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<< 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 Jaguar
Country: 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:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
2 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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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

Tikal
Tikal submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Guatemala Tikal's Temple I, consisting of stepped-pyramid topped with a temple with roof comb. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Ancient City in El Peten Department, Guatemala. Tikal, Guatemala is arguably the greatest and most complex Mayan city measured by monumental megalithic architecture. Evincing an array of majestic pyramids and royal residences, the city has yielded numerous intricately carved stelae and sacrificial altars.

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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Tikal (Guatemala)
Tikal (Guatemala) submitted by DrewParsons : Tikal - quite a steep climb to the top of this temple. Photographed on a visit there in December 1989 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Tikal
Tikal submitted by bat400 : Tikal, Guatemala. Photo: B.Zerfas, 2008. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Tikal
Tikal submitted by bat400 : Stucco Mask of the rain god. Tikal, Guatemala. Photo: B.Zerfas, 2008. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Tikal
Tikal submitted by bat400 : Tikal, Guatemala. Photo: B.Zerfas, 2008. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Tikal
Tikal submitted by bat400

Tikal (Guatemala)
Tikal (Guatemala) submitted by bat400

Tikal
Tikal submitted by SolarMegalith : Site in Guatemala. Temple II, known also as the Temple of the Masks, one of the best preserved constructions in Tikal (photo taken in March 2005).

Tikal (Guatemala)
Tikal (Guatemala) submitted by bat400 : Tikal, Guatemala. Photo: B.Zerfas, 2008.

Tikal
Tikal submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Guatemala Temple V at Tikal.

Tikal
Tikal submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Guatemala Central Acropolis at Tikal, illustrating mortared limestone block-work.

Tikal
Tikal submitted by Jurgen : Mayan Temple complex in Guatamala

Tikal
Tikal submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Guatemala Stelae and sacrificial altars at Tikal with a stepped pyramid at the image right.

Tikal
Tikal submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Guatemala Tikal's Temple III, or Temple of the Jaguar.

Tikal
Tikal submitted by DrewParsons : Temple Two at the opposite end of Plaza Mayor from Temple One. Photographed in December 1989

Tikal
Tikal submitted by DrewParsons : Temple One on the Plaza Mayor. Photographed in December 1989

Tikal
Tikal submitted by DrewParsons : Photographed during a visit in 1989

Tikal
Tikal submitted by DrewParsons : Photographed in 1989 during a visit to the site before much of it had been excavated.

Tikal
Tikal submitted by bat400 : Tikal. Temple I Tikal Temple I by V31S70 http://www.flickr.comhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/veisto/4842709702/sizes/z/in/set-72157624708802634/ Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) Image copyright: V31S70 (Antti T. Nissinen), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Tikal
Tikal submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Guatemala Coatamundi, running full tilt, making a surprise appearance at the Tikal archaeological site.

Tikal
Tikal submitted by DrewParsons : Overview of the site photographed in 1989. (1 comment)

Tikal
Tikal submitted by durhamnature : The pyramid before restoration, from "Mexican Archaeology" via archive.org Site in Guatemala

Tikal
Tikal submitted by SolarMegalith : Site in Guatemala. In the Early Classic period Tikal was the main rival of Caracol (current Belize) and Calakmul (current Campeche), being defeated by Caracol at the end of Early Classic period (photo taken in March 2005).

Tikal
Tikal submitted by SolarMegalith : Site in Guatemala. Temple VI - the first construction you see after entering the complex (photo taken in March 2005).

Tikal
Tikal submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Guatemala Well preserved wooden lintel at Tikal. This architectural element dates to approximately 800 AD, or the Late Classic Mayan Period.

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"Tikal" | Login/Create an Account | 11 News and Comments
  
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Maya Soundscapes. Sounds During The Construction Of The Temple Of The Great Jaguar by Andy B on Friday, 10 September 2021
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Maya Soundscapes. Sounds During The Construction Of The Temple Of The Great Jaguar Of Tikal
Vidal Lorenzo, Cristina (Universitat de València. Departamento de Historia del Arte) - Muñoz Cosme, Gaspar (Universitat Politècnica de València. Centro de Investigación Pegaso)

