) was an English artist and architect, best remembered for his meticulously detailed drawings of the ruins of the Maya civilization. He explored Mesoamerica in the mid 19th century with writer John Lloyd Stephens. Their books, Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatán and Incidents of Travel in Yucatán, were best sellers and introduced to the Western world the civilization of the ancient Maya.
Catherwood, having made many trips to the Mediterranean between 1824 and 1832 to draw the monuments made by the Egyptians, Carthaginians, and Phoenicians, stated that the monuments in the Americas bear no architectural similarity to those in the Old World. Thus, they must have been made by the native people of the area.
Catherwood made visits to Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and Palestine and with Joseph Bonomi the Younger made drawings and watercolors of the ancient remains there. During a six-week period in 1833, Catherwood was probably the first Westerner to make a detailed survey of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

wn.com/Frederick_Catherwood
Janaab' Pakal
Janaab' Pakal or Pakal I (died 9 March, 612CE) was a king of the Maya city-state of Palenque. Pakal means "shield".
His dynastic position is not entirely certain, though he may have been the father of Aj Ne' Yohl Mat. It seems that he never ascended to the high-kingship in his own right.
He was the father of Lady Sak K'uk', one of the rare queens regnant of Maya history. His wife was Yohl Ik'nal.
He should not be confused with his grandson, K'inich Janaab' Pakal, who during a long reign if some 68 years was responsible for the construction or extension of some of Palenque's most notable surviving inscriptions and monumental architecture.

wn.com/Janaab'_Pakal
Jorge R. Acosta
Jorge R. Acosta (1904–5 March 1975) was a Mexican archaeologist who worked on numerous major archaeological sites in Mesoamerica, including Chichen Itza, Teotihuacán, Oaxaca, Palenque, Monte Albán and Tula. His excavations at Tula were the first to prove that the ruins there were that of the legendary city of Tollan, the capital of the Toltec state. He also greatly influenced the practice of cultural conservation in Mexico.

wn.com/Jorge_R._Acosta
Juan Galindo
Juan Galindo (1802–1839) was a Central American explorer and army officer. He fought for Central American independence from Spain and led the charge that took the fortress at Omoa, the last Spanish stronghold in Central America.
Galindo was born in Dublin in 1802 as John Galindo. His father, Philemon Galindo was an Englishman of Spanish descent and his mother was Irish. He left for the New World before he was twenty and, although little is known about his early career, he appeared in Guatemala in 1827. His participation in the army of General Francisco Morazán led to him being made governor of Petén. He received a large land grant there and was charged with pacifying the Lacandon Maya.
Galindo's father was a government official in Costa Rica. Galindo worked for the government of the United Provinces of Central America. In addition to his military duties, his work included a stint as governor of Petén and diplomatic missions to Havana and the United States. During this time, he wrote accounts of local conditions, topography and landmarks.

wn.com/Juan_Galindo
Linda Schele
Linda Schele (30 October 1942 – 18 April 1998) was an expert in the field of Maya epigraphy and iconography. She played an invaluable role in the decipherment of much of the Maya hieroglyphics. She produced a massive volume of drawings of stelae and inscriptions, which, following her wishes, are free for use to scholars. In 1978, she founded the annual Maya Meetings at The University of Texas at Austin.
Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Linda Schele graduated from the University of Cincinnati in Education and Art in 1964, and obtained her post graduate degree in Art in 1968. She married David Schele in 1968, and started teaching Studio Art at the University of South Alabama, remaining there till 1980, by which time she was Professor.
She traveled with her husband, David Schele, to photograph Maya ruins in Yucatán on behalf of the University. An obligatory visit to Palenque turned into a 12 day stay after she was fascinated by the art, and she decided to investigate the culture and history of the ancient people who had created the city.

wn.com/Linda_Schele
Maya people
The Maya people constitute a diverse range of the Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America. The overarching term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the peoples of the region who share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage; however, the term embraces many distinct populations, societies, and ethnic groups, who each have their own particular traditions, cultures, and historical identity.
There are an estimated 7 million Maya living in this area at the start of the 21st century. Ethnic Maya of Guatemala, southern Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula, Belize, El Salvador, and western Honduras have managed to maintain substantial remnants of their ancient cultural heritage. Some are quite integrated into the majority hispanicized Mestizo cultures of the nations in which they reside, while others continue a more traditional culturally distinct life, often speaking one of the Maya languages as a primary language.
The largest populations of contemporary Maya inhabit Guatemala, Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador, as well as large segments of population within the Mexican states of Yucatán, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, and Chiapas.

wn.com/Maya_people
Nikolai Grube
Nikolai Grube is a German epigrapher. He was born in Bonn in 1962. Grube entered the University of Hamburg in 1982 and graduated in 1985. His doctoral thesis was published at the same university in 1990. After he received his doctorate, Grube moved to the University of Bonn. Nikolai Grube has been heavily involved in the decipherment of the Maya hieroglyphic script.
He has served as professor of anthropology and art history at both the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Bonn. At the University of Bonn he has worked in the Seminar for Ethnology. He has worked with several archaeological projects in the Maya region, including those at Caracol in Belize and Yaxha in the Petén Department of Guatemala. He has also occupied a position at the University of Hamburg. He is fluent in the Yucatec language of the modern Maya inhabitants of the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. Nikolai Grube worked with Linda Schele in presenting hieroglyphic workshops for native Mayan speakers in Mexico and Guatemala.

wn.com/Nikolai_Grube
Pacal the Great
K'inich Janaab' Pakal (23 March 603 – 28 August 683) was ruler of the Maya polity of Palenque in the Late Classic period of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chronology. During a long reign of some 68 years Pakal was responsible for the construction or extension of some of Palenque's most notable surviving inscriptions and monumental architecture.
Before his name was securely deciphered from extant Maya inscriptions, this ruler has been known by an assortment of nicknames and approximations, common ones including Pakal (or Pacal), "Sun Shield", "8 Ahau", and (familiarly) as Pacal the Great. The word pakal means "shield" in the Maya language.
In modern sources his name is also sometimes appended with a regnal number, to distinguish him from other Janaab' Pakals that either preceded or followed him in the dynastic lineage of Palenque. Confusingly, he has at times been referred to as either "Pakal I" or "Pakal II". The reference to him as Pakal II takes into account that his maternal grandfather (who died in 612) was also named Janaab' Pakal. However, although his grandfather was a personage of ajaw ranking most recent inscriptional interpretations hold that he probably did not himself hold the actual rulership position over the Palenque city-state. When instead the name Pakal I is used, this serves to distinguish him from two later known successors to the Palenque rulership, Upakal K'inich Janaab' Pakal (ruled c. 742, aka "[K'inich Janaab'] Pakal II") and Wak Kimi Janaab' Pakal (aka [Janaab'] Pakal III), the last-known Palenque ruler who acceded in 799.

wn.com/Pacal_the_Great
Pakal the Great
K'inich Janaab' Pakal (23 March 603 – 28 August 683) was ruler of the Maya polity of Palenque in the Late Classic period of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chronology. During a long reign of some 68 years Pakal was responsible for the construction or extension of some of Palenque's most notable surviving inscriptions and monumental architecture.
Before his name was securely deciphered from extant Maya inscriptions, this ruler has been known by an assortment of nicknames and approximations, common ones including Pakal (or Pacal), "Sun Shield", "8 Ahau", and (familiarly) as Pacal the Great. The word pakal means "shield" in the Maya language.
In modern sources his name is also sometimes appended with a regnal number, to distinguish him from other Janaab' Pakals that either preceded or followed him in the dynastic lineage of Palenque. Confusingly, he has at times been referred to as either "Pakal I" or "Pakal II". The reference to him as Pakal II takes into account that his maternal grandfather (who died in 612) was also named Janaab' Pakal. However, although his grandfather was a personage of ajaw ranking most recent inscriptional interpretations hold that he probably did not himself hold the actual rulership position over the Palenque city-state. When instead the name Pakal I is used, this serves to distinguish him from two later known successors to the Palenque rulership, Upakal K'inich Janaab' Pakal (ruled c. 742, aka "[K'inich Janaab'] Pakal II") and Wak Kimi Janaab' Pakal (aka [Janaab'] Pakal III), the last-known Palenque ruler who acceded in 799.

wn.com/Pakal_the_Great
Pre-Columbian era
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during the Early Modern period.
While the phrase "pre-Columbian era" literally refers only to the time preceding Christopher Columbus's voyages of 1492, in practice the phrase usually is used to denote the entire history of American indigenous cultures until those cultures were conquered or significantly influenced by Europeans, even if this happened decades or centuries after Columbus's first landing. For this reason the alternative terms of Pre-Colonial Americas or Prehistoric Americas are also in use. In areas of Hispanic America the term usually used is Pre-Hispanic.
Many pre-Columbian civilizations established hallmarks which included permanent settlements, cities, agriculture, civic and monumental architecture, major earthworks, and complex societal hierarchies. Some of these civilizations had long faded by the time of the first permanent European arrivals (c. late 15th–early 16th centuries), and are known only through archaeological investigations. Others were contemporary with the colonial period, and were described in historical accounts of the time. A few, such as the Maya, had their own written records. Because most Christian Europeans of the time viewed such texts as heretical, they destroyed many texts in pyres. Only a few hidden documents have survived, giving modern historians glimpses of ancient culture and knowledge.

wn.com/Pre-Columbian_era
Sak K'uk'
Ix Sak K'uk' (sometimes rendered as Zac Kuk and called Muwaan Mat) was a Queen of the Maya state of B'aakal, now known as Palenque, in what is now eastern Mexico.
Her father was Janaab' Pakal and her mother was Yohl Ik'nal.
As Pacal I seems to have had no male heirs, she ascended to the throne on 22 October 612, a few months after her father's death.
After his maturity, her son K'inich Janaab' Pakal succeeded her as ruler on 29 July 615. She seems to have continued to wield considerable influence over Palenque in the early decades of her son's reign.
Sak K'uk' died on 12 September 640.

wn.com/Sak_K'uk'
Stephen D. Houston
Stephen Douglas Houston ( /ˈhaʊstən/ HOW-stən; born November 11, 1958) is an American anthropologist, archaeologist, epigrapher and Mayanist scholar, who is particularly renowned for his research into the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica. He is the author of a number of papers and books concerning topics such as the Maya script, the history, kingships and dynastic politics of the pre-Columbian Maya, and archaeological reports on several Maya archaeological sites.
As of 2008^[update] Houston holds an endowed chair as Dupee Family Professor of Social Science at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, and is also a professor in Brown's Department of Anthropology.
Stephen D. Houston was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. In 1976 he commenced undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia in anthropology. From 1978–79 he spent a year as an exchange student at Edinburgh University, Scotland, where he participated in his first field trips, excavating Mesolithic and Neolithic bog sites in Offaly and Mayo counties, Éire, and at a Bronze Age henge near Strathallan, Scotland.

