El Mirador Guide - The Hike

El Mirador Guide: The Hike elmiradorhike.blogspot.
com
El Mirador Guide
This document is a product of many wonderful hikes and even more hours of
painful and boring time before our laptop screens. If you feel like it helped you get
more out of your time at El Mirador or you just want to give something in return,
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Edited by: Ron Steyers
WEB: elmiradorhike.blogspot.com
EMAIL: elmiradorhike@gmail.com
Cover photo: Detail of Hydraulic System Frieze, El Mirador
THE HIKE
A field guide to the archaeological and
cultural wonders of the Mirador Basin
© 2011 El Mirador Hike
El Mirador Guide: The Hike elmiradorhike.blogspot.com
Contents Pava Group .................................................................................................................. 17
Residential area ........................................................................................................... 18

THE HIKE................................................................................................................................ 1
Cascabel Complex ....................................................................................................... 18
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 4
Great Central Acropolis ............................................................................................... 19
GENERAL INFORMATION ...................................................................................................... 5
Structures 313 and 314 ............................................................................................... 19
Carmelita, the last village .................................................................................................. 5
Structure 304............................................................................................................... 20
El Mirador today ............................................................................................................... 6
The hydraulic system................................................................................................... 20
Human presence in the Mirador Basin ............................................................................. 7
El Tigre Complex .......................................................................................................... 21
Modern discovery of El Mirador ....................................................................................... 9
Stelae ........................................................................................................................... 22
The Mirador Basin Project ................................................................................................ 9
La Muerta ........................................................................................................................ 24
ON THE TRAIL ...................................................................................................................... 10
A-1 ............................................................................................................................... 24
Suggested itinerary ......................................................................................................... 11
A-2 ............................................................................................................................... 24
La Florida ......................................................................................................................... 11
Monument 1 ............................................................................................................... 24
Wakná ............................................................................................................................. 12
Stela 2 .......................................................................................................................... 26
Nakbé .............................................................................................................................. 13
El Tintal ............................................................................................................................ 27
The Codex Vessel ........................................................................................................ 13
Sites ............................................................................................................................. 28
Stela 1 ......................................................................................................................... 13
Cylindrical Vase ........................................................................................................... 28
Causeways....................................................................................................................... 15
Stela 1 .......................................................................................................................... 29
El Mirador ....................................................................................................................... 16
Tomb 1 ........................................................................................................................ 29
La Danta Complex ....................................................................................................... 16
THE MAYA OF EL MIRADOR ................................................................................................ 31
Ancient Maya science and trade ..................................................................................... 31
Triadic pattern ................................................................................................................ 31
Maya religion .................................................................................................................. 32
Creation ...................................................................................................................... 33
Maize God ................................................................................................................... 33
The Hero Twins ........................................................................................................... 33
Dual souls .................................................................................................................... 34
The Maya calendar ...................................................................................................... 34
Popol Vuh .................................................................................................................... 34
The underworld .......................................................................................................... 35
Rituals of the Maya ......................................................................................................... 35
The Maya ball game .................................................................................................... 35
Blood sacrifice ............................................................................................................. 36
Drugs of the Maya ....................................................................................................... 37
Maya Culture................................................................................................................... 37
Maya History ................................................................................................................... 38

