Tayasal (archaeological site)
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Infobox ancient site Tayasal is a Maya archaeological site located in present-day Guatemala. It was a large Maya city with a long history of occupation. Tayasal is a corruption of Tah Itza ("Place of the Itza"), a term originally used to refer to the core of the Itza territory in Petén.<ref>Jones et al 1981, p. 531.</ref> The name Tayasal was applied in error to the archaeological site, and originally applied to the Itza capital. However, the name now refers to the peninsula supporting both the archaeological site and the village of San Miguel. The site was occupied from the Middle Preclassic period (c. 1000–350 BC) through to the Late Postclassic (c. 1200–1539 AD).<ref name="Pugh&SanchezPolo2011p6">Pugh and Sánchez Polo 2011, p. 6.</ref>
The site is a protected national monument.
Location
The Tayasal archaeological site is situated on a peninsula on Lake Petén Itzá a short distance to the north of the modern town of Flores,<ref>Pugh and Sánchez Polo 2011, p. 6. Chan Nieto et al 2012, p. 284.</ref> separated from it by a Template:Convert wide stretch of water,<ref name="Pugh and Sánchez Polo 2010, p. 3">Pugh and Sánchez Polo 2010, p. 3.</ref> and falls within the municipality of Flores, in the department of Petén in northern Guatemala.<ref name="ChanNieto&c2012p284"/> The site covers an area of approximately Template:Convert. The southern portion of the peninsula also hosts the modern village of San Miguel, which probably covers a portion of the Postclassic occupation of the site.<ref name="Pugh&SanchezPolo2011p6"/> The peninsula fell within the core of the Postclassic Itza territory.<ref name="Pugh and Sánchez Polo 2010, p. 3"/>
The protected area of the archaeological site is defined by the lakeshore to the north and west, and by the modern village of San Miguel to the south and east.<ref name="ChanNieto&c2012p284"/>
Site history
The Tayasal peninsula showed intense activity during the Late Preclassic (c. 400 BC - 250 AD).<ref>Chan Nieto et al 2012, pp. 283-4.</ref> At this time, the city fully reflected ongoing developments in the Maya region, such as monumental architecture that included typical Preclassic Maya architectural forms such as the triadic pyramid and the E-Group ceremonial complex.<ref>Chan Nieto et al 2012, pp. 284-5.</ref> Activity at the site continued right through to the Postclassic period.<ref name="ChanNieto&c2012p284"/> Investigations have identified that most Postclassic and colonial activity was concentrated on the southern shore of the peninsula.<ref>Pugh and Sánchez Polo 2011, pp. 6-7.</ref> Very little is known about the use of the peninsula during the time of first contact with the Spanish, although early colonial accounts reported that the Itza frequently conducted rituals there.<ref name="Pugh&SanchezPolo2011p6"/> Evidence of Spanish contact includes a musketball excavated at the site.<ref name="Pugh&SanchezPolo2011p8"/> In 1702 and 1703, shortly after the Spanish conquest of Petén, Spanish missions were established on the Tayasal peninsula at San Miguel and San Bernabé,<ref>Pugh et al 2012, p. 625.</ref> although the population of San Bernabé dropped off sharply through the course of the 18th century due to high infant mortality.<ref>Pugh et al 2012, p. 626.</ref>
Modern history
The Tayasal archaeological site was declared a national monument in 1931. The University of Pennsylvania mapped the site in 1971, and its limits were defined by the Instituto de Antropología e Historia (Institute of Anthropology and History) in 1994.<ref name="ChanNieto&c2012p284">Chan Nieto et al 2012, p. 284.</ref> Tayasal has been excavated sporadically since the 1920s, beginning with Guthe's excavations in 1921–1922,<ref name="Chase85p193">Chase 1985, p. 193.</ref> continuing with Morley's dig in 1937 to 1938, by several others in the 1950s and 60s.<ref>Chase 1979, pp. 86-119.</ref> The University of Pennsylvania undertook excavations in 1971, and again in 1977.<ref name="Chase85p193"/> The Proyecto Maya Colonial undertook a month-long investigation of the site in 1996.<ref name="Pugh&SanchezPolo2011p8">Pugh and Sánchez Polo 2011, p. 8.</ref> The Proyecto Arqueológico Tayasal was launched in 2009, with particular emphasis on the period of contact with the Spanish, and the early colonial years.<ref>Pugh and Sánchez Polo 2010, p. 4.</ref> The project also remapped the site with the objective of correcting any errors from the 1971 mapping project.<ref>Pugh and Sánchez Polo 2010, p. 12.</ref>