wn.com/Stephen_D._Houston
Stephen Houston
Stephen Douglas Houston ( /ˈhaʊstən/ HOW-stən; born November 11, 1958) is an American anthropologist, archaeologist, epigrapher and Mayanist scholar, who is particularly renowned for his research into the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica. He is the author of a number of papers and books concerning topics such as the Maya script, the history, kingships and dynastic politics of the pre-Columbian Maya, and archaeological reports on several Maya archaeological sites.
As of 2008^[update] Houston holds an endowed chair as Dupee Family Professor of Social Science at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, and is also a professor in Brown's Department of Anthropology.
Stephen D. Houston was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. In 1976 he commenced undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia in anthropology. From 1978–79 he spent a year as an exchange student at Edinburgh University, Scotland, where he participated in his first field trips, excavating Mesolithic and Neolithic bog sites in Offaly and Mayo counties, Éire, and at a Bronze Age henge near Strathallan, Scotland.

wn.com/Stephen_Houston
Teotihuacan
Coordinates: 19°41′33″N 98°50′37.68″W / 19.6925°N 98.8438°W / 19.6925; -98.8438
Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with a Spanish orthographic accent on the last syllable – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Apart from the pyramidal structures, Teotihuacan is also known for its large residential complexes, the Avenue of the Dead, and numerous colorful, well-preserved murals. Additionally, Teotihuacan produced a thin orange pottery style that spread through Mesoamerica.
The city is thought to have been established around 100 BC and continued to be built until about 250 AD. The city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD. At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population of perhaps 125,000 or more, placing it among the largest cities of the world in this period. Teotihuacan began as a new religious center in the Mexican Highland around the first century AD. This city came to be the largest and most populated center in the New World. Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population. The civilization and cultural complex associated with the site is also referred to as Teotihuacan or Teotihuacano.

wn.com/Teotihuacan

National Geographic Live! - Palenque and the Ancient Maya World

Archaeologists and National Geographic grantees George and David Stuart offer keen insight...

published: 22 Aug 2011

author: NationalGeographic

Palenque - Mexico

Visit to the archeological city of Palenque in the Mexican state of Chiapas. 2005, in Dutc...

published: 08 Jan 2007

author: Windnl

paco de lucia palenque

paco de lucia palenque...

published: 03 Dec 2007

author: kaanbildi

ASTRONAUTA DE PALENQUE

Toda la verdad sobre el enigmático personaje que fue sepultado en la ciudad Maya de Palenq...

published: 20 Sep 2009

author: tedejo3

Palenque San Basilio, Bolivar, Maroon Community in Colombia

This is a CNN video in a maroon community in Caribbean Colombia called San Basilio, Palenk...

published: 19 May 2006

author: rootsnlivity

SEXTETO TABALA DE SAN BASILIO DE PALENQUE

AFROCOLOMBIA SEXTETO...

published: 19 Nov 2007

author: HOLLYWOODOOFILMS

Zona Arqueológica de Palenque. Cápsula

EL VIDEO MÁS VISTO EN 2011 Zona Arqueológica de Palenque, Chiapas...

published: 07 May 2009

author: INAHTV

Vicente Fernandez - El Palenque

Great song and Antonio Margarito's entrance music....

published: 25 Nov 2010

author: ruffa65

valentin elizalde palenque reynosa 2006

valentin elizalde tamarindo, camaron pelao...

published: 13 Apr 2007

author: gallomontana

Vergangene Welten, Die Maya-Stadt Palenque 1/5

In dieser Folge der HISTORY-Reihe "Vergangene Welten" wird Palenque erforscht, eine riesig...

published: 16 Jul 2009

author: aiju7Oof

Gerardo Ortiz - Palenque de Tijuana

www.gerardoortiz.net...

published: 05 Sep 2010

author: cesarortiz24

Tomb of Mayan Astronaut (Lord Pakal Ahau) Discovered Under Pyramids In Palenque Mexico

pindz.blogspot.com Tomb of Mayan Astronaut (Lord Pakal Ahau) Discovered Under Pyramids In ...

published: 26 Sep 2011

author: CH3MTRAILS

El Pueblo de Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico

Small place Palenque in Mexico (Chiapas state) known for its arheological zone...

published: 23 Oct 2009

author: FrankieZG

Isla Palenque by Chopper

Take a two minute ride around the east side of Isla Palenque and down Playa Palenque. For ...

published: 13 Jul 2010

author: AmbleResorts

Palenque CHIAPAS HD 1'20"

DP / AMC - Cinematographer & Cameraman - Wescam and Underwater Operator. Shooting in Phan...

published: 27 Aug 2010

author: David Torres

Palenque

Nézelődés Palenque városában....

published: 10 Oct 2008

author: Szabadlábon

Palenque

While bicycling across the state of Veracruz in Mexico, we took a side-trip on a bus to th...

published: 13 Mar 2009

author: John Vogel

Palenque

tour of Palenque and ruins...

published: 12 Oct 2010

author: Ray Cregier

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photo: AP / Carolyn Kaster

FILE - In this June 26, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in Atlanta. The presidential race enters the sultry summer _ a final lull before a sprint to Election Day _ with President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney neck and neck and no sign that either can break away. Both sides have money concerns _ for all the flood of cash _ as well as political worries.

Obama promises gun control early next year

Sowetan Live

20 Dec 2012

Obama held a White House news conference on Wednesday to announce that Vice President Joe Biden will lead an interagency effort to craft new gun policies. The group is expected to offer its proposals in January. “We know this is a complex issue that stirs deeply held passions and political divides,” Obama said. “But the fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing.” ... WAKE-UP CALL ... ....(size: 6.1Kb)

photo: AP / Charles Krupa

Police officers cross the road after searching a strip mall near an elementary school, which was in a lockdown, in Ridgefield, Conn., Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, after a suspicious person was seen near a train station close by.

Gunspicuous Consumption and Bio-Cultures of Violence

WorldNews.com

18 Dec 2012

Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. "Most people reason dramatically, not quantitatively." -Oliver Wendell Holmes. On the same day that a 20-year-old, described as brilliant but remote, walked into an elementary school in Connecticut and massacred 26 children and adults, the school where I teach went on "lock-down." Four students with a handgun were arrested ... That morning before school, he had posted on Twitter and Facebook....(size: 14.0Kb)

photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais

President Barack Obama gestures while speaking during the his visit to the Disaster Operation Center of the Red Cross National Headquarter to discuss superstorm Sandy

Obama backs bill to ban assault weapons

The Star

19 Dec 2012

WASHINGTON. US President Barack Obama backs a new bill to revive an assault weapons ban and other new gun laws, the White House said Tuesday, fleshing out his nascent response to a shocking school massacre. Obama also called an ardently pro-gun senator who has shifted his position on firearms laws since Friday's carnage in Connecticut and has begun meeting top cabinet officials to consider his options, his spokesman Jay Carney said ... ....(size: 4.9Kb)

photo: Creative Commons / Joachim Huber

Etosha's elephants belong to the group of elephants in northwestern Nambia and southern Angola.

Stupider and Still Developing an Extermination Gene

WorldNews.com

18 Dec 2012

Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. When a Stanford geneticist, Gerald Crabtree, published a provocative and controversial new view on evolutionary change, namely that humans are actually getting dumber, he should have also added that humans are still developing an extermination gene ... Paleontologist Tim Flannery would more than likely agree with Crabtree ... Strange strings of gravel also overlaid some bones ... (1) Kane, Alex ... 195....(size: 9.4Kb)

photo: AP / Narciso Contreras

In this Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 photo, a man runs between debris after a mortar shell hit a street killing several people in the Bustan Al-Qasr district of Aleppo, Syria.

U.N. seeks $1.5 billion to address Syria crisis

The Star

19 Dec 2012

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations appealed on Wednesday for $1.5 billion (920.1 million pounds) to provide life-saving aid to Syrians suffering from a "dramatically deteriorating" humanitarian situation ... "The magnitude of this humanitarian crisis is indisputable," said Radhouane Nouicer, U.N ... Inside Syria, U.N ... ....(size: 1.5Kb)

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After 50 Years of being Extinct, from Xcaret the First Flock of Scarlet Macaws Arrives to Palenque to be Freed

Houston Chronicle

21 Dec 2012

PALENQUE, CHIAPAS, MEXICO (PRWEB) December 20, 2012. Arriving from Xcaret, Quintana Roo, a group of 27 Scarlet Macaws (Ara macao) has arrived to the Aluxes ecological park, as an ambicious liberation program is launched at the Palenque National Park, where this species has been extinct for the past 50 years ... After 50 Years of being Extinct, from Xcaret the First Flock of Scarlet Macaws Arrives to Palenque to be Freed....(size: 13.9Kb)

Mayan calendar endings coincide with comet impacts, ice core research reveals

The Examiner

21 Dec 2012

Dr. Mike Baillie at the Queen’s University in Belfast, Ireland has made a very interesting discovery just published today ... He noted that the Temple of the Cross group of pyramids at Palenque were constructed on one such baktun ending ... Predictions for 2012-2052, in Temple XIX at Palenque the Maya left a record of a great flood that occurred near the end of their previous calendar cycle in 3300 BC ... Thus Dr ... Yet according to Dr ... ....(size: 2.2Kb)

Friday is ‘end of an era,’ not end of world, Yucatán city says

The Dallas Morning News

21 Dec 2012

MÉRIDA, Mexico — Contrary to any Hollywood doomsday scenarios or a variety of less-than-optimistic New Age theories, the world will not end Friday, Mexican tourism authorities assure anyone who asks ... 21, this year’s winter solstice ... “But there is a very long inscription at [the archaeological site] Palenque that talks about events further in the future, and that would seem to suggest that the Maya did not think the world would end.” ... ....(size: 3.6Kb)

photo: WN / Ahmed Deeb

Ismail Haniya, the head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, addresses the public during an open air morning prayer to celebrate Eid al-Fitr in Gaza City on August 19, 2012. Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan, the Muslim calendar's ninth and holiest month during which followers are required to abstain from food, drink and sex from dawn to dusk.Photo by Ahmed Deeb / WN

Mayan prophecies: Life after the (non) end of the world

BBC News

21 Dec 2012

Despite all the predictions of Mayan apocalypse, the world will probably not end by Saturday morning. How will the believers cope when life carries on?. The clock strikes midnight, the hallowed date arrives and, once again, the apocalypse fails to turn up on schedule ... This more detailed text predicts that, at an even later date, the great king K'inich Janaab' Pakal will return to Palenque to rule ... "They were crying ... ....(size: 11.1Kb)

After 50 Years of being Extinct, from Xcaret the First Flock of Scarlet Macaws Arrives ...

