Los Amates
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Los Amates is a
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in the
Izabal department Izabal () is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala. Its coastal areas form part of the homeland of the Garifuna people. Izabal is bordered to the north by Belize, to the north east by the Gulf of Honduras, and to the east by Honduras, and by th ...
of
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
. The population is about 61,000. The mayor is currently Marco Tulio Ramirez Estrada. Los Amates is located on the
Motagua River The Motagua River () is a river in Guatemala. It rises in the western highlands of Guatemala where it is also called Río Grande, and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras. The final few kilometres of the river form part of the ...
, from the ruins of the ancient
Maya city Maya cities were the centres of population of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica. They served the specialised roles of administration, commerce, manufacturing and religion that characterised ancient cities worldwide.Sharer & Trax ...
of
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. ...
.


History


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. ...
is an ancient
Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...
archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
in Los Amates. It is a medium-sized site covering approximately along the lower
Motagua River The Motagua River () is a river in Guatemala. It rises in the western highlands of Guatemala where it is also called Río Grande, and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras. The final few kilometres of the river form part of the ...
, with the ceremonial center about from the north bank. During the
Maya Classic Period Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of prehispanic Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian (first human habitation until 3500 BCE); the Archaic (before 2600 BCE), the Preclassic or Formative (2500 BCE –&nbs ...
(AD 200–900), Quiriguá was situated at the juncture of several important
trade routes A trade route is a Logistics, logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over bodies of water. Allowing Good (economics and accounti ...
. The site was occupied by 200, construction on the
acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
had begun by about 550, and an explosion of grander construction started in the 8th century. All construction had halted by about 850, except for a brief period of reoccupation in the Early
Postclassic In world history, post-classical history refers to the period from about 500 AD to 1500, roughly corresponding to the European Middle Ages. The period is characterized by the expansion of civilizations geographically and development of trade n ...
(''c''. 900 – ''c''. 1200). Quiriguá shares its architectural and sculptural styles with the nearby Classic Period city of
Copán Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. This ancient Maya city mirrors the beauty of the physical landscape in which it flourished—a fert ...
, with whose history it is closely entwined.


After the Independence of Central America

The area was largely abandoned during the Spanish Colony of Guatemala, and the first European visitor to publish an account of Los Amates was English architect and artist
Frederick Catherwood Frederick Catherwood (27 February 1799 – 27 September 1854) was an English artist, architect and explorer, best remembered for his meticulously detailed drawings of the ruins of the Maya civilization. He explored Mesoamerica in the mid 19th ...
, who reached the
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. ...
ruins in 1840, during the turbulent times of president general
Rafael Carrera José Rafael Carrera y Turcios (24 October 1814 – 14 April 1865) was the president of Guatemala from 1844 to 1848 and from 1851 until his death in 1865, after being appointed President for life in 1854. During his military career and presiden ...
. The previous landowner, by the surname of Payés, had related the existence of the ruins to his sons and to Carlos Meiney, a
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
n Englishman resident in Guatemala. The elder Payés had recently died and passed the land to his sons and, since neither Meiney nor Payés' sons had visited the land containing the ruins, they invited
John Lloyd Stephens John Lloyd Stephens (November 28, 1805October 13, 1852) 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. ...
and Catherwood to join them on their first trip to the site. Stephens had other duties to attend to, but Catherwood was able to accompany the Payés brothers to Quiriguá. Due to adverse conditions he was only able to stay a short time at the ruins, but made drawings of two of the stelae, which were published with a short account of Catherwood's visit in John Lloyd Stephens's book ''Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan'' in 1841. A longer account of the ruins was made in 1854 by Dr. Karl Scherzer. Explorer and archaeologist
Alfred Maudslay Alfred Percival Maudslay FRAI (18 March 1850 – 22 January 1931) was a British diplomat, explorer, and archaeologist. He was one of the first Europeans to study Maya ruins. He also fully translated and annotated the best version of Bernal ...
visited Quiriguá for three days in 1881; they were the first
pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...
ruins that he saw and they were sufficiently impressive to inspire him to take up a permanent interest in Central American archaeology. He was able to return on three further occasions, the last being in 1894, and he made the first efforts to clear the monuments before recording them. He carried out a very thorough examination and made a photographic record of all visible monuments, carried out some minor
excavations In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...
, made paper and plaster molds of the hieroglyphic inscriptions and surveyed the principal sculptures; these molds were then shipped to the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, with casts being transferred to the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
.


