“Tikal is located in the Petén district, Guatemala, on top of an escarpment (250 m asl) surrounded by swampy areas to the west and east, earthworks to the north and south ( Jones et al. 1981), and large tracts of fertile land (Fedick and Ford 1990).1 It is one of the best-known and largest Maya centers (Figure 6.1). Since it is not near lakes or rivers, its inhabitants relied on several complex reservoir systems to offset seasonal water shortages (Scarborough and Gallopin 1991), which are found next to temples and royal palaces. The central core (9 km2) consists of a densely built landscape of public and private monumental and nonmonumental architecture (ca. 235 structures/km2)… Tikal was ruled by a “holy” or “divine” king (k’ul ahaw), who implemented tribute demands. Tikal has inscriptions, its own emblem glyph, water symbolism, palaces, royal funerary temples, large ball courts, and tall temples facing large and open plazas (e.g., Temple IV is 65 m tall). Its monumental complexes are connected via sacbeob (causeways). The earliest inscribed stela in the southern Maya lowlands (Stela 29, ad 292) is found at Tikal, and it has one of the longest dynastic histories in the Maya area (last known inscribed date: ad 869).”
[1]
“No sight gives a better impression of the past glories of Maya civilisation than the towering ruins of Tikal. At its 8th-century peak a score of red-painted pyramids dominated the heart of a dispersed metropolis housing as many as 60,000 people. It claimed a dynastic succession of at leasr 33 rulers, spanning as long as 800 years… A survivor of the Preclassic collapse, Tikal became a crucible of the new lowland Classic tradition, with a dynasty in place as early as the 1st century AD. Towards the end of the 4th century it fell, like many other pans of Mesoamerica at the time, under the sway of the Mexican superpower Teotihuacan. If anything. the fused Mexican-Maya dynasty that resulted only consolidated Tikal’s leading position in the region. But an erosion of its strength in the 6th century led to its defeat and conquest and a resulting ’dark age’ of troubles lasting 130 years. Its fortunes were restored late in the 7th century and it resumed a key position in the Maya world until the general unravelling of Classic civilization 150 years later.”
[2]
“By the end of the 9th century Tikal had experienced a fate shared with its peers across the Maya realm. With all vestiges of royal power gone and deserted by the bulk of its population, its elite quarters were taken over by squatters and simple thatched homes sprang up on its ceremonial plazas. These late inhabitants pursued their own, often elaborate, ritual activities, moving and reusing earlier monuments for purposes quite estranged from those of the fallen nobility. By Tikal’s last days, any regard for the sanctity of the old order had long since dissolved and the North Acropolis was mined in search of its terms and their jade riches. The more accessible were discovered and ransacked. Finally abandoned in the 10th or 11th century, the forest completed its takeover of the city, choking it with root and vine for the next Millennium.”
[3]
[1]: (Lucero 2006: 162) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU
[2]: (Martin and Grube 2000: 25) Martin, Simon and Grube, Nikolai. 2000. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. London; New York: Thames & Hudson. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5WIIDVRJ
[3]: (Martin and Grube 2000: 53) Martin, Simon and Grube, Nikolai. 2000. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. London; New York: Thames & Hudson. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5WIIDVRJ
| Terminal Classic Tikal |
| Preceding: Early Postclassic Tikal (gt_tikal_early_postclassic) [None] |
| 60,000 people |
| 65 km2 |
| 60,000 people | 750 CE |
| present |
| present |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| Year Range | Late Classic Tikal (gt_tikal_late_classic) was in: |
|---|
“No sight gives a better impression of the past glories of Maya civilisation than the towering ruins of Tikal. At its 8th-century peak a score of red-painted pyramids dominated the heart of a dispersed metropolis housing as many as 60,000 people.” [1] “While Jasaw Chan K’awiil deserves the major credit for Tikal’s upturn, it was his son the 27th ruler, Yik’in Chan K’awiil (perhaps ‘K’awiil that Darkens the Sky’) [r. 734-746 CE], who brought its imperial ambitions to real fruition and turned the city into one outshining all its rivals.” [2]
[1]: (Martin and Grube 2000: 25) Martin, Simon and Nikolai Grube. 2000. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. London; New York: Thames & Hudson. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5WIIDVRJ
[2]: (Martin and Grube 2000: 48) Martin, Simon and Nikolai Grube. 2000. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. London; New York: Thames & Hudson. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5WIIDVRJ
Inhabitants. “No sight gives a better impression of the past glories of Maya civilisation than the towering ruins of Tikal. At its 8th-century peak a score of red-painted pyramids dominated the heart of a dispersed metropolis housing as many as 60,000 people.” [1]
[1]: (Martin and Grube 2000: 25) Martin, Simon and Grube, Nikolai. 2000. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. London; New York: Thames & Hudson. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5WIIDVRJ
