- published: 20 Jan 2007
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- author: kermukerec
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- Aguateca
- Ake
- Akumal
- Altar de Sacrificios
- Altun Ha
- Arroyo de Piedra
- Arthur G. Miller
- Bacalar municipality
- Baking Pot
- Balamku
- Balberta
- Banco Chinchorro
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- Chaa Creek
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- Chicanná
- Chichen Itza
- Chinkultic
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- Chocolá
- Chunchucmil
- Coba
- Cobá
- Colha, Belize
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- Daylight saving time
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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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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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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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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
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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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Banco Chinchorro
Banco Chinchorro is an atoll reef lying off the southeast coast of the Municipality of Othón P. Blanco in Quintana Roo, Mexico, near Belize that is one of the world's premiere shipwreck diving spots. Its beauty is gorgeously showcased throughout the 2009 semi-documentary film "Alamar" by Pedro González-Rubio.
The reef, which lies in Mexican waters 35 km offshore in the Caribbean Sea, is about 80 km east of the city of Chetumal,is approximately 40.2 kilometres (25.0 mi) long from north to south, and approximately 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) wide at its widest point. It covers an area of 800 km². The atoll has three islands, with an aggregate land area of 6.7 km²:
The natural vegetation of the islands is largely mangrove near the shore shading into open woodland more than 20–30 m from the shore. There is a cayman reserve on the southernmost (and biggest) island. The islands (in common with many isolated tropical islands) are thickly populated with small crabs, which are tame and so easily trodden on inadvertently by visitors.
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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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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.
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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.
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Cancún
Cancún (Spanish pronunciation: [kaŋˈkun]) is a city in south-eastern Mexico, located on the north-east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is a world-renowned tourist destination, as well as being the seat of the Benito Juárez municipality. The city is located off of the Caribbean Sea, and is one of the eastern-most points in Mexico. Cancún is located near/in Mexico's Caribbean coast resort band known as the Riviera Maya.
There are two possible translations of Cancún, based on the Mayan pronunciation. The first translation is "nest of snakes or pot." The second version and less accepted is "place of the golden snake"[citation needed].
The shield of the municipality of Benito Juárez, who represents the city of Cancun, was designed by the artist vital Jesús Carmichael Jiménez (Elio Carmichael). It is divided into three parts: The color blue symbolizes the Caribbean Sea, the yellow the sand and the red the sun with its rays.
As documented in the earliest colonial sources, the island of Cancún was originally known to its Maya inhabitants as Nizuc (Yucatec Maya [niʔ suʔuk]) meaning either "promontory" or "point of grass". In the years after the Conquest, much of the population died off or left as a result of disease, warfare, piracy, and famines, leaving only small settlements on Isla Mujeres and Cozumel Island.[citation needed]
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Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles.
The entire area of the Caribbean Sea, the numerous islands of the West Indies, and adjacent coasts, are collectively known as the Caribbean. The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest salt water seas and has an area of about 2,754,000 km² (1,063,000 sq. mi.). The sea's deepest point is the Cayman Trough, between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, at 7,686 m (25,220 ft) below sea level. The Caribbean coastline has many gulfs and bays: the Gulf of Gonâve, Gulf of Venezuela, Gulf of Darién, Golfo de los Mosquitos, Gulf of Paria and Gulf of Honduras.
The name "Caribbean" is derived from the Caribs, one of the dominant American Indian groups in the region at the time of European contact during the late 15th century. After the discovery of the West Indies by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the Spanish term Antillas was assigned to the lands; stemming from this, "Sea of the Antilles" is a common alternative name for the Caribbean Sea in various European languages. During the first century of development, the Spanish dominance was undisputed.
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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.
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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.
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Chetumal
Chetumal (Chactemàal /tɕʰaktʰe̞mɐː˨˩l/ which means: "Place of the red wood" Modern Maya) (coordinates: 18°30′13″N 88°18′19″W / 18.50361°N 88.30528°W / 18.50361; -88.30528) is a city on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. It is the capital of the state of Quintana Roo and the municipal seat of the Municipality of Othón P. Blanco. In 2010 it had a population of 151,243 people.
The city is situated on the western side of Chetumal Bay, near the mouth of the Río Hondo. Chetumal is an important port for the region and operates as Mexico's main trading gateway with the neighboring country of Belize. Goods are transported via a road connecting Chetumal with Belize City to the south, and also via coastal merchant ships. Because of its location on the Caribbean coastline, it is vulnerable to tropical cyclones; Hurricane Janet and Hurricane Dean, both Category 5 storms, made landfall near Chetumal in 1955 and 2007 respectively.
In Pre-Columbian times, a city called Chactemal (sometimes rendered as "Chetumal" in early European sources), probably today's Santa Rita in Belize, was the capital of a Maya state of the same name that roughly controlled the southern quarter of modern Quintana Roo and the northeast portion of Belize. This original Chetumal is now believed to have been on the other side of the Río Hondo, in modern Belize, not at the site of modern Chetumal.
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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
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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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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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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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Cobá
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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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 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 Salvador
El Salvadori/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 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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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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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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Isla Holbox
Holbox ("black hole" in Yucatec Maya) is an island in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, located on the north coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is approximately 12 kilometers long and 1.5 kilometers wide, and it is separated from the mainland by a shallow lagoon that is home to flamingos, pelicans and other rich birdlife. Holbox Island is part of the Municipality of Lázaro Cárdenas and also part of the Yum-Balam Biosphere Reserve.
Not yet heavily touristed, the island's main industry is fishing. However, the island is developing a growing tourist industry in the form of whale shark viewing.
The island is accessed by ferry from the mainland town of Chiquila, and has virtually no cars, with transport by most residents and tourists by golf cart or moped. A small airline, Aerosaab, flies tours to Holbox from Cancún and Playa del Carmen; there is even a small airstrip to accommodate Aerosaab's five-seater Cessna aircraft.