INTRODUCTION
Everyone who has been to El Mirador is familiar with the limited amount of information
available. Unless you are accompanied by an archeologist who has worked on site (and
even they are often in the process of finding answers), local guards, guides, agency
experts and others know very little of recent excavations or discoveries.
This book tries (with limited success) to fill this void by gathering all information available
online, from vocal communication and experience, so that visitors can get those
interesting pieces of science so much needed to boost their enthusiasm in promoting the
protection of the Mirador Basin after the hike. The main feature, the reason why we all
spend these nights before the screen, is that we believe a cultural heritage and all
corresponding data belongs to everyone, and people should be given the choice of
supporting its protection after a visit, voluntarily.
If you plan to do the hike alone or with local guides only, take this booklet with you, read
up on the missing parts and contact us if you feel like giving something in exchange. This
volume is divided into three parts, the general info contains environmental and
contemporary cultural data on the Mirador Basin, the second part describes the hike and
all the sites along the way while the last chapter deals with the Maya culture, religion and
history, including El Mirador where possible.
The authors
GENERAL INFORMATION
In this chapter we introduce the general area, the village of Carmelita and the people
living today in the Petén forests, challenges and dangers facing the site and the various
institutions working on excavating and protecting this unique cultural heritage. Reading
material mainly before you start the hike.
Carmelita, the last village
Although the Petén was thinly populated until the 1970s, it had a vibrant culture
intimately linked to its vast forests, named the "forest society". Petén communities since
the time of the ancient Maya have used forest products to build their homes, feed their
children and heal the sick. The forest and the products it offers are woven into the daily
life of communities like Carmelita. Carmelita developed primarily around the extraction of
chicle (M. zapota), a tree latex which formed the basis of chewing gum until synthetics
replaced almost all natural production in the 1960s. Later on, markets emerged for xaté
(Chamaedorea spp.), an ornamental palm leaf, and allspice (Pimenta dioica), a common
household seasoning. These three export products still generate substantial foreign
exchange revenues for Guatemala and, until recently, their harvest and extraction Main street, Carmelita
provided the majority of household income for Carmelita. Carmelita, which sits at the
heart of the multiple use zone of the reserve, has always been isolated politically, socially,
economically, and culturally from Guatemala’s traditional power center in the highlands. change from forest to cattle pasture and slash- and-burn agriculture. Traditional forest
This isolation is combined with an individualism encouraged by the nature of non-timber communities, like Carmelita, were losing on both sides. The industrial timber concessions
product extraction. The extraction activity, based upon an individual’s harvest, may left them unemployed and without economic equity in resource extraction and the
require that heads of households, and even entire families, spend months each year in the advancing agricultural frontier put the forests upon which they depended for their
forests. Despite decades of existence and dependence on forest products, until the 1990s survival at risk. In the late 1980s, the Guatemalan government enacted a sweeping
the government had never granted the community formal resource tenure. environmental legislation. The Guatemalan Protected Areas System was created,
including the Maya Biosphere Reserve, together with the National Council for Protected
In the early 1990s, Guatemala had just begun to emerge from a thirty year undeclared Areas (CONAP), the institution responsible for managing this vast system.
civil war. The Petén with its vast forests and large blocks of state-owned lands, was one of
the battlegrounds during this conflict. In the 1960s, the central government set up the Most communities, especially Carmelita, had never had the power or wealth to obtain
Empresa del Fomento y Desarrollo del Petén (FYDEP), a civilian agency with military title to the land they had been living on for decades. This frustration sometimes erupted
management responsible for administering the Petén. In the 1970s the agency initiated into violence, as happened in Cruce Dos Aguadas, a small agricultural community to the
development through road construction that linked the region with southern Guatemala south of Carmelita in 1993. The inhabitants of Cruce, unhappy with their future prospects,
and by grants of large land and resource concessions to wealthy and well-connected burned down the CONAP post and chased the guards out of town. Along these events,
members of the economic elite. As a result, cattle, timber and oil interests came to dynamic community leaders also emerged to lead the process. One such leader was
dominate the political and economic sectors of the Petén. In addition, landless peasants Carlos Catalan, a chiclero and xatero from Carmelita who could passionately paint the
from Guatemala’s impoverished central and eastern regions also used the infrastructure portrait of life in a small Petén forest town to the highland political elite and defend the
created by these entities to establish a foothold in the Petén. The result was a rapid rights of his community. Finally in April 1997, CONAP preliminarily approved Carmelita’s
continues to face destabilizing external pressures, including illegal logging, land clearing,
wildlife poaching and other clandestine activities. The community has limited resources to
counter these threats and many of the groups carrying out these activities have ties to
powerful economic and political interests. Oil and gas production is also on the rise in the
reserve, and there may be overlap between Carmelita’s concession and hydrocarbon
exploration contracts granted by the government. Finally, the individualism fostered by
traditional non timber product extraction may impede the community’s ability to
collectively manage the concession, optimize its business potential and invest the benefits
wisely. In a tragic manifestation of the challenges facing the concession, Carlos Catalan,
the man who had led to the fight for the concession was assassinated just as the first
post-approval timber harvest was being completed in 1997.
El Mirador today
The Maya Biosphere Reserve, a 21.000 km2 area in the northern part of Petén,
Guatemala, consists of National Parks Laguna del Tigre, Sierra del Lacandón, Mirador - Río
Azul and Tikal, along with Biotopes El Zotz, Naachtún-Dos Lagunas, Cerro Cahuí, Laguna
del Tigre and the El Pilar Natural Monument. The 2169 km2 (580.000 acres) of the El
Mirador - Río Azul National Park are reserved as a "Special Archaeological Zone" and
named as the Mirador Basin (the geographical Basin has slightly different borders). The
area called El Mirador is a Maya archaeological site of monumental proportions dating
from the Pre-classic period, considered to be the Cradle of Maya Civilization. These cities
and the monumental architecture they exhibit are the oldest and most important legacies
A photo of the main plaza in Tikal, with the transparent image of El Tigre placed over it of the ancient Maya.
concession. This occurred two weeks after Conservation International’s biological station At El Mirador, hydraulic systems provided running water all year round with huge
in Laguna del Tigre National Park had been burned by farmers invading the park. reservoirs collecting rainwater and a network of canals and cisterns distributing it over a
Concessions were the only mechanism available to these communities to insure their right vast area, an engineering accomplishment not easily copied today (present excavations
to live in their homes and they were determined to get them approved before losing their are suspended each year for months due to the lack of water during the dry season). The
tenure to the invaders. "collapse" of El Mirador is currently being investigated from a variety of disciplines.
Among probable theories are: climate change, overuse of resources, religious fanatism, an
The approval of Carmelita, a 53,000 hectare concession, along with that of Pasadita, attack from the outside, or all of these combined. To cover just one temple with stucco,
18,000 hectares, was marked with a formal signing ceremony in November, 1998 the Maya had to cut 400 ha. of forest, because only green wood reaches enough
attended by the Vice President of Guatemala and the American Ambassador. The temperature to burn the lime needed for casting plaster. One can just imagine… Answers
Carmelita concession is the largest community management unit in Central America. The to these questions might provide clues to solving the numerous dangers facing the area
concession agreement grants the community the exclusive right to extract wood and non today. Of 26 known sites, only 14 have been studied; an estimated 30 more await
timber forest products, provide tourism services and use other tangible and intangible discovery alone in the Mirador Basin, making it a slow process.
biological resources within the limits of the concession. The potential revenue from wood
alone could significantly affect the community’s economic development. Despite the
success of achieving the concession, however, many challenges remain. The concession
Human presence in the Mirador Basin
Pollen layers, loss on ignition, magnetic susceptibility and oxygen isotope analysis of 7.28
meters of sediment provide a high-resolution paleo-environmental record from Lago
Puerto Arturo, a crescent shaped lake located 22 km north of Carmelita. A small island on
the lake contains the ruins of structures that appear to date to the Late Classic, though no
archaeological investigations have been carried out on it. A long history of human activity
in the Mirador Basin is indicated by 3600 years of watershed disturbance: from 2700 BC to
900 AD. This period coincides with a relatively dry climate in the southern Maya lowlands.
Pollen shows an abrupt increase in anthropogenic disturbance in the Early Pre-classic,
coincident with archaeological evidence of early settlement. The record indicates at least
four phases of agricultural disturbance, with intervening periods of ecological recovery
during studied 2500 years. The last agricultural phase ended around 900 AD, coincident
with the Late Classic abandonment of the southern Maya lowlands. There is no evidence
of organized human activity in the region during the following 1000 years.
The Mirador Basin, located in the north central portion of the Petén, Guatemala and
southern Campeche, México, is one of the more remote areas of the Maya Lowlands. The
area today is comprised of extensive seasonal swamplands (bajos) interspersed with
Recording mask panels at La Danta pyramid relatively well-drained ridges and slopes. Its intense dry season, lack of perennial water
sources and extensive swamps form a formidable barrier to settlement. Yet the area was
About 1,000 pieces of fine pottery leave the Maya region each month according to densely populated in the Middle and Late Pre-classic periods (1000 BC–AD 150) and
estimates. Looters are often paid between $200 and $500 per vessel, while collectors may modestly occupied during the Late Classic (AD 600-900). Archaeological and ecological
pay more than $100,000 for the same pieces in a gallery or at auction. At even minimal investigations, primarily conducted by the Mirador Basin Project have revealed a long
prices this amounts to a $10-million-a-month business in stolen cultural property. At El history of human settlement. The earliest evidence of permanent structures date to
Mirador looters trenches are everywhere, hundreds are seen along the trails alone. They approximately 1400 BC. By 400 BC, there were nearly a dozen urban centers in the area,
are a product of earlier years when there were no guards or patrols in the area. While including the large centers of Nakbé and El Mirador. Evidence of such large populations
looting continues at many other sites in Guatemala, the ancient structures along the has led researchers to examine the environmental setting during the rise of large centers
hiking trail and near the camps are safe and not looted any more. as well as the possible role of environmental change in their demise, which occurred on at
least two occasions (ca. AD 150 and AD 900).
Many tourists are afraid of the areas reputation of being the hotbed of drug production
and arms and people smuggling. While this might be true to nearby areas, the territory of The results of this study provide a Holocene length record of climate change and human
the El Mirador-Río Azul National Park is free of such activities and visitors never encounter activity in the Maya lowlands. This period had a high population pressure within the
any "bad guys". In fact, the further one travels from Santa Elena, the safer life becomes. Mirador Basin. Around 1200 BC evidence of deforestation, agricultural activity and
While pickpockets often operate in Flores, you can leave your camera on the sidewalk in erosion all increase dramatically. These results corroborate the archaeological record,
Carmelita and no one will touch it, same applies to camps in El Mirador, you and your gear which shows the establishment and growth of permanent settlements at this time.
is totally safe. Forests were significantly restricted for the entire period of pre-Columbian settlement.
The vegetation record shows three discrete periods of decreased disturbance and/or
abandonment in the late Holocene: 550-350 BC, AD 130-225 and AD 950–present. The
first period coincides with cultural transitions in the region and is the first evidence of a
possible decrease in population at this time. The latter two periods represent the Late water. In corings from upland lakes and trenches in dry dirt from several bajos, studies
Pre-classic and Late Classic abandonments identified in the archaeological record. Forest have found that the Maya's environment underwent a drastic change midway through
recovery occurred rapidly when the area was permanently abandoned around AD 1000 their tenure.
(D. Wahl, 2003).
Beginning around AD 100, most of the area's surface water disappeared. Several feet
below the bajos' surface is a layer of
what was once moist, wetland peat,
rich with pollen from trees, aquatic
plants, and corn; at the end of the
Preclassic era, and for the next 500
years, this soil was buried in
successive layers of waterborne
limestone clay. These strata tell a
story. When paired with the bajos'
archaeological evidence and the
findings of other researchers
throughout the lowlands, the history
of the Maya environment becomes
clearer. It is a saga of ecological
exploitation, change, adaptation,
and defeat. One theory is that the
cities grew more crowded, the elite
more numerous, the temples and
palaces grander still. But by the Late
Classic, around AD 750, the system's
Ceramic vessel with glyphs, El Tintal capacity had been overwhelmed.
Human skeletal remains from the Stele 1 at El Mirador lit up at night with a flashlight
Most of the major Maya sites of the Petén border on bajos, or seasonal wetlands, last decades of Maya rule unearthed
important resources for the ancient Maya. In the rainy season, bajos are swampy thickets, at the sites of Tikal and Copán suggest a decline in stature and show an increased number
great forested tracts of mud that mire any mule or human foolish enough to set foot in of scars from malnourishment. The soil was exhausted, the farming infrastructure weak.
them. It is believed that the bajos, once ringed by Maya cities but long ignored by Warfare increased. Polities fractured. The end had come (T. Gidwitz, 2005).
archaeologists, were the breadbasket of the Maya world. Satellite image shows
topographic relief and elevated islands in bajos around El Mirador. In a land where 90 The geology of the Petén consists of layers of limestone, the oldest layer located in the
percent of the rain falls between May and December, where the porous limestone Mirador Basin. Known as "tzaal" by the Maya, this soft porous mineral consists of almost
bedrock sucks away water like a sponge, the Maya made extraordinary efforts to save pure calcium carbonate with approximately 2% of clay. Apparently, due to the abundance
every drop. The GIS data shows canal networks and miles of grand causeways that may of tzaal, the Maya were "fanatics" in the use of lime. For example, recent excavations at
have been aqueducts. Scientists have found dams and weirs on bajo streams and the Tintal-El Mirador Causeway found that the Maya used limestone and 10 – 40.000 m3
discovered that the floodplain of the Holmul River, once a year-round bajo river linking of tzaal per km of its length. Calculations show that five units of wood and stone were
many of the area's largest cities, is peppered with reservoirs and chultuns, the Maya's used per one unit of lime produced. Lime mortar coating on the pyramid El Tigre, the
bottle-shaped, underground food storage pits that may have also been dug to catch
second largest structure of El Mirador, required 2200 m3 of lime or, in other words, the around the Mirador Basin since. He is lead archeologist of the site, director of the Mirador
complete clear cutting of a 163 hectare forest. Basin Project and the main fundraiser in the fight to preserve the Basin and its values.
Modern discovery of El Mirador The Mirador Basin Project
The existence of large Pre Columbian structures in a then unexplored area – now known The Mirador Basin Project is a major multidisciplinary scientific research and conservation
as El Mirador – was first noticed by Engineer Claudio Urrutia in the 1886-87. Claudio project of an area in the extreme northern department of Petén in Guatemala known as
Urrutia was in charge of drawing the border between Mexico and Guatemala. He and the Mirador Basin. In 2008-9 the Mirador Basin Project, directed by Dr. Richard Hansen,
astronomer Miles Rock were appointed by the Guatemalan government to undertake this was one of the largest privately funded archaeological and environmental conservation
enormous task and to explore the imaginary line along parallel 17.49º N, where they put projects in history, focusing on El Mirador, the ancient causeway between El Mirador and
markers every 16 km to determine the border dividing Mexico and Guatemala. His work Tintal and nearby smaller sites. The main goals of the Project are:
was key in defining the official limits between the two countries and also between
Guatemala and Belize and between Guatemala and Honduras later. He used some of exploring the origins, dynamics and demise of Maya civilizations in northern
these monuments on his maps as references and named them after their old names or Guatemala
with short descriptions of the sites. the preservation of the tropical rainforest in northern Guatemala and the
Mesoamerican Lowlands
However, the existence of the site of El Mirador in Northern Guatemala – as such – is only establishment of educational programs for local populations of Guatemala
known since the 1920s. F. Vans Agnew and Enrique Shufeldt from a chicle operation in
northern Petén reported sighting of the ruins in 1926. Aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh Consequently, the Mirador Basin project has conducted extensive excavations, sample
reported having seen some strange mounds (he thought were ancient volcanoes) in the collection and exploration in many areas to provide environmental data to answer the
area as he flew over them on his famous Yucatán flight, but it was a group of first group of questions. Just in 2005, the project workers finished excavations in 22
archaeologists of the Carnegie Institution, led by S. G. Morley who first visited the site in separate, low lying areas and more than 100 excavations in plazas and platforms in the
1932 and made a brief description of a part of La Danta. The absence of carvings or civic center. Pollen analysis, geological and lithic studies, research of the soil fertility of
hieroglyphs disappointed the group of experts used to Classic Maya architecture, resulting Petén, water quality and isotope analysis and many more sub-projects were done in one
in further disinterest from the archaeological community. Ian Graham was the first field season. A team even replicated the Maya mud terraces for real, building walls of
scholar to visit and make a basic map of the whole site, describing several of the huge sticks and filling the "crates" with black mud in an attempt to reveal the secrets of Maya
structures in 1962. He also found some Pre-classic stelae pieces. This was of course more agriculture.
interesting to scientists back home, who immediately started constructing theories on the
age and cultural connections of this new, unknown site.
One of the main sponsors of the Mirador Basin Project is Global Heritage Fund (GHF).
Their mission is to create, an econo archaeological and wildlife protected area in the heart
The next organized scientific expedition to El Mirador took place in 1970, with Joyce of the Maya Biosphere Reserve. The project and its partners seek permanent protection
Marcus and Ian Graham leading, sacking some ceramic shards that were dated Pre-classic for 810,000 acres of pristine rainforest, the last large area of tropical forest remaining in
and Late Classic back at home. Following a reconnaissance flight over the site in 1977, the Latin America north of the Amazon. To achieve this, their priorities are:
next year Project Acalches, lead by Dahlin and Graham focused on research of causeways,
reservoirs, house mounds and bajo soils. In 1979 Matheny of Brigham Young University
aid the government in securing UNESCO World Heritage designation,
joined the team, starting a full-scale mapping and excavation program, including soil
sampling, consolidating looters' trenches and digging test pits around La Danta. A young establish permanent protection for Mirador Basin, and become a sustainable
student, Richard Hansen was also part of the team, and has been leading excavations all protected area within 10 years.
ON THE TRAIL
Current information on hiking conditions, GPS waypoints or outfitter prices can be found
on elmiradorhike.blogspot.com.
Archaeological field seasons usually start in June and end in September, coinciding with
the main part of the rainy season. This makes the hikes very different in the dry than in
the rainy season. From January on, the rains stop, the earth dries and you can hike all the
way to El Mirador and back and just get a bit muddy.
By March, most water-dependant wildlife has moved from the area, but the bearing
sapodilla and breadnut trees lure troops of spider monkeys to the trees above the trails.
April is hot and dry and then the first rains arrive in May, with the watersheds filling up by
June. Archaeologists also arrive to various campsites around the basin and watching them
work is worth all the hassle the rainy season is thought to be.
In fact, apart from some bad weeks in August and September, the rains usually only fall in
the late afternoon or evening hours, and the mud, well… gumboots sure help. Wildlife is
rich and varied in this season, with birds and insects apparent everywhere. By October the
rains get less frequent and the trails gradually turn to only ankle deep mud. Days are hot
and humid year-round, but nights between November and April can get really (people just
won't believe it), really cold, meaning a light sleeping bag is needed in the hammock.
Water is scarce in the dry season, so be prepared to have a daily amount on you at all
times and do not allow your sometimes too helpful guide to pack it on the mules
following behind. Filtered drinking water can be bought in 25 liter cans (called tambón in
Spanish), theoretically at all the campsites and cooking-bathing water can be collected for
free as well at every camp. Guards live in these camps year-round, so there is always
water and help available. Finding water outside campsites is easy in the rainy season but
next to impossible in the dry season unless you know the exact site of the watering holes.
Blisters are the most common medical issues on these hikes, to avoid them wear big
shoes, many layers of socks, use a sole liner, bring loads of strong medical tape and
harden your feet before the hike by walking barefoot everywhere.
It is illegal inside the park (only listing things not obvious to every visitor):
to consume alcohol or drugs