Yahoo Daily News

20 Dec 2012

PALENQUE, CHIAPAS, MEXICO (PRWEB) December 20, 2012 Arriving from Xcaret, Quintana Roo, a group of 27 Scarlet Macaws (Ara macao) has arrived to the Aluxes ecological park, as an ambicious liberation program is launched at the Palenque National Park, where this species has been extinct for the past 50 years ... of the Aluxes Ecopark in Palenque....(size: 4.7Kb)

Mexican experts recreate life in ancient city

Newstrack India

20 Dec 2012

Mexico City, Dec 20 (IANS/EFE) Mexican researchers have reconstructed the political, economic, religious and cultural life of the ancient Mayan capital of Palenque on the basis of inscriptions, authorities said. Those who governed Palenque, from its first ruler, or Ajaw, to the last, left written testimony of dates, myths, births, deaths and ......(size: 2.8Kb)

Take An Armchair Tour Of Mexico's Famous Mayan Ruins

Business Insider

20 Dec 2012

The Mayan calendar ends on Friday, and some people believe that means the world will come to an end ... Some of the featured destinations include the storied ruins of Teotihuacan, Palenque and Chichén Itzá ... Tags ... ....(size: 2.1Kb)

Mexico seeks 'end of world' Maya tourism boost

BBC News

20 Dec 2012

Chichen Itza was one of the jewels in the crown of the Maya empire. The magnificent Pyramid of Kukulkan was the centrepiece of a civilisation that at its height stretched across Central America and southern Mexico. Today Chichen Itza is a Unesco World Heritage Site, and receives more than a million visitors a year ... "This is a space like the Maya built," he says, comparing it to the temples at Palenque or Uxmal ... " ... ....(size: 6.9Kb)

Lessons from the Maya prophesy – whether the world 'ends' or not

Yahoo Daily News

20 Dec 2012

Through a clearing in the jungle, visitors catch their first glimpse of the ancient Maya ruins of Yaxchilan in Mexico's southern Chiapas state ... RELATED ... MYSTERY ... Hoopes says ... Recently discovered murals at Xultun, Guatemala by Boston University archeologists and texts at nearby Palenque suggest that the current cycle of bak’tuns may not end with the 13th but the 20th, which is not until AD 4772, more than 2,500 years from now ... Mr ... Mr ... ....(size: 8.4Kb)

Local boredom busters for families

Dayton Daily News

20 Dec 2012

There are cookies to bake, shopping to do and presents to wrap, but with Christmas vacation already underway, there might also be a house full of kids to keep busy ... Holiday spirit ... Celebrating its 30th season, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden PNC Festival of Lights is held nightly, except Dec ... 1 ... 28 ... The exhibit takes visitors through the lush rainforest of Palenque, Mexico to find a missing archaeological team and solve the mystery....(size: 7.4Kb)

What to expect on December 21, 2012

The Examiner

19 Dec 2012

All the media hype surrounding the end of the Mayan Calendar on Friday, Dec. 21, has many wondering exactly what it is we might expect to happen on that day. There are theories aplenty, but little concern in scientific circles that anything is going to happen at all ... Science and Prophecy of the Ancient Maya, argues that, based on inscribed texts found in Palenque, Mexico, the Mayans thought they would still be around well into A.D. 4772....(size: 2.9Kb)

Merida, Mexico, says: Hope to see you after the world doesn't end

Chicago Tribune

19 Dec 2012

Yes, the end of the 13th baktun cycle in the so-called Long Count of the Maya calendar corresponds more or less with Dec. 21, this year's winter solstice ... — is a sort of "resetting of the odometer" of time. ... The U.S ... But there is a very long inscription at [the archaeological site] Palenque that talks about events further in the future, and that would seem to suggest that the Maya did not think the world would end," Braswell said ... ....(size: 4.9Kb)

Yucatan city of Merida says Dec. 21 is merely 'end of an era,' urges those ...

Sacramento Bee

19 Dec 2012

Yes, the end of the 13th baktun cycle in the so-called Long Count of the Maya calendar corresponds more or less with Dec. 21, this year's winter solstice ... - is a sort of "resetting of the odometer" of time ... The U.S ... But there is a very long inscription at (the archaeological site) Palenque that talks about events further in the future, and that would seem to suggest that the Maya did not think the world would end," Braswell said....(size: 4.6Kb)

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This article is about the ancient Maya site. For other meanings of "Palenque", see Palenque (disambiguation).

Pre-Hispanic City and National Park of Palenque *
UNESCO World Heritage Site

Country	Mexico
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii, iv
Reference	411
Region **	Latin America and the Caribbean
Inscription history
Inscription	1987 (11th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO

Palenque (Bàak' in Modern Maya) was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that flourished in the 7th century. The Palenque ruins date back to 226 BC to its fall around 1123 AD. After its decline it was absorbed into the jungle, which is made up of cedar, mahogany, and sapodilla trees,^[1] but has been excavated and restored and is now a famous archaeological site attracting thousands of visitors. It is located near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas, located about 130 km (81 mi) south of Ciudad del Carmen (see map) about 150 m (164 yd) above sea-level. It stays at a humid 26°C (79°F) with roughly 2160 mm (85 in) of rain a year.^[1]

Palenque is a medium-sized site, much smaller than such huge sites as Tikal or Copán, but it contains some of the finest architecture, sculpture, roof comb and bas-relief carvings that the Mayas produced. Much of the history of Palenque has been reconstructed from reading the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the many monuments; historians now have a long sequence of the ruling dynasty of Palenque in the 5th century and extensive knowledge of the city-state's rivalry with other states such as Calakmul and Toniná. The most famous ruler of Palenque was Pacal the Great whose tomb has been found and excavated in the Temple of the Inscriptions.

By 2005, the discovered area covered up to 2.5 km² (1 sq mi), but it is estimated that less than 10% of the total area of the city is explored, leaving more than a thousand structures still covered by jungle.

1 Name and etymology
- 1.1 Toponyms and associated emblem glyphs in Palenque texts
2 History
3 Art and architecture
4 Modern investigations
- 4.1 Contemporary developents
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links

Name and etymology [link]

The site of Palenque had been abandoned by the Maya people for several centuries when the Spanish explorers arrived in Chiapas in the 16th century. The first European to visit the ruins and publish an account was the priest Pedro Lorenzo de la Nada in 1567; at the time the local Chol Maya called it Otolum meaning "Land with strong houses", and de la Nada roughly translated this into Spanish to give the site the name "Palenque", meaning "fortification". Palenque also became the name for the town (Santo Domingo del Palenque) which was built over some peripheral ruins down in the valley from the main ceremonial center of the ancient city.

An ancient name for the central core of the city currently consolidated was Lakam Ha, which translates as "Big Water", for the numerous springs and wide cascades that are found within the site.^[2] Palenque was the capital of the important Classic period Maya city-state of B'aakal or B'aak (Bone), after one of the city's most frequently occurring Emblem Glyphs.^[3]

Toponyms and associated emblem glyphs in Palenque texts [link]

Other important locations and emblem glyphs that occur in Palenque texts include the following:

Mat or Matal: Often spelled with the head of a cormorant, the Mat emblem glyph is used by mythological entities as well as rulers.^[4]
Matawil or Matwiil is a mythological location likely connected to the Mat emblem glyph where important events in Palenque mythology occurred.
Kan is the ancient name of the site of Calakmul, one of the largest cities in the Maya world. It was responsible for attacks against Palenque in AD 599 and 611.
Sak Nuk Naah (White Skin House) — The proper name of House E of the Palace.
Toktan: The founder of the dynasty K'uk' B'alam and other rulers use this emblem glyph.
Ux Te K'uh: An important regional center and the polity from which K'inich Kan B'ahlam's grandfather came.^[5]

History [link]

Stone carving of Pacal the Great, one of the main figures responsible for the city's art and architecture.

Much of the Early Classic history of the city still awaits the archaeologist's trowel. However, from the extent of the surveyed site and the reference to Early Classic rulers in the inscriptional record of the Late Classic, it is clear Palenque's history is much longer than we currently know. The fact that early ajaw (king or lord) and mythological beings used a variety of emblem glyphs in their titles indeed suggests a complex early history. For instance, K'uk' B'ahlam, the supposed founder of the Palenque dynasty, is called a Toktan Ajaw in the text of the Temple of the Foliated Cross.

The famous structures that we know today probably represent a rebuilding effort in response to the attacks by the city of Calakmul and its client states in 599 and 611.^[6] One of the main figures responsible for rebuilding Palenque and for a renaissance in the city's art and architecture is also one of the best-known Maya Ajaw, K'inich Janaab' Pakal (Pacal the Great), who ruled from 603 to 683. He is best known through his funerary monument, dubbed the Temple of Inscriptions after the lengthy text preserved in the temple's superstructure. At the time Alberto Ruz Lhuillier excavated Pakal's tomb it was the richest and best preserved of any scientifically excavated burial then known from the ancient Americas. It held this position until the discovery of the rich Moche burials at Sipan, Peru and the recent discoveries at Copan and Calakmul.

Beside the attention that K'inich Janaab' Pakal's tomb brought to Palenque, the city is historically significant for its extensive hieroglyphic corpus composed during the reigns of Janaab' Pakal his son K'inich Kan B'ahlam and his grandson K'inich Akal Mo' Naab', and for being the location where Heinrich Berlin^[7] and later Linda Schele and Peter Mathews outlined the first dynastic list for any Maya city.^[8] The work of Tatiana Proskouriakoff as well as that of Berlin, Schele, Mathews, and others initiated the intense historical investigations that characterized much of the scholarship on the ancient Maya from the 1960s to the present.^[9] The extensive iconography and textual corpus has also allowed for study of Classic period Maya mythology^[10] and ritual practice.^[11]

Ruler list [link]

A list of possible and known Maya rulers of the city, with dates of their reigns:

K'inich Kan B'alam II, one of the many rulers of Palenque. Detail from the Temple XVII Tablet.