This is one of the safest beaches for learning how to kiteboard. There are ideal conditions for beginners; shallow waters, no big obstacles on the wide and long beach, many days of wind during the winter months and 2 schools with professional instructors. Advanced riders can find also very good conditions when the north winds reach 25 knots or more.
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Isla Mujeres
Isla Mujeres (Spanish for Island of Women) is one of the ten municipalities of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The municipality, located in the northeastern corner of the state is mostly on the mainland and has a municipal seat of the same name; Isla Mujeres. The municipal seat 21°13′56″N 86°43′54″W / 21.23222°N 86.73167°W / 21.23222; -86.73167 is a small island town a short distance off the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean Sea about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) northeast of Cancún. It is the easternmost municipal seat in Mexico. The island is some 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) long and 650 metres (2,130 ft) wide. In the 2010 census, the town had a population of 12,642 inhabitants.
The largest localities (cities, towns, and villages) are:
Transportation on the island of Isla Mujeres consists primarily of taxis or golf carts and moped scooters. As of 2005 there were 121 taxis, 500 golf carts, and 1500 moped scooters. There's also a bus service that runs from the Downtown to the different neighborhoods, called colonias in Spanish (where most of locals live).
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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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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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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.
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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.
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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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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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Mahahual
Costa Maya is a small tourist region in the municipality of Othón P. Blanco in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, the only state with Caribbean Sea. This municipality is close to Chetumal (capital of the state) on the border with Belize, until recently British Honduras. The area is generally undeveloped but has been growing quickly and rapidly after construction of a large pier to accommodate cruise ships. The Costa Maya includes two small villages − Mahahual 18°42′50″N 87°42′34″W / 18.71389°N 87.70944°W / 18.71389; -87.70944 (pop. 920) and Xcalak 18°16′17″N 87°50′09″W / 18.27139°N 87.83583°W / 18.27139; -87.83583 (pop. 375) and extends physically from Xcalak in the south to the southern border of the Sian Ka'an in the north, a distance of approximately 100 km.
While Xcalak is approximately 60 kilometers (37 mi) south of the Costa Maya cruise port, the fishing village of Mahahual is only about 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) away. Cruise ships can easily be seen from the village. Mahahual has soft sand beaches, grass thatched palapas, and a coral reef a short distance off-shore called Banco Chinchorro, as well as several bars, restaurants, and shops. A new development called New Mahahual is being created directly inland from the port. When ships are in port, the village is busy with cruise passengers.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Playa del Carmen
Originally a small fishing town, tourism to Playa del Carmen began with the passenger ferry service to Cozumel, an island across the Cozumel Channel and world famous scuba diving destination. It did not take long for visitors to realize that some of the best beaches and vibes in Mexico were to be found in Playa. While passing through, many people realized that it was a nice place to relax away from the crowds of Cancún but with better quality beaches and turquoise waters. While its salt water scuba diving cannot compete with Cozumel, for the adventurous, Playa del Carmen's fresh water cenote diving more than makes up for it.
Playa del Carmen, or just "Playa", has one of the most laid-back main steets in the Americas. Avenida Quinta, or "Fifth Avenue" is all pedestrian for 2 miles, a line of hotels, restaurants, bars and shops that can be walked without fear of cars. The restaurants to the north, in the neighborhood of Little Italy, are of exceptional value. This area has undergone rapid development over the past two years with many new luxury residential condominium buildings, restaurants, boutiques and entertainment venues. Currently there are plans to develop six luxury boutique hotels, several internationally recognized chain restaurants including PF Changs, Hard Rock Cafe, Ruth's Chris and the Cheesecake Factory as well as a small upmarket shopping plaza offering designer boutiques, a small cinema, luxury condominiums and the first international House of Blues entertainment venue. El Palacio de Hierro has also begun construction of a luxury department store at the corner of "Fifth Avenue" and Constituyentes.
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Puerto Morelos
Puerto Morelos is a town and sea port in Quintana Roo, Mexico's easternmost state, on the Yucatán Peninsula. The town is at the southern end of the municipality of Benito Juárez in the northeast of the state, about 36 km south of the resort city of Cancún. The marine terminal at Puerto Morelos is equipped to handle containers and is the largest and most important sea port in the state of Quintana Roo.
Puerto Morelos is divided by a highway and a mangrove swamp into three sections. The section west of the highway is known as "Colonia Joaquin Zetina Gazca". The section east of the highway is called "Colonia Pescadores". The section on the coast east of the mangrove swamp is "Puerto" or "Antiguo (old) Puerto Morelos". This original coastal fishing village is now a quiet, mixed-use neighborhood of private homes, hotels, condominiums, restaurants, and tourist shops. The second part is about 2 km. inland and adjacent to Highway 307, on the western side. The inland portion is mainly single level dwellings for local workers.
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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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Quintana Roo
Quintana Roo (Spanish pronunciation: [kinˈtana ˈro]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 10 municipalities and its capital city is Chetumal.
It is located in Southeastern Mexico, on the eastern part of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is bordered by the states of Yucatán to the northwest and Campeche to the west. To the north, Quintana Roo borders the Gulf of Mexico and to the south, Belize. It also claims territory which gives it a small border with Guatemala in the southwest of the state, although this disputed area is also claimed by Campeche.
Quintana Roo is home of the world famous city of Cancún, the islands of Cozumel and Isla Mujeres, the towns of Bacalar, Playa del Carmen and Akumal, as well as the ancient Maya ruins of Chacchoben, Coba, Kohunlich, Muyil, Tulum, Xel-Há, and Xcaret. The Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve is also in the state.
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Riviera Maya
Riviera Maya, also known as the Mayan Riviera, is a tourism district following the coastal Highway 307 which parallels the Caribbean coastline of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, located on the eastern portion of the Yucatán Peninsula. This district historically started at the city of Playa del Carmen and ended at the village of Tulum, although the towns of Puerto Morelos situated to the north and between Playa del Carmen and Cancun as well as the town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto situated 40 kilometres (25 mi) to the south of Tulum are both currently being promoted as part of the Riviera Maya tourist corridor.