sleeping on top of pyramids
walking outside campsites between sunset and sunrise This itinerary is written based on field experience. After leading more than 20 hikes to El
hunting, trapping, killing or hurting any animal or plant Mirador, we hope our suggestions in choosing the order of trails and campsites help you
removing stones, artifacts, tools, etc get everywhere in time and maximize your experience.
bringing in pets
littering, leaving garbage or live fires behind Apart from the general archaeological information written by smarter people than us,
after each campsite we give you a few tips your guide might not know about, plus some
Apart from the above, the usual National Park guidelines apply. Please remember, these emergency/evacuation information that could turn useful. The order of sites below is
pyramids are legacy to people living right now in Guatemala, people who still speak the based on the above itinerary, so if you follow it, all you have to do is read through this
same language, believe in the same gods and perform some of the same rituals their chapter while doing the hike!
ancestors did. For them, the pyramid you are standing on is a temple, a church, a mosque,
a synagogue. Please act as if you were in one of these places! La Florida
Suggested itinerary The first archaeological field season at this site was in
2001 (Valle and Suyuc), no information on excavations
The shortest, richest, most challenging version: distance/time/trail conditions in 2003 (Structure 1). During this period, scientists
discovered vast deposits of stone objects, lithic
Day 1: At 5 am you catch the Carmelita bus before the market in Santa Elena. You will workshop tools and proof of extensive stone tool
arrive around 10 am to Carmelita, where you spend an hour packing and start your hike production. A large amount of flint chips and waste
the same day. You only have to walk 3 hours to reach the campsite of La Florida, where was found everywhere in Late Classic building fillings,
you have time to explore the ruins – one hour needed, no more. 10 km/3h/moderate suggesting that the finished artifacts were traded. The
preliminary studies concluded that the site might have
served as a center of distribution of flint artifacts
Day 2: Rising early, you can reach Wakná around noon and Nakbé around 5 pm. Enough
and/or raw material in the Mirador Basin, but to prove
for a sunset atop the pyramid beside the campsite. 28 km/10h/difficult
these further excavations are needed. The main
questions were: what was the technical and economic
Day 3: Follow one of the guards for a 2h walk around the site, then pack up and walk 3 state of the group that settled in Florida? What was
hours on a cleared ancient causeway to La Danta, inside the city of El Mirador. Have a rest the relationship with other sites in the Basin? What
on top, visit the Cascabel and León pyramids, the recent excavations at the Great was the source of natural resources, particularly the
Acropolis and tie up your hammock early at the campsite. Sunset from the top of El Tigre, supply of raw flint? What degree of specialization did they Unfinished stone tools
afterwards some stelae photography in the dark. 10 km/3h/ easy achieve? Finally, after a lot of sifting through flint gravel, the found at La Florida
archaeologists concluded that the studied Structures 34 and 44, some chultuns, Group 1
Day 4: Leaving El Mirador you visit nearby La Muerta, then hike on and arrive around 3 and Group I did not offer proof of extensive trade or distribution centers, rather that
pm to El Tintal. Your guide might take you on a tour around the site, with a sunset from these objects were made for local, domestic use.
the pyramid towering above camp. 21 km/7h/moderate
The Temple Annex has two structures. Structure 44 is located in the central part of the
Day 5: Wake up really early, and just grind down those remaining kilometers. If you arrive site and was built in the Late Classic on an ancient Pre-classic platform, with several
to Carmelita by noon, you can catch the bus and be in Flores by the evening! vaulted, stucco walls decorated with red paint. It was rebuilt several times in the Pre-
18km/6h/moderate classic and Classic. The structure was consolidated in the 2001 season with 12 looters
trenches. Ceramics and stone tools were recovered from disturbed contexts, but may
have come from the filling in the building. Structure 34 is a platform about 60 m long,
located north of Structure 44. The material here was also recovered from disturbed
contexts. This concentration of flint comes from a specialized production and can be used
to determine the exact use of this building.
Another well excavated and restored building is Estructura 1, signed from the campsite.
The double vaulted chambers were used for funerary or penitentiary purposes, according
to local guards.
Tips: Check out the huge Ceiba tree, signed on the way to the ruins. Also, the campsite
has an amazing artifact collection (most of it found out of context) with axe and
spearheads, corn grinding metates, pieces of sculpture and pottery by the loads! An
allspice tree in the middle of the camp is great for a hot tea.
A basic, early map of Wakná (Graham)

Part of the pattern on the Nakbé Codex Vessel
Campsite: guards are just great at this less-visited campsite, letting you use their kitchen
and taking you around the site. You can buy water, take a shower or just sit around at this
clean place, the prettiest of all on the hike, with every building built of natural materials.
EVAC info: Carmelita is 3 hours away on foot. No helipad, no radio. There is a chiclero
camp and ruins. Cival, with a year-round lake, is one hour towards Carmelita.
Wakná
Not much information on this site is available yet to the public, called formerly El Güiro.
One looters' trench near the site camp uncovered a part of a wall with early hieroglyphs
painted in faint red, consolidated a little by archaeologists, excavations at this site are
planned in the coming years. There are several other huge pyramids to the east and
south, all covered by trees and gutted by looters and a favorite place of poisonous snakes
and broken ankles.
Tips: the turn-off to the site is not possible to find without a GPS waypoint or local guide.
the Acropolis, Structure 50 with a height of 30 m. The tallest pyramid in the Eastern
Group, complex 59, has a height of 32 m. The first inhabitants settled in Nakbé between
1000 and 600 BC, according to the dates obtained by carbon 14 tests. The major
occupation of the site dated about 700 BC, which is corroborated by pottery collected
from the primary deposits of the site. It was abandoned around the same time as El
Mirador, with a strong Late Classic reoccupation. According to this evidence, Nakbé is the
oldest city known to date in the Maya Lowlands, being an important center during the
Middle Pre-classic era.
In 1962 Graham made a map of one structure, followed by an expedition by the University
of California at Los Angeles and IDAEH in 1987. In the following years, more than 150
different excavations have been made at this site, answering important questions about
Pre-classic society. Activities related to differences between social levels, such as
bloodletting or dental mutilation, were present in Nakbé by 700 BC. Shells (Strombus and
Marginellidae) from the Caribbean were found in large quantities, indicating sophisticated
trading routes on the continent. Obsidian, probably from San Martín Jilotepeque, was
transported to the site in crude form to be worked on locally.
Map of Nakbé (Graham, 1967)
The Codex Vessel
Campsite: no water, if you have to make camp, go to nearby El Guiro or El Ramonal
camps, they have water. The greatest manifestation of Late Classic Codex-style pottery was found in 1-3 m high
mounds near the civic center. This residential complex with impressive architecture in the
EVAC info: Nakbé 4, Carmelita 8 hours away. northwest of the site is known as the Codex Group. In this area a vase was discovered
with paintings on the side. The scene is the same as on at least 12 other vessels, all found
Nakbé in private collections, but this vase found at Nakbé is the first that is associated with an
archaeological site. The scene shows two scribes sitting with their right hands extended
Located approximately 13 km southeast of El Mirador, Nakbé (meaning "by the road") sits over a manuscript tied with in jaguar skin. Other elements bodies indicate that the scene
atop a limestone hill that rises about 20 to 30 m above the extensive bajo found around it. takes place in Xibalba, the underworld. Evidence suggests that the figures represent Hun
Geologically, the site seems to replicate the natural conditions found in El Mirador, Batz and Hun Chuen, the brothers of the hero twins of the Popol Vuh, who were
forming two groups (West, East) of major architecture on an east-west axis. El Mirador transformed into monkeys to be fooled by the twins. Hun Batz and Hun Chuen were the
and Nakbé are connected by a cleared and studied sacbé, or causeway. The West Group patrons of the arts, such as writing and drawing. Scribes are often depicted as monkeys in
contains two artificial platforms, each with a height of about 6 m and a combined volume the Mayan art, evidence of its relationship with the Popol Vuh.
of approximately 1.000.000 m3 of construction fill. Other large buildings on the site
include the structures 1 (45 m), 27 (24 m), 32 (20 m), 13 (19 m), 47 (18 m), 51 (13 m) and Stela 1
Nakbé Stela 1 was discovered during the 1987 season near Structure 51, consisting of a
bottom piece in original position. The excavations two years later found the rest between
Structures 51 and 52. A deposit of shards, 25 m thick, was placed around the stelae, a
result of ritual acts as cups, plates, and vases were broken around the monument. The
intact part of Stela 1 measures 1.55 x 0.25 x 1.63 m, made of very hard crystalline
limestone and weighs at least about 1400 kg. It was very difficult to piece together the 35
fragments because of the several monuments represented among the pieces, varying
thickness and the large size of some fragments (some of these pieces weigh 130 kg). The
stelae was dated by Hansen between 56 BC and 41 AD, but other scholars believe a 400
BC date is possible as well based on carbon dating from a nearby altar stone. If Hansen is
correct, then Nakbe Stela 1 is the earliest of the Lowlands showing the rituals of
succession/accession and transfer of authority. The monument was painted red, with
traces of paint still evident in the lower areas. In addition, the picture was recorded on
both sides in a manner apparently identical, but there were only four feet to be seen on
the west side, which has suffered major damage due to weather or deliberate mutilation.
The theory however, is that the monument had fallen to the western side and exposed to
the elements.
The scene, although somewhat damaged, clearly shows two men, dressed in royal robes
with bare feet, face to face. Ceremonial ribbons decorate the ankles and arms, and aprons
and belts are visible with earrings on them, indicative of ballplayers. The ribbons on their
feet are tied by knots, apparently an important sign since the far right knot has been
deliberately removed at some later point. The figure on the right wears a U sign attached
to his leg and a scroll coming out the back of his right knee. Two heads hang from their
belts, one in anthropomorphic form with a long nose on the left side, while the other
appears to be the head of a vulture. The figure on the left side, heavier than the other
indicated by his feet being lower, is pointing his finger upward to a head that is between
the two. The head is undoubtedly a deity, with an extended upper lip, mouth open and
teeth exposed, with an earpiece like a shell. There is a great similarity between the
iconography present in the Stela 1 and the story of the Popol Vuh of the hero twins.
Tips: several chultún, deep pits carved into the bedrock can be found around the site. The
Maya apparently used them for food and water storage or as a hiding place in time of
war. You can climb down one of these if you have a local guard with you, it is amazing
how many people fit into one of these mini caves. Another interesting sight at Nakbé is a
fully excavated quarry, where the Maya carved and cut the limestone blocks used to build
their massive pyramids.
Nakbé, Stela 1 (drawing) Campsite: the guards at Nakbé are one of the friendliest around, always ready to take you
around or supply you with drinking or bathing water or let you use their kitchen. The
camp is clean, spacious and pretty but with only one palapa for visitors (in emergency you Called the first freeway system in the world, these roads were studied in the same detail
can always use the guards' palapa or hut). A new campsite is being built since 2010 as some of the great pyramids. Seen clearly from above, most of these causeways were
November, west of the present camp on the trail towards Carmelita, planned completion discovered using satellite images. In 2007 major investigations started on the causeway
date unknown. between El Mirador and Tintal. Scientific objectives included mapping, reconnaissance
and excavation of the ancient causeway system to determine chronology and the
EVAC info: an ATV track leads from Nakbé to El Mirador, both sites have vehicles. There is relationship with the seasonal swamps. A regional camp was built near a former chiclero
shortwave radio in the guard shack and a helipad a 20 minute walk from the campsite stop known as Naranjita, where workmen cleared low bush and small trees on the
towards Carmelita. Hiking times: El Mirador 3h, Wakná 5h, La Florida 10h, Carmelita 13h. causeway to make it more easily observable. Furthermore, the positioning of the tourist
From Nakbé to La Florida the following chiclero camps (and corresponding archaeological trail on the causeway provided a vastly improved trail, where visitors are able to walk in a
sites) can be found in order: Zacatal 1h, Güiro 3h and Ramonal 8h. These usually have straight line and on an elevated platform. In addition, major settlements were located
cooking water close by and a small clearing good for winching but not landing (helicopter). associated with the causeway, which were mapped with geopositioning instruments and
planimetric mapping tools.
Causeways
Tips: if you see a big tree upturned by the wind on one of these roads, check the roots,
you might be able to spot the ancient layers making up the incredible thickness of these
Major causeways called sacbé in Maya, ranging from 25 to 50 m wide and 1-4 m high join
roads. Also, when crossing streambeds, the sudden presence of loose limestone rocks
many of the ancient sites within the Basin, forming a nucleus of closely integrated
everywhere means they have been washed out of the sacbé construction fill by the
economic and political polities that formed what is believed to be the first state level
floods.
society in the Maya Lowlands. The roads are great works of engineering that are just as
impressive as the architectural structures themselves, since these roads were straight and
flat. The Maya leveled the gaps with construction filling to make the sacbeob (plural of EVAC info: cleared, walkable causeways are found between El Tintal and La Muerta,
sacbé) straight and flat and covering very long distances. It was this elaborate web of Nakbé and La Danta and between the temples of the major sites. Walking on a causeway
ancient cities and causeways that linked all these cities together in a unique system and usually cuts hiking times by 10-30%.
gave them the economical, political, and military capability to control vast populations. Landsat satellite image of the Tintal – El Mirador causeway (left) and a map of cleared
causeways in the Mirador Basin (right)
Artistic impression of El Mirador in 200 BC (National Geographic, 2003)