Maya artistic expressions have several iconographic elements that represent concepts related to hearing, sight and smell. Through
their contemplation ancient Maya could invoke these senses, and at the same time convert these artworks, imbued with living
qualities and soul, into active agents during the celebration of their religious ceremonies. The most important ones were performed
in the public arenas of the big urban centers, and were conducted by the rulers and priests at the top of the pyramid temples. One
of the most emblematic is the Temple of the Great Jaguar, built in the city of Tikal as the funerary temple of King Jasaw Chan K’awiil.
To recreate these events of the past, which were attended by hundreds of people and where colors, music and aromas played an im-
portant role, is an exciting topic that has been investigated in depth by the so-called “archaeology of the senses” in recent decades.
But, how to recreate the sounds that were heard during the construction of this temple that was built by a large number of workers?
We are aware that it is not easy to recreate them with total certainty, but as a result of our field experience during the research and
restoration of this building, which we carried out between 1993 and 1996, we will attempt in this contribution to describe in detail
these sounds that accompanied us every day in this working environment in the middle of the tropical forest. Sounds like those of
the howler monkeys at dawn and those of the myriad of birds and other animals at dusk, or the sounds produced by the work tools,
the murmur of the workers, the crackling of the fire blended with the smell of the corn tortillas at lunchtime, or the sounds of the
intense rainfall during the wet season.

Source: EAA Conference 2021
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Tikal Spatial Data by Andy B on Thursday, 02 April 2020
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Tikal Spatial Data
https://openheritage3d.org/project.php?id=708h-ss96

More
https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/zwJi3gXEBa-_Lw

https://cyark.org/projects/tikal
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Maya Long Count calendar and European calendar linked using carbon-14 dating by davidmorgan on Sunday, 19 May 2013
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Submitted by coldrum:

The Maya are famous for their complex, intertwined calendric systems, and now one calendar, the Maya Long Count, is empirically calibrated to the modern European calendar, according to an international team of researchers.

"The Long Count calendar fell into disuse before European contact in the Maya area," said Douglas J. Kennett, professor of environmental archaeology, Penn State.
"Methods of tying the Long Count to the modern European calendar used known historical and astronomical events, but when looking at how climate affects the rise and fall of the Maya, I began to question how accurately the two calendars correlated using those methods."

The researchers found that the new measurements mirrored the most popular method in use, the Goodman-Martinez-Thompson (GMT) correlation, initially put forth by Joseph Goodman in 1905 and subsequently modified by others. In the 1950s scientists tested this correlation using early radiocarbon dating, but the large error range left open the validity of GMT.

"With only a few dissenting voices, the GMT correlation is widely accepted and used, but it must remain provisional without some form of independent corroboration," the researchers report in today's (April 11) issue of Scientific Reports.

A combination of high-resolution accelerator mass spectrometry carbon-14 dates and a calibration using tree growth rates showed the GMT correlation is correct.

The Long Count counts days from a mythological starting point. The date is comprised of five components that combine a multiplier times 144,000 days – Bak'tun, 7,200 days – K'atun, 360 days – Tun, 20 days – Winal, and 1 day – K'in separated, in standard notation, by dots.

Archaeologists want to place the Long Count dates into the European calendar so there is an understanding of when things happened in the Maya world relative to historic events elsewhere. Correlation also allows the rich historical record of the Maya to be compared with other sources of environmental, climate and archaeological data calibrated using the European calendar.

The samples came from an elaborately carved wooden lintel or ceiling from a temple in the ancient Maya city of Tikal, Guatemala, that carries a carving and dedication date in the Maya calendar. This same lintel was one of three analyzed in the previous carbon-14 study.

Researchers measured tree growth by tracking annual changes in calcium uptake by the trees, which is greater during the rainy season.

The amount of carbon-14 in the atmosphere is incorporated into a tree's incremental growth. Atmospheric carbon-14 changes through time, and during the Classic Maya period oscillated up and down.

The researchers took four samples from the lintel and used annually fluctuating calcium concentrations evident in the incremental growth of the tree to determine the true time distance between each by counting the number of elapsed rainy seasons. The researchers used this information to fit the four radiocarbon dates to the wiggles in the calibration curve. Wiggle-matching the carbon-14 dates provided a more accurate age for linking the Maya and Long Count dates to the European calendars.

These calculations were further complicated by known differences in the atmospheric radiocarbon content between northern and southern hemisphere.

"The complication is that radiocarbon concentrations differ between the southern and northern hemisphere," said Kennett. "The Maya area lies on the boundary, and the atmosphere is a mixture of the southern and northern hemispheres that changes seasonally. We had to factor that into the analysis."

The researchers results mirror the GMT European date correlations indicating that the GMT was on the right track for linking the Long Count and European calendars.

Events recorded in various Maya locations "can now be harmonized with gr

Read the rest of this post...
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"End of World" party ruins Maya temple by davidmorgan on Thursday, 03 January 2013
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Tourists flocking to Guatemala for "end of the world" parties have damaged an ancient stone temple at Tikal, the largest archaeological site and urban centre of the Mayan civilisation.

"Sadly, many tourists climbed Temple II and caused damage," said Osvaldo Gomez, a technical adviser at the site, which is located some 550 kilometres north of Guatemala City.

