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The lords of Tikal : rulers of an ancient Maya city / Peter D. Harrison.
Penn Museum Library F1435.1.T5 H37 1999
Available
LIBRA F1435.1.T5 H37 1999
Available from offsite location
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Harrison, Peter D., 1937-2013.
- Series:
- New aspects of antiquity
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Mayas--Guatemala--Tikal Site--Antiquities.
- Mayas.
- Mayas--Guatemala--Tikal Site--Kings and rulers.
- Maya architecture--Guatemala--Tikal Site.
- Maya architecture.
- Excavations (Archaeology)--Guatemala--Tikal Site.
- Excavations (Archaeology).
- Kings and rulers.
- Antiquities.
- Tikal Site (Guatemala)--Civilization.
- Tikal Site (Guatemala).
- Guatemala--Tikal Site.
- Physical Description:
- 208 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 25 cm.
- Place of Publication:
- London ; New York : Thames & Hudson, 1999.
- Summary:
- The Maya metropolis of Tikal was once one of the greatest cities in the world. At its peak around Ad 750 over 100,000 people lived here, in the heart of the Guatemalan rainforest. Huge temple-pyramids dominated the skyline. Today Tikal has become one of the most visited sites on the Maya tourist itinerary. But why did the city flourish? What does its history reveal about the mysteries of Maya civilization? And why did Tikal collapse?
- Drawing upon over 30 years of excavation and research, some of it his own, Peter D. Harrison gives a vivid account of the turbulent story of Tikal, from 800 Bc to the late 9th century Ad. Strategically located, the city served as a major center of trade and architectural style-setter for the central Peten region of the Maya lowlands. Tikal was also a focal point of warfare, struggling with sister cities to the west, north and east for dominance of the region. The apogee of power and wealth was achieved between Ad 692 and 800 during the reigns of three generations of the great Jaguar Claw clan, whose ruling lords -- known as Hasaw Chan K'awil, Yik'in Chan K'awil and Yax Ain -- built the Great Temples that symbolize the character and individuality of the city. Some of these Great Temples served as mortuary structures, and the contents of the tombs, from mosaic masks and jade jewelry to beautiful ceramics and alabaster bowls, hint at the richness of life as a lord of Tikal.
- Making full use of the remarkable recent breakthroughs in translating the Maya's own hieroglyphic record, Peter D. Harrison offers a cogent, detailed summary of what is known to date of this romantic, mysterious city and its rulers.
- Contents:
- 1 The Maya and their civilization 9
- The Maya Area 11
- The Evolution of Maya Civilization 11
- The Drainage Divide of the Central Peten 13
- The Forest Environment 18
- Chronologies: Our View 20
- Chronologies: Their View 22
- 2 Tikal discovered 29
- The Name of Tikal 29
- The History of Discovery 31
- The Tikal Project: University of Pennsylvania 35
- Proyecto Nacional Tikal 37
- Tikal Today 40
- 3 Villages around the ridge: the Middle Preclassic 45
- Birth, Dawn, and the Color Red 45
- Sources of Settlement 46
- Tikal's Late Beginning 47
- The Middle Preclassic at Tikal 48
- The Eb Sites 48
- Characteristics of the Pioneer Settlement 50
- The Tzec Ceramic Complex 51
- 4 The move into greatness: the Late Preclassic 53
- Tikal Becomes a City 53
- The Lost World Pyramid 56
- The North Acropolis 57
- Death as a Window 58
- Ceramics of the Late Preclassic: an Art Form and Time Marker 61
- Chuen Times at Tikal 62
- Cauac Times at Tikal 63
- Cimi Times at Tikal 64
- 5 The birth of dynasties: the Early Classic emerges 65
- The Count of Known Kings 69
- Royal Settlement and Defense Systems 73
- The Sacred Clan House of the Jaguar Claw Family 76
- The Significance of Royal Titles at Tikal 79
- A Turning Point 81
- 6 Change and challenge: the end of the Early Classic 82
- Troubled Times: the Early Classic Dark Ages 92
- 7 Architecture at Tikal 107
- Preclassic Through Early Classic 107
- Architecture and Style at Tikal 112
- 8 The hiatus: war and outside dominance 119
- 9 Return of the clan Jaguar Claw
- the genius of Hasaw Chan K'awil 125
- The Defeat of Calakmul 130
- Royal Sorrow: the Story on Altar 5 133
- Other Known Dates and Events in Hasaw's Life 140
- 10 A family affair: Hasaw's descendants 147
- The Lintel of Structure 5D-52-Ist 149
- Yik'in's Greatest Project: Temple IV 153
- Temple VI: the Temple of the Inscriptions 158
- The Burial Place of Yik'in 162
- 11 The last three lords 166
- Yax Ain 11 (Ruler C; Chitam; Ak) 166
- The Final Two Rulers 173
- 12 Late Classic architecture, city planning, and the growth of Tikal 180
- Twin-Pyramid Groups 181
- Ballcourts 182
- Palaces 183
- Limited Courtyard Palace Groups 184
- Freestanding Major Palaces 185
- The Central Acropolis 187
- Tikal's Planned Growth 190
- 13 Decline and fall: the last days 192
- The Terminal Classic 192
- Causes of the Collapse 198
- The Postclassic 199
- Petrospect 200
- Visiting Tikal 201.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN:
- 0500050945
- OCLC:
- 40646845
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