Campsite: the guards at El Mirador change shifts often, and are a mixed type, sometimes
very friendly and helpful, at other times reserved and quiet. You can bath for free at the
natural pool below camp, to the north, or for a fee at the shower boxes beside the guard
shack. You can buy water and even tortillas sometimes, and might be able to challenge
the guards to a soccer match on the former helipad in the centre of the camp. The
campsite is big, with several plastic tarps stretched between trees against rain, but if
there are more than 3 groups at one time you might have to find a place further away in
the trees.
EVAC info: an ATV track leads from El Mirador to logging roads which eventually meet up
with the Santa Elena road, El Mirador camp has the vehicles. There is shortwave radio in
the main building and a helipad a 10 minute walk from camp. Hiking times: Nakbé 4h,
Tintal 6h, Carmelita 14h.
La Danta Complex
The road or sacbé that connects the Great Acropolis with La Danta is 20 to 25 m wide and
3 m tall. The Great Plaza of La Danta is one of the largest plazas in the entire Maya region,
measuring up to 300 x 200 m. Before 2006 the only way to climb to the top of the Danta
3D radar image of the La Danta structure (Mirador Basin Project, 2006) pyramid was to pull oneself up with the help of a rope. Excavations on the Danta Complex
El Mirador
In the following chapters we will introduce the most important sites and areas of El
Mirador, listing all common info here.
The archaeological site of El Mirador includes the La Danta, El Tigre, Los Monos, León,
Tres Micos and Guacamaya Complex (group), the Great Central Acropolis and dozens of
other smaller groups and structures. The monumental architectural constructions are
accompanied by numerous homes scattered through the center of each site and other
remote regions. The epicenter of the site is composed of the groups Eastern, Western and
2
Los Cruces, covering an approximate area of 2.07 km .
Tips: near Structure 34 you will find two stelae (#2 and #3) protected by roofs. The
carvings on these monuments can be best seen (and photographed) at night time, shining
a torch from the side. The only stargazing place apart from the pyramids is the soccer field
in camp.
Digital map of El Mirador center (Mirador Basin Project, 2006)
of the northern and southern facades of the upper building. Work on the lower first
platform of the Danta Complex consisted of extensive horizontal exposure of the primary
stairway of the building. Excavations continued on the northern side, with the resultant
discovery of heavily stuccoed steps which showed traces of red color, which reflects the
style and decoration of the staircase at its peak function. Excavations located at the base
of the third platform of the Danta Complex located the finely preserved blocks of the
lower staircase, as well as the Late Pre-classic wall of the first level, with massive stones
placed with the long axis into the building. The excavation also located the remains of
debris and garbage, dating to the Late Classic and terminal Late Classic periods which
provided a wealth of information, including ceramics, figurines, bones, shells and stone
tools in great abundance. The analyses of these materials will provide a broad view of the
lives of people who resided in the area during the later history of the abandoned La
Danta. Although the lower steps of the third level were remarkably preserved, the upper
levels appear to have been removed during the Late Classic period, either for stone
construction or lime burning activities. A cache offering was placed at the center base of
the stairway, deposited during the Classic period, which consisted of two large ceramic
plates placed with one directly on top of the other, rim to rim.
Drawing of La Danta Complex with the E Group and Pava Group

La Pava pyramid in front (National Geographic, 2003)
According to archaeologists, La Pava is all of the first level of the acropolis belonging to La
began in the year 2005, and in the course of these excavations archaeologists discovered Danta Complex. The acropolis or pyramidal base known as La Pava (2A6) to visitors is
Late Pre Classic occupation throughout the whole complex. On the second platform and located at the southern end of the first platform in the architectural complex named La
the platform above there is evidence of Early Classic occupation as well as Mid Classic, Danta. This base has no structural autonomy as it forms an important part of the Danta
which are periods that do not correspond to this site. Complex, additionally leveling the bases which top off the main temple of La Danta. La
Pava is characterized by a pyramidal construction approximately 32 m high with an access
The first platform of the architectural complex La Danta is a closed plaza with extensions from the north façade. The base covers an area of approximately 6,500 m2. It has two
to the east. Within the plaza are several important buildings that haven’t yet been platforms with stairs on which several buildings were built forming triadic patterns.
excavated. On the east and west sides, for instance, two structures were built for Preserved remains of five buildings were found on the base’s first platform (20 m high),
astronomical observation purposes, a palatial building can be found due north and the and the extension of the platform due south was recorded as well, with two buildings
Acropolis of La Pava was elevated on the south side. The great scientific dilemma located at the east and west ends which were badly damaged and few details on the
concerning El Mirador is whether or not La Danta was constructed over a platform buildings were preserved. In the far north, east and west sides of the main staircase, there
beginning from the base of the pyramid towards the top or if it was built on a hill top, that are two structures that give the impression of belonging to a later constructive phase. The
is to say if it's completely filled or if the Maya took advantage of the mountainous Maya built three more buildings on the second platform, which are arranged in the typical
formation over which this extraordinary pyramidal complex may be built. To analyze this triadic pattern, with the main structure building 2A6-3 in the extreme south with its
advanced technology has been used to scan the insides of the building, but to this day, façade facing the north, as well as two smaller structures on the side. Interestingly, the
scientist have not been able to exactly define the foundations of the building. structure on the east side is obviously not directed completely toward the east, but
probably towards the southeast. Future research could reveal important data regarding
Efforts during the 2008 field season focused on the excavation and consolidation of the the orientation.
upper west façade of the summit structure as well as the stabilization and consolidation
Excavations in the Pava Complex, located on the first platform of the Danta pyramid, that were included in the archaeological map over the past field seasons. Structure 200 is
consisted of the horizontal exposure of the upper building of Pava pyramid located on located northwest of Structure 204 and represents a building seemingly independent
the, east side of the Danta platform. This building, known as Structure 2A6-3 was from the others in this group. It has a truncated pyramid, 35 x 30 m at base and 35 m
excavated, along the entire north façade to consolidate existing art and architecture and high. The structure built at the extreme west of the entire group is connected to both the
determine the architectural features of the, building. Architectural elements included Great Plaza with its staircase and with other buildings of the group. Due of the structure's
well-preserved features such as the central, staircase, the remains of the upper chamber, location on the west side of the sacbé, archaeologists assume that this structure was very
the poorly preserved remains of the two large, masks flanked the staircase, and the important in the past.
remains of the walls of the east and west facades, allowing more adequate interpretation
of this Late Pre-classic building, which dominates the, first level of the Danta platforms. At Excavation was started early during the 2006 field season and it has not as of yet been
La Pava, excavations were conducted on the staircase from first to second platform of the finalized. Previous major excavations at the Cascabel Group resulted in the horizontal
Acropolis. The recent exposure of the art and architecture found that the first three steps
were well preserved while the remainder of the steps extending toward the summit of the
building appear to have had the massive stone blocks removed, leaving the molded
surface of the fill as indicators of where the original steps had been. The project took
advantage of the previous excavation made by Howell on the staircase to place a tunnel
through the base of the second platform. The result is promising with the fill consisting of
a firm mud and clay base which will enable further tunnel excavations in the summit.
Residential area
During the 2008 field season, a large horizontal excavation was conducted by Idaho State
University students S. Schrodt and E. Rosen on a small natural hill to the immediate west
of the 30 m natural escarpment that borders the entire West Group at El Mirador. The
excavation revealed an extensive Late Pre-classic residence with low walls and perishable
superstructure, but with extensive deposits of Late Pre-classic pottery directly on the floor
where it was originally left by the last inhabitants of El Mirador before it was abandoned
around AD 150. Numerous whole vessels had been smashed on the floor, and this data
was extremely important in helping understand the social, environmental, and economic
conditions at the time that the great collapse occurred at El Mirador. Nearby there is a
well covered by wooden sticks, the place where archaeologists took soil layer samples to
determine paleo-environmental data of the area.
Cascabel Complex
The Cascabel Group, (aka Picoleros), is located on the north side of the El Mirador
archaeological site, or more precisely, just north of the Leon Complex and northeast of El
Tigre Complex. It is an architectural complex built on a five meter high platform. The
buildings constructed on the platform reach a height of 15 to 25 meters, with tall El Mirador city plan with possible astronomical alignments (MBP)
pyramidal structures that were named with sequential numbers 200, 204, 208 and 211.
The last three have an east-west alignment. This group contains many smaller structures
Acropolis at El Mirador is one of many examples of colossal Pre-classic architectural

