Machaquilá
.jpg)
Machaquilá (sometimes without an accent) is a Maya ruin site in Peten , Guatemala, covered in jungle and corn fields . It is best known for three steles that are now exhibited in the National Museum of Archeology and Ethnology in Guatemala City .
location
The ruins of Machaquilá, which are difficult to access, are located on the river of the same name about 60 km (as the crow flies) west of the small town of Poptún and about 40 km southeast of the Maya site of Seibal . The almost tropical climate is humid and humid; Rain (approx. 1830 mm / year) falls mainly in the months of June to December.
history
The ruins of Machaquilá are mostly built in the 8th / 9th centuries. Dated century; the earliest dating on a stele is from the year 711, the latest from the year 840. During this time Machaquilá was an independent small state whose regional power was based on marriage politics and war. The ruins were explored in the 1950s, but have since been plundered. The main finds are in the National Museum of Archeology and Ethnology in Guatemala City; the whereabouts of others is unknown.
architecture
Most of the buildings in Machaquilá are grouped around plazas A and C; however, they are poorly preserved. A ball playground or an observatory is missing. The buildings at Plaza C are interpreted as residential buildings (palacios) .
Steles
Much more important are the steles and altars, which are characterized by their craftsmanship and artistic processing, but which were mostly destroyed by looters; only three were rescued largely intact. They show richly clad priest-kings with elaborate headdresses with the scepter of the rightful succession in their right hand and subject prisoners. Stele 4 of December 28, 820, for example, shows Prince Siyaj K'in Chaak in full regalia on the occasion of the celebration of two period ends of the Mayan calendar , a scepter in the form of the god K'awiil in his right hand represents his legitimate claim to power .
See also
literature
- Nikolai Grube (ed.): Maya, god kings in the rainforest. Potsdam 2012, ISBN 978-3-8480-0033-3 , pp. 97, 446
- Brian R. Just: Ninth-century Stelae of Machaquilá and Seibal. FAMSI 2007
- Federico Fahsen: Notes for a Sequence of Rulers of Machaquila. In: American Antiquity , Vol. 49, No. 1, 1984, pp. 94-104.
Web links
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 16 ° 19 '12 " N , 89 ° 51' 36" W.