<< Our Photo Pages >> Tikal - Ancient Village or Settlement in Guatemala
Submitted by C_Michael_Hogan on Monday, 20 May 2013 Page Views: 36218
Multi-periodSite Name: Tikal Alternative Name: Mutul, Tik'al, Temple One, Temple 2, Temple III, Temple of the JaguarCountry: Guatemala
NOTE: This site is 0.694 km away from the location you searched for.
Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Flores
Latitude: 17.223364N Longitude: 89.629469W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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I have visited· I would like to visit
kantonkats would like to visit
Jansold visited on 28th Feb 2019 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 5
XIII visited on 1st Sep 2012 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 5
SolarMegalith visited on 1st Mar 2005 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4
john_op_stap visited on 17th Feb 2004 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5 A must, the most intensively restored Mayan site I guess. Crave more pictures ?
Tdiver visited on 1st Jan 1991 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Sunset and sunrise from the top of a temple is fantastic.
DrewParsons C_Michael_Hogan Ahdzib have visited here
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.8 Ambience: 4.8 Access: 4.75
Other finds include huge stucco masks, a 3.5 pound carved jade jaguar and crocodile skeletons. Site origins date to at least as early as 800 BC, and unfold successive periods built by its often bloodthirsty rulers.
ARCHITECTURE
Tikal's E Group complex was built about 700 BC, dated by Eb and Tzec ceramics. This early monumental construction at Tikal predates other Peten Basin building by at least a century, and is cotemperaneous with early development at Chiapas. Construction of the E Group was significant since thre is no clear antecedent to its architecture in the Mayan lowlands. The E Group core was a three meter high pyramid atop a 525 square meter base. The settlers here likely arrived by first traveling up the Belize and Mopan Rivers.
There are four acropolis complexes within Tikal; the Central Acropolis, for example, comprises 169 separate rooms. The North Acropolis served as a sacred necropolis over many centuries.Enormous stucco masks decorate Early Classic buildings at the North Acropolis such as the rain god mask, exceeding four square meters, adorning the facade of structure 5D-33 (sub portion). There exist quadrangular "kanchas" at tikal similar to the (later) Incan custom; an example of the kancha is the Bat Palace at Tikal.
There are six major step pyramids at Tikal, each topped with a temple. Temples I and II were built in the Late Classic period; Temple I was erected after the death of Ah Cacau. The last of Tikal's Late Classic temples, Temple III, is associated with Dark Sun, an obscure ruler named on stela 24 (810 AD) on the temple's summit shrine, contains a carved wood lintel showing this corpulent ruler clad in a jaguar skin. Lintels at Temples I and IV bear accounts of victories over Naranjo and Calakmul; there are also some records on royal palanquins. Temple V is second tallest structure at tikal rising 188 feet and covered with lush ferns, mosses and tropical shrubs. Tikal's roof combs were a solid mass with vaulted interior that is to lessen the weight of the temple walls. This design mandated the use of heavy supporting walls, leaving little volumetric room for the actual temple. At Temple V sttucco decorations as heroic masks are applied to the front panel of the (originally painted) roof comb.
A series of causeways connect major elements of the city. Eight of Tikal's nine twin pyramid complexes are proximate to main causeways. Twin pyramid group 4E-4 is situated at the east of the Maler Causeway. Yax Nuun Ayiin II is portrayed on stela 22, within this pyramid group The Tazzer Causeway leads west from Temple II to the massive Temple IV (which has a height of 70m). Temple IV marks the reign of the 27th dynastic successor Yik'in Chan K'awiil (son of Jasaw Chan K'awill). Yik'in's military accomplishments were recorded in wood carving on the lintel above the wide door to the narrow roomed shrine atop Temple IV. Near temple IV at complex N is a circular monument, Altar 5, carved with the figures of two priests at an altar upon which are placed a human cranium and thigh bones.
HISTORY AND RULERS
The history of Tikal is intertwined with Mayan cities of the Peten Basin as well as those to the south as far as Caracol; these southern settlements include Xanantunich, Cahal Pech and Chaa Creek.(Hogan, 2007). The Mayans of Tikal produced extensive stone and wood carved records, detailing the accomplishment of their ajaws, spanning many centuries of the Early to Late Classic Periods. Ceramic records of the Preclassic Period indicate that Tikal was a viable city early in the first millennium BC, (Jones, 1996) making Tikal the earliest urban civilisation in the Peten Lowlands. Tikal along with Uaxactun was likely subordinate to El Mirador in the Late Preclassic.
