Transcript Lecture 15 Calakmul

Calakmul
The importance of Calakmul has only been recently
appreciated, due to its isolated location and the fact that
all of its monuments are made of a soft variety of
limestone which erodes easily.
Discovered in 1931, excavated 1984-94 by William
Folan, and in 1994- by Ramón Carrasco of INAH.
It is the largest Classical period Mayan city with the
largest pyramid. It ranges over 30 sq. km. and there are
117 monuments.
The site is surrounded by the Calakmul
Biosphere Reserve, and is accessible only
by a two-lane 60km long road.
Wild Turkey, not the liquid kind.
Snakes aplenty
Spider Monkey
Called Kaan “Snake”
Settlement at the site begins in the Middle Preclassic.
Calakmul may have been a sister site to El Miradór.
Structure 2 at Calakmul and El Tigre at El Miradór
display the same dieties.
Four royal burials were found inside structure 2
A gap in Calakmul’s chronology lasts from 411 - 506 AD.
Dzibanche was under the authority of Kaan leaders in the 5th
century.
Tuun K’ab Hix presides over the accession of a king of
Naranjo in 546 AD.
King Sky Witness installs a king in Los Alarcranes in 561 AD.
Calakmul defeats Tikal in 562 AD, producing the “hiatus” in
Tikal’s records which lasts 130 years. Tikal’s king Wak Chan
K’awill is sacrificed. Sky Witness dies 572 AD.
Uneh Chan “Scroll Serpent” ascend to throne in 579 AD. He
attacks Palenque in 599 and defeats them in 611 AD.
• 631 AD Naranjo king is defeated in a “star
war” attack and is k’uxaj “tortured” or
“eaten.” Victorious king is Yuknoom
“Head.”
• Calakmul’s greatest king was Yuknoom
Ce’en II. He was responsible for erecting
the most monuments at Calakmul, and
under him the power fo Calakmul reached
its greatest extent. He died in 689 AD.
Calakmul’s golden age ends in August 695 AD when
Yich’aak K’ak’ meets the king of Tikal Jasaw Chan
K’awill I in battle. “His flint and shield were brought
down.” The Calakmul diety yajaw maan is captured.
Yich’aak K’ak is thought to be buried in tomb #4.
Calakmul is again defeated by Tikal between 733 and
736.
Calakmul’s authority has collapsed by 830 AD, though
the site continues to be inhabited past 900 AD.
Structure 8: Astronomical observation post,
said to be alligned with stars.
Recently discovered murals in Building 1 of the North Acropolis (Chiik
Naab Acropolis). The lady in blue and the two seated men have been
interpreted to be nobles.
Funerary equipment from
Calakmul’s Royal Tombs