Tikal
Encyclopedia
Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centres of the pre-Columbian
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...

 Maya civilization
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...

. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin
Petén Basin
The Petén Basin is a geographical subregion of Mesoamerica, located in the northern portion of the modern-day nation of Guatemala, and essentially contained within the department of El Petén...

 in what is now northern Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala 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...

. Situated in the department
Departments of Guatemala
||Guatemala is divided into 22 departments :#Alta Verapaz#Baja Verapaz#Chimaltenango#Chiquimula#Petén#El Progreso#El Quiché#Escuintla#Guatemala#Huehuetenango#Izabal#Jalapa#Jutiapa#Quetzaltenango#Retalhuleu#Sacatepéquez...

 of El Petén, the site is part of Guatemala's Tikal National Park and in 1979 it was declared a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

.

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
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...

, ca. 200 to 900 AD. During this time, the city
Maya city
A Maya city was a centre of population of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica. It served the specialised roles of administration, commerce, manufacturing and religion that characterised ancient cities worldwide...

 dominated much of the Maya region politically, economically, and militarily, while interacting with areas throughout Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...

 such as the great metropolis of Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan
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 northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas...

 in the distant Valley of Mexico
Valley of Mexico
The Valley of Mexico is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with the present-day Distrito Federal and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several pre-Columbian civilizations, including...

. 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.

Tikal is the best understood of any of the large lowland Maya cities, with a long dynastic ruler
Maya rulers
Mayan kings were the centers of power for Mayan civilization. Each Mayan city-state was controlled by a dynasty of kings, who collectively drove the empire forward.-Symbols of power:...

 list, the discovery of the tombs of many of the rulers on this list and the investigation of their monuments
Monumental sculpture
The term monumental sculpture is often used in art history and criticism, but not always consistently. It combines two concepts, one of function, and one of size, and may include an element of a third more subjective concept. It is often used for all sculptures that are large...

, temples and palaces.

Etymology

The name Tikal may be derived from ti ak'al in the Yucatec Maya language; it is said to be a relatively modern name meaning "at the waterhole". The name was apparently applied to one of the site's ancient reservoirs by hunters and travellers in the region. It has alternatively been interpreted as meaning "the place of the voices" in the Itza Maya language
Itza' language
Itza is one of the Yucatecan branch of the Mayan languages. The other languages in the Yucatecan branch are Yucatec, Lakantun, and Mopan....

. Tikal, however, is not the ancient name for the site but rather the name adopted shortly after its discovery in the 1840s. Hieroglyphic inscriptions
Maya script
The Maya script, also known as Maya glyphs or Maya hieroglyphs, is the writing system of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica, presently the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered...

 at the ruins refer to the ancient city as Yax Mutal or Yax Mutul, meaning "First Mutal". Tikal may have come to have been called this because Dos Pilas
Dos Pilas
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,...

 also came to use the same emblem glyph; the rulers of the city presumably wanted to distinguish themselves as the first city to bear the name.
The kingdom as a whole was simply called Mutul, which is the reading of the "hair bundle" Emblem Glyph seen in the accompanying photo. Its precise meaning remains obscure, although some scholars think that it is the hair knot of the jaw|Ahau]÷±± or ruler.

Location

The closest large modern settlements are Flores
Flores, El Petén
Flores is the capital city of Petén department of Guatemala. It is located at . The population is 13,700 .Flores serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality, with which it shares a name ....

 and Santa Elena
Santa Elena, El Petén
Santa Elena is located on the shores of Lake Petén Itzá in the Petén department of Guatemala. It is connected by a causeway to its sister town of Flores and the two are often referred to as just Flores. It is the location for Flores International Airport, which is located just outside the...

, approximately 64 kilometres (39.8 mi) by road to the southwest. Tikal is approximately 303 kilometres (188.3 mi) north of Guatemala City
Guatemala City
Guatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...

. It is 19 kilometres (11.8 mi) south of the contemporary Maya city of Uaxactun
Uaxactun
Uaxactun is an ancient ruin of the Maya civilization, located in the Petén Basin region of the Maya lowlands, in the present-day department of Petén, Guatemala. The site lies some north of the major center of Tikal...

 and 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) northwest of Yaxha
Yaxha
Yaxha 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 southeast from Tikal, between the...

. The city was located 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) southeast of its great Classic Period rival, Calakmul
Calakmul
Calakmul is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful ancient cities ever uncovered in the Maya lowlands...

, and 85 kilometres (52.8 mi) northwest of Calakmul's ally Caracol
Caracol
Caracol is the name given to a large ancient Maya archaeological site, located in what is now the Cayo District of Belize. It is situated approximately 40 kilometres south of Xunantunich and the town of San Ignacio Cayo, and 15 kilometers away from the Macal River. It rests on the Vaca Plateau at...

, now in Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...

.

The city has been completely mapped and covered an area greater than 16 square kilometres (6.2 sq mi) that included about 3000 structures. The topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...

 of the site consists of a series of parallel limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 ridges rising above swampy lowlands. The major architecture
Maya architecture
A unique and spectacular style, Maya architecture spans several thousands of years. Often the most dramatic and easily recognizable as Maya are the stepped pyramids from the Terminal Pre-classic period and beyond. Being based on the general Mesoamerican architectural traditions these pyramids...

 of the site is clustered upon areas of higher ground and linked by raised causeway
Causeway
In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...

s spanning the swamps. The area around Tikal has been declared as the Tikal National Park and the preserved area covers 570 square kilometres (220.1 sq mi).

The ruins lie among the tropical rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

s of northern Guatemala that formed the cradle of lowland Maya civilization. The city itself was located among abundant fertile upland soils, and may have dominated a natural east—west trade route across the Yucatan Peninsula
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...

. Conspicuous trees at the Tikal park include gigantic kapok
Kapok
Ceiba pentandra is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae , native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and to tropical west Africa...

 (Ceiba pentandra) the sacred tree of the Maya; Tropical cedar (Cedrela odorata
Cedrela odorata
Cedrela odorata . The genus Cedrela has undergone two major systematic revisions since 1960. The most recent revision reduced the number of species in the genus to seven . The common cedro, Cedrela odorata L., embraces 28 other named species, including C. mexicana M. J...

), and Honduras Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla
Swietenia macrophylla
Swietenia macrophylla, commonly known as big leaf mahogany, is a species of plant in the Meliaceae family. It is one of two species that yields genuine mahogany timber, the other being Swietenia mahagoni....

). Regarding the fauna, agouti
Common agouti
The popular term Agouti designates several rodent species of the genus Dasyprocta that inhabit areas of Middle America, the West Indies, and northern South America. They are related to guinea pigs and look quite similar but have longer legs. The species vary in color from tawny to dark brown with...

, white-nosed coatis, gray fox
Gray Fox
The gray fox is a mammal of the order Carnivora ranging throughout most of the southern half of North America from southern Canada to the northern part of South America...

es, Geoffroy's spider monkey
Geoffroy's Spider Monkey
Geoffroy's spider monkey, Ateles geoffroyi, also known as black-handed spider monkey, is a species of spider monkey, a type of New World monkey, from Central America, parts of Mexico and possibly a small portion of Colombia. There are at least five subspecies. Some primatologists classify the...

s, howler monkey
Howler monkey
Howler monkeys are among the largest of the New World monkeys. Fifteen species are currently recognised. Previously classified in the family Cebidae, they are now placed in the family Atelidae. These monkeys are native to South and Central American forests...

s, harpy eagles, falcon
Falcon
A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....

s, ocellated turkey
Ocellated Turkey
The Ocellated Turkey is a species of turkey residing primarily in the Yucatán Peninsula. A relative of the more common Wild Turkey , it was sometimes previously treated in a genus of its own but the differences between this species and Meleagris gallopavo are too small to justify generic...

s, guans
Guan (bird)
The guans are a number of bird genera which make up the largest group in the family Cracidae. They are found mainly in northern South America, southern Central America, and a few adjacent Caribbean islands...

, toucan
Toucan
Toucans are members of the family Ramphastidae of near passerine birds from the Neotropics. The family is most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five genera and about forty different species...

s, green parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...

s and leafcutter ant
Leafcutter ant
Leafcutter ants, a non-generic name, are any of 47 species of leaf-chewing ants belonging to the two genera Atta and Acromyrmex.These species of tropical, fungus-growing ants are all endemic to South, Central America, Mexico and parts of the southern United States.The Acromyrmex and Atta ants have...

s can be seen there regularly. Jaguar
Jaguar
The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...

s, jaguarundi
Jaguarundi
The jaguarundi is a small-sized wild cat native to Central and South America. In 2002, the IUCN classified the jaguarundi as Least Concern as it is likely that no conservation units, with the probable exception of the mega-reserves of the Amazon basin could sustain long-term viable populations. It...

s, and cougars are also said to roam in the park. For centuries this city was completely covered under jungle. The average annual rainfall at Tikal is 1945 millimetres (76.6 in).