Site description
The University of Pennsylvania project mapped 339 structures; the city possessed large open plazas, palaces, pyramid-temples, an acropolis, defensive walls, residential buildings, and a cenote.<ref name="ChanNieto&c2012p284"/> As many as fifty burials and twelve caches have been recovered from Tayasal.<ref>Chase 1983.</ref> The site core includes a number of large structures dating to the Classic period.<ref name="Pugh&SanchezPolo2011p7">Pugh and Sánchez Polo 2011, p. 7.</ref>
Mirador del rey Can'Ek "King Kan Ek's Lookout" (Structures T65-T67) was a triadic pyramid, consisting of a massive pyramidal platform with a single access stairway, supporting two lesser structures flanking a principal structure. This architectural form dates it to the Late Preclassic. It was built on the higher portion of the peninsula.<ref name="ChanNieto&c2012p285"/>
Cerro Moo (Structures T256-T258) was another triadic pyramid, dating to the Late Preclassic, also built on the higher ground of the peninsula.<ref name="ChanNieto&c2012p285"/>
Group 23 is located to the southwest of the acropolis. It appears to have been built in the Late Preclassic as an E-Group. The E-Group axis is oriented 9° to the south of the east–west line, leading investigators to conclude that it was never used as an astronomical observatory as at other sites, but rather served a purely ceremonial function. It consists of a radial structure to the west and a long basal platform to the east that supported three buildings.<ref name="ChanNieto&c2012p285">Chan Nieto et al 2012, p. 285.</ref> At Tayasal, the radial structure appears to have been covered by later construction, including a group of structures dating to the Late Postclassic.<ref>Chan Nieto et al 2012, p. 285. Pugh and Sánchez Polo 2010, p. 24.</ref>
San Bernabé
The San Bernabé portion of the site occupies the northwestern area of the Tayasal peninsula.<ref name="ChanNieto&c2012p286"/> Various structures in this area have been dated to the Late Preclassic.<ref>Chan Nieto et al. 2012, pp. 286-287.</ref> After the Spanish conquest, San Bernabé was one of two Spanish missions established on the peninsula.<ref name="Pugh&SanchezPolo2011p6"/>
Structure T29 was a platform measuring Template:Convert and has a height of Template:Convert. It was built in the Late Preclassic and was reused in the Postclassic. It continued in use into the colonial period,<ref>Pugh and Sánchez Polo 2011, p. 14.</ref> and excavators recovered a number of colonial artefacts around the structure, including a silver Spanish coin, probably a real, Maiolica pottery, a lead bullet.<ref>Pugh and Sánchez Polo 2011, pp. 15-17.</ref> It is likely that the platform supported a colonial-period residence.<ref>Pugh and Sánchez Polo 2011, p. 17.</ref>
Structure T30 was a circular structure in the northwestern portion of the site. It was elongated, measuring Template:Convert east-west by Template:Convert north-south, and stood Template:Convert high. It dates to the Preclassic, and served as the basal platform for four structures (denominated T-30a to T30d).<ref name="ChanNieto&c2012p286">Chan Nieto et al 2012, p. 286.</ref>
Structure T30a is a circular platform measuring Template:Convert across, and standing Template:Convert high. Its wall consists of three courses of soft limestone blocks, and its fill consists of a mix of soil and small stones. Recovered potsherds are dated to the Late Preclassic Chicanel Phase. A number of ritual deposits were excavated that date to the Late to Terminal Classic period, indicating continued use of the platform long after its construction.<ref name="ChanNieto&c2012p286"/> Although the majority of the building's fill was Late Preclassic, the fill on the east side was dated to the Terminal Classic.<ref>Pugh and Sánchez Polo 2011, p. 19. Estrada-Belli 2007, p. 40.</ref>
Iconography
Tayasal iconography is typical of Maya artefacts found in the surrounding Petén region that date approximately to the same time period. Examples of the imagery can be found on three excavated vases. The vases accompanied an individual who was interred at Tayasal during the Terminal Classic period; circa 8th century AD.<ref name="Chase85p194">Chase 1985, p. 194.</ref><ref>Chase 1985, pp. 193-201.</ref> The vases' images are thought to represent the elite status concerns, similar to those as depicted on carved stelae at neighbouring sites.<ref name="Chase85p194"/>
Notes
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References
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