Sabana Piletas
Sabana Piletas is an important site of the late classical Mayan culture in the extreme northeast of the Mexican state of Campeche , 17.5 km northeast of the small town of Bolonchen . An outstanding find is a staircase with a long hieroglyphic inscription . The site has been investigated since 2007 and is not open to the public.
The Sabana Piletas site is located in a densely forested and inaccessible area on the border between the states of Yucatán and Campeche, which was densely populated between the 8th and 10th centuries. Around an irregular courtyard are several mostly small buildings in the late classical Puuc style and a pyramid . One of these buildings stands out with its rich relief decoration , which shows, among other things, two birds intertwined with their necks. Naturalistic representations of this kind are unique in the Puuc style. Another sculpture on the same building depicts a human face peeking out of a bird's throat and thus belongs in the context of corresponding sculptures in Chichén Itzá and Tula .
The 18 m wide 6-step staircase leads up to a very small building also on the edge of the courtyard. About 100 hieroglyphic blocks are carved on two of the steps. Longer hieroglyphic inscriptions are rare in the Puuc region in the northwest of Mexico's Yucatán peninsula . What is astonishing but very advantageous for deciphering is that the first half of the texts are identical on both levels. It refers to the establishment of the inscription and the ritual ball game , the latter, however, probably located in the underworld . In the different parts, in the first stage, a person is brought into relation with the ball game who is referred to as the subordinate of fire and master of a city called Chana ' . This as yet unidentified place is also mentioned in other inscriptions in the region. Furthermore, in strongly formalized language, the destruction of land in all directions is spoken of without the enemies being named directly. The rest of the inscription refers to three rituals in which different deities were represented by living people. Finally, the ancestors of the ruler are named. The inscription also bears a date which, although details are still disputed, most certainly corresponds to December 18, 858.
Individual evidence
- ^ Antonio Benavides C. et al .: Nuevos hallazgos en la región Puuc: Sabana Piletas y su escalinata jeroglífica . In: Arqueología Mexicana 97 (2009). Pp. 77-83.
See also
Coordinates: 20 ° 6 ′ 23 ″ N , 89 ° 37 ′ 2 ″ W.