One of the largest of the Classic Maya cities, Tikal had no water other than what was collected from rainwater and stored in ten reservoirs. Archaeologists working in Tikal during the 20th century refurbished one of these ancient reservoirs to store water for their own use. The absence of springs, rivers, and lakes in the immediate vicinity of Tikal highlights a prodigious feat: building a major city with only supplies of stored seasonal rainfall
Wet season
The the wet season, or rainy season, is the time of year, covering one or more months, when most of the average annual rainfall in a region occurs. The term green season is also sometimes used as a euphemism by tourist authorities. Areas with wet seasons are dispersed across portions of the...

. Tikal prospered with intensive agricultural techniques
Intensive farming
Intensive farming or intensive agriculture is an agricultural production system characterized by the high inputs of capital, labour, or heavy usage of technologies such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers relative to land area....

, which were far more advanced than the slash and burn
Slash and burn
Slash-and-burn is an agricultural technique which involves cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create fields. It is subsistence agriculture that typically uses little technology or other tools. It is typically part of shifting cultivation agriculture, and of transhumance livestock...

 methods originally theorized by archaeologists. The reliance on seasonal rainfall left Tikal vulnerable to prolonged drought, which is thought by some to have played a role in the Classic Maya Collapse.

The Tikal National Park covers an area of 575.83 square kilometres (222.3 sq mi). It was created on 26 May 1955 under the auspices of the Instituto de Antropología e Historia
Instituto de Antropología e Historia
The Instituto de Antropología e Historia is the national institute in Guatemala responsible for the protection and maintenance of Guatemala's historical and archaeological sites, monuments, artefacts, and other aspects of the nation's cultural heritage.IDAEH was established by governmental decree...

 and was the first protected area in Guatemala.

The actual GPS location for Tikal is: Latitude (DMS): 17° 13' 0 N Longitude (DMS): 89° 37' 60 W

Population

Population estimates for Tikal vary from 10,000 to as high as 90,000 inhabitants, with the most likely figure being at the upper end of this range. Because of the low salt content of the Maya diet, it is estimated that Tikal would have had to import 131 tons of salt each year, based on a conservative population estimate of 45,000.

The population of Tikal began a continuous curve of growth starting in the Preclassic Period
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...

 (approximately 2000 BC – AD 200), with a peak in the Late Classic with the population growing rapidly from AD 700 through to 830, followed by a sharp decline. For the 120 square kilometres (46.3 sq mi) area falling within the earthwork defences of the hinterland
Hinterland
The hinterland is the land or district behind a coast or the shoreline of a river. Specifically, by the doctrine of the hinterland, the word is applied to the inland region lying behind a port, claimed by the state that owns the coast. The area from which products are delivered to a port for...

, the peak population is estimated at 517 per square kilometre (1340 per square mile). In an area within a 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) radius of the site core, peak population is estimated at 120,000; population density is estimated at 265 per square kilometre (689 per square mile). In a region within a 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) radius of the site core and including some satellite sites, peak population is estimated at 425,000 with a density of 216 per square kilometre (515 per square mile). These population figures are even more impressive because of the extensive swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...

lands that were unsuitable for habitation or agriculture. However, some archaeologists, such as David Webster, believe these figures to be far too high.

Rulers

The dynastic line of Tikal, founded as early as the 1st century AD, spanned 800 years and included at least 33 rulers.

Name (or nickname)Ruled Dynastic
succession no.
Alternative Names
Yax Ehb' Xook c. 90 1 Yax Moch Xok, Yax Chakte'l Xok, First Scaffold Shark
Foliated Jaguar c. 292 ?
Animal Headdress ? 10? Kinich Ehb'?
Siyaj Chan K'awiil I c. 307 11
Lady Une' B'alam c. 317 12?
K'inich Muwaan Jol I ? –359 13 Mahk'ina Bird Skull, Feather Skull
Chak Tok Ich'aak I
Chak Tok Ich'aak I
Chak Tok Ich'aak I, also known as Great Paw, Great Jaguar Paw, Jaguar Paw III, and Toh Chak Ich'ak, was an early Maya king of Mutal . He is one of Tikal's best known kings, with many monuments and ceramics engraved with his name.At Tikal, one confirmed and one possible monument to Chak Tok Ich'aak...

360–378 14 Jaguar Paw, Great Paw, Great Jaguar Paw
Yax Nuun Ayiin I 379 –404? 15 Curl Snout, Curl Nose
Siyaj Chan K'awiil II 411–456 16 Stormy Sky, Manikin Cleft Sky
Kan Chitam 458–c. 486 17 Kan Boar, K'an Ak
Chak Tok Ich'aak II c. 486–508 18 Jaguar Paw II, Jaguar Paw Skull
Lady of Tikal Kaloomte' B'alam c. 511–527+ 19 Curl Head
Bird Claw ? 20? Animal Skull I
Wak Chan K'awiil 537?–562 21 Double Bird
Animal Skull c. 593–628 22
K'inich Muwaan Jol II c. 628–650 23 or 24
Nuun Ujol Chaak c. 650–679 25 Shield Skull, Nun Bak Chak
Jasaw Chan K'awiil I 682–734 26 Ruler A, Ah Cacao
Yik'in Chan K'awiil
Yik'in Chan K'awiil
Yik'in Chan K'awiil was a Mayan ruler in the Late Classic period of the city-state polity centred at Tikal, a major pre-Columbian Maya site in the Petén Basin region .-Biography:Identified by Mayanist epigraphers as the 27th ruler in Tikal's dynastic succession, Yik'in Chan...

734–c. 766 27 Ruler B, Yaxkin Caan Chac, Sun Sky Rain
Ruler 28 c. 766–768 28
Yax Nuun Ayiin II
Yax Nuun Ayiin II
Yax Nuun Ayiin II was a ruler of the Maya civilization polity of Tikal in the Petén Basin region, during the Late Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology. He acceded to the rulership in 768, and ruled for at least twenty-six years to ca. 794...

768–c. 794 29
Nuun Ujol K'inich c. 800? 30?
Dark Sun –810+ 31?
Jewel K'awiil –849+ ?
Jasaw Chan K'awiil II
Jasaw Chan K'awiil II
Jasaw Chan K'awiil II was a 9th-century ruler at Tikal, the major pre-Columbian Maya civilization center and polity located in the Peten Basin region, modern-day Guatemala....

–869+ ?

Preclassic

There are traces of early agriculture at the site dating as far back as 1000 BC, in the Middle Preclassic. A cache of Mamon ceramics
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...

 dating from about 700-400 BC were found in a sealed chultun
Chultun
A chultun is a bottle-shaped underground storage chamber built by the pre-Columbian Maya in southern Mesoamerica. Their entrances were surrounded by plastered aprons which guided rainwater into them during the rainy seasons...

, a subterranean bottle-shaped chamber.

Major construction at Tikal was already taking place in the Late Preclassic period, first appearing around 400–300 BC, including the building of major pyramids
Mesoamerican pyramids
Mesoamerican pyramids, pyramid-shaped structures, are an important part of ancient Mesoamerican architecture. These structures were usually step pyramids with temples on top – more akin to the ziggurats of Mesopotamia than to the pyramids of Ancient Egypt...

 and platforms, although the city was still dwarfed by sites further north such as El Mirador
El Mirador
El Mirador is a large pre-Columbian Mayan settlement, located in the north of the modern department of El Petén, Guatemala.-Discovery: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...

 and Nakbe
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...

. At this time, Tikal participated in the widespread Chikanel culture that dominated the Central and Northern Maya areas at this time – a region that included the entire Yucatan Peninsula
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...

 including northern and eastern Guatemala and all of Belize.

Two temples dating to Late Chikanel times had masonry-walled superstructure
Superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships...

s that may have been corbel-vaulted
Corbel arch
A corbel arch is an arch-like construction method that uses the architectural technique of corbeling to span a space or void in a structure, such as an entranceway in a wall or as the span of a bridge...

, although this has not been proven. One of these had elaborate paintings on the outer walls showing human figures against a scrollwork
Scrollwork
Scrollwork is an element of ornamentation and graphic design using a spiral. The name comes from by the supposed resemblance to the edge-on view of a rolled parchment scroll. "Scrollwork" is today mostly used in popular language for two-dimensional decorative flourishes and arabesques of all...

 background, painted in yellow, black, pink and red.

In the 1st century AD rich burials first appeared and Tikal underwent a political and cultural florescence as its giant northern neighbours declined. At the end of the Late Preclassic, the Izapa
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...

n style art and architecture from the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 Coast began to influence Tikal, as demonstrated by a broken sculpture from the acropolis
Acropolis
Acropolis means "high city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity and is usually translated into English as Citadel . For purposes of defense, early people naturally chose elevated ground to build a new settlement, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...

 and early murals at the city.

Early Classic

Dynastic
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...

 rulership among the lowland Maya is most deeply rooted at Tikal. According to later hieroglyphic records, the dynasty was founded by Yax-Moch-Xoc, perhaps in the 3rd century AD. At the beginning of the Early Classic, power in the Maya region was concentrated at Tikal and Calakmul, in the core of the Maya heartland.