The Riviera Maya was originally called the Cancun - Tulum corridor, but in 1999 it was renamed as the Riviera Maya with the aid of Lic. Miguel Ramón Martín Azueta who at the time was the mayor of the municipality of Solidaridad. The municipality of Solidaridad includes the whole of the official Riviera Maya from Playa del Carmen in the north and south to Tulum and extending to some 40 km inland with the border with the state of Yucatan.
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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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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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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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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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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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Stanford University
Coordinates: 37°26′N 122°10′W / 37.43°N 122.17°W / 37.43; -122.17
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is an American private research university located in Stanford, California on an 8,180-acre (3,310 ha) campus near Palo Alto, California, United States. It is situated in the northwestern Silicon Valley, approximately 20 miles (32 km) northwest of San Jose and 37 miles (60 km) southeast of San Francisco.
Leland Stanford, a Californian railroad tycoon and politician, and his wife Jane Lathrop Stanford founded the university in 1891 in honor of their son, Leland Stanford, Jr., who died of typhoid two months before his 16th birthday. The university was established as a coeducational and nondenominational institution, but struggled financially after the senior Stanford's 1893 death and after much of the campus was damaged by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Following World War II, Provost Frederick Terman supported faculty and graduates' entrepreneurialism to build self-sufficient local industry in what would become known as Silicon Valley. By 1970, Stanford was home to a linear accelerator, was one of the original four ARPANET nodes, and had transformed itself into a major research university in computer science, mathematics, natural sciences, and social sciences.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Xcalak
Xcalak is a village of 375 inhabitants in the municipality of Othón P. Blanco, Quintana Roo, on the Caribbean coast of Mexico. Xcalak is one of the last "unspoiled" stretches of Mexican Caribbean located on the Southern end of the Costa Maya. The world's second largest barrier reef passes just off-shore from Xcalak and it is also a departure point for dive trips to the Chinchorro Banks (Banco Chinchorro) atoll reef system. It is designated a Mexican national reef park (Parque Nacional Arrecifes de Xcalak) and is an excellent site for snorkeling, scuba diving and fly fishing. It is 60 kilometers (37 mi) South of Mahahual, the site of a new large cruise ship pier, and just north of the border with Belize. The Mahahual pier was destroyed by hurricane Dean in 2007. This section of coast is now being developed by the tourism industry and has a growing number of Americans and other expatriates investing in beach front property north of town. However, development is nowhere close to the degree of development of its Northern cities Cancún and Playa del Carmen.
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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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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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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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Yucatan Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel. The peninsula lies east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a northwestern geographic partition separating the region of Central America from the rest of North America.
The peninsula comprises the Mexican states of Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo; the northern part of the nation of Belize; and Guatemala's northern El Petén Department.
The proper derivation of the word Yucatán is widely debated. Hernan Cortes, in the first of his letters to Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, claimed that the name Yucatán comes from a misunderstanding. In this telling, the first Spanish explorers asked what the area was called, and the response they received, "Yucatan," was a Yucatec Maya word meaning "I don't understand what you're saying." Others claim that the source of the name is the Nahuatl (Aztec) word Yokatlān, "place of richness."
The Yucatán Peninsula comprises a significant proportion of the ancient Maya Lowlands (although the Maya culture extended south of the Yucatán Peninsula, through present Guatemala and into Honduras and highland Chiapas). There are many Maya archaeological sites throughout the peninsula; some of the better-known are Chichen Itza, Tulum and Uxmal.Indigenous Maya and Mestizos of partial Maya descent make up a sizable portion of the region's population, and Mayan languages are widely spoken there.
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Yucatán
Yucatán (Spanish pronunciation: [ʝukaˈtan]), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida.
It is located in Southeastern Mexico, on the north part of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is bordered by the states of Campeche to the southwest, Quintana Roo to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico lies off its north coast.
Before the arrival of Spaniards to the Yucatán Peninsula, the name of this region was el Mayab. In Mayan language, "ma' ya'ab" is translated as "a few". It was a very important region for the Mayan civilization, which reached the peak of its development on this place, where they founded the cities of Chichen Itza, Izamal, Motul, Mayapan, Ek' Balam and Ichcaanzihóo (also called T'Hó), now Mérida.
After the Spanish conquest, Yucatán Peninsula was a single administrative and political entity, the Captaincy General of Yucatán. Following independence and the breakup of the Mexican Empire in 1823, the first Republic of Yucatán was proclaimed which then was voluntarily annexed to the Federal Republic of United Mexican States on December 21, 1823. Later on March 16, 1841, as result of cultural and political conflicts around the federal pact, Yucatán declared independence from Mexico to form a second Republic of Yucatán, but eventually on July 14, 1848, Yucatán was definitely rejoined to Mexico. In 1858, in the middle of the caste war, the state of Yucatan was divided for the first time, establishing Campeche as separate state (officially in 1863). During the Porfiriato, in 1902, the state of Yucatan was divided again to form the Federal territory that later became the present state of Quintana Roo.
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Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel. The peninsula lies east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a northwestern geographic partition separating the region of Central America from the rest of North America.
The peninsula comprises the Mexican states of Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo; the northern part of the nation of Belize; and Guatemala's northern El Petén Department.
The proper derivation of the word Yucatán is widely debated. Hernan Cortes, in the first of his letters to Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, claimed that the name Yucatán comes from a misunderstanding. In this telling, the first Spanish explorers asked what the area was called, and the response they received, "Yucatan," was a Yucatec Maya word meaning "I don't understand what you're saying." Others claim that the source of the name is the Nahuatl (Aztec) word Yokatlān, "place of richness."
The Yucatán Peninsula comprises a significant proportion of the ancient Maya Lowlands (although the Maya culture extended south of the Yucatán Peninsula, through present Guatemala and into Honduras and highland Chiapas). There are many Maya archaeological sites throughout the peninsula; some of the better-known are Chichen Itza, Tulum and Uxmal.Indigenous Maya and Mestizos of partial Maya descent make up a sizable portion of the region's population, and Mayan languages are widely spoken there.
wn.com/Yucatán_Peninsula -
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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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.