complexes and was the city's very center. Due to its location, dimension and complexity it
clearly reflects the economic, socio-political and religious power of El Mirador's governing
elite. The Great Central Acropolis is composed of 15 large structures and countless smaller
structures distributed along the 85,000 m2 area on which the architectonic ensemble lays.
One of the most important structures is a building identified with number 313.
Structures 313 and 314
Structure 313 is located in the southwest corner of the Great Central Acropolis,
approximately 50 meters southeast of the massive Tigre Complex. The building extends
horizontally and was built at the center of a plaza on a sustaining platform, sharing the
Part of the frieze with the swimming figure of Hunahpu and the head of his father plaza with two more buildings of smaller dimensions (Structures 314 and 315), each one
facing the other and flanking the main building. They were first investigated in 1982,
exposure of the facades of Structures 200, and 204. Structure 200 excavations were when Washington's Catholic University and Brigham Young University began with the first
supervised by Landon Hansen and Richard Hansen and consisted of the exposure of a archaeological excavations proper at El Mirador. During that field season they
large portion of the south facade of the building. Excavations exposed the massive blocks documented 4 operations that took place in Structure 313 which revealed – half way to
of the original wall as well as the remains of two stairways, mainly at the base of the the top chamber – 13 steps that make up the central staircase facing north. Based on the
building. An architectural mask was exposed at the base of the building which had been ceramic materials found at this excavation, it was possible to date this structure to the
cut in half and partially removed to build an intrusive tunnel which penetrated about 3 late Pre-classic period. The results of these excavations also indicated that the Great
meters into the structure during the Early Classic. The reasons for such an intrusion are Central Acropolis and Structure 313 were both built during the same time period during
unknown, but it is possible that the work was some sort of looting venture by inhabitants which the Tigre Complex was built, a result that was also proven by the analysis of
or visitors during that period. A tunnel placed into the building on the west side of the charcoal samples. Apart
central staircase revealed that the entire building was built in a single effort during the from late Pre-classic
Middle Pre-classic period, suggesting that the structures in the Cascabel group are among ceramic materials scientists
the earliest in the entire architectural corpus at El Mirador. Structure 204 was extensively also collected other
excavated during the 2008 field season, with a horizontal, exposure of a majority of the materials (ceramics, lithics,
south façade of the building, supervised by Gustavo Martinez. The exposure of stairways shells) from the surface
in good condition, platforms, walls, and facades, provided evidence of the sophistication dated to the Post Classic
of Pre-classic architecture that has been utilized in the Late Pre-classic and Post Classic and early Classic periods,
periods. However, ceramics recovered from intrusive looters excavations within the which indicate this building
structure suggest that it too, like Structure 200, dates to the Middle Pre-classic period, was not permanently used
which makes the presence of these buildings most curious in the overall settlement as a residence but that
pattern of the site. there was a rather sporadic
presence of dwellers at
Structure 313.
Great Central Acropolis
The Great Central Acropolis was recently under investigation on three fronts: Structures
313-315, Structure 304 and the Central Acropolis Water System. The Great Central Excavations at the Central Acropolis
periods, like at La Danta. It's a triadic complex that has a central building and two more on
both sides, each facing the other. Something very important about this building is having
unveiled a whole architectonic sequence. It may be compared to discovering the
construction history of the building.
Structure 304
The location of this building, placed precisely at the summit of the principal stairway into
the Central Acropolis indicated an highly important function for this structure.
Archaeologists excavated a horizontal exposure of the massive stones, appearing to be
stelae which had been placed in rows along the edge of the structure, including a series of
woven mat elements modeled in stucco along the edges of the building meaning the
presence of royalty. Additional work on the primary stairway of the platform revealed two
major phases of stairway construction, with the earlier stairway in near pristine condition.
Additional data from excavations suggests that the platform was likely a royal throne.
The hydraulic system
Craig Argyle made a fascinating discovery during the 2007 field season. Near the end of
the period he found what seemed to be a stucco modeled character on the side of a
stairway in a building in the Great Acropolis at El Mirador, adjacent to the main water
reservoir that supplied water to an important part of the city in ancient times. There was
no time to explore the finding to the level of detail necessary so he patiently waited for
El Mirador, as imagined in it’s heydays (National Gegraphic, 2003) one year until his return to the Mirador Basin. At the beginning of the 2008 excavation the
excitement kept rising in the camp as his work progressed on "the hydraulic system" (as
The extensive excavations of 2005-9 in Structure 313 and the base of Structure 314 were everyone was calling it). Several artistic elements of the finest quality were unveiled that
supervised by Beatriz Balcarcel, who has managed to identify at least five construction perhaps no one had seen since the year 200 BC. In two huge panels, modeled in stucco,
stages. She dug a test pit in the plaza with the objective of widening our understanding of some characters began to emerge. The friezes formed the sides of a canal that carried
Structure 313's architectural design and the structural modifications carried out on the rainwater to a complex system of stepped pools, dual waterfalls, drainage channels and
building by the Maya. The building has an interesting history; the structure has water collection mechanisms where water was stored for human consumption and for
demonstrated evidence of being a public-religious temple with spacious stairways, masks agriculture. In its heydays, a part of it was submerged under water, which flowed into the
and panels. However, the building was remodeled to include the narrowing of the stairs pools below and where the flow of water allowed passers by to capture the movement of
and intentional burial of the architectural art in what is being interpreted as the the hero twins as he swam upstream. The archaeologists noted that on the 8 x 6 m panels
conversion of a public structure to a private residential building. The timing indicates images of aquatic monsters, ancient Gods and one or two characters, which looked as
complete phase of construction and occupation during the Late Pre-classic period. The though they were swimming could be observed. The body of one of the characters was
excavations of the 2008 season extended along the base of the northeastern facades, covered by a staircase later added by the Maya to the building, but the art on the frieze
observing the size and morphology of both the original construction and the remodeling dates from 300 or 200 BC. The big surprise for the whole team turned out to be that the
phases. Until now, archaeologists have not been able to identify any structural bottom panel happened to display the oldest known representation of the Maya creation
remodeling of the Pre-classic structures, which indicates that the older structures were myth and that the swimming characters featured in the frieze were no others than the
reused by the Pre-classic Maya's descendants during the Post Classic and early Classic hero twins of the Popol Vuh: Hunahpu and Ixbalanque! The mood at El Mirador was set
El Tigre Complex
Jaguar Paw Temple
Structures 33, 34 and 35, aka as the Jaguar Paw Temple were discovered in 1962 and
named by archaeologist Ian Graham. It is a triadic structure standing 17 meters tall, dated
between 200 BC and 100 AD and it is located on the SE corner of the Tigre Complex, in the
western group at El Mirador. This is one of the most studied buildings at El Mirador and it
probably has the oldest standing wall in Mesoamerica in the south part of the structure.
In 1979 a new Mirador Project coordinated by Washington’s Catholic University and