Tikal may have benefited from the collapse of the large Preclassic states such as El Mirador
El Mirador
El Mirador is a large pre-Columbian Mayan settlement, located in the north of the modern department of El Petén, Guatemala.-Discovery: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...

. In the Early Classic Tikal rapidly developed into the most dynamic city in the Maya region, stimulating the development of other nearby Maya cities.

The site, however, was often at war
Maya warfare
Although the Maya were once thought to have been peaceful , current theories emphasize the role of inter-polity warfare as a factor in the development and perpetuation of Maya society. The goals and motives of warfare in Maya culture are not thoroughly understood, but there are several kinds of...

 and inscriptions tell of alliances and conflict with other Maya states, including Uaxactun
Uaxactun
Uaxactun is an ancient ruin of the Maya civilization, located in the Petén Basin region of the Maya lowlands, in the present-day department of Petén, Guatemala. The site lies some north of the major center of Tikal...

, Caracol, Naranjo and Calakmul
Calakmul
Calakmul is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful ancient cities ever uncovered in the Maya lowlands...

. The site was defeated at the end of the Early Classic by Caracol, which rose to take Tikal's place as the paramount centre in the southern Maya lowlands. The earlier part of the Early Classic saw hostilities between Tikal and its neighbour Uaxactun, with Uaxactun recording the capture of prisoners from Tikal.

There appears to have been a breakdown in the male succession by AD 317, when Lady Une' B'alam conducted a katun-ending ceremony, apparently as queen of the city.

Tikal and Teotihuacan

The fourteenth king of Tikal was Chak Tok Ich'aak (Great Jaguar Paw). Chak Tok Ich'aak built a palace that was preserved and developed by later rulers until it became the core of the Central Acropolis. Little is known about Chak Tok Ich'aak except that he was killed on 14 January 378 AD. On the same day, Siyah K’ak’ (Fire Is Born) arrived from the west, having passed through El Peru, a site to the west of Tikal, on 8 January. On Stela
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...

 31 he is named as "Lord of the West". Siyah K’ak’ was probably a foreign general serving a figure represented by a non-Maya hieroglyph of a spearthrower
Atlatl
An atlatl or spear-thrower is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart-throwing.It consists of a shaft with a cup or a spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of the dart. The atlatl is held in one hand, gripped near the end farthest from the cup...

 combined with an owl, a glyph that is well known from the great metropolis of Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan
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 northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas...

 in the distant Valley of Mexico. Spearthrower Owl
Spearthrower Owl
"Spearthrower Owl" is the name commonly given to a Mesoamerican personage from the Early Classic period, who is identified in Maya inscriptions and iconography...

 may even have been the ruler of Teotihuacan. These recorded events strongly suggest that Siyah K’ak’ led a Teotihuacan invasion that defeated the native Tikal king, who was captured and immediately executed. Siyah K'ak' appears to have been aided by a powerful political faction at Tikal itself; roughly at the time of the conquest, a group of Teotihuacan natives were apparently residing near the Lost World complex. He also exerted control over other cities in the area, including Uaxactun, where he became king, but did not take the throne of Tikal for himself. Within a year, the son of Spearthrower Owl by the name of Yax Nuun Ayiin I (First Crocodile) had been installed as the tenth king of Tikal while he was still a boy, being enthroned on 13 September 379. He reigned for 47 years as king of Tikal, and remained a vassal of Siyah K'ak' for as long as the latter lived. It seems likely that Yax Nuun Ayiin I took a wife from the pre-existing, defeated, Tikal dynasty and thus legitimised the right to rule of his son, Siyaj Chan K'awiil II.

Río Azul
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...

, a small site 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) northeast of Tikal, was conquered by the latter during the reign of Yax Nuun Ayiin I. The site became an outpost of Tikal, shielding it from hostile cities further north, and also became a trade link to the Caribbean
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....

.

Although the new rulers of Tikal were foreign, their descendants were rapidly Mayanised. Tikal became the key ally and trading partner of Teotihuacan in the Maya lowlands. After being conquered by Teotihuacan, Tikal rapidly dominated the northern and eastern Peten. Uaxactun, together with smaller towns in the region, were absorbed into Tikal's kingdom. Other sites, such as Bejucal
Bejucal (Mesoamerican site)
Bejucal is a Maya archaeological site in the Petén Department of Guatemala. It is located northeast of El Zotz and was subservient to that city...

 and Motul de San José
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 located a few kilometres from the modern village of San José, in Guatemala's northern department of Petén...

 near Lake Petén Itzá
Lake Petén Itzá
Lake Petén Itzá is a lake in the northern department Petén in Guatemala. It is the second largest lake in Guatemala, the Izabal lake being the largest. It is located around . It has an area of 99 km² some 32 km. long and 5 km wide. Its maximum depth is 160 m...

 became vassals
Vassal state
A vassal state is any state that is subordinate to another. The vassal in these cases is the ruler, rather than the state itself. Being a vassal most commonly implies providing military assistance to the dominant state when requested to do so; it sometimes implies paying tribute, but a state which...

 of their more powerful neighbour to the north. By the middle of the 5th century Tikal had a core territory of at least 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) in every direction.

Around the 5th century an impressive system of fortifications consisting of ditches and earthworks
Earthworks (archaeology)
In archaeology, earthwork is a general term to describe artificial changes in land level. Earthworks are often known colloquially as 'lumps and bumps'. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features or they can show features beneath the surface...

 was built along the northern periphery of Tikal's hinterland, joining up with the natural defences provided by large areas of swampland lying to the east and west of the city. Additional fortifications were probably also built to the south. These defences protected Tikal's core population and agricultural resources, encircling an area of approximately 120 square kilometres (46.3 sq mi). Recent research suggests that the earthworks served as a water collection system rather than a defensive purpose.

Tikal and Copán

In the 5th century the power of the city reached as far south as Copán, whose founder K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo'
K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo'
K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo is named in Maya inscriptions as the founder and first ruler of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization polity centered at Copán, a major Maya site located in the southeastern Maya lowlands region in present-day Honduras...

 was clearly connected with Tikal. Copán itself was not in an ethnically Maya region and the founding of the Copán dynasty probably involved the direct intervention of Tikal. K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo' arrived in Copán in December 426 and bone analysis of his remains shows that he passed his childhood and youth at Tikal. An individual known as Ajaw
Ajaw
Ajaw is a political rulership title attested from the epigraphic inscriptions of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, with a meaning variously interpreted as "lord", "ruler", "king" or "leader". It denoted any of the leading class of nobles in a particular polity and was not limited to a single...

 K'uk' Mo' (lord K'uk' Mo') is referred to in an early text at Tikal and may well be the same person. His tomb had Teotihuacan characteristics and he was depicted in later portraits dressed in the warrior garb of Teotihuacan. Hieroglyphic texts refer to him as "Lord of the West", much like Siyah K’ak’. At the same time, in late 426, Copán founded the nearby site of Quiriguá
Quiriguá
Quiriguá is an ancient Maya archaeological site in the department of Izabal in south-eastern Guatemala. It is a medium-sized site covering approximately along the lower Motagua River, with the ceremonial center about from the north bank. During the Maya Classic Period , Quiriguá was situated at...

, possibly sponsored by Tikal itself. The founding of these two centres may have been part of an effort to impose Tikal's authority upon the southeastern portion of the Maya region. The interaction between these sites and Tikal was intense over the next three centuries.

A long-running rivalry between Tikal and Calakmul began in the 6th century, with each of the two cities forming its own network of mutually hostile alliances arrayed against each other in what has been likened to a long-running war between two Maya superpowers. The kings of these two capitals adopted the title kaloomte, a term that has not been precisely translated but that implies something akin to "high king
High king
A high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings, without the title of Emperor; compare King of Kings.Rulers who have been termed "high king" include:...

".

The early 6th century saw another queen ruling the city, known only as the "Lady of Tikal", who was very likely a daughter of Chak Tok Ich'aak II. She seems never to have ruled in her own right, rather being partnered with male co-rulers. The first of these was Kaloomte' B'alam, who seems to have had a long career as a general at Tikal before becoming co-ruler and 19th in the dynastic sequence. The Lady of Tikal herself seems not have been counted in the dynastic numbering. It appears she was later paired with lord "Bird Claw", who is presumed to be the otherwise unknown 20th ruler.
.

Tikal hiatus

In the mid 6th century, Caracol seems to have allied with Calakmul and defeated Tikal, closing the Early Classic. The "Tikal hiatus" refers to a period between the late 6th to late 7th century where there was a lapse in the writing of inscriptions and large-scale construction at Tikal. In the latter half of the 6th century AD a serious crisis befell the city, with no new stelae being erected and with widespread deliberate mutilation of public sculpture
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...

