Piedras Negras (Guatemala)

Coordinates: 17 ° 10 ′ 0 ″  N , 91 ° 15 ′ 45 ″  W.

Piedras Negras​

Guatemala

Piedras Negras (actual name, emblem glyph : Yokib ' , Mayathan for "canyon", "entrance") is a classic ruin site of the lowland Maya on the Usumacinta River in Guatemala in the municipality of Las Cruces near today's border with Mexico .

Piedras Negras - emblem glyph

history

The place was founded around 400 BC. First settled. In its heyday in the 8th century AD, Piedras Negras was one of the centers that controlled trade on the Usumacinta. A large part of the approx. 60 carved stone monuments also originate from this period. In the 9th century, like many other Maya cities, the city was abandoned. At the end of the 19th century it was rediscovered by Teobert Maler , but only explored and partially excavated in the 1930s.

Ruin site

The ruined cities about 15 to 20 m above the river are overgrown by the jungle and have hardly been restored or reconstructed. Only a few broken steles are interesting.

Sculptures

Most of the sculptures by Piedras Negras are now in the National Museum of Archeology and Ethnology in Guatemala City .

Throne 1

The partially open backrest of "Throne 1" is one of the most extraordinary and best preserved evidence of the bronze - and ironless Maya culture: Two sculptural and thus almost lively rulers with a bare upper body, skull deformation , elaborate headdresses as well as necklaces and earrings stand or sit opposite each other; As in a lively dialogue, one hand of both persons (possibly two brothers or the deceased father and his son or successor) is raised.

Stele 13

Stela 13 shows Ha 'K'in Xook, the ruler penultimate ruler of Piedras Negras. He sits - unusual for Mayan art - with bent legs on a pillow-like base; both arms are supported on the knees. His upper body and arms are covered by a broad chest pectoral . He wears elaborate headgear with headdresses and figurines of gods.

Stele 15

Stele 15 shows K'inich Yat Ahk II, the last ruler of Piedras Negras. He also wears an elaborate headdress (destroyed), a chest pectoral , a wide hip belt with a hanging apron and decorative lower leg cuffs . The hands are not exactly symmetrical, but slightly offset, which gives this figure a certain closeness to life.

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  Throne 1

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  Stele 13

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  Stele 15

Ruler

Surname	Name glyphs	governed by	ruled until	Monuments	Remarks
K'an Ahk I.		approx. 297			Ruler A was later captured by the ruler of Yaxchilan.
K'an Ahk II.		approx. 478
Yat Ahk I.		approx. 510
Ruler C		514	about 520	Panel 12
K'inich Yo'nal Ahk I.		November 14, 603	February 3, 639	Steles 25, 26, 31 Pyramid R-5	Possibly Rastaurator of the ruling dynasty
Itzam K'an Ahk I.		April 12, 639	November 15, 686	Steles 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 Panels 2, 4, 7 Throne 2
K'inich Yo'nal Ahk II.		January 2, 687	approx. 729	Steles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Pyramid J-5 Altar 1 Panel 15
Itzam K'an Ahk II.		November 9, 729	November 26, 757	Steles 9, 10, 11, 22, 40 Pyramid O-13 Altar 2	Possibly founder of a new line of rulers
Yo'nal Ahk III.		March 10, 758	approx. 767	Steles 14 and 16
Ha 'K'in Xook		February 14, 767	March 24, 780	Steles 13, 18, 23	Death or abdication
K'inich Yat Ahk II.		May 31, 781	approx. 808	Steles 12 and 15 Altar 4 Panels 1? and 3 Throne 1	Brother of Ha 'K'in Xook

Others

On the site of the former Maya city, the urn with the ashes of the researcher Tatiana Proskouriakoff was buried, who was the first to succeed in working out a ruler's chronology in Piedras Negras.

See also

• List of Mayan ruins

literature

• Flora Clancy: The Monuments of Piedras Negras, an Ancient Maya City. University of New Mexico Press 2009, ISBN 978-0826344519
• Nikolai Grube (Ed.): Maya. God kings in the rainforest . Könemann-Verlag, Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-8290-1564-X .
• Simon Martin / Nikolai Grube: Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. Thames & Hudson, 2nd ed., London 2008, ISBN 978-0-500-28726-2 , pp. 138-153.
• Linda Schele , David Freidel : The unknown world of the Maya. The secret of their culture deciphered. Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-89350-737-X .
• David Stuart and Ian Graham: Piedras Negras. In Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions Vol. 9 , Harvard University Press 2005, ISBN 978-0873658225 .

Web links

Commons : Piedras Negras (Guatemala)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Piedras Negras - Photos + Info (English)
• Piedras Negras - photos + information
• Piedras Negras - Info

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Peter Mathews y Péter Bíró: Diccionario de jeroglíficos mayas, letra Y : Yokib ' , August 31, 2005.