Snake Spine? 967- ? BC (legendary? - Olmec?)
Ch'a Ruler I? 252- ? BC
K'uk' B'alam I 431-435 AD
"Casper"435-487 AD
B'utz Aj Sak Chiik 487-501 AD
Ahkal Mo' Naab' I 501-524 AD
K'an Joy Chitam I 529-565 AD
Ahkal Mo' Naab' II 565-570 AD
Kan B'alam I 572-583 AD
Yohl Ik'nal 583-604 AD (female)
Aj Ne' Yohl Mat 605-612 AD
Janaab' Pakal 612 AD
Sak K'uk' 612-615 AD (female)
K'inich Janaab Pakal 615-683 AD ("Pakal the Great")
K'inich Kan B'alam II 684-702 AD
K'inich K'an Joy Chitam II 702-722? AD
K'inich Ahkal Mo' Naab' III 722-741? AD
Upakal K'inich Janab Pakal? ? -764? AD
K'inich Kan Bahlam? ? 651 ? AD
K'inich K'uk' Bahlam? 764- ? AD
6 Kimi Janab Pakal? 799- ? AD (uncertain)

Early Classic period [link]

The first ajaw, or king, of B'aakal that we know of was K'uk Balam (Quetzal Jaguar), who governed for four years starting in the year 431. After him, a king came to power, nicknamed Casper by archaeologists. The next two kings were probably Casper's sons. Little was known about the first of these, B'utz Aj Sak Chiik, until 1994, when a tablet was found describing a ritual for the king. The first tablet mentioned his successor Ahkal Mo' Naab I as a teenage prince, and therefore it is believed that there was a family relation between them. For unknown reasons, Akhal Mo' Naab I had great prestige, so the kings who succeeded him were proud to be his descendants.

When Ahkal Mo' Naab I died in 524, there was an interregnum of four years, before the following king was crowned en Toktán in 529. K'an Joy Chitam I governed for 36 years. His sons Ahkal Mo' Naab II and K'an B'alam I were the first kings who used the title Kinich, which means "the great sun". This word was used also by later kings. B'alam was succeeded in 583 by Yohl Ik'nal, who was supposedly his daughter. The inscriptions found in Palenque document a battle that occurred under her government in which troops from Calakmul invaded and sacked Palenque, a military feat without known precedents. These events took place in 599.

A second victory by Calakmul occurred some twelve years later, in 611, under the government of Aj Ne' Yohl Mat, son of Yohl Iknal. In this occasion, the king of Calakmul entered Palenque in person, consolidating a significant military disaster, which was followed by an epoch of political disorder. Aj Ne' Yohl Mat was to die in 612.

Late Classic period [link]

A view of the main plaza of Palenque from the Temple of the Foliated Cross.

B'aakal began the Late Classic period in the throes of the disorder created by the defeats before Calakmul. The glyphic panels at the Temple of Inscriptions, which records the events at this time, relates that some fundamental annual religious ceremonies were not performed in 613, and at this point states: "Lost is the divine lady, lost is the king."^[12] Mentions of the government at the time have not been found.

It is believed that after the death of Aj Ne' Yohl Mat, Janaab Pakal, also called Pakal I, took power thanks to a political agreement. Janaab Pakal assumed the functions of the ajaw (king) but never was crowned. He was succeeded in 612 by his daughter, the queen Sak K'uk', who governed for only three years until her son was old enough to rule. It is considered that the dynasty was reestablished from then on, so B'aakal retook the path of glory and splendor.

The grandson of Janaab Pakal is the most famous of the Mayan kings, K'inich Janaab' Pakal, also known as Pakal the Great. He began rule at the age of 12 years old after his mother Sak Kuk resigned as queen after three years, thus passing power on to him. Pakal the Great reigned in Palenque from 615 to 683, and his mother remained an important force for the first 25 years of his rule. She may have ruled jointly with him. Known as the favorite of the gods, he carried Palenque to new levels of splendor, in spite of having come to power when the city was at a low point. Pakal married the princess of Oktán, Lady Tzakbu Ajaw (also known as Ahpo-Hel) in 624 and had at least three children.

During his government, most of the palaces and temples of Palenque were constructed; the city flourished as never before, eclipsing Tikal. The central complex, known as The Palace, was enlarged and remodeled on various occasions, notably in the years 654, 661, and 668. In this structure, is a text describing how in that epoch Palenque was newly allied with Tikal, and also with Yaxchilan, and that they were able to capture the six enemy kings of the alliance. Not much more had been translated from the text.

After the death of Pakal in 683, his older son K'inich Kan B'alam assumed the kingship of B'aakal, who in turn was succeeded in 702 by his brother K'inich K'an Joy Chitam II. The first continued the architectural and sculptural works that were begun by his father, as well as finishing the construction of the famous tomb of Pakal. Pakal's sarcophagus, built for a very tall man, held the richest collection of jade seen in a Mayan tomb. A jade mosaic mask was placed over his face, and a suit made of jade adorned his body, with each piece hand-carved and held together by gold wire.^[1]

Furthermore, K'inich Kan B'alam I began ambitious projects, like the Group of the Crosses. Thanks to numerous works begun during his government, now we have portraits of this king, found in various sculptures. His brother succeeded him continuing with the same enthusiasm of construction and art, reconstructing and enlarging the north side of the Palace. Thanks to the reign of these three kings, B'aakal had a century of growing and splendor.

In 711, Palenque was sacked by the realm of Toniná, and the old king K'inich K'an Joy Chitam II was taken prisoner. It is not known what the final destination of the king was, and it is presumed that he was executed in Toniná. For 10 years there was no king. Finally, K'inich Ahkal Mo' Nab' III was crowned in 722. Although the new king belonged to the royalty, there is no reason to be sure that he was the direct inheritor direct of K'inich K'an Joy Chitam II. It is believed, therefore, that this coronation was a break in the dynastic line, and probably K'inich Ahkal Nab' arrived to power after years of maneuvering and forging political alliances. This king, his son, and grandson governed until the end of the century. Little is known about this period, except that, among other events, the war with Toniná continued, where there are hieroglyphics that record a new defeat of Palenque.

Abandonment [link]

During the 8th century, B'aakal came under increasing stress, in concert with most other Classic Mayan city-states, and there was no new elite construction in the ceremonial center sometime after 800. An agricultural population continued to live here for a few generations, then the site was abandoned and was slowly grown over by the forest. The district was very sparsely populated when the Spanish first arrived in the 1520s. Occasionally city-state lords were women. Lady Sak Kuk ruled at Palenque for at least three years starting in 612 CE, before she passed her title to her son. However, these female rulers were accorded male attributes. Thus, these women became more masculine as they assumed roles that were typically male roles.^[13]

Art and architecture [link]

Important structures at Palenque include:

Palace [link]

The Palace, actually a complex of several connected and adjacent buildings and courtyards built up over several generations on a wide artificial terrace. The Palace houses many fine sculptures and bas-relief carvings in addition to the distinctive four-story tower. It is the biggest building complex in Palenque measuring 97mts x 73mts at its base. The main buildings were used for bureaucracy, entertainment and tributes.

The Palace did not sport the true arch. Instead, it has the corbelled vault which is an A-shaped structure that typically requires much more masonry mass and cannot span wide spaces.

The 4-story tower, sometimes referred to as "the observatory", is part of this complex.

Temple of the Inscriptions [link]

Main article: Temple of the Inscriptions

The Temple of Inscriptions was begun perhaps as early as 675^[14] as the funerary monument of Hanab-Pakal. The temple superstructure houses the second longest glyphic text known from the Maya world (the longest is the Hieroglyphic Stairway at Copan). The Temple of the Inscriptions records approximately 180 years of the city's history from the 4th through 12th K'atun. The focal point of the narrative records K'inich Janaab' Pakal's K'atun period-ending rituals focused on the icons of the city's patron deities prosaically known collectively as the Palenque Triad or individually as GI, GII, and GIII.^[15]

The Pyramid measures 60 meters wide, 42.5 meters deep and 27.2 meters high. The Summit temple measures 25.5 meters wide, 10.5 meters deep and 11.4 meters high. The largest stones weigh 12 to 15 tons. These were on top of the Pyramid. The Total volume of pyramid and temple is 32,500 cu. meters.^[16]

In 1952 Alberto Ruz Lhuillier removed a stone slab in the floor of the back room of the temple superstructure to reveal a passageway (filled in shortly before the city's abandonment and reopened by archeologists) leading through a long stairway to Pakal's tomb. The tomb itself is remarkable for its large carved sarcophagus, the rich ornaments accompanying Pakal, and for the stucco sculpture decorating the walls of the tomb. Unique to Pakal's tomb is the psychoduct, which leads from the tomb itself, up the stairway and through a hole in the stone covering the entrance to the burial. This psychoduct is perhaps a physical reference to concepts about the departure of the soul at the time of death in Maya eschatology where in the inscriptions the phrase ochb'ihaj sak ik'il (the white breath road-entered) is used to refer to the leaving of the soul. A find such as this is greatly important because it demonstrated for the first time the temple usage as being multifaceted. These pyramids were, for the first time, identified as temples and also funerary structures.

The much-discussed iconography of the sarcophagus lid depicts Pakal in the guise of one of the manifestations of the Maya Maize God emerging from the maws of the underworld.^[17]

The temple also has a duct structure that still is not completely understood by archaeologists. It has been suggested that the duct aligns with the winter solstice and that the sun shines down on Pakals tomb.

Temples of the Cross group [link]

Reconstruction of the Temples of the Cross Group.

The Temple of the Cross, Temple of the Sun, and Temple of the Foliated Cross. This is a set of graceful temples atop step pyramids, each with an elaborately carved relief in the inner chamber depicting two figures presenting ritual objects and effigies to a central icon. Earlier interpretations had argued that the smaller figure was that of K'inich Janaab' Pakal while the larger figure was K'inich Kan B'ahlam. However, it is now known based on a better understanding of the iconography and epigraphy that the central tablet depicts two images of Kan B'ahlam. The smaller figure shows K'inich Kan B'ahlam during a rite of passage ritual at the age of six (9.10.8.9.3 9 Akbal 6 Xul) while the larger is of his accession to kingship at the age of 48.^[18] These temples were named by early explorers; the cross-like images in two of the reliefs actually depict the tree of creation at the center of the world in Maya mythology.

Other Notable Constructions [link]

The Aqueduct constructed with great stone blocks with a three-meter-high vault to make the Otulum River flow underneath the floor of Palenque's main plaza.
The Temple of The Lion at a distance of some 200 meters south of the main group of temples; its name came from the elaborate bas-relief carving of a king seated on a throne in the form of a jaguar.
Structure XII with a bas-relief carving of the God of Death.
Temple of the Count another elegant Classic Palenque temple, which got its name from the fact that early explorer Jean Frederic Waldeck lived in the building for some time, and Waldeck claimed to be a count.

The site also has a number of other temples, tombs, and elite residences, some a good distance from the center of the site, a court for playing the Mesoamerican Ballgame, and an interesting stone bridge over the Otulum River some distance below the Aqueduct.

Modern investigations [link]

Detail of a relief at the Palace drawn by Ricardo Almendáriz during the Del Rio expedition in 1787

Palenque is perhaps the most studied and written about of Maya sites.