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Juan de Grijalva
Juan de Grijalva (born around 1489 in Cuéllar - January 21, 1527) was a Spanish conquistador. Some authors[who?] said he was from the same family as Diego Velázquez.
He went to Hispaniola in 1508 and to Cuba in 1511.
He was one of the earliest to explore the shores of Mexico. He left Cuba with four ships in April 1518. According to Hernán Cortés, 170 people went with him, but according to Pedro Mártir, there were 300 people.
The main pilot was Antón de Alaminos, the other pilots were Juan Álvarez (also known as el Manquillo), Pedro Camacho de Triana, and Grijalva.
Other members included Francisco de Montejo, Pedro de Alvarado, Juan Díaz, Francisco Peñalosa, Alonso de Ávila, Alonso Hernández, Julianillo, Melchorejo, Antonio Villafaña.
After rounding the Cape of Guaniguanico in Cuba, he sailed along the Mexican coast and arrived on May 1 at the Tabasco region in southern Mexico. Río Grijalva (Mexico) was named after him. Bernal Díaz del Castillo wrote about the travels of Juan de Grijalva in his book.
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Pre-Columbian
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.
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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.
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Sylvanus Morley
Sylvanus Griswold Morley (June 7, 1883 – September 2, 1948) was an American archaeologist, epigrapher, and Mayanist scholar who made significant contributions toward the study of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in the early 20th century.
Morley is particularly noted for the extensive excavations of the Maya site of Chichen Itza that he directed on behalf of the Carnegie Institution. He also published several large compilations and treatises on Maya hieroglyphic writing, and wrote popular accounts on the Maya for a general audience.
To his contemporaries, "Vay" Morley was one of the leading Mesoamerican archaeologists of his day. Although more recent developments in the field have resulted in a re-evaluation of his theories and works, his publications, particularly on calendric inscriptions, are still cited. In his role as director of various projects sponsored by the Carnegie Institution, he oversaw and encouraged many others who later established notable careers in their own right. His commitment and enthusiasm for Maya studies helped inspire the necessary sponsorship for projects that would ultimately reveal much about ancient Maya civilization.
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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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TULUM-TÜRKÜ
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:47
- Updated: 15 Dec 2012
VARTEVOR2005
http://wn.com/TULUM-TÜRKÜ
Tulum Hemşin
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:12
- Updated: 12 Dec 2012
Tulum Hemşin
http://wn.com/Tulum_Hemşin
Symbol at Tulum
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:16
- Updated: 02 Dec 2012
This video presents an interesting analysis of a symbol on the Temple of the Wind at Tulum, Yucatan, Mexico. The video explores the possibility that this symbol is related to the Cult of the Speaking Cross. This cult appeared during the Mayan Caste Wars, 1847 to 1901. Tulum is close to Cancun.
http://wn.com/Symbol_at_Tulum
This video presents an interesting analysis of a symbol on the Temple of the Wind at Tulum, Yucatan, Mexico. The video explores the possibility that this symbol is related to the Cult of the Speaking Cross. This cult appeared during the Mayan Caste Wars, 1847 to 1901. Tulum is close to Cancun.
- published: 22 Dec 2011
- views: 11804
- author: ScienceOnline
Lazca Tulum Xoron Horon Çatxali do ibiri patxali do ibiri
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:29
- Updated: 16 Dec 2012
Tulum Xoron Lazistan
http://wn.com/Lazca_Tulum_Xoron_Horon_Çatxali_do_ibiri_patxali_do_ibiri
tulum.mp4
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:18
- Updated: 19 Dec 2012
selim tarım bir nefesin öyküsü ile tulum sanatçılarını biraraya getirip nefis bir çalışmaya imza atmış. İşte Rize'deki tulumcuların, birbirinden güzel değişik mekanlarda tuluma ses vererek ortaya çıkarttıkları armoni...
http://wn.com/tulummp4
selim tarım bir nefesin öyküsü ile tulum sanatçılarını biraraya getirip nefis bir çalışmaya imza atmış. İşte Rize'deki tulumcuların, birbirinden güzel değişik mekanlarda tuluma ses vererek ortaya çıkarttıkları armoni...
- published: 03 Dec 2011
- views: 151463
- author: pazar rize
özbay tulum
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:30
- Updated: 25 Nov 2012
tulum ziyafeti
http://wn.com/özbay_tulum
Mayan Ruins of Tulum (HD)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:19
- Updated: 13 Nov 2012
We went on a Carnival Cruise and stopped in Cozumel, then went to the main land to see these. (HD)
http://wn.com/Mayan_Ruins_of_Tulum_HD
We went on a Carnival Cruise and stopped in Cozumel, then went to the main land to see these. (HD)
- published: 05 Apr 2009
- views: 14628
- author: Kevin Yurasovich
Zona Arqueológica de Tulum
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:01
- Updated: 20 Dec 2012
http://wn.com/Zona_Arqueológica_de_Tulum
Süper Tulum - Burhan Kutlu
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:26
- Updated: 16 Dec 2012
www.facebook.com TEL : 0543 934 69 53 RİZE Tulum Rizegezgini Kemençe ardeşen pazar fındıklı çayeli Rizeli Org Samsun Burhan 53 Facebook ar-g3@hotmail.com
http://wn.com/Süper_Tulum_Burhan_Kutlu
www.facebook.com TEL : 0543 934 69 53 RİZE Tulum Rizegezgini Kemençe ardeşen pazar fındıklı çayeli Rizeli Org Samsun Burhan 53 Facebook ar-g3@hotmail.com
- published: 27 Sep 2007
- views: 292573
- author: cepuzmani53
Tulum Mayan Ruins & Beach (Tulum, Mexico)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:36
- Updated: 09 Dec 2012
Doing a little exploring around the Tulum Ruins in Quintana Roo, Mexico. This was a very, very beautiful beach with pretty cool areas to walk around. I went further down where less folks were swimming. Its much better there than the "main" part of the beach. Song is "Like I do" by Stars Taken with a GoPro Helmet Cam Please watch in 720p or 1080i to fully appreciate the landscape.
http://wn.com/Tulum_Mayan_Ruins_Beach_Tulum,_Mexico
Doing a little exploring around the Tulum Ruins in Quintana Roo, Mexico. This was a very, very beautiful beach with pretty cool areas to walk around. I went further down where less folks were swimming. Its much better there than the "main" part of the beach. Song is "Like I do" by Stars Taken with a GoPro Helmet Cam Please watch in 720p or 1080i to fully appreciate the landscape.