"We are fine with the celebration, but (the tourists) should be more aware because this is a (UNESCO) World Heritage Site," he told local media. Gomez did not specify what was done, although he did say it was forbidden to climb the stairs at the site and indicated that the damage was irreparable.

Temple II, which is about 38 metres high and faces the central Tikal plaza, is one of the site's best known structures.

Friday marked the end of an era that lasted 5200 years, according to the Mayan "Long Count" calendar. Some believed the date also marked the end of the world as foretold by Mayan hieroglyphs.

More than 7000 people visited Tikal on Friday to see native Mayan priests hold a colourful ceremony and light fires as the sun emerged to mark the new era UNESCO declared Tikal a World Heritage Site in 1979.

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=221006

Submitted by coldrum.
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Re: Teotihuacan Lineage at Tikal Studied by Anonymous on Thursday, 06 October 2011
I would can to include something photos of your web in my site?
http://francais.satelliteview.org/vueaerienne/Tikal


Thank you.
[ Reply to This ]
    Photo Use by bat400 on Sunday, 09 October 2011
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    Please contact the persons who submitted each photo you are seeking to use. Multiple contributors have taken the photos seen here.
    [ Reply to This ]

Teotihuacan Lineage at Tikal Studied by Andy B on Sunday, 11 April 2010
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Iconographic studies of Teotihuacan murals confirm the extension of the lineage of a ruler of the ancient city of Tikal, Guatemala, already revealed by epigraphists of the Maya area.

The aforementioned investigation sums up to interpretations of Stele 31 of Tikal that relate to the dynastic line of Atlatl-Cauac (“Dart-thrower Owl”), possible ruler of Teotihuacan between 374 and 439 AD, and whose son, Yax Nuun Ayiin I, was seignior of Tikal. The emblem of this lineage would be represented by the image of a bird with a shield, observed in Teotihuacan murals, declared Dr. Raul Garcia Chavez, researcher at the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

There would be a relation between the register at Tikal and other Maya sites of late 4th century, which refers to the son of Atlatl-Cauac, Yax Nuun Ayiin I, as ruler of Tikal between 379 and 404 AD, commented the researcher during his participation at the 6th Academic Conference of Archaeology at Templo Mayor Museum.

The archaeologist from Estado de Mexico INAH Center, remarked that a series of enthroned figures with eye rings and headdress began appearing at iconographic register of Teotihuacan from 370 of the Common Era, possibly symbolizing the supreme ruler of the Central High Plateau city.

Iconography apparently indicates that the Teotihuacan ruler “was part of a clan whose emblem was an owl with a shield crossed by a hand taking up a dart or the dart-thrower. Sometimes it was represented with a cotton tassel headdress and the eye rings; others, without eye rings but enthroned”, explained the specialist.

“Evidence (at Teotihuacan) is fragmented. Some representations at the murals, among them a green-feathered bird with a dart-thrower (atlatl) and a shield, could refer to this character “Dart-thrower Owl” or maybe to his representation as a mythic element”.

“This representation has been found in many examples of Teotihuacan mural painting. Nevertheless, most paintings are fragmented so iconographic discourse is incomprehensible”.

Archaeologist Jorge Angulo Villaseñor, from INAH Direction of Archaeological Studies, commented that it is hard to believe that arrival of Teotihuacan people to Tikal and other Maya cities like Copan and Kamilnaljuyu, also in Guatemala, derived from a military conquest, since troop supply seems like an enormous effort, so it is feasible that there were political alliances.

“In Teotihuacan there is a fragmented iconographic system that given the formal similarities makes sense. Numerous representations found in the Central High Plateau are evidence of a representation-communication system with a specific purpose, maybe veneration and exaltation of a group of persons, in this case, the supreme ruler of Teotihuacan, Atlatl-Cauac and his genealogy”, concluded Dr. Garcia.

Source:
http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_new=37184&int_sec=2

Thanks to coldrum
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Sacred plants of the Maya forest by Andy B on Friday, 12 June 2009
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Some of the Central American rainforest's hidden treasures are being revealed by the Maya, more than a millennium after their passing.

A study of the giant trees and beautiful flowers depicted in Maya art has identified which they held sacred.

Created during the Maya Classic Period, the depictions are so accurate they could help researchers spot plants with hitherto unknown medicinal uses.

The research is published in the journal Economic Botany.

Plants played a significant role in the ecology, culture and rituals of the Maya people, whose artwork reflected the rich diversity of plant life around them.

But while numerous examples of such artwork exist, few have been studied to see exactly which plants they depict.