“Tikal was in a unique position to take advantage of the overland part of the traders’ journey. The city sat squarely on its ridge in the middle of one of the few passable overland routes between the east-flowing and west-flowing rivers. All goods being carried between the river systems had to pass through the city, and Tikal charged dearly for that privilege. That was the source of the city’s wealth and power.” [1] “Hasaw led Tikal to greatness that was unheard of even during the years of Stormy Sky. Giant trade canoes traveled the rivers, and the marketplace was again crowded and busy.” [2] “Although they built many ceremonial structures, the two ahaus didn’t neglect the daily business of the city. Yik’in constructed a large, permanent marketplace east of the Great Plaza. He and Yax Ain II widened the raised causeways that led to it, paving them with plaster and building walls on both sides. The magnificent sweeping causeways provided visiting traders with a memorable entrance into Tikal. And, since the only entrance was through narrow, easily guarded gates, the causeways gave Tikal’s rulers control over everything that came into the market.” [3]
[1]: (Mann 2002: 9) Mann, Elizabeth. 2002. Tikal: The Centre of the Mayan World. New York: Mikaya Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VM7Q67Q8
[2]: (Mann 2002: 25) Mann, Elizabeth. 2002. Tikal: The Centre of the Mayan World. New York: Mikaya Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VM7Q67Q8
[3]: (Mann 2002: 34) Mann, Elizabeth. 2002. Tikal: The Centre of the Mayan World. New York: Mikaya Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VM7Q67Q8
“Tikal is located in the Petén district, Guatemala, on top of an escarpment (250 m asl) surrounded by swampy areas to the west and east, earthworks to the north and south ( Jones et al. 1981), and large tracts of fertile land (Fedick and Ford 1990).1 It is one of the best-known and largest Maya centers (Figure 6.1). Since it is not near lakes or rivers, its inhabitants relied on several complex reservoir systems to offset seasonal water shortages (Scarborough and Gallopin 1991), which are found next to temples and royal palaces.” [1]
[1]: (Lucero 2006: 162) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU
“Something then had to bring farmers and other subsistence producers to centers and get them to pay taxes, so to speak. It was not stored food, since centralized or largescale storage facilities are unknown in the southern Maya lowlands (Lucero n.d.a).” [1]
[1]: (Lucero 2006: 35) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU
“Tikal is located in the Petén district, Guatemala, on top of an escarpment (250 m asl) surrounded by swampy areas to the west and east, earthworks to the north and south ( Jones et al. 1981), and large tracts of fertile land (Fedick and Ford 1990).1 It is one of the best-known and largest Maya centers (Figure 6.1). Since it is not near lakes or rivers, its inhabitants relied on several complex reservoir systems to offset seasonal water shortages (Scarborough and Gallopin 1991), which are found next to temples and royal palaces.” [1] “The shortage of drinking water may have been exacerbated because stored water goes foul quickly in the tropics. The large centers of the central southern lowlands, such as Tikal and Calakmul, coped with this problem by creating substantial systems of water reservoirs although it must be pointed out that Tikal’s rural or outlying population maintained many agnadas that were probably not under centralized control…During the Classic period, the focus of water storage shifted to "convex microwatersheds," with reservoirs built around the central precincts of centers that usually occupied hill tops…” [2]
[1]: (Lucero 2006: 162) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU
[2]: (Houston and Inomata 2009: 245) Houston, Stephen D. and Inomata, Takeshi. 2009. The Classic Maya, Cambridge World Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/ZXA5U53G
“Tikal has inscriptions, its own emblem glyph, water symbolism, palaces, royal funerary temples, large ball courts, and tall temples facing large and open plazas (e.g., Temple IV is 65 m tall). Its monumental complexes are connected via sacbeob (causeways).” [1]
[1]: (Lucero 2006: 162) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU
“Ballcourts occur at most large Maya centers. Many of them consisted of parallel structures with sloping sides facing inwards, but those at Uxmal and Chichen Itza had vertical walls. All were important foci of public and elite ceremonies. Some of them had round, carved ballcourt markers in the playing alley. Differences in the sizes and forms of ballcourts point to diversity and flexibility in the game, with size reaching its maximum in the ballcourt of Chichen Itza, measuring 166 by 68 metres.” [1]
[1]: (Houston and Inomata 2009: 116) Houston, Stephen D. and Inomata, Takeshi. 2009. The Classic Maya, Cambridge World Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/ZXA5U53G