When El Mirador declined, Tikal emerged to begin a clear dynastic line, of which Yax Ehb' Xook is deemed the effective founder; his name appears on a jade earflare excavated at Kaminaljuyu and his reign is estimated circa 100 AD. Excavations at the massive Lost World Pyramid yielded carved Stela 39 (dedicated in 376 by Chak Tok Ich'aak); inaugurated in 379, he was thought to be a "Mexicanized Mayan", whose rule was encouraged by warring Teotihuacáns that exerted military influence over this part of Peten in the 4th and 5th centuries. Tikal vanquished Uaxactun in the year 378, evinced by stela 31 in Tikal and a corresponding dated stela found at Uaxactun.
The succession of Tikal rulers are noted for their warfare prowess and blood rituals, sacrificing both their own blood as well as the lifeblood of captives. Siyaj Chan K'awiil II acceeded at Tikal in 416 and died in 455; his burial reveals artifacts appurtenant to Kaminaljuyu. Accession of K'an Ak occurred in 475 at Tikal (Hunter, 1986). In 534 occurred the accession of Wak Chan K'awiil,. who defeated Caracol in 554, but was later vanquished by Caracol and its ally Calakmul in 562. During the next 120 years known as the Hiatus Period, Tikal was dominated by the Calakmul alliance. In 629 K'inich Muwaan Jol II (reigned 650-679) established Dos Pilas as a colony of Tikal.
Re-awakening the dominance of Tikal in the Late Classic, Ajaw Jasaw Chan K'awiil made war with Naranjo in 695. Accession in 731 of Yax Kin is recorded on Stela 21. Chan K'awiil led Tikal to victory over El Peru in 743 AD. Tikal was virtually abandoned by the end of the tenth century AD, (Sharer, 2005) likely as a result of exceeding the agricultural carrying capacity by its expanded population.Revived monumental activity at the proximate sites of Yaxha, Jimbal and Ixlu are noted at this time, suggesting a decentralization of Tikal, with appearance of the Tikal glyph at these sites.
In modern times Tikal was noted as a ruin as early as the 17th century; however, the first exploration occurred in 1848 when the explorer Modesto Mendez wandered upon the ancient city. Alfred Tazzer and R.E. Merwin produced the first Tikal map circa 1904. This mysterious site was only reached by muleback via dirt trails until 1951, when a local airstrip was constructed. Edwin Shook and William Coe subsequently used Tikal excavations to prove that Mayan cities were not just ritualistic shells, but complex pre-industrial cities.
POTTERY AND ART
Rich finds of Preclassic and earlier ceramics have been recovered at Tikal, (Inomata, 2001)(Coe, 1990) including specimens of early Eb phase recovered from large ‘'chilturns'‘(refuse deposits) in karst rock cavities dated to about 800 BC, similar to late Cunil ceramics from Cahal Pech. Cimi, Manik, Ik, Cauac and Imix ceramic seriations have also been retrieved.
The North Acropolis has yielded important finds (Rice, 2004); for example, a red-slipped polychrome tripod vessel was found, whose interior of contained a quincunx of ajaw glyphs. A fine carved blackware vessel was recovered in a cache at the Central Acropolis related to the Early Classic Period; (Culbert, 1996) dating to the close of the fourth century AD, this vessel bears the inscription "his house, Chak Tok Ich'aak I, Ruler of Tikal, 9th Ruler". Eznab pottery similar to Chichen Itza appears prominently during the ninth century AD at Tikal. That appearance and the growing wealth and power of the Yucatan Mayas may be related to the influence of northerners and the corresponding decline of not only Tikal, but also Yaxha, Jimbal and Ixlu.