Brigham Young University started studying the site. Richard Hansen came to this project
as a student and led the studies on this structure where he found more Pre Classic
ceramics, but this time on the structure's inner floors on the main platform. Recently,
Jaguar Paw Temple, recontstructive drawing (National Geographic, 2003) after 3 years of conducting more studies the complexity of Pre Classic architecture was
revealed in the façades and the structure's architectonic art, as well as by the stairways,
platforms, floors and in the construction techniques. Researchers at El Mirador found that
on "great discovery mode". In fact the finding was later declared as one of the most a ruler by the name of Yok'noom Yi'ch'ak K'ak or "Great Flaming Jaguar Claw" may have
important archaeological finds of 2009 worldwide. been responsible for ordering this structure be built.
During the 2010 field season Argyle may have done more than just decide what the best
place would be to put a protecting roof – similar to the one over Strucutre 34 – to protect
the frieze on the hydraulic system. All of Ixbalanque's body was also excavated and it is
complete and in a wonderful state of preservation below the staircase built by the Maya
later that was covering half of his body. The frieze now shows the Hero Twins swimming
away and one of them is carrying his father’s head. The scene on the frieze is inspiring as
it illustrates the precise moment in which Hunahpu and Ixbalanque, having reclaimed
their ancestors’ remains are successfully leaving Xibalba (the Underworld), on their
passage to heaven to turn themselves into the Sun and the Moon. Further up, the long
snout of a rain and water deity is adorned by fancy scrolls emerging from this mythical
creature's mouth, portraying exquisite details on early Maya art at El Mirador.
The extraordinary preservation of the relief and the detailed iconography are clear
representations of the ideological and economic complexity of late Pre-classic society in
the Mirador Basin. The discovery of the panels provides undisputed proof of not only key
parts of this story but also that the Maya myth of creation is indeed an authentic and
unaltered legacy. Moreover, it is also much older than previously thought as it goes back
to at least 1000 years earlier. El Tigre pyramid with the Jaguar Paw temple (left) and Structure 34 (far right), reconstructive
drawing (Mirador Basin Project, 2006)
Evidence of a sub structure and its relation to the rest of the Tigre Complex was also proven to be a very difficult excavation,
discovered. However, there is an internal tunnel, leading to Structure 34 sub, which is not but, due to its importance and
only earlier than the outer part of the building, but it also has an east-west orientation. prominence, it will remain under
Apparently, the Maya had left the building and mutilated it, based on plant evidence, investigation until they identify the
mostly breadnut (Brosimum alicastrum), whose leaves had fallen on the building over the largest possible amount of architectural
course of several years. Theyleft the building untouched for many years before rebuilding features and provide necessary
the outer part, now magnificently decorated with masks and the iconic jaguar claw and stabilization and consolidation. A rail
ear spool. Shortly: during the Late Pre Classic the citizens of El Mirador abandoned it, system was also placed up the north
filled it with construction waste, reoriented it 180º toward the plaza and El Tigre pyramid side of the structure to facilitate
on a north-south axis, redecorated it completely, and we don’t know why. transport of stone and mortars to the
summit of the structure. The building
The group dedicated to conservation at the archaeological site also had the original floors consists of a 30 m (98 ft) high truncated
covered with refined soil, geo-textile and had a new stucco floor placed to protect the pyramid that holds 3 smaller buildings
original. On the beautifully restored masks tooth panels, mouths, upper teeth, nose and arranged in the triadic pattern,
eyes can be seen, on one of them traces of the original red and black paint can be spotted characteristic of Late Pre Classic Maya
too. In the middle, a U shaped glyph is found, architecture. The main stairway to
a symbol of royalty. access the first level was 30 m (98 ft)
wide, while the central building on the Drawing of carving on Stela 2,
side A (Graham, 1970)
El Tigre Pyramid superior plaza reaches 23 m (76 ft), and
the lateral buildings are 10.5 m (34.45 ft)
tall, each on the northeast and
4D3, named El Tigre by local chicleros, is the
southeastern ends of the plaza.
second tallest structure at El Mirador
towering over the forest canopy and 53
meters (174 feet) from the base to the top of On the main plaza a lithic and ceramic
the temple, oriented 5 degrees East of the workshop of the Late Classic was found,
Magnetic North. It measures 150 x 145 m together with several hundreds of obsidian
(492 ft x 476 ft) at the base and covers an and flint arrowheads. While the flint is
area of 58,000 m2 (190,289 ft2). It was built local, the obsidian was traced to
on a platform whose surface has two plazas, Teotihuacan, Mexico, suggesting a fierce
one to the East and another to the west, battle sometime around 150AD on the
divided by a pyramid around which several pyramids of the city.
smaller public buildings were erected.
Excavations on the summit of the Tigre Stelae
pyramid continued during the 2008 season
with, major work on the upper platform, façade Drawing of carving on Stela 2, Located due north of the hydraulic system
of the principal structure and continued side B (J. Hansen, 1990) friezes, two stelae can be found on the
stabilization and consolidation of the northern main trail, under protective roofs. Text panel on Stela 2, side A
triadic building. Excavation of the south facade of northern building, Structure 4D3-2 is
supervised by Monica Pellecer. The façade of this building was heavily damaged and has Stela 1
Stela 1 is located due north of Stela 2 and 3, parts, all we know for sure is thet it is a new early text in the corpus of formative Maya
no information available yet. script with indications of phonetic values.
Stela 2 Side B is a partial depiction, from the waist down, of a standing figure in pantaloons in a
stance common on early sculpture, with the legs in tandem position. The nearest leg is the
Stela 2 was discovered by Graham in 1962, left and is parallel with the right edge of the sculpture. A belt spool can be seen in the
and drawn during his survey in 1970. It has upper portions of the thigh, while a scroll extends from the spool to the back of the thigh
two carved sides, and is apparently a and down onto the leg. An unknown element is appended near the back of the proximal
fragment, although there is evidence it was knee from which emanates a split scroll that curls down to the back of the calf. Portions of
and unfinished piece of work. It weighs an apron can be seen extending down from the waist. Both feet are missing, but the
about 400 kg, the relief depth ranges from protrusions of limestone which were to form the ankle knots were mostly uncarved.
1,5 to 3 cm.
Stela 3
On side A, a profile face can be seen, looking
slightly downwards towards the right, in the Right next to the previous monument, a stela broken in half carving shows two female
upper left corner. The forehead is marked characters kneeling, facing each each other,
by a possible tufted eyebrow element only visible waist down. Maize is symbolized
(upper right corner), the right nostril and all over the sculpture and you can discover
eye are slightly rectangular, a portion of the the patterns of the woven palm mat, the
earspool in the up left corner is circular. A sign of royalty. Near the base there is a
Photo of Stela 18 (R. Hansen) crude "graffiti" of a skull, apparently
long, projecting alveolar "upper long lip"
element begins immediately below the nose representing Tlaloc, the war god of
and arcs down clock-wise, ending at the chin. The mandible is fleshless, with the ramus Teotihuacan. This image was scraped onto
and at least three teeth clearly depicted. A serpent, with the tail below the ramus curves the surface using an obsidian spearhead.
up over the mandible, through the mouth and out, passing under the descending alveolar
projection into the area below, the head coming back to the immediate right of it, Stela 18
creating a three-dimensional illusion. There is a glyph panel in the far right corner of the
stela, with an incised scroll inset between the forehead and panel. Hansen, who did Transported by helicopter to the National
extensive research on this monument, believes the Long-Lipped Deity image is closely Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography
associated with the Principal Bird Deity of the Maya. This god is thought to be Vucub in the capital, Stela 18 disappeared from the
Caquix, or Seven Macaw, the patron deity of humankind in the Pre-classic. The snake is site without a trace in 1982. Found between
often represented wrapped around the neck of the bird deity in other Maya art. the Los Monos and La Danta Complexes, it
has dimensions of 61 x 35 x 18 and weights
The text, found on the upper right side of side A is one of the earliest in Maya lowlands, 103 kg. It has various masked faces and
recorded only in 1990. The glyphs are visible only on the lower portions of the panel, but human figures carved on the surface, with the
the panel is weathered evenly, raising the possibility that the text was never finished. Two representation on the war god of the Drawing of Stela 18 (Chambers)
columns of hieroglyphs can be seen, the firs column reads from top down: number 5 (?), Aztecs, Tlaloc engraved over the image at
number 15, imix, ma wi. The second column has a faint marking of probably a title. After a some later date.
lot of speculation, the content of the entire glyph is uncertain because of the missing
La Muerta
The archaeological site of La Muerta (The Death) received its name from the chicleros
some years ago following the sad death of the cook that accompanied them. It is found
approximately 3.5 km south of the encampment of El Mirador. The site is characterized by
several architectural compounds, the most well known being the South Group (Labyrinth
Group), with main structures: A-1, A-2, Stela 2 and Monument 1.
A-1
is a building dated to the Early Classic period and is a ceremonial temple with a roof comb
reminiscent of the architecture at Tikal. Archaeologists started working on the site in
2003, and collected fragments of stucco painted in red, black and blue, these fragments
constituted the ornamental features of panels and friezes, one of which was found to be a
face exquisitely modeled in stucco. Other materials recovered included fragments of
obsidian cores, some with incised decoration, bifacial flint fragments and ceramics.
A-2
is a smaller structure, characterized by having stairways on all four facades and walls with
"taludes". It stands at approximately 6 meters tall. The work here cleaned the entire south
façade and exposed two outer passageways, one at each end of the façade. Each
passageway was formed by two descending steps that shifted towards the center of the
façade; in addition, a vertical wall was fully uncovered, an outset stairway, two platforms,
and on top of them, the remnants of two small masks that flanked the stairway.
Isometric profile of La Muerta, A2
Unfortunately, the masks showed a very poor preservation. Most of the fragments had
evidence of red and blue paint, with a predominance of red. The examination of the
preceding architectural and sculptural components led to the uncovering of another Monument 1
passageway, hidden by the stairway and the masks, corresponding to the second stage of
construction. This passageway connects the south façade with another chamber, which in is a petro engraving whose original dimensions were 3 x 3 m. Serious reconstruction was
turn communicates with two others through other passageways. Research made it done at this site, with 600 fragments collected in the area, half of them belonging to the
possible to explore the three chambers in full. The archaeological materials recovered in sculpture. Even so, 95 of these fragments could not be placed back due to time restraints.
the chambers are the following: one arrow point of green obsidian, one pyrite fragment, One of the primary motifs of this sculpture corresponds to the head in profile of an
one stingray spine, one fragment of perforated shell, one fragment of a human skull, one individual covered with a mask. This figure was placed on top of another large head of a
dish fragment with a perforation at the base and abundant ceramic from the Early and monster with maxillary teeth. The different iconographic motifs present in the scene seem
Late Classic periods. A significant architectural piece of information was the presence of to suggest the impersonation of a deity in the act of conveying a message through the
rope hangers in two of the walls, carved in the lime rock. scrolls that emerge from its mouth, which extend towards a column that includes at least
six hieroglyphics. The eye is represented by means of a large circumference divided in
three in its inside, to form a trilobe motif; similar examples occur in Kaminaljuyu,
Modeled pieces of stucco. La Muerta, A1
inside of the mouth of the mask, one single detail of the individual that is wearing it can
be seen, and it is a reproduction with an identical design representing another mouth. A
Monument 1, La Muerta with hieroglyph text number of scrolls emerge from inside the mouth of the mask, possibly representing
speech scrolls that are gradually coming out. In the outer part they continue, until they
Structure E, Quiriguá and Uaxactún, all of them connected with masks or deities. As to the reach a hieroglyphic panel. The scrolls keep extending to form the head of a stylized
nose, it is divided into two segments, yielding a triangular shape. monster in profile, which shows the eye, the maxillary and its teeth. The hieroglyphic
panel is located at the right of the sculpture and consists of six hieroglyphs at least from
The earflare has a circular shape. Of this earflare, only indications of its lower portion are top to bottom:
left, and below, there is a feature similar to an additional earflare in the shape of a shell.
Along the edge it features three smaller circumferences designed in a U-shape. The same 1. the upper glyph shows severe erosion problems and one sign corresponding to a
symbols have been identified in a jade plate from a funerary context in El Tintal. From the Tzolkin date
2. is still harder to identify, only This also denotes a particular significance because of the hypothesis that posits the
one fragment of its upper portion was Mirador Basin to be the political entity owner of the emblem glyph of the serpent head.
preserved The glyph in Monument 1 becomes the most ancient variant, suggesting the possibility
that it may have been the emblem glyph of El Mirador. Monument 1 at La Muerta has
3. is broken in the carved section, evidence of pre-Hispanic destruction. Two fragments of the sculpture were found in the
and only its lower portion was found refill, 2 m away from the monument, which may seem to indicate that they were violently
representing a denominated head pulled out. The monument is eroded and covered with micro-flora, and because of the
advanced deterioration evidenced on the stones, it was initiated with a process of
4. has undergone erosion and the preliminary consolidation.
incisions are hardly visible
Stela 2
5. represents a zoomorphic head
variant, maybe a bird with a large Found a 3 minute walk from Monument 1, to the right of the trail towards El Mirador
faceted beak camp. There are no spatially associated mounds; rather, it seems to be an isolated
monument. Among the most significant features are some strange eroded areas in the
middle section of the stela that seem to be a part of the design, and which divide it in two
The Kan Ahau emblem glyph 6. represents a zoomorphic head rectangles. Also, three of the sides show carved circular cavities, perhaps the stela had
variant in the shape of a serpent. The stucco on it with painted designs, though no evidence was found of this. One of the major
upper portion of glyph 6 seems to represent the signs of k’ul ahau, or divine lord, or ruler, unknown issues about the meaning of Stela 2 is that nowhere, 50 m around, are
suggesting it could be an emblem glyph archaeological features visible on the surface. The following are some options that could
be considered:
• it was used in ceremonial events in a large open plaza, together with