After de la Nada's brief account of the ruins no attention was paid to them until 1773 when one Don Ramon de Ordoñez y Aguilar examined Palenque and sent a report to the Capitan General in Antigua Guatemala, a further examination was made in 1784 saying that the ruins were of particular interest, so two years later surveyor and architect Antonio Bernasconi was sent with a small military force under Colonel Antonio del Río to examine the site in more detail. Del Rio's forces smashed through several walls to see what could be found, doing a fair amount of damage to the Palace, while Bernasconi made the first map of the site as well as drawing copies of a few of the bas-relief figures and sculptures. Draughtsman Luciano Castañeda made more drawings in 1807, and a book on Palenque, Descriptions of the Ruins of an Ancient City, discovered near Palenque, was published in London in 1822 based on the reports of those last two expeditions together with engravings based on Bernasconi and Castañedas drawings; two more publications in 1834 contained descriptions and drawings based on the same sources.

Juan Galindo visited Palenque in 1831, and filed a report with the Central American government. He was the first to note that the figures depicted in Palenque's ancient art looked like the local native Americans; some other early explorers, even years later, attributed the site to such distant peoples as Egyptians, Polynesians, or the Lost Tribes of Israel.

Starting in 1832 Jean Frederic Waldeck spent two years at Palenque making numerous drawings, but most of his work was not published until 1866. Meanwhile the site was visited in 1840 first by Patrick Walker and Herbert Caddy on a mission from the governor of British Honduras, and then by John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood who published an illustrated account the following year which was greatly superior to the previous accounts of the ruins.

Désiré Charnay took the first photographs of Palenque in 1858, and returned in 1881–1882. Alfred Maudslay encamped at the ruins in 1890–1891 and took extensive photographs of all the art and inscriptions he could find, and made paper and plaster molds of many of the inscriptions,and detailed maps and drawings, setting a high standard for all future investigators to follow. Maudslay learned the technique of making the papier mache molds of the sculptures from frenchman Desire Charnay.

Contemporary developents [link]

Parts of this section (those related to current developments) are outdated. Please update this section to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (August 2011)

A bas-relief in the Palenque museum that depicts Upakal K'inich, the son of K'inich Ahkal Mo' Naab III.

Several other expeditions visited the ruins before Frans Blom of Tulane University in 1923, who made superior maps of both the main site and various previously neglected outlying ruins and filed a report for the Mexican government on recommendations on work that could be done to preserve the ruins.

From 1949 through 1952 Alberto Ruz Lhuillier supervised excavations and consolidations of the site for Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH); it was Ruz Lhuillier who was the first person to gaze upon Pacal the Great's tomb in over a thousand years. Ruz worked for four years at the Temple of Inscriptions before unearthing the tomb. Further INAH work was done in lead by Jorge Acosta into the 1970s.

In 1973, the first of the very productive Palenque Mesa Redonda (Round table) conferences was held here on the inspiration of Merle Greene Robertson; thereafter every few years leading Mayanists would meet at Palenque to discuss and examine new findings in the field. Meanwhile Robertson was conducting a detailed examination of all art at Palenque, including recording all the traces of color on the sculptures.

The 1970s also saw a small museum built at the site.

In the last 15 or 20 years, a great deal more of the site has been excavated, but currently, archaeologists estimate that only 5% of the total city has been uncovered

Palenque remains much visited, and perhaps evokes more affection in visitors than any other Mesoamerican ruin.

In 2010, Pennsylvania State University researchers, Christopher Duffy and Kirk French, identified the Piedras Bolas Aqueduct as a pressurised aqueduct, the earliest known in the New World. It is a spring-fed conduit located on steep terrain that has a restricted opening that would cause the water to exit forcefully, under pressure, to a height of 6 metres (20 ft). They were unable to identify the use for this man-made feature.^[19]

Notes [link]

^ ^a ^b ^c Schrom, Michael. "Palenque". http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/meso_america/palenque.html. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
^ French 2002
^ The word b'aakal is the adjectival form of the word b'aak. Therefore, the ancient name for the ruling lineage at Palenque was probably simply B'aak. The instances of b'aakal seem to be in phrases such as b'aakal ajaw (BAK-la AJAW) where the adjective b'aakal modifies the word ajaw (lord).
^ Stuart 1979, 2005:21-23; Bowen and Anderson 1994
^ see Stuart 2005: 129-131
^ Martin and Grube 2000:
^ Berlin 1959, 1965, 1968
^ Mathews and Schele 1974
^ Schele and Freidel 1990; Martin and Grube 2000
^ Berlin 1963; Wald [Schele] 1999; Freidel et al. 1993; Freidel and Macleod 2000; Stuart 2005: Chapter 6
^ Stuart 1998
^ Mesoweb
^ Snow, Dean R (2010). Archaeology in North America. Prentice Hall. pp. 165–166.
^ Schele and Mathews 1998:97-99
^ Berlin 1963; Schele and Mathews 1998: 106; Carrasco 2005: 433
^ Scarre 1999
^ The direction of the K'inich Janaab' Pakal's movement between realms has been the subject of debate in recent years. Initially, Linda Schele, David Freidel, and others saw Pakal as descending into the underworld (Schele and Mathews 1998: 115). More recently, David Stuart and Freidel have suggested the opposite based on glyphic texts accompanying similar scenes. In these images the birth glyph (often spelled SIH-ya-ja) describes the depicted event.
^ Bassie 1991
^ Maya plumbing, first pressurized water feature found in New World, Penn State university, 4 May 2010, accessed 5 May 2010

References [link]

Berlin, Heinrich (1963) The Palenque Triad. Journal de la Société des Américanistes, n.s. 5(52):91-99. Paris.

Carrasco, Michael D. (2005). The Mask Flange Iconographic Complex [electronic resource]: The Art, Ritual, and History of a Maya Sacred Image. Doctoral dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin. Available electronically from http://hdl.handle.net/2152/1027.

Carrasco, Michael D. and Kerry Hull (2002) The Cosmogonic Symbolism of the Corbeled Vault in Maya Architecture. Mexicon Volume XXIV, No. 2, April.

Fields, Virginia M. (1991) Iconographic heritage of the Maya Jester God. In Sixth Palenque Round Table, 1986. Virginia M. Fields, ed. pp. 167 - 174 Palenque Round Table (6 session, 1986) University of Oklahoma Press Norman.

Freidel, David and Barbara Macleod (2000) Creation Redux: new thoughts on Maya cosmology from epigraphy, iconography, and archaeology. PARI Journal 1(2):1-8,18.

Guenter, Stanley (n.d.). "The Tomb of K’inich Janaab Pakal: The Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque" (PDF). Mesoweb Articles. Mesoweb. http://www.mesoweb.com/articles/guenter/TI.html. Retrieved 2008-02-04.

Houston, Stephen (1996) Symbolic Sweatbaths of the Maya: Architectural Meaning in the Cross Group at Palenque, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity, 7(2), pp. 132-151.

Kelley, David (1965) The Birth of the Gods at Palenque. In Estudios de Cultura Maya 5, 93-134. México: Universidad Nacional AutÛnoma de Mexico.

Lounsbury, Floyd G. (1976) A Rationale for the Initial Date of the Temple of the Cross at Palenque. In The Art, Iconography, and Dynastic History of Palenque, Part III: Proceedings of the Segunda Mesa Redonda de Palenque, ed. Merle Greene Robertson, 211-224.Pebble Beach, Ca.: Robert Louis Stevenson School.

Lounsbury, Floyd G. (1980) Some Problems in the Interpretation of the Mythological Portion of the Hieroglyphic Text of the temple of the Cross at Palenque. In The Third Palenque Round Table, 1978, Part 2, ed. Merle Greene Robertson, 99-115. Palenque Round Table Series Vol. 5. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Lounsbury, Floyd G. (1985) The Identities of the Mythological Figures in the "Cross Group" of Inscriptions at Palenque. In Fourth Round Table of Palenque, 1980, vol. 6, gen. ed. Merle Greene Robertson; vol. ed., Elizabeth P. Benson, 45-58. San Francisco: Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute.

Martin, Simon; and Nikolai Grube (2000). Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. London and New York: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05103-8. OCLC 47358325.

Mesoweb. "Muwaan Mat". Mesoweb Encyclopedia. http://www.mesoweb.com/encyc/view.asp?record=5796&act=viewexact&view=normal&word=Mat&wordAND=Muwaan&redir=no. Retrieved 29 April 2009.

Rands, Robert L. and Barbara C. Rands (1959) The Incensario Complex of Palenque, Chiapas. American Antiquity, 25 (2):225-236.

Rands, Robert L., Ronald L. Bishop, and Garman Harbottle (1979) Thematic and Compositional Variation in Palenque Region Incensarios. In Tercera Mesa Redonda de Palenque, Vol. IV, editied Merle Greene Robertson and Donnan C. Jeffers, 19-30. Palenque: Pre-Columbian Art Research, and Monterey: Herald Printers.

Ringle, William M.; and Thomas C. Smith-Stark (1996). A Concordance to the Inscriptions of Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico. MARI Publications, no. 62. New Orleans, Louisiana: Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University. ISBN 0-939238-93-4. OCLC 25630088.

Robertson, Merle Greene (1991) The Sculpture of Palenque Vol. IV. Princeton University Press, Princeton.

Ruz, Alberto Lhuillier (1958) Exploraciones arqueológicas en Palenque: 1953. Anales del Instituto Nacional de AntropologÌa e Historia. Vol. 10(39):69-116. Mexico.

Sáenz, César A. (1956) Exploraciones en la Pirámide de la Cruz Foliada. Informe 5. Dirección de Monumentos Prehispánicos. Instituto Nacional de AntropologÌa e Historia, Mexico.

Scarre, Chris (1999) The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World. Thames and Hudson.

Schele, Linda (1976) Accession Iconography of Chan-Bahlum in the Group of the Cross at Palenque. In The Art, Iconography, and Dynastic History of Palenque, Part III. Proceedings of the Segunda Mesa Redonda de Palenque, ed. Merle Greene Robertson, 9-34. Pebble Beach, Ca.: Robert Luis Stevenson School.

Schele, Linda (1979) Genealogical Documentation in the Tri-Figure Panels at Palenque. In Tercera Mesa Redonda de Palenque, Vol. IV, edited Merle Greene Robertson, 41-70. Palenque: Pre-Columbian Art Research, and Monterey: Herald Printers.

Schele, Linda (1985) "Some Suggested Readings of the Event and Office of Heir-Designate at Palenque". In Phoneticism in Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing, 287-307. Albany: Institute of Mesoamerican Studies, State University of New York at Albany.

Schele, Linda (1986) "Architectural Development and Political History at Palenque". In City-States of the Maya: Art and Architecture, edited Elizabeth P. Benson, 110-138. Denver: Rocky Mountain Institute for Pre-Columbian Studies.

Schele, Linda (1992) Notebook for the XVIth Maya Hieroglyphic Writing Workshop at Texas. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin.

Schele, Linda; and David Freidel (1990). A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. New York: William Morrow. ISBN 0-688-07456-1. OCLC 21295769.