. This hiatus in activity at Tikal was long unexplained until later epigraphic
Epigraphy
Epigraphy Epigraphy Epigraphy (from the , literally "on-writing", is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing; that is, the science of identifying the graphemes and of classifying their use as to cultural context and date, elucidating their meaning and assessing what conclusions can be...

 decipherments identified that the period was prompted by Tikal's comprehensive defeat at the hands of Calakmul and the Caracol polity in AD 562, a defeat that seems to have resulted in the capture and sacrifice
Human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice has been practised in various cultures throughout history...

 of the king of Tikal. The badly eroded Altar 21 at Caracol described how Tikal suffered this disastrous defeat in a major war in 562. It seems that Caracol was an ally of Calakmul in the wider conflict between that city and Tikal, with the defeat of Tikal having a lasting impact upon the city. Tikal was not sacked but its power and influence were broken. After its great victory, Caracol grew rapidly and some of Tikal's population may have been forcibly relocated there. During the hiatus period, at least one ruler of Tikal took refuge with Janaab' Pakal of Palenque
Palenque
Palenque was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that flourished in the 7th century. The Palenque ruins date back to 100 BC to its fall around 800 AD...

, another of Calakmul's victims. Calakmul itself thrived during Tikal's long hiatus period.

The beginning of the Tikal hiatus has served as a marker by which archaeologists commonly sub-divide the Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...

 into the Early and Late Classic.

Tikal and Dos Pilas

In 629 Tikal founded Dos Pilas
Dos Pilas
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,...

, some 110 kilometres (68.4 mi) to the southwest, as a military outpost in order to control trade along the course of the Pasión River
Pasión River
The Pasión River is a river located in the northern lowlands region of Guatemala. The river is fed by a number of upstream tributaries whose sources lie in the hills of Alta Verapaz. These flow in a general northerly direction to form the Pasión, which then tends westwards to meet up with the...

. B'alaj Chan K'awiil was installed on the throne of the new outpost at the age of four, in 635, and for many years served as a loyal vassal fighting for his brother, the king of Tikal. Roughly twenty years later Dos Pilas was attacked by Calakmul and was soundly defeated. B'alaj Chan K'awiil was captured by the king of Calakmul but, instead of being sacrificed, he was re-instated on his throne as a vassal of his former enemy, and attacked Tikal in 657, forcing Nuun Ujol Chaak, the then king of Tikal, to temporarily abandon the city. The first two rulers of Dos Pilas continued to use the Mutal emblem glyph of Tikal, and they probably felt that they had a legitimate claim to the throne of Tikal itself. For some reason, B'alaj Chan K'awiil was not installed as the new ruler of Tikal; instead he stayed at Dos Pilas. Tikal counterattacked against Dos Pilas in 672, driving B'alaj Chan K'awiil into an exile that lasted five years. Calakmul tried to encircle Tikal within an area dominated by its allies, such as El Peru, Dos Pilas and Caracol.

In 682, Jasaw Chan K'awiil erected the first dated monument at Tikal in 120 years and claimed the title of kaloomte, so ending the hiatus. He initiated a programme of new construction and turned the tables on Calakmul when, in 695, he captured the enemy king and threw the enemy state into a long decline from which it never recovered. After this, Calakmul never again erected a monument celebrating a military victory. This defeat of Calakmul restored Tikal’s pre-eminence in the Central Maya region, but never again in the southwest Petén, where Dos Pilas maintained its presence.

Tikal after Teotihuacán

By the 7th century, there was no active Teotihuacan presence at any Maya site and the centre of Teotihuacan had been razed by 700. Even after this, formal war attire illustrated on monuments was Teotihuacan style. Jasaw Chan K'awiil I and his heir Yik'in Chan K'awiil continued hostilities against Calakmul and its allies and imposed firm regional control over the area around Tikal, extending as far as the territory around Lake Petén Itzá. These two rulers were responsible for much of the impressive architecture visible today.

In 738, Quiriguá, a vassal of Copán, Tikal's key ally in the south, switched allegiance to Calakmul, defeated Copán and gained its own independence. It appears that this was a conscious effort on the part of Calakmul to bring about the collapse of Tikal's southern allies. This upset the balance of power in the southern Maya area and lead to a steady decline in the fortunes of Copán.

In the 8th century, the rulers of Tikal collected monuments from across the city and erected them in front of the North Acropolis. By the late 8th century and early 9th century, activity at Tikal slowed. Impressive architecture was still built but few hieroglyphic inscriptions refer to later rulers.

Terminal Classic

By the 9th century, the crisis of the Classic Maya collapse
Classic Maya collapse
The Classic Maya Collapse refers to the decline and abandonment of the Classic Period Maya cities of the southern Maya lowlands of Mesoamerica between the 8th and 9th centuries. This should not be confused with the collapse of the Preclassic Maya in the 2nd century AD...

 was sweeping across the region, with populations plummeting and city after city falling into silence. Increasingly endemic warfare
Endemic warfare
Endemic warfare is the state of continual, low-threshold warfare in a tribal warrior society. Endemic warfare is often highly ritualized and plays an important function in assisting the formation of a social structure among the tribes' men by proving themselves in battle.Ritual fighting permits...

 in the Maya region caused Tikal's supporting population to heavily concentrate close to the city itself, accelerating the use of intensive agriculture
Intensive farming
Intensive farming or intensive agriculture is an agricultural production system characterized by the high inputs of capital, labour, or heavy usage of technologies such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers relative to land area....

 and corresponding environmental decline
Environmental degradation
Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife...

. Construction continued at the beginning of the century, with the erection of Temple 3, the last of the city's major pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...

s and the erection of monuments to mark the 19th K'atun
Katun (Maya calendar)
A k'atun or k'atun-cycle is a unit of time in the Maya calendar equal to 20 tuns or 7,200 days, equivalent to 19.713 tropical years. It is the 2nd digit on the normal Maya long count date...

 in 810. The beginning of the 10th Bak'tun
Baktun
A baktun is 20 katun cycles of the ancient Maya Long Count Calendar. It contains 144,000 days, equivalent to 394.26 tropical years. The Classic period of Maya civilization occurred during the 8th and 9th baktuns of the current calendrical cycle. The current baktun will end, or be completed, on...

 in 830 passed uncelebrated, and marks the beginning of a 60 year hiatus, probably resulting from the collapse of central control in the city. During this hiatus, satellite sites traditionally under Tikal's control began to erect their own monuments featuring local rulers and using the Mutal emblem glyph, with Tikal apparently lacking the authority or the power to crush these bids for independence. In 849, Jewel K'awiil is mentioned on a stela at Seibal
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....

 as visiting that city as the Divine Lord of Tikal but he is not recorded elsewhere and Tikal's once great power was little more than a memory. The sites of Ixlu
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...

 and Jimbal had by now inherited the once exclusive Mutal emblem glyph.

As Tikal and its hinterland reached peak population, the area suffered deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....

, erosion and nutrient loss followed by a rapid decline in population levels
Population decline
Population decline can refer to the decline in population of any organism, but this article refers to population decline in humans. It is a term usually used to describe any great reduction in a human population...

. Tikal and its immediate surroundings seem to have lost the majority of its population during the period from 830 to 950 and central authority seems to have collapsed rapidly. There is not much evidence from Tikal that the city was directly affected by the endemic warfare that afflicted parts of the Maya region during the Terminal Classic, although an influx of refugees from the Petexbatún
Petexbatún
Petexbatún is a small lake formed by a river of the same name, which is a tributary of the La Pasion river. It is near Sayaxché, located in the southern area of the Guatemalan department of Petén....

 region may have exacerbated problems resulting from the already stretched environmental resources.
In the latter half of the 9th century there was an attempt to revive royal power at the much diminished city of Tikal, as evidenced by a stela erected in the Great Plaza by Jasaw Chan K'awiil II in 869. This was the last monument erected at Tikal before the city finally fell into silence. The former satellites of Tikal, such as Jimbal and Uaxactun, did not last much longer, erecting their final monuments in 889. By the end of the 9th century the vast majority of Tikal's population had deserted the city, its royal palaces were occupied by squatters
Squatting
Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....

 and simple thatched
Thatching
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge , rushes, or heather, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates...

 dwellings were being erected in the city's ceremonial plazas. The squatters blocked some doorways in the rooms they reoccupied in the monumental structures of the site and left rubbish that included a mixture of domestic refuse and non-utilitarian items such as musical instruments. These inhabitants reused the earlier monuments for their own ritual activities far removed from those of the royal dynasty
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...

 that had erected them. Some monuments were vandalised and some were moved to new locations. Before its final abandonment all respect for the old rulers had disappeared, with the tombs of the North Acropolis being explored for jade
Jade use in Mesoamerica
Jade use in Mesoamerica was largely influenced by the conceptualization of the material as a rare and valued commodity among pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Olmec, the Maya, and the various groups in the Valley of Mexico. The only source from which the indigenous cultures could...

 and the easier to find tombs being looted. After 950, Tikal was all but deserted, although a remnant population may have survived in perishable huts interspersed among the ruins. Even these final inhabitants abandoned the city in the 10th or 11th centuries and the rainforest claimed the ruins for the next thousand years. Some of Tikal's population may have migrated to the Peten Lakes region, which remained heavily populated in spite of a plunge in population levels in the first half of the 9th century.