Monument 1
• it was used as a boundary stone or a territorial bordering landmark
• it was used as an astronomical marker
Stela 2, as well as Monument 1, is located in contexts that say very little about their
meaning. The occupation of La Muerta, even though it seemed to be modest, is crucial to
gain knowledge on issues related with the political life that unfolded several centuries
back, during the Early Classic period in the Mirador Basin; although at that time the great
center of El Mirador underwent a dramatic demographic collapse that marked an
abandonment around the end of the preceding period, it seems that the people of La
Muerta still recalled the status it had a few years back, as shown by Monument 1. The
data recovered are abundant; therefore, this research is still in the process of analysis.
The results will widen our knowledge about the cultural dynamics at the Mirador Basin
and the Early Classic period, poorly known in the area.
Stucco heads from La Muerta, A1 (H. Iwamoto)

Tips: you can climb into the above mentioned chambers with a flashlight, just be careful us a pattern of the development of the Pre-classic state, as well as evidence of occupation
not to disturb the bats living in the far end. Monument one is a good 30 minute walk from during the Early and Late Classic periods.
the structures A1 and A2, further on the main trail towards El Mirador.
Campsite: no designated campsite, but you can make an emergency camp in the grassy
area around the ruins if arriving from Tintal and too tired.
EVAC info: El Mirador camp is 40 minutes away.
El Tintal
El Tintal, the second largest city in the Maya World, lies halfway between El Mirador and
Carmelita on a NE-SW axis. These two sites are linked through a causeway 20 km long.
Tintal has monumental ruins scattered densely over a 9 km2 area, with at least 850 large
structures up to 50 m in height. Sadly, 2154 looter trenches (954 just inside the Mano de
León Complex) accompany this amount of structures, making it an average of 2.6 trench
per building. What is surprising about the settlement pattern is that the civic center is
completely surrounded by an artificial moat, 2,2 km long, 15 m wide and 8 meter deep at
places. The sheer size of the structures indicates that Tintal was one of the major sites in
the Mirador Basin and the connection by causeways to other large sites in the basin gives
Cylindrical vase, El Tintal
Map of the Mano de Leon Complex, El Tintal

Drawings of the green jade pieces found at Tomb 1, Tintal. Translations

clockwise from top: Snake Lord, red (Maize God), Maize God, jaguar
Sites
The city lies on a north-south axis, with the campsite at the northern end. From the camp,
one path to the east leads to La Isla Complex, with a lone pyramid called Catzin (the
largest at El Tintal, 105 m x 78 m at base, 50 m high), situated apart from the main civic
center. The other path from camp leads south up the hill to the Henequén Complex,
Drawing of Stela 1 and Tomb 1 with the arrow pointing to the looted area
including La Partida Pyramid and Henequén pyramid, you can climb the stairs to the top of
and the vases in their original position at low right (Hansen and Balcárcel)
the latter. From La Partida a little-used trail leads to the El Juleque Complex, but rather
follow the Jade Causeway from the Henequén Pyramid south down to the bottom of the
(now dry) North Canal, then up through hundreds of buried ruins to the Central Acropolis.
Before you get there, to the left a clean, flat space with two parallel walls is a ball court.
The site was probably visited first by Heinrich Berlin in the fifties. After that, the 1970
This one is located to the north of the Acropolis and is the largest known to date in the
Graham expedition dug some test pits around the civic center, resulting in ceramic
Maya Lowlands. Climb up the rudimentary stairs to the top of the Central Acropolis' main
samples that were dated Late Pre-classic and Late Classic. Major work at El Tintal started
structure, the El Pavo Pyramid to enjoy great views, a beautiful example of Pre-classic
in 2004 with the preliminary mapping of the site and the recording of looter’s trenches as
triadic architecture and have a look at one of the largest looter trenches at El Mirador,
well as the rescue excavations due to the looting at this site.
dug right into the side of the central structure! To the west lie the ruins of the West
Acropolis, an unstudied area.
Cylindrical Vase
Even farther west lies the Mano de León Complex, but the path there leads due south for
some time before turning back NW. Walking back to the ball court, turn right and walk a A vase was found in a looted funerary complex to the southwest of Mano de León.
bit to the east, crossing the East Canal and joining the main trail arriving to Tintal from Painted orange on cream, it was named the Cylindrical Vase of Tintal and dated to the
Carmelita. If you turn right (towards Carmelita) you can visit the Los Pichos and La Muralla Late Classic, representing a modified Codex-style pattern. The paintings show two scenes
Complexes, if you turn left, you arrive back to camp. with the head of the Maize God, one above the head of a crocodile with a feathered body
least seven individuals placed in

the chamber, some of which
appear to have been put their
later and mixed during the use of
the tomb.
Tomb 1
Text on cylindrical vase, El Tintal (Günter)
A bivalve conch shell was

(or a bird flying out of the body), the other Maize God above the head of God Ik. This
discovered near the head, along
could indicate the version where the Classic Maya Feathered Serpent is part of the second
with 137-piece mosaic of a jade,
rebirth of the Maize God. The glyphs around the edge of the vase were deciphered, and
coral, shell and bone funeral
translate roughly to: "This surface, the writing on the vase, drinking for Yopaat B’ahlam,
mask. A polished jade plate
the Holy Person Chatan. Yopaat B’ahlam is mentioned in several other sources originating
known as a huunal was also found
from El Mirador.
with a glyph paragraph, translated Drawing of Stela 1, El Tintal (Graham)
as ajaw, implying that the
Stela 1 individual was royalty. A sculpted serpent was also attached to the glyph as a supplement
to the main sign, which means that the individual was a "Mr. Snake" (Hansen), maybe one
A monument sculpted into imported red sandstone (2 x 0.4 x 4.5 m) was found buried in a of the Snake Kingdom Lords. A stingray spine was recovered near the area of primary
looted building of 2.5 m height by Ian Graham, near the NW corner of the El Pavo burial belt. Two further pieces of huunal jade were found as well, each piece was carved
Pyramid. After more excavations under the stone block, human ashes were found mixed with fine incised glyphs, one showing a jaguar with glyph scrolls in the mouth, translated
with vase fragments, incense, drums and other ceramic vessels. The stela weighs about 10 as "jaguar." The second glyph in the second piece of jade seems to read as "Chak Ixim, or
tons, implicating the extraordinary energy needed to transport it from its origin, 135 km red/large Maize God.
away. The sculpture was re-carved from an earlier monument (it was originally situated in
the plaza centuries before the carving.); part of the original size is evident at the base of
In addition to jade and shell artifacts, five ceramic vessels were located near the right leg
the stele. In addition, the original stele was carved with hundreds of incised lines and
of the individual. Chronologically, the pieces correspond to the beginning of the Early
symbols, forming a series of graffiti images that match Pre-classic style in the area. The
Classic period. This seems to have been a time of extreme difficulty in Mirador Basin. In
monument was severely mutilated later, featuring cuts caused with axes. Stone fragments
the case of Tomb 1 at Tintal, at least two and possibly three additional skulls were related
were found in the layer of ash and broken pottery surrounding the monument. The
to the primary individual (two at the center and one at his feet), as well as two human
largest portion of the stone was intentionally broken into three large pieces. Only the
mandibles, which were probably used or placed as offerings, trophy or part of their
lower sections show the feet of a figure, barefoot and wearing ankle straps.
decoration. A skull fragment with a perforation was found at the foot of the principal
individual, possibly a trophy-skull tool used to attach the ornaments to the belt. The
Chemical analysis on the fragments determined that it came from the Altar de Sacrificios identity and role of the seven individuals from Tomb 1, Tintal are still under study.
area. A small altar was found a short distance from the looter's trench and was probably
associated with the monument carved. One of the most spectacular discoveries made
Tips: a huge pottery, lithics and animal skull collection can be found at El Tintal, featuring
during the 2004 season was found at the base of Stela 1. Looters destroyed part of the
pieces of Codex-style ceramics, Pre-classic sacrificial vessels, spear- and axe heads and
building adjacent to the sculpture and behind the rubble a previously undiscovered
some deer, peccary, spider monkey and armadillo skulls.
vaulted chamber, 2 m long and 1 m high, was found. The excavation located the remnants
inside, including a primary burial consisting of a male individual with the head located
Campsite: at Tintal new, palm thatched palapas, open kitchen areas and sanitary blocks
north and adjacent to the monument carved. The bone remains show the remains of at
are under construction to relieve the old structures that were insufficient for the amount
of tourists passing through. A second campsite is also being built beside the main trail, 20
minutes towards Carmelita, an excellent way to save some time for the next days' leg.
Guards at El Tintal are not as helpful or friendly as at other sites, so don’t plan on buying
drinking water, using their kitchen or asking them to show you around the sites.
EVAC info: the helipad is to the left of the trail, 40 minutes from camp towards Carmelita.
The guards at El Tintal have shortwave, Carmelita is 6 hours away. From Tintal to El
Mirador there are chiclero camps and their ruins (in order): Pacaya 2h, Porvenir 3h,
Paraiso 4h and from Tintal to Carmelita there are: Huacote 3h and La Lucha 4h. Huacote is
accessible by 4WD trucks.
Photos of artifacts from Tomb 1, El Tintal. Clockwise from top left: Stele 1, ceramics inside
the tomb, mosaic of funeral mask, jade piece
Drawing of the excavated southern side of Tomb 1, El Tintal