“Maya agriculture was rainfall-dependent, and farmers used various water or agricultural systems including aguadas, artificial reservoirs, raised fields, dams, canals, and terraces (Dunning et al. 1997).” [1] “Peter Harrison (1993) correlates reservoir building with the accelerated construction of monumental architecture in Tikal’s core, especially beginning in the Early Classic. Quarrying of reservoirs provided building materials for monumental construction projects, including limestone fill, wall facing, and plaster (Scarborough 1993). At Calakmul, which is surrounded by bajos (low-lying seasonal swamps), there are extensive canal systems as well as thirteen reservoirs and aguadas (Braswell et al. 2004; Folan et al. 1995).” [2]
[1]: (Lucero 2006: 35) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU
[2]: (Lucero 2006: 158) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU
Plazas; ball courts. “Tikal has inscriptions, its own emblem glyph, water symbolism, palaces, royal funerary temples, large ball courts, and tall temples facing large and open plazas (e.g., Temple IV is 65 m tall). Its monumental complexes are connected via sacbeob (causeways).” [1]
[1]: (Lucero 2006: 162) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU
Temples; ball courts; farms. “Tikal has inscriptions, its own emblem glyph, water symbolism, palaces, royal funerary temples, large ball courts, and tall temples facing large and open plazas...” [1] “Ballcourts occur at most large Maya centers. Many of them consisted of parallel structures with sloping sides facing inwards, but those at Uxmal and Chichen Itza had vertical walls. All were important foci of public and elite ceremonies. Some of them had round, carved ballcourt markers in the playing alley. Differences in the sizes and forms of ballcourts point to diversity and flexibility in the game, with size reaching its maximum in the ballcourt of Chichen Itza, measuring 166 by 68 metres.” [2]
[1]: (Lucero 2006: 162) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU
[2]: (Houston and Inomata 2009: 116) Houston, Stephen D. and Inomata, Takeshi. 2009. The Classic Maya, Cambridge World Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/ZXA5U53G
Necropolis; temples; funerary plaza. “Rulers of Tikal conducted the same rituals as elsewhere but on a much larger and public scale. The life histories of monumental public buildings demonstrate ritual replication and expansion of dedication, ancestor veneration, and termination rites. These buildings face large plazas in which hundreds, if not thousands, of people witnessed and participated in ritual events.” [1] “Tikal has inscriptions, its own emblem glyph, water symbolism, palaces, royal funerary temples, large ball courts, and tall temples facing large and open plazas (e.g., Temple IV is 65 m tall). Its monumental complexes are connected via sacbeob (causeways).” [2] “For example, more than a thousand years of temple construction (e.g., twenty plaster floors), destruction (e.g., smashed objects and defaced monuments), and rebuilding occurred in the site’s North Acropolis… On the south it faces the Great Plaza (125 x 100 m), where an audience probably would have watched and participated in royal ritual performances at least until the last few centuries of occupation at Tikal, when structures were built that restricted access.” [3]
[1]: (Lucero 2006: 174) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU
[2]: (Lucero 2006: 162) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU
[3]: (Lucero 2006: 164-165) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU
Gravesites; tombs; acropolis. “Although not one of the richest graves at Tikal in terms of jade or other precious goods, Animal Skull’s Burial 195, embedded within Temple 32 of the North Acropolis, is certainly one of the most fascinating… The wooden hoards feature a damaged but legible date of 9.8.0.0.0 or 593, and go on to provide Animal Skull’s name, titles and Tikal emblem, as well as his status as a 3 K’atun Ajaw (i.e. aged between 39 and 59 years).” [1]
[1]: (Martin and Grube 2000: 41) Martin, Simon and Grube, Nikolai. 2000. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. London; New York: Thames & Hudson. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5WIIDVRJ
Plazas; ball courts. “Tikal has inscriptions, its own emblem glyph, water symbolism, palaces, royal funerary temples, large ball courts, and tall temples facing large and open plazas (e.g., Temple IV is 65 m tall). Its monumental complexes are connected via sacbeob (causeways).” [1]
[1]: (Lucero 2006: 162) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU
“Although not one of the richest graves at Tikal in terms of jade or other precious goods, Animal Skull’s Burial 195, embedded within Temple 32 of the North Acropolis, is certainly one of the most fascinating… The wooden hoards feature a damaged but legible date of 9.8.0.0.0 or 593, and go on to provide Animal Skull’s name, titles and Tikal emblem, as well as his status as a 3 K’atun Ajaw (i.e. aged between 39 and 59 years).” [1]
[1]: (Martin and Grube 2000: 41) Martin, Simon and Grube, Nikolai. 2000. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. London; New York: Thames & Hudson. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5WIIDVRJ