Stuart, David (2005) The Inscriptions from Temple XIX at Palenque. Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute. ISBN 0-934051-10-0

Stuart, David and Stephen Houston (1994) Classic Maya Place Names Studies. Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology, 33. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.

Archaeology of Native North America, 2010, Dean R. Snow, Prentice-Hall, New York. pp.

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Palenque

Maya Explorations Center.
Unaahil B'aak: The Temples of Palenque (Wesleyan University) - Contains a learning objects program, panoramas, 3D models, and glyphs and translations.
Mesoweb's Palenque resources
animated 3D-reconstruction on Palenque-3D.com
The Tablet Of The 96 Hieroglyphs
The Ruins of Palenque: bilingual essay with audio
Drawings of the Palenque site from the Antonio del Rio 1784 expedition
Estimating Palenque's population on Mesoweb (PDF)
National Geographic Live!: Palenque and the Ancient Maya World show on YouTube

v t e Maya sites

Belize	Altun Ha Baking Pot Cahal Pech Caracol Cerros Chaa Creek Colha Cuello El Pilar K'axob Belize La Milpa Lamanai Louisville Lubaantun Marco Gonzalez Nim Li Punit Pusilha San Estevan Santa Rita Corozal Uxbenka Xnaheb Xunantunich

Guatemala	Aguateca Altar de Sacrificios Arroyo de Piedra Balberta Bejucal Cancuén Chitinamit Chocolá Cotzumalhuapa Dos Pilas El Baúl El Chal El Mirador El Tintal El Zotz Holmul Holtun Itzan Iximche Ixkun Ixlu Ixtonton Ixtutz Kaminaljuyu Kinal La Amelia La Blanca La Joyanca La Muerta Machaquila Mixco Viejo Montana Motul de San José Naachtun Nakbe Nakum Naranjo Pajaral Piedras Negras Punta de Chimino Quiriguá Q'umarkaj Río Azul Sacul San Bartolo San Mateo Ixtatán Seibal Takalik Abaj Tamarindito Tayasal Tikal Topoxte Tres Islas Uaxactun Ucanal Waka' Witzna Xultun Yaxha Zacpeten Zaculeu Zapote Bobal

Honduras	Copán El Puente

Mexico	Acanceh Aké Balamku Becan Bonampak Calakmul Chacchoben Chicanná Chinkultic Chichen Itza Chunchucmil Coba Comalcalco Dzibilchaltun Edzna Ek' Balam Izapa Jaina Kabah Kohunlich Komchen Labna Mayapan Maní Muyil Oxkintok Palenque Punta Sur Río Bec San Gervasio Sayil Toniná Tulum Uxmal Xcaret Xelha Xlapak Xpuhil Yaxchilan Yo'okop

El Salvador	Cara Sucia Casa Blanca Joya de Cerén San Andrés Tazumal

See also: Pre-Columbian era

v t e World Heritage Sites in Mexico

North West	Archaeological Zone of Paquimé, Casas Grandes Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California¹ Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino

North Central	El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro Historic Centre of Zacatecas Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro Historic Town of Guanajuato and Adjacent Mines Protected town of San Miguel and the Sanctuary of Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco

West	Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila Historic Centre of Morelia Hospicio Cabañas, Guadalajara Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California¹ Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve¹

East	Earliest 16th-century Monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl¹ Pre-Hispanic City of El Tajín Historic Centre of Puebla Historic Monuments Zone of Tlacotalpan

South West	Historic Centre of Oaxaca and Archaeological Site of Monte Albán Pre-Hispanic City and National Park of Palenque

South Central	Archaeological Monuments Zone of Xochicalco Central University City Campus of the UNAM Earliest 16th-century Monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl¹ El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Historic Centres of Mexico City and Xochimilco Luis Barragán House and Studio Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve¹ Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacán

South East	Ancient Maya City of Calakmul, Campeche Historic Fortified Town of Campeche Pre-Hispanic City of Chichén Itzá Sian Ka'an Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal

¹ Shared by more than one region

v t e State of Chiapas

Tuxtla Gutiérrez (capital)

Municipalities	Acacoyagua Acala Acapetahua Aldama Altamirano Amatán Amatenango de la Frontera Amatenango del Valle Ángel Albino Corzo Arriaga Bejucal de Ocampo Bella Vista Benemérito de las Américas Berriozábal Bochil El Bosque Cacahoatán Catazajá Chalchihuitán Chamula Chanal Chapultenango Chenalhó Chiapa de Corzo Chiapilla Chicoasén Chicomuselo Chilón Cintalapa Coapilla Comitán La Concordia Copainalá Escuintla Francisco León Frontera Comalapa Frontera Hidalgo La Grandeza Huehuetán Huixtán Huitiupán Huixtla La Independencia Ixhuatán Ixtacomitán Ixtapa Ixtapangajoya Jiquipilas Jitotol Juárez Larráinzar La Libertad Las Margaritas Las Rosas Mapastepec Maravilla Tenejapa Marqués de Comillas Mazapa de Madero Mazatán Metapa Mitontic Montecristo de Guerrero Motozintla Nicolás Ruíz Ocosingo Ocotepec Ocozocoautla de Espinosa Ostuacán Osumacinta Oxchuc Palenque Pantelhó Pantepec Pichucalco Pijijiapan El Porvenir Pueblo Nuevo Solistahuacán Rayón Reforma Sabanilla Salto de Agua San Andrés Duraznal San Cristóbal de las Casas San Fernando San Juan Cancuc San Lucas Santiago el Pinar Siltepec Simojovel Sitalá Socoltenango Solosuchiapa Soyaló Suchiapa Suchiate Sunuapa Tapachula Tapalapa Tapilula Tecpatán Tenejapa Teopisca Tila Tonalá Totolapa La Trinitaria Tumbalá Tuxtla Chico Tuxtla Gutiérrez Tuzantán Tzimol Unión Juárez Venustiano Carranza Villa Comaltitlán Villa Corzo Villaflores Yajalón Zinacantán

Coordinates: 17°29′2.328″N 92°2′46.788″W / 17.48398°N 92.04633°W / 17.48398; -92.04633

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Paco de Lucía
Paco de Lucía in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Francisco Gustavo Sánchez Gómez
Born	(1947-12-21) December 21, 1947 (age 64)
Origin	Algeciras, Andalusia Spain
Genres	Flamenco music, classical music, jazz
Occupations	Composer, Guitarist
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1958–present
Associated acts	Joaquín Rodrigo, John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, Larry Coryell, Paco de Lucía Sextet, Ricardo Modrego, Camaron de la Isla
Website	Paco de Lucía

Paco de Lucía, born Francisco Gustavo Sánchez Gómez (in Algeciras, Cádiz on December 21, 1947), is a Spanish flamenco guitarist and composer. Author Dorien Ross claims in his book "Return to "A" that de Lucía is one of the finest guitarists in the world and the greatest guitarist of the flamenco genre.^[1]^[2] He is noted in particular for his dexterity, technique and strength in his right hand, capable of executing extremely fast and fluent picados.

He is a leading proponent of the Modern Flamenco style, and is one of the very few flamenco guitarists who has also successfully crossed over into other genres of music such as classical and jazz. He is the winner of the 2004 Prince of Asturias Awards in Arts and in 2010 was awarded an honorary doctorate by Berklee College of Music in Boston.^[3]

1 Biography
2 Discography
3 References
4 External links

Biography [link]

Paco de Lucía was born Francisco Gustavo Sánchez Gómez in Algeciras,^[4] a city in the province of Cádiz, at the southernmost tip of Spain directly in front of the Rock of Gibraltar. The youngest of the five children of flamenco guitarist Antonio Sánchez, and brother of flamenco singer Pepe de Lucía and flamenco guitarist Ramón de Algeciras. In the documentary Paco de Lucía-Light and Shade: A Portrait he tells how, when he was playing in the streets as a young boy, there were many Pacos and Pablos so in order to distinguish them people would add the name of the boy's mother. This is how he came to have the name Paco de Lucia. (Paco de Lucía album)|Luzia]] .^[5]

Paco de Lucía and Camarón de la Isla.

His father introduced him to the guitar at a very young age and was extremely strict in his upbringing, forcing him to practice up to 12 hours a day, every day.^[1] At one point his father took him out of school to concentrate solely on his guitar development. Combined with natural talent, he soon excelled and in 1958, at age 11, he made his first public appearance on Radio Algeciras. A year later he was awarded a special prize in the Jerez flamenco competition. In 1961, he toured with the flamenco troupe of dancer José Greco. In 1964, he met Madrileño guitarist Ricardo Modrego with whom he recorded three albums: Dos guitarras flamencas, Dos guitarras flamencas en stereo, and Doce canciones de Federico García Lorca para guitarra. Between 1968 and 1977, he enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with fellow New Flamenco cantaor (Flamenco singer) Camarón de la Isla. The two recorded 10 albums together.

De Lucía made a cameo appearance, dressed as a Mexican guitarist, in the 1971 western Hannie Caulder, playing the melody of Ken Thorne's main theme over a string section.

His 1976 album Almoraima was a success and featured notable tracks such as "Almoraima" and "Río Ancho", the latter track of which has been covered by other guitarists such as Al Di Meola. In 1979, de Lucía, John McLaughlin, and Larry Coryell formed The Guitar Trio and together made a brief tour of Europe and released a video recorded at London's Royal Albert Hall entitled Meeting of the Spirits. Coryell was later replaced by Al Di Meola, and since 1981, the trio has recorded three albums. De Lucía's own band, the Paco de Lucía Sextet (which includes his brothers Ramón and Pepe) released the first of its three albums that same year. He has released several albums encompassing both traditional and modern flamenco styles.

L to R: Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucía

In 1995, he recorded with Bryan Adams the hit song and video "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" on the soundtrack for the movie Don Juan DeMarco. Through his wide discography he has advanced the technical and musical boundaries of his instrument. The University of Cadiz recognized de Lucía's musical and cultural contributions by conferring on him the title of Doctor Honoris Causa on March 23, 2007.