- published: 20 May 2011
- views: 10334
- author: MrAndrewsAdventures
Go Cavern Diving - Steve Bogaerts & HP Hartmann
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:55
- Updated: 23 Nov 2012
Trailer about the beauty of Cavern Diving on the Yucathan Peninsula in Mexico. Go to the new Webpage to see more... www.gocaverndiving.com
http://wn.com/Go_Cavern_Diving_Steve_Bogaerts_HP_Hartmann
Trailer about the beauty of Cavern Diving on the Yucathan Peninsula in Mexico. Go to the new Webpage to see more... www.gocaverndiving.com
- published: 16 Oct 2010
- views: 7728
- author: Steve Bogaerts
Mayan Mystery - The Maya of Mexico
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:49
- Updated: 17 Dec 2012
DVD-Download: hilaroad.com - A chance to take part in some amateur archaeology. This video presents theories about the meaning of a symbol on a Mayan temple at Tulum near Cancun. I believe this symbol and temple relate to Mayan observations of the stars, others have suggested the temple is an ancient lighthouse, or a sacrificial center, even that the symbol is related to Dan Brown's story the DaVinci Code! Images and story available at our website: hilaroad.com
http://wn.com/Mayan_Mystery_The_Maya_of_Mexico
DVD-Download: hilaroad.com - A chance to take part in some amateur archaeology. This video presents theories about the meaning of a symbol on a Mayan temple at Tulum near Cancun. I believe this symbol and temple relate to Mayan observations of the stars, others have suggested the temple is an ancient lighthouse, or a sacrificial center, even that the symbol is related to Dan Brown's story the DaVinci Code! Images and story available at our website: hilaroad.com
- published: 27 Nov 2006
- views: 148097
- author: ScienceOnline
Messico, Tulum: mare caraibico e Maya
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:50
- Updated: 19 Oct 2012
Mar dei Caraibi: a Tulum, Messico, si possono ammirare le rovine Maya in riva al mare cristallino. Spiagge bianche e natura selvaggia www.marcopolo.tv Altri video su www.marcopolo.tv
http://wn.com/Messico,_Tulum_mare_caraibico_e_Maya
Mar dei Caraibi: a Tulum, Messico, si possono ammirare le rovine Maya in riva al mare cristallino. Spiagge bianche e natura selvaggia www.marcopolo.tv Altri video su www.marcopolo.tv
- published: 01 Jul 2010
- views: 28449
- author: marcopoloviaggi
Tulum Mexico Cenote Angelita
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:55
- Updated: 19 Dec 2012
Diving at 100'+ in the Cenote Angelita in Tulum, it's a big sinkhole out in the jungle with a layer of gas trapped at around 90' which is caused by the decomposing leaves and trees that fall in, I believe it's sulfur dioxide, and is somewhat poisonous if exposed to it for too long. It was a great dive.
http://wn.com/Tulum_Mexico_Cenote_Angelita
Diving at 100'+ in the Cenote Angelita in Tulum, it's a big sinkhole out in the jungle with a layer of gas trapped at around 90' which is caused by the decomposing leaves and trees that fall in, I believe it's sulfur dioxide, and is somewhat poisonous if exposed to it for too long. It was a great dive.
- published: 14 Apr 2009
- views: 118095
- author: sgt2221
Disco Tulum
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:19
- Updated: 17 Dec 2012
Linsey live loops vocals, jaw harp and kaossilator and then plays a beach ball bagpipe using a chanter he made from cheese wood with measurements provided by Kim Sanders of a hybrid Turkish gaida made and played by Kamil Gul ......from his solo show "Live & Loopy".
http://wn.com/Disco_Tulum
Linsey live loops vocals, jaw harp and kaossilator and then plays a beach ball bagpipe using a chanter he made from cheese wood with measurements provided by Kim Sanders of a hybrid Turkish gaida made and played by Kamil Gul ......from his solo show "Live & Loopy".
- published: 07 Oct 2011
- views: 33037
- author: SquealyD
Gran Bahia Principe Tulum - Riviera Maya August 2008
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:36
- Updated: 05 Dec 2012
summer vacation in Mexico at the Gran Bahia Principe. Great resort, can´t complain about anything. Mexico has lovely spots to visit, people are very kind and the weather and water are incredible!
http://wn.com/Gran_Bahia_Principe_Tulum_Riviera_Maya_August_2008
summer vacation in Mexico at the Gran Bahia Principe. Great resort, can´t complain about anything. Mexico has lovely spots to visit, people are very kind and the weather and water are incredible!
- published: 20 Nov 2010
- views: 24171
- author: Hom3sicK
Cenote Angelita diving, Tulum, MEXICO
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:40
- Updated: 09 Nov 2012
Diving Angelita Cenote in Tulum, Mexico with Nicolas (dive master) and Jean. Filmed in HD 1080i, January 2010. Video camera: Sony HDR-SR11/12 Housing: Ikelite Lights: Ikelite video pro lite 3
http://wn.com/Cenote_Angelita_diving,_Tulum,_MEXICO
Diving Angelita Cenote in Tulum, Mexico with Nicolas (dive master) and Jean. Filmed in HD 1080i, January 2010. Video camera: Sony HDR-SR11/12 Housing: Ikelite Lights: Ikelite video pro lite 3
- published: 12 Sep 2010
- views: 7044
- author: Jean-Marc Thimon
Gran Bahia Principe Tulum, Mexico 2011
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:21
- Updated: 30 Nov 2012
This is another clip of our holiday video to Bahia Principe Tulum in April 2011. Fantastic place. Hope you like it. The other video in my profile shows a bit of Xel Ha.
http://wn.com/Gran_Bahia_Principe_Tulum,_Mexico_2011
This is another clip of our holiday video to Bahia Principe Tulum in April 2011. Fantastic place. Hope you like it. The other video in my profile shows a bit of Xel Ha.