So natural historian and archaeologist Charles Zidar of Missouri Botanical Garden in St Louis, US, and botanist Wayne Elisens of the University of Oklahoma, Norman, US, decided to find out.

They hope to discover plants of importance to the Maya that are either unknown to modern people, or have since been forgotten.

The Maya have lived and used rainforest plants to heal themselves for thousands of years. We are just beginning to understand some of their secrets
Archaeologist Charles Zadir

The team's first analyses focused on artwork produced within the southern lowland region of the Maya, located in the modern countries of Belize, Guatemala and Mexico.

They examined more than 2,500 images of Maya ceramics created within the Maya Classical Period of AD 250 to 900.

The images are held within an image collection taken by Justin and Barbara Kerr, curated by the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, based in Crystal River, Florida, US.

In particular, the two men searched for depictions of bombacoids, a diverse lineage of trees in the Neotropics characterised by swollen or spiny trunks and big, colourful, conspicuous flowers with long folding petals.

Across different ceramics, Zidar and Elisens found depictions of five species.

"I was surprised that a variety of plants from this family were depicted," says Zidar.

The Maya clearly depicted the cebia tree (Ceiba pentandra) also known as the Silk Cotton or Kapok tree.

Trees of the Ceiba genus can grow up to 50m tall, with swollen trunks producing large buttresses.
Quararibea flowers and a cocao vessel
White blooms on ceramic: Quararibea painted on a cup for drinking chocolate

To the Maya, the ceiba tree was sacred, mapping out the upper, middle and underworlds.

Considered the "first tree", or "world tree", the ceiba was thought to stand at the centre of the Earth. Modern indigenous people still often leave the tree alone out of respect when harvesting forest wood.

The thorny trunks of the ceiba tree are represented by ceramic pots used as burial urns or incense holders, which are designed in a strikingly similar fashion. Two other tree species, the Provision Tree (Pachira aquatica) and the Shaving Bush Tree (Pseudobombax ellipticum) are also copied into the designs of similar pots.

On cacao pots and a plate for holding tamales, made from dough, the Maya drew flowers of either P. ellipticum or P. aquatica. On the cacao pot, the flowers seem to form part of the headdress of a high ranging individual.

Smaller white-flowered blossoms of Quararibea funebris or Q. quatemalteca also appear to adorn another vessel used for cacao drinking. The Maya used this species to flavour and froth cacao beverages so it is appropriate for them to represent the plant on the vessel, says Zidar.

"It was previously thought that only the ceiba tree was of great importance," says Zidar.
Pseudobombax ellipticum flower and cocao pot artwork
A Pseudobombax flower inspires a headdress worn by the Maya elite

"I

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Temple timbers trace collapse of Mayan culture by Andy B on Friday, 12 June 2009
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The builders of the ancient Mayan temples at Tikal in Guatemala switched to inferior wood a few decades before they suddenly abandoned the city in the 9th century AD. The shift is the strongest evidence yet that Mayan civilisation collapsed because they ran out of resources, rather than, say, disease or warfare.

Researchers led by David Lentz, a palaeoethnobotanist at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, sampled wooden beams and lintels from all six major temples and two palaces within the ancient city of Tikal. The first three temples, built before AD 741, used only large, straight logs of the sapodilla tree - a particularly strong wood that is nevertheless easy to carve with ceremonial inscriptions.

But after that date, large sapodilla logs were almost entirely replaced in temple construction by logwood, a smaller, gnarly tree that is almost impossible to carve. "It's definitely an inferior material," says Lentz, who reasons that the temple-builders would only have accepted logwood if they had run out of suitable sapodilla trees to harvest (Journal of Archaeological Science, DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2009.01.020).

Earlier studies of pollen deposits have suggested that deforestation and soil erosion were increasing in the region as Mayan civilisation neared its collapse. But the temple timbers of Tikal are the first to show that ecological overexploitation directly affected Mayan culture.

(with thanks to Coldrum for finding this)

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227104.400-temple-timbers-trace-collapse-of-mayan-culture.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news
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    Scientists Determine Ancient Maya Practiced Forest Conservation 3,000 Years ago by bat400 on Sunday, 26 July 2009
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    Coldrum sends a different article on the same subject:

    Researchers from the University of Cincinnati find the forest and water conservation practices of the ancient Maya hold lessons for the future — ours.As published in the July issue of the “Journal of Archaeological Science,” paleoethnobotanist David Lentz of the University of Cincinnati has concluded that not only did the Maya people practice forest management, but when they abandoned their forest conservation practices it was to the detriment of the entire Maya culture.

    For more, see University of Cincinnati News.
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Re: Tikal by C_Michael_Hogan on Monday, 12 May 2008
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This site is located in the El Peten Department (or Province) of Guatemala.
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