Until asked to perform and interpret Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez in 1991, de Lucía was not proficient at reading musical notation. As a flamenco guitarist, he claimed in Paco de Lucía-Light and Shade: A Portrait that he gave greater emphasis to rhythmical accuracy in his interpretation of the Concierto at the expense of the perfect tone preferred by classical guitarists. Joaquín Rodrigo has apparently said that the performance was "beautiful, exotic and inspired".^[6]

Lucía performing in 1983

Discography [link]

Studio albums [link]

Dos guitarras flamencas en stereo (1964) with Ricardo Modrego
12 canciones de García Lorca para guitarra (1965) with Ricardo Modrego
12 éxitos para 2 guitarras flamencas (1965) with Ricardo Modrego
La fabulosa guitarra de Paco de Lucía (1967)
Canciones andaluzas para 2 guitarras (1967) with Ramón de Algeciras
Dos guitarras flamencas en América Latina (1967) with Ramón de Algeciras
Fantasía flamenca de Paco de Lucía (1969)
Paco de Lucía y Ramón de Algeciras en Hispanoamérica (1969) with Ramón de Algeciras
12 Hits para 2 guitarras flamencas y orquesta de cuerda (1969) with Ramón de Algeciras
El mundo del flamenco (1971)
Recital de guitarra de Paco de Lucía (1971)
El duende flamenco de Paco de Lucía (1972)
Fuente y caudal (1973)
Almoraima (1976)
Interpreta a Manuel de Falla (1978)
Castro Marín (1981) with Larry Coryell and John McLaughlin
Sólo quiero caminar (1981) The Paco de Lucía Sextet
Passion, Grace and Fire (1983) with Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin
Siroco (1987)
Zyryab (1990)
Concierto de Aranjuez (1991)
The Guitar Trio (1996) with Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin
Luzia (1998)
Cositas buenas (2004)

Live albums [link]

En vivo desde el Teatro Real (1975)
Friday Night in San Francisco (1981) with Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin
Live... One Summer Night (1984) The Paco de Lucía Sextet
Live recordings (1987) with George Dalaras
Live in América (1993) The Paco de Lucía Sextet

Compilations [link]

Entre dos aguas (1975)
Antología (1995) - 2 cd
Integral (2003) 26 CD Limited Edition Box Set
Por Descubrir (2003)

Other contributions [link]

Composed or contributed to the soundtracks for
- La Sabina
- The Hit by Stephen Frears
- Flamenco, Flamenco (2011), Carmen and Sevillanas by Carlos Saura
- Montoyas y Tarantos
- Vicky Cristina Barcelona

One song contributed to Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou Soundtrack (La Nina de Puerta Oscura) (2004)

Elegant Gypsy by Al Di Meola (1977) - de Lucía plays a duet with Di Meola on the track "Mediterranean Sundance".

Shpongle sampled his track "Introduccion y Pantomima" in their song "Around the World in a Tea Daze" from the album Tales of the Inexpressible.

References [link]

^ ^a ^b Ross, Dorien (1 October 1995). Returning to "A". City Lights Books. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-87286-307-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=fBRBaCWb7AkC&pg=PA70. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
^ Pohren, D. E. (1992). Paco de Lucía and family: the master plan. Society of Spanish Studies. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-933224-62-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=3OokB5W9seoC&pg=PA57. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
^ Bush, Allen (8 May 2010). "2010 Honorary Doctor Recipients Represent R&B, Flamenco, Jazz, and World Music". Berklee News. http://www.berklee.edu/news/1821/2010-honorary-doctor-recipients-represent-r-b-fl. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
^ Harris, Craig. "Paco de Lucía: Biography". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/paco-de-luca-p6392/biography. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
^ "Paco de Lucia flamenco guitar master and virtuoso". Flamenco-guitars.com. http://www.flamenco-guitars.com/paco_de_lucia.html. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
^ "(Flamenco Horizon) website article (in Spanish)". "Horizonte Flamenco". http://www.horizonteflamenco.com/pagina.php?n=paco_lucia_3. Retrieved 2010-09-22.

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Paco de Lucia

Persondata
Name	Lucia, Paco de
Alternative names	Francisco Gustavo Sánchez Gómez (real name)
Short description	Musician
Date of birth	21 December 1947
Place of birth	Algeciras, Cádiz Spain
Date of death
Place of death

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http://ru.wn.com/Пако де Лусия

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This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Elizalde and the second or maternal family name is Valencia.

Valentín Elizalde
File:Valentín Elizalde.jpg
Background information
Birth name	Valentin Elizalde Valencia
Born	(1979-02-01)February 1, 1979 Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico^[1]
Died	November 25, 2006(2006-11-25) (aged 27) Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Genres	Norteñas, Corridos, Banda
Occupations	Singer-Songwriter

Valentín Elizalde Valencia (February 1, 1979 – November 25, 2006) was a Mexican banda music singer gunned down in an ambush. Known by the nickname "El Gallo de Oro" (The Golden Rooster), his biggest Banda hits included "Vete Ya," "Ebrio de Amor", " Vete Con Él", "Vuelve Cariñito", "Como Me Duele", "Vencedor", " Mi Virgencita", and "Soy Así".^[2] Some of his songs were narcocorridos eulogizing Mexican drug lords like Vicente Carrillo Fuentes. He was allegedly murdered at the age of 27 by a member of the drug trafficking gang Los Zetas, which at that time served as the armed wing of the Gulf Cartel.^[3]^[4]

1 Biography
- 1.1 Death
2 Discography
3 References
4 External links

Biography [link]

Elizalde was born in the city of Navojoa, Sonora. He then moved to Guadalajara, Jalisco and later to Guasave, Sinaloa where he, his father (also a singer), Lalo Elizalde, nicknamed "El Gallo" (The Rooster), and brothers resided for a few years. His father died in a car accident on the so called "Curva de la muerte" (Curve of Death) in the city of Villa Juárez, Sonora. He had six children with his wife Camila Valencia: Jesus, Joel, Sergio, Valentin, Francisco and Lidia. In 2007, Elizalde was nominated posthumously for the Grammy Awards.

Death [link]

On November 25, 2006, Elizalde’s vehicle was gunned down; killing him, his chauffer and his assistant shortly after leaving a concert in Reynosa, Tamaulipas.^[5] It is widely believed that Elizalde was killed due to his concert performance of “A Mis Enemigos”, which contains lyrics believed to antagonize drug trafficking gang Los Zetas.^[6] Raul Hernández Barrón, alleged murderer of Elizalde and member of Los Zetas, was arrested in March 22, 2008, in Coatzintla, Veracruz.^[4]

References [link]

^ http://music.aol.com/artist/valentin-elizalde/biography
^ Héctor Tobar (November 25, 2006). Mexican pop singer gunned down. Los Angeles Times
^ Mexican Drug Cartels Leave a Bloody Trail on YouTube. By Manuel Roig-Franzia, Washington Post Monday, April 9, 2007; Page A01. [1]
^ ^a ^b http://www.elsiglodetorreon.com.mx/noticia/340483.detienen-a-presunto-asesino-de-valentin-eliza.html
^ http://www.lasnoticiasmexico.com/43617.html
^ http://www.debate.com.mx/eldebate/Articulos/ArticuloGeneral.asp?IdArt=6812322&IdCat=6087

External links [link]

	Mexico portal
	Biography portal

Roig-Franzia, Manuel. "Mexican Drug Cartels Leave a Bloody Trail on YouTube." The Washington Post. Monday April 9, 2007.
Death of Valentín Elizalde
Banda Guasaveña
Narcocorrido to drug lord Vicente Carrillo Fuentes
Mexico: Trouble in Culiacán, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

Persondata
Name	Elizalde, Valentin
Alternative names	El Gallo De Oro
Short description
Date of birth	February 1, 1979
Place of birth	Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico
Date of death	November 25, 2006
Place of death	Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico

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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2011)

"Pakal" and "Pacal" redirect here. For other uses, see Pakal (disambiguation).

K'inich Janaab' Pakal
Ajaw of Palenque
Pacal the Great
Reign	July 29, 615 – August 31, 683 CE
Full name	K'inich Janaab' Pakal
Born	(603-03-23)March 23, 603
Died	March 31, 683(683-03-31) (aged 80)
Buried	Temple of the Inscriptions, Palenque
Predecessor	Sak K'uk'
Successor	K'inich Kan B'alam II
Offspring	K'inich Kan B'alam II K'inich K'an Joy Chitam II
Father	K'an Mo' Hix
Mother	Sak K'uk'

K'inich Janaab' Pakal (23 March 603 – 28 August 683)^[1] was ruler of the Maya polity of Palenque in the Late Classic period of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chronology. During a long reign of some 68 years Pakal was responsible for the construction or extension of some of Palenque's most notable surviving inscriptions and monumental architecture.

1 Name
2 Biography
3 Pacal's sarcophagus lid
- 3.1 Erich von Däniken's "Maya Astronaut"
- 3.2 José Argüelles' "Pacal Votan"
4 Notes
5 References
6 External links

Name [link]

Before his name was securely deciphered from extant Maya inscriptions, this ruler has been known by an assortment of nicknames and approximations, common ones including Pakal (or Pacal), "Sun Shield", "8 Ahau", and (familiarly) as Pacal the Great. The word pakal means "shield" in the Maya language.

In modern sources his name is also sometimes appended with a regnal number,^[2] to distinguish him from other Janaab' Pakals that either preceded or followed him in the dynastic lineage of Palenque. Confusingly, he has at times been referred to as either "Pakal I" or "Pakal II". The reference to him as Pakal II takes into account that his maternal grandfather (who died in 612) was also named Janaab' Pakal. However, although his grandfather was a personage of ajaw ranking most recent inscriptional interpretations hold that he probably did not himself hold the actual rulership position over the Palenque city-state. When instead the name Pakal I is used, this serves to distinguish him from two later known successors to the Palenque rulership, Upakal K'inich Janaab' Pakal (ruled c. 742, aka "[K'inich Janaab'] Pakal II") and Wak Kimi Janaab' Pakal (aka [Janaab'] Pakal III), the last-known Palenque ruler who acceded in 799.

Biography [link]

Pakal ascended the throne at age 12 on July 29, 615, and lived to the age of 80. He saw expansion of Palenque's power in the western part of the Maya states, and initiated a building program at his capital that produced some of Maya civilization's finest art and architecture. He was preceded as ruler of Palenque by his mother, Lady Sak K'uk'. As the Palenque dynasty seems to have had Queens only when there was no eligible male heir, Sak K'uk' transferred rulership to her son upon his official maturity.

After his death, Pakal was succeeded by his son Chan Bahlum II. A younger son, Kan Xul II, succeeded his brother Chan Bahlum II. After his death, Pakal was deified and said to communicate with his descendants. Pakal was buried within the Temple of Inscriptions. Though Palenque had been examined by archaeologists before, the secret to opening his tomb—closed off by a stone slab with stone plugs in the holes, which had until then escaped the attention of archaeologists—was discovered by Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier in 1948. It took four years to clear the rubble from the stairway leading down to Pakal’s tomb, but was finally uncovered in 1952 [2]. His skeletal remains were still lying in his coffin, wearing a jade mask and bead necklaces, surrounded by sculptures and stucco reliefs depicting the ruler's transition to divinity and figures from Maya mythology. That the bones within the tomb are really those of Pakal himself is under debate due to the fact that the analysis of wear on the skeleton’s teeth places the age of the owner at death as 40 years younger than Pakal would have been at his death. Epigraphers insist that the inscriptions on the tomb indicate that it is indeed K'inich Janaab' Pakal entombed within, and that he died at the age of 80 after ruling for around 70 years. Some contest that the glyphs refer to two people with the same name or that an unusual method for recording time was used, but other experts in the field say that allowing for such possibilities would go against everything else that is known about the Maya calendar and records of events. The most commonly accepted explanation for the irregularity is that Pakal, being an elite, had access to softer, less abrasive food than the average person so that his teeth naturally acquired less wear [3]. Despite the controversy, it remains one of the most spectacular finds of Maya archeology. A replica of his tomb is found at the National Museum of Anthropology and History in Mexico City.