The most likely cause of collapse at Tikal is overpopulation
Overpopulation
Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth...

 and agrarian failure. The fall of Tikal was a blow to the heart of Classic Maya civilization
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...

, the city having been at the forefront of courtly life, art
Maya art
Maya art, here taken to mean the visual arts, is the artistic style typical of the Maya civilization, that took shape in the course the Preclassic period , and grew greater during the Classic period Maya art, here taken to mean the visual arts, is the artistic style typical of the Maya...

 and architecture for over a thousand years, with an ancient ruling dynasty.

Modern history

In 1525, the Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

 conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...

 Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...

 passed within a few kilometres of the ruins of Tikal but did not mention them in his letters.

As is often the case with huge ancient ruins, knowledge of the site was never completely lost in the region. It seems that local people never forgot about Tikal and they guided Guatemalan expeditions to the ruins in the 1850s. Some second- or third-hand accounts of Tikal appeared in print starting in the 17th century, continuing through the writings of John Lloyd Stephens
John Lloyd Stephens
John Lloyd Stephens was an American explorer, writer, and diplomat. Stephens was a pivotal figure in the rediscovery of Maya civilization throughout Middle America and in the planning of the Panama railroad....

 in the early 19th century (Stephens and his illustrator Frederick Catherwood
Frederick Catherwood
Frederick Catherwood 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...

 heard rumours of a lost city, with white building tops towering above the jungle, during their 1839-40 travels in the region). Because of the site's remoteness from modern towns, however, no explorers visited Tikal until Modesto Méndez and Ambrosio Tut, respectively the commissioner and the governor of Petén, visited it in 1848. Artist Eusebio Lara accompanied them and their account was published in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in 1853. Several other expeditions came to further investigate, map, and photograph Tikal in the 19th century (including Alfred P. Maudslay in 1881-82) and the early 20th century. Pioneering archaeologists started to clear, map and record the ruins in the 1880s.

In 1951, a small airstrip was built at the ruins, which previously could only be reached by several days’ travel through the jungle on foot or mule
Mule
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...

. In 1956 the Tikal project began to map the city on a scale not previously seen in the Maya area. From 1956 through 1970, major archaeological excavations were carried out by the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 Tikal Project. They mapped much of the site and excavated and restored many of the structures. Excavations directed by Edwin M. Shook
Edwin M. Shook
Edward M. Shook was an American archaeologist and Mayanist scholar, best known for his extensive field work and publications on pre-Columbian Maya civilization sites.Ed Shook was born in Newton, North Carolina...

 and later by William Coe
William R. Coe (archaeologist)
William Robertson Coe II was an American academic, archaeologist and Mayanist scholar, renowned for his extensive field work and publications on pre-Columbian Maya civilization sites...

 of the University investigated the North Acropolis and the Central Plaza from 1957 to 1969. The Tikal Project recorded over 200 monuments at the site. In 1979, the Guatemalan government began a further archeological project at Tikal, which continued through to 1984.

Filmmaker George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...

 used Tikal as a setting in his first Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

 movie, Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...

, released in 1977. Temple I at Tikal was featured on the reverse of the 50 centavo banknote
Guatemalan quetzal
The quetzal is the currency of Guatemala. It is named after the national bird of Guatemala, the Resplendent Quetzal. In ancient Mayan culture, the quetzal bird's tail feathers were used as currency. It is divided into 100 cents, called centavos in standard Spanish or lenes in Guatemalan slang...

.

Tikal is now a major tourist attraction surrounded by its own national park. A site museum has been built at Tikal; it was completed in 1964.

The site

Tikal has been partially restored by the University of Pennsylvania and the government of Guatemala
Politics of Guatemala
Politics of Guatemala takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Guatemala is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both...

. It was one of the largest of the Classic period Maya cities and was one of the largest cities in the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

. The architecture
Maya architecture
A unique and spectacular style, Maya architecture spans several thousands of years. Often the most dramatic and easily recognizable as Maya are the stepped pyramids from the Terminal Pre-classic period and beyond. Being based on the general Mesoamerican architectural traditions these pyramids...

 of the ancient city is built from limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 and includes the remains of temples that tower over 70 metres (229.7 ft) high, large royal palace
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...

s, in addition to a number of smaller pyramids
Mesoamerican pyramids
Mesoamerican pyramids, pyramid-shaped structures, are an important part of ancient Mesoamerican architecture. These structures were usually step pyramids with temples on top – more akin to the ziggurats of Mesopotamia than to the pyramids of Ancient Egypt...

, palaces, residences, administrative buildings, platforms and inscribed stone monuments. There is even a building which seemed to have been a jail
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

, originally with wooden bars across the windows and doors. There are also seven courts for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame
Mesoamerican ballgame
The Mesoamerican ballgame or Tlatchtli in Náhuatl was a sport with ritual associations played since 1,000 B.C. by the pre-Columbian peoples of Ancient Mexico and Central America...

, including a set of 3 in the Seven Temples Plaza, a unique feature in Mesoamerica.

The limestone used for construction was local and quarried on-site. The depressions formed by the extraction of stone for building were plastered to waterproof them and were used as reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...

s, together with some waterproofed natural depressions. The main plazas were surfaced with stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...

 and laid at a gradient that channelled rainfall into a system of canals
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....

 that fed the reservoirs.

The residential area of Tikal covers an estimated 60 square kilometres (23.2 sq mi), much of which has not yet been cleared, mapped, or excavated. A huge set of earthworks
Earthworks (engineering)
Earthworks are engineering works created through the moving or processing of quantities of soil or unformed rock.- Civil engineering use :Typical earthworks include roads, railway beds, causeways, dams, levees, canals, and berms...

 has been discovered ringing Tikal with a 6 metres (19.7 ft) wide trench
Trench
A trench is a type of excavation or depression in the ground. Trenches are generally defined by being deeper than they are wide , and by being narrow compared to their length ....

 behind a rampart
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...

 by Dennis E. Puleston
Dennis E. Puleston
Dennis E. Puleston Ph.D was an American archaeologist and ecologist. Dr. Puleston took archaeology, biology, and ecology and developed an approach to understanding human interactions with nature that is an example of interdisciplinarity more than thirty years after his passing...

 and Donald Callender in the 1960s. The 16 square kilometres (6.2 sq mi) area around the site core has been intensively mapped; it may have enclosed an area of some 125 square kilometres (48.3 sq mi) (see below). Population estimates place the demographic
Demography
Demography is the statistical study of human population. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic human population, that is, one that changes over time or space...

 size of the site between 10,000 and 90,000, and possibly 425,000 in the surrounding area. Recently, a project exploring the defensive earthworks has shown that the scale of the earthworks is highly variable and that in many places it is inconsequential as a defensive feature. In addition, some parts of the earthwork were integrated into a canal system. The earthwork of Tikal varies significantly in coverage from what was originally proposed and it is much more complex and multifaceted than originally thought.

Causeways

By the Late Classic, a network of sacbe
Sacbe
right|thumb|Sacbe at Dzibilchaltun in the Yucatánthumb|right|Arch at the end of the sacbé, Kabah, YucatánSacbe, plural Sacbeob, or "white ways" are raised paved roads built by the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica...

ob
(causeways) linked various parts of the city, running for several kilometres through its urban core. These linked the Great Plaza with Temple 4 (located about 750 metres (2,460.6 ft) to the west) and the Temple of the Inscriptions (about 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) to the southeast). These broad causeways were built of packed and plastered limestone and have been named after early explorers and archaeologists; the Maler
Teoberto Maler
Teoberto Maler or Teobert Maler was an explorer who devoted his energies to documenting the ruins of the Maya civilization....

, Maudslay
Alfred Maudslay
Alfred Percival Maudslay was a British colonial diplomat, explorer and archaeologist. He was one of the first Europeans to study Mayan ruins....

, Tozzer
Alfred Tozzer
Alfred Marston Tozzer was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, linguist, and educator. His principal area of interest was Mesoamerican, especially Maya, studies. He was the father of figure skating champion Joan Tozzer....

 and Méndez causeways. They assisted the passage everyday traffic during the rain season
Wet season
The the wet season, or rainy season, is the time of year, covering one or more months, when most of the average annual rainfall in a region occurs. The term green season is also sometimes used as a euphemism by tourist authorities. Areas with wet seasons are dispersed across portions of the...

 and also served as dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

s.

The Maler Causeway runs north from behind Temple I to Group H. A large bas-relief is carved onto limestone bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...

 upon the course of the causeway just south of Group H. It depicts two bound captives and dates to the Late Classic.

The Maudsley Causeway runs 0.8 kilometre (0.497098189319845 mi) northeast from Temple IV to Group H.

The Mendez Causeway runs southeast from the East Plaza to Temple VI, a distance of about 1.3 kilometre (0.807784557644749 mi).