Royal stone furniture has been recovered in the Central Acropolis including substantial stone benches with stone armpieces; these were for the ruler to hold court, sitting cross-legged adorned with headdress. Personal livery of the ajaws of Tikal has revealed insights to the lives of the rulers. (Christie, 2003) Glyphs on ajaw livery such as the jaguar paw and crocodile have resulted from excavations. Tomb finds at Tikal reveal an array of exotic and eclectic specimens; (Chase, 2003) examples of these recoveries include stingray spines, spondylus shell and pyrite mirrors.
ENVIRONMENT
Tikal is set in an expansive plain known as the Peten Basin, with a dominant ecosystem of tropical rainforest. Principal tree species here are mahogany, ceiba, tropical cedar and chicle, whose closed canopy attains a height roughly 55 meters, which canopy is pierced by five tall roofcombs of Tikal's temples, three of which can be seen in the view east from atop Temple IV. The jungle has reclaimed much of the original Mayan stone buildings, and hundreds of outlying mounds of this enormous city remain yet to be excavated.
Diverse mammalian fauna are found at Tikal including Coati, Agouti, Gray Fox, Jaguar, Jaguarundi, Cougar, Spider and Howler Monkeys, both of which monkey species are found on stela 1 and on an altar of the platform of the North Acropolis. Other animal life present are Harpy Eagle, Falcon, Ocellated turkey, Guan, Keel-billed Toucan, Motmot and.and Leaf-cutter ants. Water was a precious resource in ancient Tikal,.(Hughes, 2002) with aerial photos showing vast networks of canals and reservoirs.
Early Mayans practiced slash-and-burn farming, but in the Classic Period the people applied intensive agricultural practices and cultivated marginal areas such as terraced hillsides. Chief crops produced were maize, beans, squash, breadfruit, amaranth, chili peppers, cacao and manioc. Due to the thin rainforest soils with limited nutrient content, there were serious limits to the agricultural carrying capacity; this phenomenon was aggravated from continued swidden practices which extract further nutrients as well as soil content from combustion, harvest and from erosion. I concur with Hughes and other scientists, who regard Tikal's demise centered on exceeding of its agricultural carrying capacity and aggravated by the urge to wage wars to compensate for food production decline at the very height of its population explosion. A contributing factor in decline was likely the development of marine trade, dominated by Chitzen Itza, supplanting the interior trackway along the Yucatan spine.
REFERENCES
* Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase (2003) ‘'Mesoamerican Elites: An Archaeological Assessment'‘, University of Oklahoma Press, 390 pages ISBN:0806135425
* Jessica Joyce Christie (2003) ‘'Maya Palaces and Elite Residences: An Interdisciplinary Approach'‘, University of Texas Press, 340 pages ISBN:0292712448
* William R. Coe (1990) ‘' Excavations in the Great Plaza, North Terrace, and North Acropolis of Tikal'‘, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology, 1007 pages ISBN:0934718660
* T. Patrick Culbert (1996) ‘'Classic Maya Political History: Hieroglyphic and Archaeological Evidence'‘, with Norman Hammond, Cambridge University Press, 414 pages ISBN:052156445X
* C.Michael Hogan, ‘'Chaa Creek'‘, The Megalithic Portal, ed. Andy Burnham, Dec. 9, 2007
* C. Bruce Hunter (1986) ‘'A Guide to Ancient Maya Ruins'‘, University of Oklahoma Press,
356 pages ISBN:0806119926
* Takeshi Inomata, Stephen D. Houston (2001) ‘'Royal Courts of the Ancient Maya'‘, Westview Press, 306 pages ISBN:081333880
* Christopher Jones (1996) ‘' Excavations in the East Plaza of Tikal'‘, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology, 99 pages ISBN:0924171421
* Prudence M. Rice (2004) ‘'Maya Political Science: Time, Astronomy, and the Cosmos'‘,
University of Texas Press, 352 pages ISBN:0292705697
* Robert J. Sharer and Loa P. Traxler (2005) ‘'The Ancient Maya'‘, Stanford University Press, 931 pages ISBN:0804748179
* J. Donald Hughes (2002) ‘'An Environmental History of the World: Humankind's Changing Role in the Community of Life'‘, Routledge, 280 pages ISBN:0415136180
The above is original work of C.Michael Hogan prepared for the Megalithic Portal.
Note: Latest C-14 dating confirms calibration between Maya Long Count and European calendar, see most recent comment on this page
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