Carved lid of the tomb of K'inich Janaab' Pakal in the Temple of the Inscriptions.

Pacal's sarcophagus lid [link]

The large carved stone sarcophagus lid in the Temple of Inscriptions is a famous piece of Classic Maya art. The widely accepted interpretation of the sarcophagus lid is that Pakal is descending into Xibalba, the Maya underworld. Around the edges of the lid are glyphs representing the Sun, the Moon, Venus, and various constellations, locating this event in the nighttime sky. Below him is the Maya water god, who guards the underworld [4]. Beneath Pakal are the "unfolded" jaws of a dragon or serpent, which Pakal is escaping from, ascending towards the world tree. This is a common iconographic representation of the entrance to the underworld. Other examples of this imagery are found in sculpture on Monument 1 "El Rey" and Monument 9 at the Olmec site of Chalcatzingo, Morelos, on Altar 4 at the Olmec site of La Venta, Tabasco, and in recently discovered murals at the Late Preclassic Maya site of San Bartolo, Guatemala.^{[citation needed]}

Erich von Däniken's "Maya Astronaut"[link]

Pakal’s tomb has been the focus of attention by some "ancient astronaut" enthusiasts since its appearance in Erich von Däniken's 1968 best seller, Chariots of the Gods?. Von Däniken reproduced a drawing of the sarcophagus lid (incorrectly labeling it as being from "Copan") and comparing Pacal's pose to that of 1960s Project Mercury astronauts, interpreting drawings underneath him as rockets, and offering it as evidence of a supposed extraterrestrial influence on the ancient Maya.

In the center of that frame is a man sitting, bending forward. He has a mask on his nose, he uses his two hands to manipulate some controls, and the heel of his left foot is on a kind of pedal with different adjustments. The rear portion is separated from him; he is sitting on a complicated chair, and outside of this whole frame, you see a little flame like an exhaust.

Von Däniken's claim is not considered a credible interpretation by any professional Mayanist. For example Ian Graham responded, "Well I certainly don't see any need to regard him as a space man. I don't see any oxygen tubes. I see a very characteristically drawn Maya face"^[3]

José Argüelles' "Pacal Votan"[link]

Notes [link]

^ These are the dates indicated on the Maya inscriptions : in Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, 9.8.9.13.0 and 9.12.11.5.18 (Tiesler & Cucina 2004, p. 40).
^ Maya rulership titles and name glyphs themselves do not use regnal numbers, they are a convenience only of modern scholars.
^ [1]

References [link]

Tiesler, Vera; Cucina, Andrea (2004), Janaab' Pakal de Palenque: Vida y muerte de un gobernante maya, Mexico: UNAM, ISBN 978-970-32-1489-1, http://books.google.com/books?id=yaMuPdEF9k4C&printsec=frontcover&hl=fr

External links [link]

Regnal titles
Preceded by Sak K'uk'	King of Palenque July 29, 615 – August 31, 683	Succeeded by K'inich Kan B'alam II

Persondata
Name	Kinich Janaab Pakal
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 26, 0603
Place of birth
Date of death	March 31, 0683
Place of death

http://wn.com/K'inich_Janaab'_Pakal

http://ru.wn.com/Пакаль

http://fr.wn.com/K'inich Janaab' Pakal Ier

http://nl.wn.com/Pacal de Grote

http://pt.wn.com/Pacal, o Grande

http://de.wn.com/K'inich Janaab' Pakal I.

http://it.wn.com/K'inich Janaab' Pakal

http://pl.wn.com/K'inich Janaab' Pakal

http://id.wn.com/Pacal yang Agung

http://es.wn.com/K'inich Janaab' Pakal

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K'inich_Janaab'_Pakal

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Joe Arroyo
Joe Arroyo's Statue on Barranquilla
Background information
Birth name	Alvaro José Arroyo González
Also known as	El Joe
Born	(1955-11-01)1 November 1955 Cartagena de Indias, Bolívar, Colombia
Died	26 July 2011(2011-07-26) (aged 55) Barranquilla, Atlántico, Colombia
Genres	Joeson, Salsa, tropical, Cumbia, Porro, Chandé
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, record producer, musician,
Instruments	Vocals, Wood block
Years active	1969–2011
Labels	Discos Fuentes, Sony Music
Associated acts	Shakira, Juanes, Celia Cruz

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Arroyo and the second or maternal family name is González.

Álvaro José Arroyo González (also known as Joe Arroyo or El Joe; 1 November 1955 – 26 July 2011) was a Colombian salsa and tropical music singer, composer and songwriter. Considered one of the greatest performers of Caribbean music in his country.

1 Life and career
2 Death
3 Discography
4 References
5 External links

Life and career [link]

1955-1971: Early life [link]

Joe Arroyo was born in Cartagena. Born and raised in the neighborhood Nariño in Cartagena, Arroyo began his career at an early age, at the age of eight when he sang in brothels in Tesco, a red-light zone in his hometown. In the beginning he sang with groups like "Los Caporales del Magdalena", "Manuel Villanueva y su Orquesta", "La Protesta" and "Super Combo Los Diamantes", in 1971 he recorded with "La Promiscua".

1971-2000: Early career [link]

In 1971 Arroyo had his biggest opportunity of becoming a nationally known artist. He was discovered by Julio Ernesto Estrada, the bass player and director of the band Fruko y sus Tesos and signed up with Colombian record label Discos Fuentes.^[1] He performed with the band for ten years until 1981 when he began his solo career leading his band, named "La Verdad" (The truth).

Joe Arroyo became very successful by mixing salsa, cumbia, porro, soca, kompa, zouk and other music from the African Diaspora in a unique style. Some of his most famous songs are Rebelión","La noche" "Tania", "El Ausente" and "En Barranquilla me Quedo.

2000-2011: Health issues, drug abuse and The Joe "The Legend"[link]

Joe Arroyo was forced to stay away from his performances many times due to his health problems. On more than one occasion, he was thought to be dead because of his abrupt absences from media attention. Joe Arroyo had to go through surgery because of problems with his eyes.

He was once seriously ill for about 3 months due to a problem with his thyroid even though many had attributed it to drug abuse, which the singer denied in Rolling Stone magazine, Argentina in January 2004.

Between June and December 2011 the RCN channel broadcasted a soap opera based on the singer's life called The Joe "The Legend".

Death [link]

Arroyo died in Barranquilla on July 26, 2011, after spending nearly a month in hospital due to multiorgan failure. During his stay in the hospital his health deteriorated. The day before his death, doctors announced the singer was suffering from several organ failures including renal and heart failure and he was given his final sacrament by the local bishop. The singer died at 7:45 local time.^[2]

Discography [link]

With Fruko y sus Tesos ^[3]

1972 – El Bueno
1973 – La fruta bomba
1973 – Ayunando
1973 – El Violento
1974 – El Caminante
1975 – El Grande
1976 – El Bárbaro
1977 – El Patillero
1978 – El Cocinero Mayor
1979 – El Teso
1980 – El Espectacular
1982 – El Genio

With The Latin Brothers ^[4]

1976 – Te encontré
1977 – Bailame como quieras
1978 – Suavecito, apretaíto
1979 – En su salsa

With his group "La Verdad"

1981 – Arroyando
1981 - Con gusto y gana
1982 - El campeón"
1983 - Actuando
1984 - Hasta amanecé
1985 - Me le fugué a la candela
1986 – Musa Original
1987 – Echao Pa´lante
1988 - Fuego en mi mente
1989 – En Acción

1990 – El Supercongo // La guerra de los callados
1991 – Toque de Clase
1991 - La voz de Joe Arroyo
1993 – Fuego
1994 – Sus Razones Tendrá
1995 - Mi libertad
1996 – Reinando en Vida
1997 – Deja Que Te Cante
1998 – Cruzando El Milenio
1999 – En Sol Mayor
2002 - Marcando terreno
2004 – Arroyo Peligroso
2004 - El Joe Live
2005 – Se Armó la Moña en Carnaval
2007 – El Súper Joe

Compilations

1990 – 15 grandes exitos
1990 - Echao pa'lante (Grandes éxitos)
1991 - 20 aniversario
1994 - Antología musical
1995 – Lo Diferente
1995 - Súper éxitos del Joe. Vol.1 y vol.2
1997 - Álbum de oro
1997 - 30 pegaditas con el Joe
1997 - 25 aniversario
1998 – Aquí Estoy
1998 – El Sonero de América
1998 - Rey del carnaval
1999 – El Baile del Siglo, Disco 1

1999 – El Baile del Siglo, Disco 2
1999 - 20th aniversary
2000 - El Rey del Congo de Oro
2001 – Los Reyes del Trópico (Con Juan Carlos Coronell)
2001 – Rebelion
2002 – El Original, Disco 1
2002 – El Original, Disco 2
2002 - 32 Cañonazos (CD 1)
2002 - Los Magníficos de La Salsa
2002 – Sus Mejores Temas Tropicales
2003 – Grandes Exitos, Disco 1
2003 – Grandes Exitos, Disc 2
2003 – Lo Salsero de Joe
2005 - La Verdadera Historia del Joe
2006 - Gold
2007 - 20 originales
2008 - 10 de colección
2011 - Colección 100 éxitos del siglo

References [link]

^ Harris, Craig. "Biography: Joe Arroyo". AMG. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p29545. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
^ "Colombian music legend Joe Arroyo dies at 55". http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/culture/17869-colombian-music-legend-joe-arroyo-dies-at-55.html. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
^ "Joe Arroyo, Discografía 2". http://www.latinastereo.com/SalserodelMes/JoeArroyo/Discografia2.aspx. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
^ "Joe Arroyo, The Latin Brothers". http://www.latinastereo.com/SalserodelMes/JoeArroyo/Discografia3.aspx. Retrieved 4 September 2011.

Persondata
Name	Arroyo, Joe
Alternative names	Arroyo González, Álvaro José (actual)
Short description	Singer, songwriter
Date of birth	1 November 1955
Place of birth	Cartagena de Indias, Bolívar, Colombia
Date of death	26 July 2011
Place of death	Barranquilla, Atlántico, Colombia

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Arroyo

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

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