GUATEMALA - UAXACTUN (38)
UAXACTUN
Uaxactun is a little-known Mayan archaeological site, located in Petén in Guatemala, about twenty kilometers north of Tikal. An “end of the world” atmosphere.
Much of the history of Uaxactún is inseparable from that of Tikal. The reason lies in their extreme proximity. It seems that it was Uaxactún who first saw the light of day, almost four millennia ago. Then, men settled on the current site of Tikal and developed a city there. During the preclassical era (800 BC to 200 AD), the two cities coexisted peacefully. The reason for this peace was their mutual subordination to a third city-state, El Mirador, located about sixty kilometers away. This domination of El Mirador over the region held back the expansionist desires of the two neighboring cities for a long time. But, towards the end of the 1st century AD, the mighty El Mirador was brought down. The two cities of Tikal and Uaxactún were then able to give free rein to their appetite for conquest. At the same time, they embarked on important architectural work. Temples, acropolises and altars were created. Too close, the two cities ended up being bothered by the presence of a rival power in their neighborhood. In 378, the conflict ended with the definitive defeat of Uaxactún, now a vassal of Tikal.
Uaxactún is nothing like Tikal except for the omnipresence of the lush forest. Indeed, there are no astonishing pyramids here. Uaxactún is a modest site made up of six groups of structures scattered on either side of the old airstrip built at the time when the city was the subject of a major excavation program. Uaxactun has platforms decorated with large stucco masks. The best known of these platforms is a structure each side of which has a staircase flanked by sixteen masks representing lords or monsters Witz (the god of the mountain in the Mayan religion). This pyramid was an astronomical observatory: its east side faces three small temples aligned so as to be able to observe the sunrise at the solstices and equinoxes.
GUATEMALA - UAXACTUN (38)
UAXACTUN
Uaxactun is a little-known Mayan archaeological site, located in Petén in Guatemala, about twenty kilometers north of Tikal. An “end of the world” atmosphere.
Much of the history of Uaxactún is inseparable from that of Tikal. The reason lies in their extreme proximity. It seems that it was Uaxactún who first saw the light of day, almost four millennia ago. Then, men settled on the current site of Tikal and developed a city there. During the preclassical era (800 BC to 200 AD), the two cities coexisted peacefully. The reason for this peace was their mutual subordination to a third city-state, El Mirador, located about sixty kilometers away. This domination of El Mirador over the region held back the expansionist desires of the two neighboring cities for a long time. But, towards the end of the 1st century AD, the mighty El Mirador was brought down. The two cities of Tikal and Uaxactún were then able to give free rein to their appetite for conquest. At the same time, they embarked on important architectural work. Temples, acropolises and altars were created. Too close, the two cities ended up being bothered by the presence of a rival power in their neighborhood. In 378, the conflict ended with the definitive defeat of Uaxactún, now a vassal of Tikal.
Uaxactún is nothing like Tikal except for the omnipresence of the lush forest. Indeed, there are no astonishing pyramids here. Uaxactún is a modest site made up of six groups of structures scattered on either side of the old airstrip built at the time when the city was the subject of a major excavation program. Uaxactun has platforms decorated with large stucco masks. The best known of these platforms is a structure each side of which has a staircase flanked by sixteen masks representing lords or monsters Witz (the god of the mountain in the Mayan religion). This pyramid was an astronomical observatory: its east side faces three small temples aligned so as to be able to observe the sunrise at the solstices and equinoxes.