- published: 29 May 2011
- views: 7621
- author: zabboo1
Tulum Havası - Turkish Music - 9/8 rhythm
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:49
- Updated: 18 Dec 2012
This music pattern is traditionally played by the instrument "tulum". Here in this piece tulum tune is obtained by using violin. Clarinet, oud, kanun and darbuka are also featuring with improvisations. (more)
http://wn.com/Tulum_Havası_Turkish_Music_9_8_rhythm
This music pattern is traditionally played by the instrument "tulum". Here in this piece tulum tune is obtained by using violin. Clarinet, oud, kanun and darbuka are also featuring with improvisations. (more)
- published: 28 Apr 2008
- views: 61316
- author: muzbey
Dreams Tulum Resort - Jan 2012 - WOJO
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 13:15
- Updated: 28 Oct 2012
Walk around resort.
http://wn.com/Dreams_Tulum_Resort_Jan_2012_WOJO
Tulum Akumal Snorkeling & Mayan Ruins Tour Cancun, Mexico
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:38
- Updated: 26 Aug 2012
bookit.com Special preview of the Akumel Snorkeling Adventure through the eyes of real visitors. Preview all the many exciting activities in one of the best kept secrets in the Riviera Maya.
http://wn.com/Tulum_Akumal_Snorkeling_Mayan_Ruins_Tour_Cancun,_Mexico
bookit.com Special preview of the Akumel Snorkeling Adventure through the eyes of real visitors. Preview all the many exciting activities in one of the best kept secrets in the Riviera Maya.
- published: 25 Oct 2010
- views: 44043
- author: HotelsCancun
Dreams Tulum Resort presented by DreamDays.com
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:52
- Updated: 17 Apr 2011
Luxury resort located in famous Tulum Mexico
http://wn.com/Dreams_Tulum_Resort_presented_by_DreamDayscom
Luxury resort located in famous Tulum Mexico
- published: 04 Aug 2008
- views: 14986
- author: dreamdayscom
photo: AP / Carolyn Kaster
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 / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
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: AP / Charles Krupa
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: Creative Commons / Joachim Huber
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 / Mohammad Hannon
19 Dec 2012
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she accepts the findings of an independent panel that faulted the State Department over the deadly September attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya. An inquiry into the attack on the US mission, which saw the US ambassador and three other US citizens killed, found that the State Department security arrangements there were "grossly inadequate" ... 390 Source. ... Share ... Jaws ... Anaheim....(size: 19.2Kb)
Huffington Post
21 Dec 2012
By Alexandra Alper ... In the Maya Long Calendar, Dec. 21 marks the end of the 13th bak'tun, an epoch lasting roughly 400 years. In the 1960s, one respected U.S ... Or even all the above ... "We are becoming billionaires of energy ... In other parts of the world, fears that Dec ... On his trek to Yucatan, HuffPost's Andrew Burmon stopped to explore Tulum's Gran Cenote and go scuba diving in the cave system that helped shape Maya's vision of the afterlife....(size: 31.7Kb)
Huffington Post
20 Dec 2012
TULUM, MEXICO -- Tulum was once an important Maya trading post and the years have done little to decrease its economic significance ... What is singular about Tulum is not simply the mini-golf landscaping and the sea grape. Tulum is only a few hours from Cancun, 45 minutes from Playa Del Carmen and a few miles from the tourist town borrowing its name ... Tulum. Tulum. Tulum. Tulum. Tulum. Tulum. Tulum. Tulum. Tulum. Tulum....(size: 6.3Kb)
Huffington Post
20 Dec 2012
As a stalagmite blocks the cave mouth from view, I find myself sinking into the noduled gullet of Sistema Sac Actun, the cave system running some 135 miles through Yucatan limestone that helped shape the Maya's Boschian vision of the afterlife ... And there are worse places to spend eternity than at the bottom of Tulum's Gran Cenote ... Since moving to Tulum to start Dream Diving, he's become a part-time speleologist, a cave explorer ... Like ... ....(size: 6.2Kb)
The Examiner
20 Dec 2012
The Mayans may not have predicted the end of the world for Friday, but they do know something about apocalypses; they faced their own more than a thousand years ago. As we noted yesterday, the Mayans dated the beginning of their history to 3,114 B.C ... Then, their great civilization mysteriously collapsed ... Climate change? ... They held a large swath of territory in the Yucatan from around Bacalar and the border with British Honduras to Tulum....(size: 5.7Kb)
Joy Online
19 Dec 2012
The year 2012 was definitely a hot one for travel, what with a record-breaking 1 billion people journeying outside their borders. So what were the most popular travel destinations of the year? And, more specifically, which attractions were people hitting? ... Coming out on top of the destination list was Paris, followed by Las Vegas, San Francisco, Barcelona and San Francisco ... Most shared travel destinations. 1 ... Tulum Ruins, Mexico....(size: 2.2Kb)
The Hollywood Reporter
17 Dec 2012
share. Courtesy of The Haciendas from the Starwood Asset Library. Hacienda Uayamon. Writer Farhad Safinia tells THR the best doomsday destinations ... 21 in celebration of the end.our editor recommends. Etiquette 101 for Guest Jetters. The Five Hottest New Restaurants in Downtown L.A. Italian Getaway ... PHOTOS ... Q ... A ... Q ... None of the better-known Mayan sites in Mexico, places like Palenque, Chichen Itza or Tulum, feel this lost and off the beaten path....(size: 8.1Kb)
Stockhouse
17 Dec 2012
VANCOUVER, Dec. 17, 2012 /CNW/ - Monument Mining Limited (TSX-V. MMY and FSE ... Robert F ... The proposed $23.4 million private placement to Tulum Corporation as announced on October 17, 2012 is currently under review. As announced on August 7, 2012, the Company's application with respect to a $70 million private placement to Tulum Corporation was withdrawn by the TSX Venture Exchange and will not be proceeding ... About Monument ... Robert F ... SOURCE....(size: 7.4Kb)
noodls
17 Dec 2012
(Source. Monument Mining Limited). Dec 17, 2012 Monument Announces Private Placement of up to $80 Million ... The proposed $23.4 million private placement to Tulum Corporation as announced on October 17, 2012 is currently under review. As announced on August 7, 2012, the Company's application with respect to a $70 million private placement to Tulum Corporation was withdrawn by the TSX Venture Exchange and will not be proceeding ... (noodl....(size: 9.2Kb)
The Australian
17 Dec 2012
AMID a worldwide frenzy of advertisers and new-agers preparing for a Mayan apocalypse, one group is approaching December 21 with calm and equanimity - the people whose ancestors supposedly made the prediction in the first place ... "Remember 2006, and the '6-6-6' (June 6, 2006) ... One beer-company billboard near the resort of Tulum proclaims, "2012 isn't the end, it's just the beginning - of the party!" ... It says ... afp. ....(size: 5.5Kb)