The Tozzer Causeway runs west from the Great Plaza to Temple IV.

Architectural groups

The Great Plaza lies at the core of the site; it is flanked on the east and west sides by two great temple-pyramids. On the north side it is bordered by the North Acropolis
Acropolis
Acropolis means "high city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity and is usually translated into English as Citadel . For purposes of defense, early people naturally chose elevated ground to build a new settlement, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...

 and on the south by the Central Acropolis.

The Central Acropolis is a palace complex just south of the Great Plaza.

The North Acropolis, together with the Great Plaza immediately to the south, is one of the most studied architectural groups in the Maya area; the Tikal Project excavated a massive trench across the complex, thoroughly investigating its construction history. It is a complex group with construction beginning in the Preclassic Period, around 350 BC. It developed into a funerary complex for the ruling dynasty of the Classic Period, with each additional royal burial adding new temples on top of the older structures. After AD 400 a row of tall pyramids was added to the earlier Northern Platform, which measured 100 by, gradually hiding it from view. Eight temple pyramids were built in the 6th century AD, each of them had an elaborate roofcomb
Roof comb
Roof comb is the structure that tops a pyramid in monumental Mesoamerican architecture. Examination of the decorations and iconography of Maya civilization roof-combs indicates that each icon had specific sacred meanings.-External links:...

 and a stairway flanked by masks of the gods. By the 9th century AD, 43 stelae and 30 altars had been erected in the North Acropolis; 18 of these monuments were carved with hieroglyphic texts
Maya script
The Maya script, also known as Maya glyphs or Maya hieroglyphs, is the writing system of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica, presently the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered...

 and royal portraits. The North Acropolis continued to receive burials into the Postclassic Period.
The South Acropolis is found next to Temple V. It was built upon a large basal platform that covers an area of more than 20000 square metres (215,278.2 sq ft).

The Plaza of the Seven Temples
Plaza of the Seven Temples
The Plaza of the Seven Temples is an architectural complex in the ruins of the Maya city of Tikal, in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala. It is to the south of Temple III and to the west of the South Acropolis; it is to the southwest of the Great Plaza...

is to the west of the South Acropolis. It is bordered on the east side by a row of nearly identical temples, by palaces on the south and west sides and by an unusual triple ballcourt
Mesoamerican ballcourt
A Mesoamerican ballcourt is a large masonry structure of a type used in Mesoamerica for over 2,700 years to play the Mesoamerican ballgame, particularly the hip-ball version of the ballgame. Over 1,300 ballcourts have been identified, 60% in the last 20 years alone...

 on the north side.

Group G lies just south of the Mendez Causeway. The complex dates to the Late Classic and consists of palace-type structures and is one of the largest groups of its type at Tikal. It has two stories but most of the rooms are on the lower floor, a total of 29 vaulted
Vault (architecture)
A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...

 chambers. The remains of two further chambers belong to the upper storey. One of the entrances to the group was framed by a gigantic mask.

Group H is centred on a large plaza to the north of the Great Plaza. It is bordered by temples dating to the Late Classic.
There are nine Twin-Pyramid Complexes at Tikal, one of which was completely dismantled in ancient times and some others were partly destroyed. They vary in size but consist of two pyramids facing each other on an east-west axis. These pyramids are flat-topped and have stairways on all four sides. A row of plain stelae is placed immediately to the west of the eastern pyramid and to the north of the pyramids, and lying roughly equidistant from them, there is usually a sculpted stela and altar pair. On the south side of these complexes there is a long vaulted building containing a single room with nine doorways. The entire complex was built at once and these complexes were built at 20 year (or k'atun) intervals during the Late Classic. The first Twin Pyramid Complex was built in the early 6th century in the East Plaza. It was once thought that these complexes were unique to Tikal but rare examples have now been found at other sites, such as Yaxha
Yaxha
Yaxha 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 southeast from Tikal, between the...

 and Ixlu
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...

, and they may reflect the extent of Tikal's political dominance in the Late Classic.

Group Q is a twin-pyramid complex, and is one of the largest at Tikal. It was built by Yax Nuun Ayiin II in 771 in order to mark the end of the 17th K'atun. Most of it has been restored and its monuments have been re-erected.

Group R is another twin-pyramid complex, dated to 790. It is close to the Maler Causeway.

Structures

There are thousands of ancient structures at Tikal and only a fraction of these have been excavated, after decades of archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

 work. The most prominent surviving buildings include six very large pyramids, labelled Temples I - VI, each of which support a temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...

 structure on their summits. Some of these pyramids are over 60 metres high (200 feet). They were numbered sequentially during the early survey of the site. It is estimated that each of these major temples could have been built in as little as two years.

The pyramids at Tikal are turned to face one another, and the rooms which are built at the top of the pyramid have depressions in the stone walls that serve as amplifiers of the voice broadcast in all directions. At the top of the pyramid the Ahau acquired god-like qualities. Here, Mayan architectural design is fully realized. Due to the stone resonators, the voice of a person at the top of one pyramid, speaking at a normal volume, can be heard by another person standing at the top of another pyramid some astonishing distance away.

The majority of pyramids currently visible at Tikal were built during Tikal’s resurgence following the Tikal Hiatus (i.e., from the late 7th to the early 9th century). It should be noted, however, that the majority of these structures contain sub-structures that were initially built prior to the hiatus.

Temple I
Tikal Temple I
Tikal Temple I is the designation given to one of the major structures at Tikal, one of the largest cities and archaeological sites of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in Mesoamerica. It is located in the Petén Basin region of northern Guatemala...

(also known as the Temple of Ah Cacao or Temple of the Great Jaguar) is a funerary pyramid dedicated to Jasaw Chan K'awil, who was entombed in the structure in AD 734, the pyramid was completed around 740–750. The temple rises 47 metres (154.2 ft) high. The massive roofcomb that topped the temple was originally decorated with a giant sculpture of the enthroned king, although little of this decoration survives. The tomb of the king was discovered by Aubrey Trik of the University of Pennsylvania in 1962. Among items recovered from the Late Classic tomb were a large collection of inscribed human and animal bone tubes and strips with sophisticated scenes depicting deities and people, finely carved and rubbed with vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion is an opaque orangish red pigment, similar to scarlet. As a naturally occurring mineral pigment, it is known as cinnabar, and was in use around the world before the Common Era began. Most naturally produced vermilion comes from cinnabar mined in China, and vermilion is nowadays commonly...

, as well as jade and shell ornaments and ceramic vessels filled with offerings of food and drink. The shrine at the summit of the pyramid has three chambers, each behind the next, with the doorways spanned by wooden lintels fashioned from multiple beams. The outermost lintel is plain but the two inner lintels were carved, some of the beams were removed in the 19th century and their location is unknown, while others were taken to museums in Europe.
Temple II
Tikal Temple II
Tikal Temple II is a Mesoamerican pyramid at the Maya archaeological site of Tikal in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala. The temple was built in the Late Classic Period in a style reminiscent of the Early Classic...

(also known as the Temple of the Mask) in was built around AD 700 and stands 38 metres (124.7 ft) high. Like other major temples at Tikal, the summit shrine had three consecutive chambers with the doorways spanned by wooden lintels, only the middle of which was carved. The temple was dedicated to the wife of Jasaw Chan K'awil, although no tomb was found. The queen's portrait was carved into the lintel spanning the doorway of the summit shrine. One of the beams from this lintel is now in the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...

 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

.

Temple III
Tikal Temple III
Tikal Temple III, also known as the Temple of the Jaguar Priest, was one of the principal temple pyramids at the ancient Maya city of Tikal, in the Petén Department of modern Guatemala. The temple stands approximately tall. The summit shrine of Temple III differs from those of the other major...

(also known as the Temple of the Jaguar Priest) was the last of the great pyramids to be built at Tikal. It stood 55 metres (180.4 ft) tall and contained an elaborately sculpted but damaged roof lintel, possibly showing Dark Sun engaged in a ritual dance around AD 810. The temple shrine possesses two chambers.

Temple IV
Tikal Temple IV
Tikal Temple IV is a Mesoamerican pyramid in the ruins of the ancient Maya city of Tikal in modern Guatemala. It was one of the tallest and most voluminous buildings in the Maya world. The pyramid was built around 741 AD. Temple IV is located at the western edge of the site core...

is the tallest temple-pyramid at Tikal, measuring 70 metres (229.7 ft) from the plaza floor level to the top of its roof comb. Temple IV marks the reign of Yik’in Chan Kawil (Ruler B, the son of Ruler A or Jasaw Chan K'awiil I) and two carved wooden lintels over the doorway that leads into the temple on the pyramid’s summit record a long count date (9.15.10.0.0) that corresponds to CE 741 (Sharer 1994:169). Temple IV is the largest pyramid built anywhere in the Maya region in the 8th century, and as it currently stands is the tallest pre-Columbian structure in the Americas although the Pyramid of the Sun
Pyramid of the Sun
The Pyramid of the Sun is the largest building in Teotihuacan and one of the largest in Mesoamerica. Found along the Avenue of the Dead, in between the Pyramid of the Moon and the Ciudadela, and in the shadow of the massive mountain Cerro Gordo, the pyramid is part of a large complex in the heart...

 at Teotihuacan may originally have been taller, as may have been one of the structures at El Mirador.

