Dzibanche

18.6375 -88.759027777778Coordinates: 18 ° 38 ′ 15 " N , 88 ° 45 ′ 32.5" W.

Dzibanche

Dzibanche (also Dzibanché , rarely Tz'ibanche or Tzibanché ) is a Maya ruin site in the south of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo . The name is modern and refers to the wooden beams of the lintel in one of the temples with hieroglyphic inscriptions .

Dzibanché, Structure VI or Templo de los Dinteles

Temple pyramid ( Templo de Buhos ) in Dzibanche after the restoration

Dzibanché, structure XVI

Dzibanché

"Temple of the Prisoners" with an inscription staircase

location

Dzibanché is located in the Yucatáns scrub forest about 6 km northeast of the village of Morocoy and about 75 km (driving distance) northwest of the coastal and border town of Chetumal at an altitude of about 70 m above sea level. d. M.

history

The Maya city of Dzibanché already existed in the 2nd century BC. And was possibly the capital of the Kan dynasty in the 5th century, which later ruled from Calakmul . The oldest recorded date is from AD 495; the last date is the year 909.

Even during the post- classic period , Dzibanché was partially inhabited. There are traces of settlement from around 1200 and the temples were used for rituals by the Maya who lived around them until at least the 16th century.

The place was rediscovered in 1927 by Thomas Gann . At the beginning of the 1990s, excavations found that Dzibanche was an important vassal state of Calakmul and that it reached the height of its development in the early classical period . The richly decorated tombs of nobles and a staircase with Mayan glyphs and depictions of prisoners indicate the relatively large influence of the city .

It is unclear whether the neighboring town of Kinichná, only about 2 km to the north, was an independent Mayan city or whether it was dependent on Dzibanché.

buildings

The high parts of the two large temple pyramids were largely restored in the 1990s; the lower parts, on the other hand, are mostly still in the state in which they were discovered.

The most important building from the point of view of archaeologists is Structure VI or Palacio de los Dinteles . The rising temple dates from the early 8th century; the lintel beams described after which the place is named were found here.

The "Cormorant Pyramid" ( Templo de los Cormoranes ) is the tallest and most prominent structure in the city. Its architecture shows forms of the Talud-tablero style developed in the central Mexican Teotihuacán .