Los Amates train station

On 22 November 1896 the Northern Railroad
Zacapa, Zacapa Zacapa () is the departmental capital municipality of Zacapa Department, one of the 22 Departments of Guatemala. It is located approximately from Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate ...
-
Puerto Barrios Puerto Barrios () is a city in Guatemala, located within the Gulf of Honduras. The city is located on Bahia de Amatique. Puerto Barrios is the departmental seat of Izabal department and is the administrative seat of Puerto Barrios municipality. ...
connection, was opened to the public; it was the most important infrastructure project of general
José María Reina Barrios José María Reyna Barrios (24 December 1854 – 8 February 1898) was President of Guatemala from 15 March 1892 until his death on 8 February 1898. He was born in San Marcos, Guatemala and was nicknamed ''Reynita'', the diminutive form, bec ...
given the economic crisis the loomed over Guatemala if he was not able to finish the railroad on time for the Central American Expo schedule for March 1897. The new line would have one hundred and one miles. In those days, the Northern region of Guatemala was practically a new and unexplored area, a newfound place where natural resources could be exploited and the railroad construction finally gave way to the commercial and industrial exploration of the area. The complete line
Puerto Barrios Puerto Barrios () is a city in Guatemala, located within the Gulf of Honduras. The city is located on Bahia de Amatique. Puerto Barrios is the departmental seat of Izabal department and is the administrative seat of Puerto Barrios municipality. ...
-
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, nest ...
-through Panajax- had one hundred and ninety seven miles and was built in stages (which later became train stops): from Puerto Barrios to Tenedores, eighteen miles; from Tenedores to Los Amates, forty one miles; from Los Amates to
Gualán Gualán is a town and municipality in the Guatemalan department of Zacapa Zacapa () is the departmental capital municipality of Zacapa Department Zacapa () is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala. It lies in eastern Guatemala with its ...
, twenty one miles; from
Zacapa Zacapa () is the departmental capital municipality of Zacapa Department Zacapa () is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala. It lies in eastern Guatemala with its capital in the city of Zacapa, approximately 112 kilometers (70 miles) from G ...
to El Rancho de San Agustín, thirty four miles; from El Rancho to Panajax, thirty miles; and finally, from Panajax to
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, nest ...
, thirty two miles. In 1910, the
United Fruit Company The United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899 fro ...
bought Quiriguá, Los Amates and all the land for a great distance around for
banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
production; they set aside around the ceremonial centre as an archaeological park, leaving an island of jungle among the plantations. More archaeological work was carried out from 1910 to 1914 by
Edgar Lee Hewett Edgar Lee Hewett (November 23, 1865 – December 31, 1946) was an American archaeologist and anthropologist whose focus was the Native American communities of New Mexico and the southwestern United States. He is best known for his role in ...
and
Sylvanus Morley Sylvanus Griswold Morley (June 7, 1883September 2, 1948) was an American archaeology, archaeologist and epigraphy, epigrapher who studied the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in the early 20th century. Morley led extensive excavations of the Ma ...
for the
School of American Archaeology The School for Advanced Research (SAR), until 2007 known as the School of American Research and founded in 1907 as the School for American Archaeology (SAA), is an advanced research center located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Since 1967, the sc ...
in Santa Fe. Duplicates of the stelae of Quiriguá made from Hewitt's plaster casts of the originals were exhibited at the Panama-California Exposition in
San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
, in 1915. The casts are still on display at the
San Diego Museum of Man The Museum of Us (formerly known as the San Diego Museum of Man) is a museum of anthropology located in Balboa Park, San Diego, California and housed in the historic landmark buildings of the California Quadrangle. History The museum traces it ...
in their "Maya: Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth" exhibition. The
Carnegie Institution The Carnegie Institution of Washington (the organization's legal name), known also for public purposes as the Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS), is an organization in the United States established to fund and perform scientific research. Th ...
conducted several intermittent projects at Quiriguá from 1915 through 1934.


Municipality establishment

Los Amates municipality was established by an executive action of president
Manuel Estrada Cabrera Manuel José Estrada Cabrera (21 November 1857 – 24 September 1924) was the President of Guatemala from 1898 to 1920. A lawyer with no military background, he was a strong ruler (dictator) who modernised the country's industry and transportat ...
on 30 June 1916, and ratified and organized on 24 June 1920. On 28 January 1944 the municipality capital was moved to Quirigua, but the change was brief as it was derogated on 12 April of that year.