Temple V
Tikal Temple V
Tikal Temple V is the name given by archaeologists to one of the major pyramids at Tikal. Tikal is one of the most important archaeological sites of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization and is located in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala....

stands south of the Central Acropolis and is the mortuary pyramid of an as yet unidentified ruler. The temple stands 57 metres (187 ft) high, making it the second tallest structure at Tikal - only Temple IV is taller. The temple has been dated to about AD 700, in the Late Classic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...

 period, via radiocarbon analysis
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...

 and the dating of ceramics associated with the structure places its construction during the reign of Nun Bak Chak in the second half of the 7th century.

Temple VI is also known as the Temple of the Inscriptions and was dedicated in AD 766. It is notable for its 12 metres (39.4 ft) high roof-comb. Panels of hieroglyphs cover the back and sides of the roof-comb. The temple faces onto a plaza to the west and its front is unrestored.

Temple 33 is a funerary pyramid erected over the tomb of Siyaj Chan K'awiil I (known as Burial 48) in the North Acropolis. It started life in the Early Classic as a wide basal platform decorated with large stucco masks that flanked the stairway. Later in the Early Classic a new superstructure was added, with its own masks and decorated panels. During the Hiatus a third stage was built over the earlier constructions, the stairway was demolished and another royal burial, of an unidentified ruler, was set into the structure (Burial 23). While the new pyramid was being built another high ranking tomb (Burial 24) was inserted into the rubble core of the building. The pyramid was then completed, standing 33 metres (108.3 ft) tall.

Structure 34 is a pyramid in the North Acropolis that was built by Siyaj Chan K'awiil II over the tomb of his father, Yax Nuun Ayiin I. The pyramid was topped by a three chambered shrine, the rooms situated one behind the other.
Structure 5D-43 is an unusual radial temple in the East Plaza, built over a pre-exiting twin pyramid complex. It is built into the end of the East Plaza Ballcourt and possessed four entry doorways and three stairways, the fourth (south) side was too close to the Central Acropolis for a stairway on that side. The building has a talud-tablero
Talud-tablero
Talud-tablero is an architectural style. It consists of a platform structure, or the tablero, on top of an inward-sloping surface or panel, the talud. It may also be referred to as the slope-and-panel style.-Cultural significance:...

platform profile, modified from the original style found at Teotihuacan. In fact, it has been suggested that the style of the building has closer affinities with El Tajin
El Tajín
El Tajín is a pre-Columbian archeological site and was the site of one of the largest and most important cities of the Classic era of Mesoamerica. The city flourished from 600 to 1200 C.E. and during this time numerous temples, palaces, Mesoamerican ballcourts and pyramids were built...

 and Xochicalco
Xochicalco
Xochicalco is a pre-Columbian archaeological site in the Municipality of Miacatlán in the western part of the Mexican state of Morelos. The name Xochicalco may be translated from Nahuatl as "in the house of Flowers". The site is located 38 km southwest of Cuernavaca, about 76 miles by road...

 than with Teotihuacan itself. The vertical tablero panels are set between sloping talud panels and are decorated with paired disc symbols. Large flower symbols are set into the sloping talud panels, related to the Venus and star symbols used at Teotihuacan. The roof of the structure was decorated with frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...

s although only fragments now remain, showing a monstrous face, perhaps that of a jaguar, with another head emerging from the mouth. The second head possesses a bifurcated tongue but is probably not that of a snake. The temple, and its associated ballcourt, probably date to the reign of Nuun Ujol Chaak or that of his son Jasaw Chan K'awiil I, in the later part of the 7th century.

Structure 5C-49 possesses a clear Teotihuacan-linked architectural style; it has balustrades, an architectural feature that is very rare in the Maya region, and a talud-tablero
Talud-tablero
Talud-tablero is an architectural style. It consists of a platform structure, or the tablero, on top of an inward-sloping surface or panel, the talud. It may also be referred to as the slope-and-panel style.-Cultural significance:...

facade; it dates to the 4th century AD. It is located near to the Lost World pyramid.

Structure 5C-53 is a small Teotihuacan-style platform that dates to about AD 600. It had stairways on all four sides and did not possess a superstructure.
The Lost World Pyramid (Structure 5C-54) lies in the southwest portion of Tikal’s central core, south of Temple III and west of Temple V. It was decorated with stucco masks of the sun god and dates to the Late Preclassic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...

; this pyramid is part of an enclosed complex of structures that remained intact and un-impacted by later building activity at Tikal. By the end of the Late Preclassic this pyramid was one of the largest structures in the Maya region. It attained its final form during the reign of Chak Tok Ich'aak in the 4th century AD, in the Early Classic, standing more than 30 metres (98.4 ft) high with stairways on all four sides and a flat top that possibly supported a superstructure built from perishable materials. Although the plaza later suffered significant alteration, the organization of a group of temples on the east side of this complex adheres to the layout that defines the so-called E-Group
E-Group
E-Groups are unique architectural complexes found among a number of ancient Maya settlements. They are central components to the settlement organization of Maya sites and could have served as astronomical observatories. The alignment of these structural complexes corresponds to the sun's...

s, identified as solar observatories.

Structure 5D-96 is the central temple on the east side of the Plaza of the Seven Temples. It has been restored and its rear outer wall is decorated with skull-and-crossbones motifs.

Group 6C-16 is an elite residential complex that has been thoroughly excavated. It lies a few hundred metres south of the Lost World Complex and the excavations have revealed elaborate stucco masks, ballplayer murals, relief sculptures and buildings with Teotihuacan characteristics.

The Great Plaza Ballcourt is a small ballcourt that lies between Temple I and the Central Acropolis.

The Bat Palace is also known as the Palace of Windows and lies to the west of Temple III. It has two storeys, with a double range of chambers on the lower storey and a single range in the upper storey, which has been restored. The palace has ancient graffiti and possesses low windows.

Complex N lies to the west of the Bat Palace and Temple III. The complex dates to AD 711.

Altars

Altar 5 is carved with two nobles, one of whom is probably Jasaw Chan K'awiil I. They are performing a ritual using the bones of an important woman. Altar 5 was found in Complex N, which lies to the west of Temple III.

Altar 8 is sculpted with a bound captive. It was found within Complex P in Group H and is now in the Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología
Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología
The Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología is a national museum of Guatemala, dedicated to the conservation of archaeological and ethnological artefacts and research into Guatemala's history and cultural heritage. The museum is located the capital Guatemala City, at Finca La Aurora...

 in Guatemala City
Guatemala City
Guatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...

.

Altar 9 is associated with Stela 21 and bears the sculpture of a bound captive. It is located in front of Temple VI.

Altar 10 is carved with a captive tied to a scaffold. It is in the northern enclosure of Group Q, a twin-pyramid complex and has suffered from erosion.

Altar 35 is a plain monument associated with Stela 43. The stela-altar pair is centrally located at the base of the stairway of Temple IV.

Lintels

At Tikal, beams of sapodilla
Sapodilla
Manilkara zapota, commonly known as the sapodilla, is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. An example natural occurrence is in coastal Yucatan in the Petenes mangroves ecoregion, where it is a subdominant plant species...

 wood were placed as lintels spanning the inner doorways of temples. These are the most elaborately carved wooden lintels to have survived anywhere in the Maya region.

Lintel 3 from Temple IV was taken to Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...

 in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 in the 19th century. It was in almost perfect condition and depicts Yik'in Chan K'awiil seated on a palanquin.

Stelae

Stelae
Maya stelae
Maya stelae are monuments that were fashioned by the Maya civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. They consist of tall sculpted stone shafts and are often associated with low circular stones referred to as altars, although their actual function is uncertain. Many stelae were sculpted in low relief,...

 are carved stone shafts, often sculpted with figures and hieroglyphs. A selection of the most notable stelae at Tikal follows:

Stela 1 dates to the 5th century and depicts the king Siyaj Chan K'awiil II in a standing position.

Stela 4 is dated to AD 396, during the reign of Yax Nuun Ayiin after the intrusion of Teotihuacan in the Maya area. The stela displays a mix of Maya and Teotihuacan qualities, and deities from both cultures. It has a portrait of the king with the Underworld Jaguar God under one arm and the Mexican Tlaloc under the other. His helmet is a simplified version of the Teotihuacan War Serpent. Unusually for Maya sculpture, but typically for Teotihuacan, Yax Nuun Ayiin is depicted with a frontal face, rather than in profile.
Stela 5 was dedicated in 744 by Yik'in Chan K'awiil.

Stela 6 is a badly damaged monument dating to 514 and bears the name of the "Lady of Tikal" who celebrated the end of the 4th K'atun in that year.