Chicago Sun-Times
16 Dec 2012
UH-MAY, Mexico — Amid a worldwide frenzy of advertisers and new-agers preparing for a Maya apocalypse, one group is approaching Dec ... 300 and 600 ... One beer-company billboard near the resort of Tulum proclaims, “2012 isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning — of the party!” ... Sandos Hotels and Resorts, a Spanish-owned all-inclusive resort chain, is promoting a “New Era” celebration at its Sandos Caracol hotel in Playa de Carmen, near Tulum....(size: 6.9Kb)
Chicago Sun-Times
16 Dec 2012
Updated. December 18, 2012 12.07AM ... 21 with calm and equanimity — the people whose ancestors supposedly made the prediction in the first place ... One beer-company billboard near the resort of Tulum proclaims, “2012 isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning — of the party!” ... Sandos Hotels and Resorts, a Spanish-owned all-inclusive resort chain, is promoting a “New Era” celebration at its Sandos Caracol hotel in Playa de Carmen, near Tulum ... 21....(size: 7.0Kb)
Jakarta Post
16 Dec 2012
Tourists get their picture taken next to a slab of stone counting down the days until Dec ... 21 with calm and equanimity calm ... (AP/Israel Leal) ... One beer-company billboard near the resort of Tulum proclaims, "2012 isn't the end, it's just the beginning - of the party!" ... Sandos Hotels and Resorts, a Spanish-owned all-inclusive resort chain, is promoting a "New Era" celebration at its Sandos Caracol hotel in Playa de Carmen, near Tulum ... 21....(size: 7.3Kb)
This article is about the pre-Columbian Maya site. For the modern-day township, see Tulum, Quintana Roo. For the municipality, see Municipality of Tulum. For other uses, see Tulum (disambiguation).
| Tulum Tulu'um Zama |
|
|---|---|
| — Maya Site — | |
 |
|
 Tulum
|
|
| Coordinates: 20°12′53″N 87°25′44″W / 20.21472°N 87.42889°W / 20.21472; -87.42889 | |
| Country |  Mexico |
| State |  Quintana Roo |
| Municipality |  Tulum |
| Earliest inscription | AD 564 |
| Constructed | 1200 and 1450 |
| Elevation | 39 ft (12 m) |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | Central Daylight Time (UTC-5) |
| Major Airport | Cancún International Airport |
| IATA Code | CUN |
| ICAO Code | MMUN |
Tulum (Yucatec: Tulu'um) is the site of a Pre-Columbian Maya walled city serving as a major port for Cobá.[1] 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.[1] 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.[1]
Contents |
Description[link]
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[1] 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.[1] Tulum had an estimated population of 1,000 to 1,600 inhabitants.
Tulum was first mentioned by Juan Díaz, a member of Juan de Grijalva's Spanish expedition of 1518, the first Europeans to spot Tulum.[1] The first detailed description of the ruins was published by John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood in 1843 in the book Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. As they arrived from the sea, Stephens and Catherwood first saw a tall building that impressed them greatly, most likely the great Castillo of the site. They made accurate maps of the site’s walls, and Catherwood made sketches of the Castillo and several other buildings. Stephens and Catherwood also reported an early classic stele at the site, with an inscribed date of AD 564 which is interpreted to mean that it was most likely built elsewhere and brought to Tulum to be reused.
Work conducted at Tulum continued with that of Sylvanus Morley and George P. Howe, beginning in 1913. They worked to restore and open the public beaches. The work was continued by the Carnegie Institution from 1916 to 1922, Samuel Lothrop in 1924 who also mapped the site, Miguel Ángel Fernández in the late 1930s and early 1940s, William Sanders[disambiguation needed 
] in 1956, and then later in the 1970s by Arthur G. Miller. Through these investigations done by Sanders and Miller it has been determined that Tulum was occupied during the late Postclassic period around AD 1200. The site continued to be occupied until contact with the Spanish was made in the early 16th century. By the end of the 16th century the site was abandoned completely.[2]
Architecture[link]
Tulum has architecture typical of Maya sites on the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. This architecture is recognized by a step running around the base of the building which sits on a low substructure. Doorways of this type are usually narrow with columns used as support if the building is big enough. As the walls flare out there are usually two sets of molding near the top. The room usually contains one or two small windows with an altar at the back wall, roofed by either a beam-and-rubble ceiling or being vaulted.[3] This type of architecture resembles what can be found in the nearby Chichen Itza, just on a much smaller scale.[2]
Tulum was protected on one side by steep sea cliffs and on the landward side by a wall that averaged about three to 5 meters (16 ft) in height. The wall also was about 8 m (26 ft) thick and 400 m (1,300 ft) long on the side parallel to the sea. The part of the wall that ran the width of the site was slightly shorter and only about 170 meters (560 ft) on both sides. Constructing this massive wall would have taken an enormous amount of energy and time, which shows how important defense was to the Maya when they chose this site. On the southwest and northwest corners there are small structures that have been identified as watch towers, showing again how well defended the city was. There are five narrow gateways in the wall with two each on the north and south sides and one on the west. Near the northern side of the wall a small cenote provided the city with fresh water. It is this impressive wall that makes Tulum one the most well-known fortified sites of the Maya.[4]
There are three major structures of interest at the Tulum site. El Castillo, the Temple of the Frescoes, and the Temple of the Descending God are the three most famous buildings. Among the more spectacular buildings here is the Temple of the Frescoes that included a lower gallery and a smaller second story gallery. The Temple of the Frescoes was used as an observatory for tracking the movements of the sun. Niched figurines of the Maya “diving god” or Venus deity decorate the facade of the temple. This “diving god” is also depicted in the Temple of the Diving God in the central precinct of the site. Above the entrance in the western wall a stucco figure of the “diving god” is still preserved, giving the temple its name. A mural can still be seen on the eastern wall that resembles that of a style that originated in highland Mexico, called the Mixteca-Puebla style, though visitors are no longer permitted to enter.