“The most interesting find was a collection of 37 bone objects engraved with minute glyphs and pictorial scenes, highlighted in red cinnabar. Subjects range from the historical to the mythological, the latter involving lively renderings of rain gods fishing and the voyage, and then sinking, of a canoe carrying the dying maze God and an array of anthropomorphic creatures. One bears a long list of death-dates for foreign nobility, while others supply intriguing but still largely opaque references to the kingdoms of Copan and Palenque. The last clearly historical date on a bone is from 727, though another might provide one in 733, suggesting that the king’s death and burial can be placed shortly before the inauguration of his son the following year.”) [1] “The ceramic cups the cacao was served in were just as impressive. They were decorated with beautifully painted pictures and glyphs that proclaimed the glory of Tikal and its powerful ahau. Hasaw presented the cups to his guests as gifts. When they left, they took home with them a vivid reminder of all that was wonderful, and fearful, about Tikal and its great king.” [2]
[1]: (Martin and Grube 2000: 47) Martin, Simon and Grube, Nikolai. 2000. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. London; New York: Thames & Hudson. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5WIIDVRJ
[2]: (Mann 2002: 25) Mann, Elizabeth. 2002. Tikal: The Centre of the Mayan World. New York: Mikaya Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VM7Q67Q8
Hieroglyphs. “Maya hieroglyphs present the reader with a richness and visual elaboration unrivalled by any of the world’s ancient scripts. The system as we know it today was evidently developed by the speakers of Ch’olan, one of the principal Mayan language groups, sometime in the Middle Preclassic.” [1]
[1]: (Martin and Grube 2000: 11) Martin, Simon and Grube, Nikolai. 2000. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. London; New York: Thames & Hudson. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5WIIDVRJ
“Although not one of the richest graves at Tikal in terms of jade or other precious goods, Animal Skull’s Burial 195, embedded within Temple 32 of the North Acropolis, is certainly one of the most fascinating… The wooden hoards feature a damaged but legible date of 9.8.0.0.0 or 593, and go on to provide Animal Skull’s name, titles and Tikal emblem, as well as his status as a 3 K’atun Ajaw (i.e. aged between 39 and 59 years).” [1]
[1]: (Martin and Grube 2000: 41) Martin, Simon and Grube, Nikolai. 2000. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. London; New York: Thames & Hudson. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5WIIDVRJ
“Cacao was so precious that the beans were used as a kind of money by the Maya. Offering it as a drink was an impressive way of showing off Tikal’s wealth.” [1]
[1]: (Mann 2002: 25) Mann, Elizabeth. 2002. Tikal: The Centre of the Mayan World. New York: Mikaya Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VM7Q67Q8
Burial caches. “Caching behavior somewhat similar to that seen at Saturday Creek and Altar de Sacrificios is evident among smaller residences at Tikal, contrasting dramatically with what has been revealed in monumental architecture (Table 6.3). At the small residence Str. 4F-3 of Group 4F-1, three manos were placed near the house, in what Haviland (1985 : 156 –157) calls a “votive” deposit. In a gap in a wall of Str. 4F-42, another small residence, the Maya placed a small bowl containing sherds and charcoal (p. 158). These caches noticeably differ from royal ones.” [1] “Late Classic royal burials are quite spectacular. One of the most imposing temples at Tikal, Temple I, served as the funerary temple of Tikal’s most powerful ruler, Hasaw Chan K’awil (Heavenly Standard Bearer), who ruled from ad 682 until about ad 734 (Burial 116) (Harrison 1999 : 143–145). It overlooks a large plaza where subjects likely witnessed the interment of their deceased king. With him were entombed over twenty vessels, slate plaques, alabaster dishes, carved and incised bone, and more than sixteen pounds of jade items, including a mosaic-lidded vase. His family members and priests laid him to rest on a jaguar pelt, the major symbol of Maya kingship. In contrast, Late Classic burials found beneath the floors of one of the five structures of Group 2G-1, a nonroyal Tikal residence less than 2 km northeast of the North Acropolis, were quite simple and involved family members only. Burial 57 consisted of a male placed in a “bedrock grave containing three vessels”; another male (Burial 54) was buried with only “a single broken vessel and a clay bead” (Haviland 1988: 125). A similar pattern is found at residences located less than 1 km northeast of the North Acropolis. For example, Groups 4F-1 and 4F-2 burials yielded polychrome bowls and some small jade pieces (Haviland 1985). [2]
[1]: (Lucero 2006: 170) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU
[2]: (Lucero 2006: 173) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU
“Just west of the North Acropolis, Hasaw built an unusual group of structures: a Twin Pyramid Group. It was not built to honor a person, but to honor time. Time was sacred to the Maya. It was so important that they used two different calendars to mark the passing of every day and every year. The number twenty also had great significance. The Maya numbering system was based on twenty, instead of on ten as ours is. The end of a twenty-year period, a katun, was therefore an event of great importance, and it was greeted with elaborate festivities.” [1]
[1]: (Mann 2002: 28) Mann, Elizabeth. 2002. Tikal: The Centre of the Mayan World. New York: Mikaya Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VM7Q67Q8