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Twin Pyramid Complex
A twin-pyramid complex or twin-pyramid group was an architectural innovation of the Maya civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. Twin-pyramid complexes were regularly built at the great city of Tikal in the central Petén Basin of Guatemala to celebrate the end of the 20-year ''kʼatun'' cycle of the Maya Long Count Calendar. A twin-pyramid complex has been identified at Yaxha, a large city that was to the southeast of Tikal. Another has been mapped at Ixlu,Martin and Grube 2000, p.51. and Zacpeten appears also to possess at least one twin-pyramid complex and possibly two. These examples outside of Tikal itself indicate that their cities were closely linked to Tikal politically. The basic layout of a twin-pyramid complex consists of identical pyramids on the east and west sides of a small plaza, with a walled enclosure to the north housing a sculpted stela-altar pair and a range building to the south. Plain monuments were generally raised at the foot of the east pyramid. The term ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plaza And Pyramid, Tikal, Guatemala
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. Related concepts are the civic center, the market square and the village green. Most squares are hardscapes suitable for open markets, concerts, political rallies, and other events that require firm ground. Being centrally located, town squares are usually surrounded by small shops such as bakeries, meat markets, cheese stores, and clothing stores. At their center is often a well, monument, statue or other feature. Those with fountains are sometimes called fountain squares. By country Australia The city centre of Adelaide and the adjacent suburb of North Adelaide, in South Australia, were planned by Colonel William Light in 1837. The city streets were laid out in a grid plan, with the city centre including a central public square, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maya Rulers
Maya kings were the centers of power for the Maya civilization. Each Maya city-state was controlled by a dynasty of kings. The position of king was usually inherited by the oldest son. Symbols of power Maya kings felt the need to legitimize their claim to power. One of the ways to do this was to build a temple or pyramid. Tikal Temple I is a good example. This temple was built during the reign of Yikʼin Chan Kʼawiil. Another king named Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal would later carry out this same show of power when building the Temple of Inscriptions at Palenque. The Temple of Inscriptions still towers today amid the ruins of Palenque, as the supreme symbol of influence and power in Palenque. Succession Maya kings cultivated godlike personas. When a ruler died and left no heir to the throne, the result was usually war and bloodshed. King Pacal's precursor, Pacal I, died upon the battlefield. However, instead of the kingdom erupting into chaos, the city of Palenque, a Maya capital ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesoamerican Ballcourt
A Mesoamerican ballcourt ( nah, tlachtli) 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. More than 1,300 ballcourts have been identified, 60% in the last 20 years alone. Although there is a tremendous variation in size, in general all ballcourts are the same shape: a long narrow alley flanked by two walls with horizontal, vertical, and sloping faces. Although the alleys in early ballcourts were open-ended, later ballcourts had enclosed end-zones, giving the structure an -shape when viewed from above. Ballcourts were also used for functions other than, or in addition to, ballgames. Ceramics from western Mexico show ballcourts being used for other sporting endeavours, including what appears to be a wrestling match. It is also known from archaeological excavations that ballcourts were the sites of sumptuous feasts, although whether these were conducted in the contex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yax Nuun Ayiin II
Yax Nuun Ahiin IIThe ruler's name, when transcribed is YAX-?-AYI:N, translated "First ? Calman", Martin & Grube 2008, p.51. also known as Ruler C and Chitam, (before 768-c.794), was an ''ajaw'' of the Maya city of Tikal. He took the throne on December 25, 768 and reigning probably until his death.These are the dates indicated on the Maya inscriptions in Mesoamerican Long Count calendar The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is a non-repeating, vigesimal (base 20) and octodecimal (base 18) calendar used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya. For this reason, it is often known as the May ..., Accession: 9.16.17.16.4 11 K'an 12 K'ayab, Martin & Grube 2008, p.51. He was son of Yik'in Chan K'awiil and brother of 28th Ruler. The monuments associated with Yax Nuun Ahiin II are: Stelae 19, 21 and Altars 6 and 10.Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.313. Notes Footnotes References * * Rulers of Tikal 794 deaths 8th century in the Maya civi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guatemala City
Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, nestled in a mountain valley called Valle de la Ermita ( en, Hermitage Valley). The city is the capital of the Municipality of Guatemala and of the Guatemala Department. Guatemala City is the site of the Mayan city of Kaminaljuyu, founded around 1500 BC. Following the Spanish conquest, a new town was established, and in 1776 it was made capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala. In 1821, Guatemala City was the scene of the declaration of independence of Central America from Spain, after which it became the capital of the newly established United Provinces of Central America (later the Federal Republic of Central America). In 1847, Guatemala declared itself an independent republic, with Guatemala City as its capital. The city was originally loc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Museo Nacional De Arqueología Y Etnología
The Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología (MUNAE; ''National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology'') is a national museum of Guatemala, dedicated to the conservation of archaeological and ethnological artifacts and research into Guatemala's history and cultural heritage. The museum is located in Guatemala City, at Finca La Aurora. History and collections First created by a governmental decree on 30 June 1898, the institution and collections of MUNAE relocated premises several times subsequently, until they were established in its present building in 1946. The museum has some 3000 square meters of exhibition space, and 1500 sq.m. devoted to restorative and research purposes. MUNAE's collections amount to some 20 thousand archaeological artifacts and 5 thousand ethnological items. In October 2021, an ancient Mayan stele was returned to the museum by a private collector in France. This stele had been stolen from the Piedras Negras Piedras Negras may refer to: * Piedras Negr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maya Script
Maya script, also known as Maya glyphs, is historically the native writing system of the Maya civilization of Mesoamerica and is the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered. The earliest inscriptions found which are identifiably Maya date to the 3rd century BCE in San Bartolo, Guatemala. Maya writing was in continuous use throughout Mesoamerica until the Spanish conquest of the Maya in the 16th and 17th centuries. Maya writing used logograms complemented with a set of syllabic glyphs, somewhat similar in function to modern Japanese writing. Maya writing was called "hieroglyphics" or hieroglyphs by early European explorers of the 18th and 19th centuries who found its general appearance reminiscent of Egyptian hieroglyphs, although the two systems are unrelated. Though modern Mayan languages are almost entirely written using the Latin alphabet rather than Maya script, there have been recent developments encouraging a revival of the Maya g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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.Morales et al 2008, p.421. The pyramid was built around 741 AD. Temple IV is located at the western edge of the site core. Two causeways meet at the temple; the Tozzer Causeway runs east to the Great Plaza, while the Maudslay Causeway runs northeast to the Northern Zone. Temple IV is the second tallest pre-Columbian structure still standing in the New World, just after the Great Pyramid of Toniná in Chiapas, Mexico, although Teotihuacan's Pyramid of the Sun may once have been taller. The pyramid was built to mark the reign of the 27th king of the Tikal dynasty, Yik'in Chan K'awiil, although it may have been built after his death as his funerary temple. Archaeologists believe that Yik'in Chan K'awiil's tomb lies undiscovered somewhere underneath the temple. The summit shrine faces eastward to the si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edwin Shook
Edwin M. Shook (22 November 1911 – 9 March 2000) was an American archaeologist and Mayanist scholar, best known for his extensive field work and publications on pre-Columbian Maya civilization sites. Shook was born in Newton, North Carolina. At age 22 he took a job as a draftsman at the Carnegie Institution of Washington which was to lead him into Mesoamerican studies from 1934 to 1998. In 1955, he became the field director of the University of Pennsylvania's Tikal Project, overseeing and publishing extensive work at Tikal, the largest Classic Maya site. Other Maya sites Shook worked at include Uaxactun, Copán, Mayapan, Kaminaljuyu, Piedras Negras, Palenque, Seibal, Chichen Itza, and Dos Pilas, in addition to pre-Columbian sites in Costa Rica. In 1998 Shook donated his archives to the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala. He died at his home in Antigua Guatemala two years later. References Obituary EDWIN M. SHOOK by Michael Love* ttp://www.obitcentral.com/obitsearch/obits ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfred Tozzer
Alfred Marston Tozzer (July 4, 1877 – October 5, 1954) was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, linguist, and educator. His principal area of interest was Mesoamerican, especially Maya, studies. He was the husband of Margaret Castle Tozzer and father of figure skating champion Joan Tozzer. Early studies and career Alfred Tozzer was born in Lynn, Massachusetts to Samuel Clarence (1846–1908) and Caroline (née Marston, 1847–1926) Tozzer, and graduated in anthropology from Harvard University in 1900. That summer he entered field as an assistant to Harvard's Roland Dixon to study American Indian languages of California. The following year he collected linguistic and ethnographic data on the Navajos living near Pueblo Bonito in New Mexico. From these experiences he published his first paper, which he presented at the Thirteenth International Congress of Americanists held in New York in 1902. In December 1901, he won appointment as a traveling fellow for the Archaeologi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teobert Maler
Teobert Maler, later Teoberto (12 January 1842 – 22 November 1917) was an explorer who devoted his energies to documenting the ruins of the Maya civilization. Biography Teobert Maler was born in Rome to German parents. His father was a diplomat for the Duchy of Baden. Maler studied architecture and engineering in Karlsruhe, then at the age of 21 moved to Vienna where he took a job with architect Heinrich von Ferstel, and became an Austrian citizen. He was eager to see more of the world and went to Mexico as a soldier with Emperor Maximilian. He rose from Cadet to Captain. After surrendering to the Mexican Republican forces, Maler opted to stay in Mexico rather than being exiled back to Europe. Maler later obtained Mexican citizenship and changed his first name to "Teoberto", more easily pronounced in the Spanish language. Maler developed interests in photography and in the antiquities of Mesoamerica. In 1876 he made detailed photos of the structures at Mitla. In the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
