Topoxté

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Topoxté Island
Temple ruins in Topoxté
Temple ruins in Topoxté
Waters Yaxha Lake
Geographical location 17 ° 3 '57 "  N , 89 ° 25' 10"  W Coordinates: 17 ° 3 '57 "  N , 89 ° 25' 10"  W
Topoxté (Guatemala)
Topoxté
length 450 m
width 400 m
surface 18 ha
Residents uninhabited

Topoxté is an uninhabited lake island with the archaeological Maya site of the same name , in what is now the Guatemalan Department of Peten .

geography

The small island is located in the northeast of Guatemala in Lake Yaxha , about 200 m from its southwestern shore.

history

As the capital of the Ko`woj Maya , Topoxté was the most important site of the post-classical period in Mesoamerica. Topoxté is located in the Yaxha lagoon and means something like " seeds of the Ramon tree ". The ramon tree, commonly known as the breadnut tree , is one of the most important components of the ancient Maya diet. The site, first settled in the Classical Period by elite families from Yaxha, was abandoned at the end of the Classical Period (around 900 AD). Topoxté revived around 1350 until it was finally abandoned in 1450. Ten different phases of construction are evident in the archaeological records, which are divided into three different groups. This includes two 5 meter high platforms and a low-lying residential area consisting of more than 100 buildings. The area around the central square is limited by three temples built in the style of post-classical architecture (vertical walls, columns and flat stone ceilings).

In addition to Topoxté, there were two other islands, Cantè and Poxte , which were also inhabited by the Ko`woj Maya. These, too, were abandoned in 1450 when the Mayan capital was relocated to the west on the island of Zacpetén in the Salpeten Lake. From 1994 to 1997, extensive conservation work took place on Topoxté, during which the buildings of the ceremonial center were completely restored and partially reconstructed.

Web links

Commons : Topoxté  - collection of images, videos and audio files

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