United Fruit Company

In early 1920, after the Unionist party deposed
Manuel Estrada Cabrera Manuel José Estrada Cabrera (21 November 1857 – 24 September 1924) was the President of Guatemala from 1898 to 1920. A lawyer with no military background, he was a strong ruler (dictator) who modernised the country's industry and transportat ...
, the
United Fruit Company The United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899 fro ...
-which had received considerable concessions from the Guatemalan president in the past two decades in Izabal- was suddenly confronted with a large strike and did not have the help from the government to repress it due to the fighting taking place in Guatemala City. New labor chapters opened both in Morales and Los Amates banana plantations, while
Puerto Barrios Puerto Barrios () is a city in Guatemala, located within the Gulf of Honduras. The city is located on Bahia de Amatique. Puerto Barrios is the departmental seat of Izabal department and is the administrative seat of Puerto Barrios municipality. ...
had more than 250 members. The strike grew stronger and upon the resistance of the Unionists to help it, UFCO supported a coup d'état led by general
José María Orellana José María Orellana Pinto (11 July 1872 – 26 September 1926) was a Guatemalan political and military leader. He was chief of staff of President Manuel Estrada Cabrera and President of Guatemala between 1921 and 1926, after overthrowing Conse ...
in 1921, who swiftly repressed the union members and gave tranquility to the United Fruit Company operations in Izabal.


Franja Transversal del Norte

In the 1960s, the importance of the region known as Franja Transversal del Norte was in livestock, exploitation of precious export wood and archaeological wealth. Timber contracts we granted to multinational companies such as Murphy Pacific Corporation from California, which invested US$30 million for the colonization of southern Petén and Alta Verapaz, and formed the North Impulsadora Company. Colonization of the area was made through a process by which inhospitable areas of the Franja Transversal del Norte (FTN) were granted to native peasants. In 1964, the National Institute for Agrarian Transformation (INTA) defined the geography of the FTN as the northern part of the departments of Huehuetenango, Quiché, Alta Verapaz and Izabal and that same year priests of the
Maryknoll Maryknoll is a name shared by a number of related Catholic organizations, including the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers (also known as the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America or the Maryknoll Society), the Maryknoll Sisters, and the Mary ...
order and the Order of the Sacred Heart began the first process of colonization, along with INTA, carrying settlers from Huehuetenango to the
Ixcán Ixcán is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché. Its administrative centre is the town of Playa Grande. The municipality consists of 176 communities, called ''aldeas''. It has an area of 1693 km2. It is the northernmo ...
sector in Quiché. The Northern Transversal Strip was officially created during the government of General Carlos Arana Osorio in 1970, by Decree 60-70 in the Congress, for agricultural development. The area included within the municipalities: San Ana Huista, San Antonio Huista, Nentón, Jacaltenango,
San Mateo Ixtatán San Mateo Ixtatán is a Municipalities of Guatemala, municipality in the Guatemalan Departments of Guatemala, department of Huehuetenango Department, Huehuetenango. It is situated at above sea level in the Cuchumatanes mountain range and covers ...
, and Santa Cruz Barillas in
Huehuetenango Huehuetenango () is a city and municipality in the highlands of western Guatemala. It is also the capital of the department of Huehuetenango. The city is situated from Guatemala City, and is the last departmental capital on the Pan-American Highw ...
; Chajul and San Miguel Uspantán in Quiché;
Cobán Cobán ( kek, Kob'an), fully Santo Domingo de Cobán, is the capital of the department of Alta Verapaz in central Guatemala. It also serves as the administrative center for the surrounding Cobán municipality. It is located 219 km from Guat ...
,
Chisec Chisec is a town and municipality in the north of the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz that was founded in 1813. It is situated at 230 metres (755 ft) above sea level. The municipality covers a territory of 1244 km². Approximately ...
,
San Pedro Carchá San Pedro Carchá, usually referred to as Carchá, is a town, with a population of 16,353 (2018 census),Citypopulatio ...
, Lanquín,
Senahú Senahú is a town and municipality of the Department of Alta Verapaz in the Republic of Guatemala. The community of San Antonio Senahú was founded by Q'eqchi' Mayan refugees from a series of 19th-century conflicts in the Ishi Mountains of Centr ...
, Cahabón and Chahal, in Alta Verapaz and the entire department of Izabal.


Climate

Los Amates has a
tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''Am'') and its municipal capital is 78 m above sea level.


See also

* * *
Franja Transversal del Norte The Franja Transversal del Norte (English: Northern Transversal Strip) is a region in Guatemala delimited to the north by an imaginary line between Vértice de Santiago in Huehuetenango (department), Huehuetenango and Modesto Méndez Port in Izaba ...
*
Izabal Department Izabal () is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala. Its coastal areas form part of the homeland of the Garifuna people. Izabal is bordered to the north by Belize, to the north east by the Gulf of Honduras, and to the east by Honduras, and by th ...
*
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. ...
* Tragic Week (Guatemala) *
United Fruit Company The United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899 fro ...


Notes and references


References


Bibliography

* * {{Franja Transversal del Norte (Guatemala) Municipalities of the Izabal Department