Also in the central precinct is the Castillo, which is 7.5 m (25 ft) tall. The Castillo was built on a previous building that was colonnaded and had a beam and mortar roof. The lintels in the upper rooms have serpent motifs carved into them. The construction of the Castillo appears to have taken place in stages. A small shrine appears to have been used as a beacon for incoming canoes. This shrine marks a break in the barrier reef that is opposite the site. Here there is a cove and landing beach in a break in the sea cliffs that would have been perfect for trading canoes coming in. This characteristic of the site may be one of the reasons the Maya founded the city of Tulum exactly here, as Tulum later became a prominent trading port during the late Postclassic.[2]
Trading[link]
Both coastal and land routes converged at Tulum which is apparent by the number of artifacts found in or near the site that show contacts with areas all over Central Mexico and Central America. Copper artifacts from the Mexican highlands have been found near the site, as have flint artifacts, ceramics, incense burners, and gold objects from all over the Yucatán. Salt and textiles were among some of the goods brought to Tulum by sea that would then be dispersed inland. Typical exported goods included feathers and copper objects that came from inland sources. These goods could be transported by sea to rivers such as the Río Motagua and the Río Usumacincta/Pasión system that could be taken inland giving seafaring canoes access to both the highlands and the lowlands.
The Río Motagua starts from the highlands of Guatemala and empties into the Caribbean while the Río Pasión/Ucamacincta river system also originates in the Guatemalan highlands and empties into the Gulf of Mexico. It may have been one of these seafaring canoes that Christopher Columbus first encountered off the shores of the Bay Islands of Honduras.[5] Jade and obsidian appear to be some of the more prestigious materials found here as the obsidian would have had to have traveled clear from Ixtepeque in northern Guatemala which was nearly 700 kilometers (430 mi) away from Tulum. This huge distance coupled with the density of obsidian found at the site show that Tulum was a major center for the trading of obsidian.[6]
Function[link]
As mentioned, Tulum may have served as a port city for the Maya site of Coba as there is a sacbe road connecting the two. It might also have served as a principal way station along a Putun Maya ocean trade route stretching from Panama in the South to Champoton (Maya: Chem = canoe + Poton = Putun, the Maya tribe with a monopoly on sea trade ) on the Gulf of Mexico in the North. According to this theory, two windows in El Castillo served as horizontal range lights serving as navigational aids.[7]
Tourism[link]
The Tulum archaeological site is relatively compact compared with many other Maya sites in the vicinity, and is one of the best-preserved coastal Maya sites. Its proximity to the modern tourism developments along the Mexican Caribbean coastline and its short distance from Cancún and the surrounding "Riviera Maya" has make it a popular Maya tourist site in the Yucatan. Daily tour buses bring a constant stream of visitors to the site. The Tulum ruins are the third most-visited archaeological site in Mexico, after Teotihuacan and Chichen Itza. It is popular for the picturesque view of the Caribbean and a location just 128 km (80 mi) south of the popular beach resort of Cancún.
A large number of cenotes are located in the Tulum area such as Maya Blue, Naharon, Temple of Doom, Tortuga, Vacaha, Grand Cenote, Abejas, Nohoch Kiin and Carwash cenotes and cave systems.
The tourist destination is now divided into four main areas: the archaeological site, the pueblo (or town), the zona hotelera (or hotel zone) and the biosphere reserve of Sian Ka'an.
In 1995, tourism came to a brief halt as the powerful Hurricane Roxanne pounded into Tulum, packing 115 mph winds. Damage was moderate.
See also[link]
References[link]
- ^ a b c d e f "Maya sites in Quintana Roo: Tulúm" (history), Athena Review Vol.2, no.1, 2003, webpage: AthenaPub-Tulum.
- ^ a b c "The Ancient Maya", Robert J. Sharer and Loa P. Traxler, Published by Stanford University Press 2006. pp 608-611
- ^ Muyil-Quintana Roo-Mexico. Last revised Wednesday April 2, 2008. Walter R. T. Witschey. September 17, 2008. (http://muyil.smv.org/tulum.htm)
- ^ Lowland Maya Fortifications, David Webster, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 120, No. 5 (Oct. 15, 1976), pp. 361-371, Published by: American Philosophical Society
- ^ The Peoples of the Caribbean: An Encyclopedia of Archeology and Traditional Culture, Nicholas J. Saunders, Published by ABC-CLIO, 2005. pp 299
- ^ Classic Maya Obsidian Trade, Raymond V. Sidrys, American Antiquity, Vol. 41, No. 4 (Oct., 1976), pp. 449-464, Published by: Society for American Archaeology
- ^ "The Mysterious Maya". Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe. 1994. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWCIZoD0VvU.
External links[link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tulum |
Coordinates: 20°12′53″N 87°25′44″W / 20.21472°N 87.42889°W / 20.21472; -87.42889
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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.
