Tikal

One of the largest, most important of the classic Maya cities and site of the tallest structure built in the Western Hemisphere before 1492.

Tikal was not among the oldest Maya centers, having been settled only around 800 B. C. By that time many other villages in the region were already flourishing. The city was surrounded by a series of broken hills and swampy basins that may have been lakes in ancient times. It was situated along a series of small rivers and valleys, which helped facilitate trade. The original settlers clustered around what is today called the North Acropolis, which remained the heart of the city until it was abandoned. Many early rulers and high-ranking nobles were buried in this location, and the acropolis seems to be an elaborate system of mortuary temples. During much of the preclassic period (until A. D. 200), Tikal was a subordinate Maya center lying in the shadow of the great city of El Mirador to the north. The decline of El Mirador and the subsequent fragmentation of power allowed Tikal and its rival cities to expand.

Tikal became a great city during the classic era (a. D. 200-900). Much of its political history is now understood thanks to recent breakthroughs in the decipherment of the Maya writing system. Around 200 a new dynasty began under the rulership of Yax Ch’aktel Xok (“First Scaffold Shark”). The ninth ruler of this dynasty, Chak Toh Ich’ak (“Jaguar Claw I”), was one of the most important rulers of his day, ruling from 317 to 378. He built a large palace on the Central Acropolis, which remained essentially unaltered for 400 years. Even when Tikal’s enemies invaded the city, the palace was respected and maintained as a holy structure. After his death Tikal fell under the shadow of Teotihuacan. Texts record that warriors from the city “arrived” and set up a new ruler, who may have been a nobleman from Teotihuacan itself. Tikal briefly adopted

Teotihuacano art, ceremonies, and battle tactics, which it used to subdue several of its neighboring communities. Tikal emerged as a major regional power by 450 but had antagonized many influential cities. In 562 the city of Caracol, aided by Tikal’s great rival Kalakmul, defeated Tikal in a bloody war. The city entered a 125-year dormancy.

The ruler Hasaw Chan K’awil (“Heavenly Standard Bearer”) acceded to the throne in 682 and restored Tikal’s faded glory. He began a large-scale program to restore the monuments defaced by Kalakmul and Caracol and began building a series of magnificent new structures. He inaugurated a new style of architecture, which is evident in most of the surviving buildings in Tikal. The new style featured tall, steep pyramids with narrow bases. At the top of these pyramids was a small temple with an elaborate roof comb designed to give the illusion of added height. The most famous structure at Tikal, Temple I, is the best preserved building in this style and served as the ruler’s mortuary temple. Beyond his artistic endeavors, Hasaw was a capable general and led his troops to a crushing victory over Kalakmul. He also maintained two critical alliances with the Maya kingdoms of CoPAN and PALENQUE, thereby creating stability in the region. Under Hasaw’s rule Tikal entered a golden age, which continued under his two successors. Hasaw’s son built the enormous Temple IV, which at 212 feet stands as the tallest structure built in the ancient Americas. The wealth of royal and noble burials from this time clearly shows that Tikal was at the height of its prosperity. It also reached its greatest size, covering six square miles with approximately 3,000 separate buildings. Population estimates for the city at this time run from

50,000 to 100,000.

After 750 Tikal began its final decline. For generations scholars have debated about why the once flourishing Maya civilization collapsed at the end of the classic period. Decipherment of the Maya writing system has suggested that one strong factor in the decline of Tikal and many other sites was the spread of warfare. Violence escalated after 700, engulfing the whole region. Although powerful, Tikal could not escape the wars’ secondary effects: disruption of trade, DISEASE, and famine. The last three rulers of Tikal tried to reach back to the glorious past by adopting the names of illustrious ancestors, including Hasaw Chan K’awil. Grave goods after 700 were less rich, less elaborate, and fewer in number. Those few buildings raised were of inferior material, and the city’s rulers could organize the building of only a few public monuments. The last carved date at Tikal was in 869, although the city remained inhabited for many more years. In its final days the community was impoverished and fearful. Several buildings had been destroyed, and it appears that squatters occupied the royal palaces, using one building for a prison stockade. By 950 Tikal was essentially abandoned, although a handful of people lived in the area until around 1200. By the time of the Spanish conquest, the city was all but forgotten and completely overgrown by the jungle.

Tikal has been instrumental in the understanding of the ancient Maya. As one of the largest, wealthiest Maya cities, it has provided archaeologists with a great quantity of material for study. Additionally, Tikal’s extensive involvement with other leading centers of the time has contributed to a unified chronology of the Maya area. Still, excavations have uncovered only 10 percent of the city, making it clear that the mysterious ruins have much more to tell.

Further reading: Michael D. Coe, The Maya, 6th ed. (London: Thames & Hudson, 1999); William R. Coe, Tikal: A Handbook of Ancient Maya Ruins (Philadelphia: University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, 1967); Peter D. Harrison, The Lords of Tikal: Rulers of an Ancient City (London: Thames & Hudson, 1999).

—Scott Chamberlain