Late Classic Tikal

  General Description  
“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