Stela 10 is twinned with Stela 12 but is badly damaged. It described the accession of Kaloomte' B'alam in the early 6th century and earlier events in his career, including the capture of a prisoner depicted on the monument.

Stela 11 was the last monument ever erected at Tikal; it was dedicated in 869 by Jasaw Chan K'awiil II.

Stela 12 is linked to the queen known as the "Lady of Tikal" and king Kaloomte' B'alam. The queen is described as performing the year-ending rituals but the monument was dedicated in honour of the king.

Stela 16 was dedicated in 711, during the reign of Jasaw Chan K'awiil I. The sculpture, including a portrait of the king and a hieroglyphic text, are limited to the front face of the monument. It was found in Complex N, west of Temple III.

Stela 19 was dedicated in 790 by Yax Nuun Ayiin II.

Stela 20 was found in Complex P, in Group H, and was moved to the Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología in Guatemala City.

Stela 21 was dedicated in 736 by Yik'in Chan K'awiil. Only the bottom of the stela is intact, the rest having been mutilated in ancient times. The surviving sculpture is of fine quality, consisting of the feet of a figure and of accompanying hieroglyphic text. The stela is associated with Altar 9 and is located in front of Temple VI.

Stela 22 was dedicated in 771 by Yax Nuun Ayiin II in the northern enclosure of Group Q, a twin-pyramid complex. The face of the figure on the stela has been mutilated.

Stela 23 was broken in antiquity and was re-erected in a residential complex. The defaced portrait on the monument is that of the so-called "Lady of Tikal", a daughter of Chak Tok Ich'aak II who became queen at the age of six but never ruled in her own right, being paired with male co-rulers. It dates to the early 6th century.

Stela 24 was erected at the foot of Temple 3 in 810, accompanied by Altar 7. Both were broken into fragments in ancient times, although the name of Dark Sun survives on three fragments.

Stela 29 bears a Long Count (8.12.14.8.15) date equivalent to AD 292, the earliest surviving Long Count date from the Maya lowlands. The stela is also the earliest monument to bear the Tikal emblem glyph. It bears a sculpture of the king facing to the right, holding the head of an underworld jaguar god, one of the patron deities of the city. The stela was deliberately smashed during the 6th century or some time later, the upper portion was dragged away and dumped in a rubbish tip close to Temple III, to be uncovered by archaeologists in 1959.

Stela 30 is the first surviving monument to be erected after the Hiatus. Its style and iconography is similar to that of Caracol, one of the more important of Tikal's enemies.

Stela 31 is the accession monument of Siyaj Chan K'awiil II, also bearing two portraits of his father, Yax Nuun Ayiin, as a youth dressed as a Teotihuacan warrior. He carries a spearthrower in one hand and bears a shield decorated with the face of Tlaloc
Tlaloc
Tlaloc was an important deity in Aztec religion, a god of rain, fertility, and water. He was a beneficent god who gave life and sustenance, but he was also feared for his ability to send hail, thunder and lightning, and for being the lord of the powerful element of water. In Aztec iconography he...

, the Teotihuacan war god. In ancient times the sculpture was broken and the upper portion was moved to the summit of Temple 33 and ritually buried. Stela 31 has been described as the greatest Early Classic sculpture to survive at Tikal. A long hieroglyphic text is carved onto the back of the monument, the longest to survive from the Early Classic, which describes the arrival of Siyah K'ak' at El Peru and Tikal in January 378. It was also the first stela as Tikal to be carved on all four faces.

Stela 32 is a fragmented monument with a foreign Teotihuacan-style sculpture apparently depicting the lord of that city with the attributes of the central Mexican storm god Tlaloc, including his goggle eyes and tasselled headdress.

Stela 39 is a broken monument that was erected in the Lost World complex. The upper portion of the stela is missing but the lower portion shows the lower body and legs of Chak Tok Ich'aak, holding a flint axe in his left hand. He is trampling the figure of a bound, richly dressed captive. The monument is dated to AD 376. The text on the back of the monument describes a bloodletting ritual to celebrate a Katun
Katun (Maya calendar)
A k'atun or k'atun-cycle is a unit of time in the Maya calendar equal to 20 tuns or 7,200 days, equivalent to 19.713 tropical years. It is the 2nd digit on the normal Maya long count date...

-ending. The stela also names Chak Tok Ich'aak I's father as K'inich Muwaan Jol.

Stela 40 bears a portrait of Kan Chitam and dates to AD 468.

Stela 43 is paired with Altar 35. It is a plain monument at the base of the stairway of Temple IV.

Burials

Burial 1 is a tomb in the Lost World complex. A fine ceramic bowl was recovered from the tomb, with the handle formed from three-dimensional head and neck of a bird emerging from the two-dimensional body painted on the lid.

Burial 10 is the tomb of Yax Nuun Ayiin. It is located beneath Structure 34 in the North Acropolis. The tomb contained a rich array of offerings, including ceramic vessels and food, and nine youths were sacrificed to accompany the dead king. A dog
Dogs in Mesoamerica
Various sorts of dogs are known to have existed in pre-Spanish Mesoamerica, as shown by archaeological and iconographical sources, and the testimonies of the 16th-century Spaniards. In the Central Mexican area, there were three races: the medium-sized furred dog , the medium-sized hairless dog ,...

 was also entombed with the deceased king. Pots in the tomb were stuccoed and painted and many demonstrated a blend of Maya and Teotihuacan styles. Among the offerings was an incense-burner in the shape of an elderly underworld god, sitting on a stool made of human bones and holding a severed head in his hands. The tomb was sealed with a corbel vault, then the pyramid was built on top.

Burial 48 is generally accepted as the tomb of Siyaj Chan K'awil. It is located beneath Temple 33 in the North Acropolis. The chamber of the tomb was cut from the bedrock and contained the remains of the king himself together with those of two adolescents who had been sacrificed in order to accompany the deceased ruler. The walls of the tomb were covered with white stucco painted with hieroglyphs that included the Long Count date equivalent to 20 March 457, probably the date of either the death or interment of the king. The king's skeleton was missing its skull, its femur
Femur
The femur , or thigh bone, is the most proximal bone of the leg in tetrapod vertebrates capable of walking or jumping, such as most land mammals, birds, many reptiles such as lizards, and amphibians such as frogs. In vertebrates with four legs such as dogs and horses, the femur is found only in...

s and one of its hands while the skeletons of the sacrificial victims were intact.

Burial 85 dates to the Late Preclassic and was enclosed by a platform, with a primitive corbel vault. The tomb contained a single male skeleton, which lacked a skull and its thighbones. The dynastic founder of Tikal, Yax Ehb' Xook, has been linked to this tomb, which lies deep in the heart of the North Acropolis. The deceased had probably died in battle with his body being mutilated by his enemies before being recovered and interred by his followers. The bones were wrapped carefully in textiles to form an upright bundle. The missing head was replaced by a small greenstone
Greenstone (archaeology)
Greenstone is a common generic term for valuable, green-hued minerals and metamorphosed igneous rocks and stones, that were used in the fashioning of hardstone carvings such as jewelry, statuettes, ritual tools, and various other artefacts in early cultures...

 mask with shell-inlaid teeth and eyes and bearing a three-pointed royal headband. This head wears an emblem of rulership on its forehead and is a rare Preclassic lowland Maya portrait of a king. Among the contents of the tomb were a stingray
Stingray
The stingrays are a group of rays, which are cartilaginous fishes related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes, and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae , Plesiobatidae , Urolophidae , Urotrygonidae , Dasyatidae , Potamotrygonidae The...

 spine, a spondylus
Spondylus
Spondylus is a genus of bivalve molluscs, the only genus in the family Spondylidae. As well as being the systematic or scientific name, Spondylus is also the most often used common name for these animals, though they are also known as thorny oysters or spiny oysters.There are many species of...

 shell and twenty-six ceramic vessels.

Burial 116 is the tomb of Jasaw Chan K'awiil I. It is a large vaulted chamber deep within the pyramid, below the level of the Great Plaza. The tomb contained rich offerings of jadeite
Jadeite
Jadeite is a pyroxene mineral with composition NaAlSi2O6. It is monoclinic. It has a Mohs hardness of about 6.5 to 7.0 depending on the composition. The mineral is dense, with a specific gravity of about 3.4. Jadeite forms solid solutions with other pyroxene endmembers such as augite and diopside ,...

, ceramics, shell and works of art. The body of the king was covered with large quantities of jade ornaments including an enormous necklace with especially large beads, as depicted in sculpted portraits of the king. One of the outstanding pieces recovered from the tomb was an ornate jade mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...

 vessel with the lid bearing a sculpted portrait of the king himself.

Burial 195 was flooded with mud in antiquity. This flood had covered wooden objects that had completely rotted away by the time the tomb was excavated, leaving hollows in the dried mud. Archaeologists filled these hollows with stucco and thus excavated four effigies of the god K'awiil, the wooden originals long gone.

Burial 196 is a Late Classic royal tomb that contained a jade mosaic vessel topped with the head of the Maize God.

External links

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