THE MAYA OF EL MIRADOR coral bead, salt, lithics, ceramics, volcanic ash, dyes and others...
In this chapter we try to give an outline of the most interesting facts, myths, beliefs, Triadic pattern
scientific and popular conclusions related to the Maya and El Mirador. Since the Maya
Pre-classic period is the least researched in Mesoamerican literature, we also collected What is unique to the ancient inhabitants of sites such as El Mirador is that they also
some interesting data on the Classic Maya (religion, culture) where data related to El recreated their mythological beliefs and astronomical interpretations in the symbolism
Mirador was not available. represented in their grand ceremonial architecture. This pattern appears apparently
relatively suddenly, around 300 BC and is believed to reflect a dramatic new emphasis in
Ancient Maya science and trade political, economic, and religious ideology as a technique of consolidating religious and
secular authority. It is called the Pre-classic triadic structure. A triadic structure is one that
consists of three buildings: a main central building and two smaller buildings, each
There is archeological proof that the Maya in El Mirador developed astronomical,
flanking a side of the main structure and facing each other. There is an abundance of
agricultural, economical, mathematical and all the needed skills that made them the most
triadic structures at El Mirador, El Tigre Complex has 2 triadic structures: Structure 34 and
developed and complicate society, thousands of years before previously thought. The
the Tigre Pyramid. La Danta Complex has several triadic structures as well.
Maya were using the concept of zero more than 1500 years before it caught on in Europe,
and their writing is being deciphered up to the present day. They were a highly advanced
civilization, and what to us may be a series of separate scientific specialties may have The structures at El Mirador might be telling us
been a single body of deeply interconnected religious and mythological knowledge & of an early mythological conception derived
belief system, which permeated all aspects of their lives. To them astronomy was an every from the position of these stars and other
day matter as it was intertwined with their religion and their agriculture. heavenly bodies and what the Maya
interpreted them to be in their creation myths.
It portrayed the place of origin, which they
All the heavenly bodies probably had deep
represent in every day life as well as in every
mythical and spiritual meanings, and even their
Maya home. These three stones, known as the
present agricultural practices throughout Chiapas
three hearth stones or Ox Te Tun, are found in
and the Guatemalan highlands, which have been
every Maya kitchen even today, where the fire
extensively documented, point at the use of the
they cook in recreates a celestial image. A
positions of stars as guiding directors for the times
triangle is formed by these three hearth stones
to plant, harvest and prepare the seeds for the
and at the center is an area the Maya
following year. The evidence from El Mirador alone
identified as the place of origin, the seat of
indicates that hunters supplied meat from several
creation, represented by the smoke that
animals such as turkeys, deer, dogs, pizotes, wild
comes out of the burning fire. The three
pig, iguana, turtles and tortoises, several feline
hearth stones, in fact, represent a triangle
species, mollusks, monkeys and even fish from the
formed by 3 stars in what we (the Western
sea. Exotic items were brought over long distances
to supply the population with jade, obsidian, The Hunter civilization) know as the Orion Constellation or
cocoa, tobacco, granite and quartzite gridding the Hunter or the Archer.
manos and metates, cone conch and bivalve shells,
stemmed chert macroblade points and bifaces, red These stars are:
The Orion constellation
• Rigel: Betha Orionis, a Maya could view M42 without the need of
blue supergiant and the 6th astronomical devices or facilities, such as
brightest star in the night sky, telescopes or observatories. M42 falls under
about 700 to 900 light years the category of a “stellar nursery” meaning
away from Earth. Rigel is that it is a nebula that forms stars. Thus it is
Orion’s left foot interesting to note that the early Maya
religious belief system recognized this as the
• Alnitak: Zeta place of origin or creation, and perhaps – in
Orinionis, a blue supergiant is their perspective – where the universe had
800 light years away from sprung from in the beginning of times. The Pre
Earth, and is part of the triple Classic Maya seem to have been more
star system that forms Orion’s profoundly mythical and religious when it
Belt. Alnitak is the one due left. came to their art and architecture, and less
The triple star system is also obsessed than their Classic descendants to use
known as the String of Pearls these motifs centering them around a
or Las Tres Marias in Spanish character´s personality or on the idea of
speaking countries, but formed magnifying a ruler’s prestige and exploits.
a tortoise’s shell in the Maya’s During the Classic period, art and architecture The Turtle constellation of the Maya
were used in a different way as accessories of
perspective.
politics and of the rulers' agendas and propaganda mechanisms.
The Orion constellation with M42
• Saiph: Kappa Orinionis, a
blue supergiant, derived its name from saif al jabbar, an Arabic phrase that means “the Maya religion
sword of the giant”. However, the star is on Orion’s right leg.
In mythological times, the deities underwent birth, stages of growth, rites of passage,
The fire and smoke at the center of the three transformations, death and re-birth. They created cornfields, planted and harvested corn,
hearth stones is a Messier Object, named performed divinations, conducted business, fought wars, formed alliances and
M42, 1500 to 1600 light-years away. This intermarried. From all of these actions and interactions a hierarchy was formed in which
collection of dust particles and gas that has members had overlapping duties and responsibilities. The behavior of the deities was a
the appearance of a star, but is in fact the model for appropriate human conduct and provided justifications and rationalization for
Orion Nebula, containing about 700 stars in elite activities, social hierarchy and political structure. Maya elites are frequently
different stages of formation and illustrated wearing the costumes of certain deities, including face masks in the likeness of
development. M42 is at the center of what is the god. When humans donned the costume of a deity, they assumed the traits of the
known today as the Orion’s Sword and is the deity or were temporarily transformed into the deity.
brightest nebula ever to be recorded. The
The Orion Nebula up close

The Maya had a large pantheon of gods life, as the Maya later wrote in the Popol Vuh, "these were the ingredients for the flesh of
(more than 165), these deities could be the human work, the human design".
manifested in a variety of forms that
reflected their spheres of control and
Maize God
responsibilities. These manifestations could
take the form of plants, animals, humans,
natural formations and phenomena such as From the beginning of their recorded time, sometime in the
wind, lightning, thunder and fire, also had first millennium BC, the cycle of maize, the cycle of seasons,
young and old forms. The Maya divided and the cycle of life guided the understanding of the world
animals into four major categories based on shared by Maya king and Maya peasant, man and woman,
means of locomotion: Crawlers (lizards, victorious warrior and humiliated captive, hunter and
turtles, snakes, etc.), Walkers (mammals), hunted. Accordingly, humankind held maize to be sacred.
Flyers (insects, birds and bats) and The Maize God figured prominently in Maya art. Recognized
Swimmers (crocodiles, fish) and their gods as young and beautiful, the image of the Maize God was the
could adopt each one of this forms. image emulated by Maya lords, many of whom donned his
According to their beliefs, the World Tree, attire. Handsome young faces, multiple Maize Gods formed
better known as the Ceiba tree (Yax'ché) ears of maize, their luxuriant tresses creating the corn slid,
grows at the center of the World, and grows and a strand for every kernel. In life, maize plants sway to
through the 9 underworld levels, this and from, their crisp green leaves moving like limbs of the
middle level and the 13 upperworld regions. The Maize God human body; the Maize God, too, is in motion, often
The serpent was a direct way for the Maya seeming to dance and sway. Usually attired in a netted hip
Image of the World Tree to communicate with the gods. It acted as a cloth or skirt, perhaps strung with green jade beads, the Maize God also characteristically
link, or portal between the supernatural and wears a carved Spondylus princeps shell, concave face outward, at the groin. Such
human worlds. They conceived the world as a quadrangular space that was ordered and Spondylus shells are bright red-orange and give the wearer a symbolic vagina. In this
measured at the time of creation. The gods created the face of the Earth, u wach ulew, as attire, then, the Maize God was both male and female, progenitor and progenitrix, or
a propitious place for human life. what the modern Maya might call a "mother-father", just as the plant itself biologically
has two types of flowers of different sex. Like maize itself, the Maize God moves through
the cycle of life: in one season, he is the handsome young man, alive and in motion; in
Creation
another, he is decapitated, the harvested head resting on a plate as offering. Ground into
flour, kneaded to masa, formed and baked on a skillet, maize nourishes and sustains
In Maya languages, Ek’-u-Tan was the name of the void, the time before time, the state of humankind, but humans return some seeds to the ground to start the cycle anew. The
the black pre-creation universe when the sky had not yet been lifted away from the barren earth yields to the forces of regeneration: the young Maize God emerges once
Primordial Sea or Xibalbá. In this long darkness before creation, the Maya gods pondered again, reborn, ready to dance to the tune of life.
the dawning of a new age and the making of a people who would give them honor. The
gods had tried to create humankind before, but their first attempt at creation, the
The Hero Twins
animals, could not praise their makers. When the gods formed humans of earth, they
collapsed as mud. Then the gods carved humans out of wood, but they could not talk, and
in their anger asked Hurakán to send a great flood destroying the men made of wood. The central feature of the Maya creation myth is the figure of the Hero Twins, Hunahpú
Finally, water was ground with the maize to yield blood and flesh. The gods succeeded in (Great Wizard) and Xbalanqué (Little Magician). The legend says that Hun Hunahpu and
populating the earth only when humanity was shaped from maize, the very staff of human Vucub Hunahpú, the father and uncle of the twins were skilful ballplayers. When they
played the noise disturbed the gods from Xibalbá, who lured the two into a set-up
ballgame which they lost and the gods sacrificed them, burying their bodies under the ball increasingly popular in modern Maya astrology. The fates of the baby and the animal
court. The head of Hun Hunahpú was hanged in a tree that produced pumpkins shaped spirit are intertwined, so that what befalls the one affects the other for good or ill.
like humans, and when the Blood Woman, Goddess Xquic decided to go to the tree to
meet him, Hun Hunahpú spited her hand, impregnating her with Hunahpú and The Maya calendar
Xbalanqué.
The Maya were consumed astronomers, and had a standardized set of creator gods, the
The Hero Twins grew up to become the smartest and strongest of all. They were playing evidence for which is embedded in their calendar system. The Maya believed that each of
ball like their fathers and annoying the Lords of Xibalbá, again. The gods challenged them the intervals within such units of time as the day, the night, the solar year, the K’atun, the
to a game, but first they had to pass the six tests of Xibalbá: Passing the Darkness House, lunar cycle and the greater Venus cycle among others was ruled by a different deity or set
Shivering House, Jaguar House, Bat House, Razor House and Fire House. Failing any of the of deities. Their Calendar system was not merely a method for tracking the various
tests resulted in death. They pass all of them using ingenious tricks and jungle resources, celestial cycles, but a complex system used to ascertain which of the many deities were
finally qualifying for the match. But before they start, the twins dismember themselves to ruling a particular moment. The gods of the time periods were standardized across the
small pieces and then put themselves back again. The Lords when they see this are filled Classic Maya realm and venerated. These calendar-related deities were worshipped for
with envy and ask the twins to do the same to them. They dismember all the evil gods, more than just their roles in divination; they also played a key part in creating, ordering
but forget to put them back together, thus winning final vicory over the underworld. They and renewing the world and all the beings within it.
collect Hun Hunaphú's head and exit the underworld through the sea, a scene beautifully
captured on the hydraulic system friezes. Later, they ascend to the sky to become the sun Popol Vuh
and the moon.
The Popol Vuh or Book of the Council is a compilation of the ancient Quiché people’s
The hero twins are also a myth that transcends the present and the ancient boundaries of beliefs. These were transmitted for centuries by oral tradition and organized into a text in
the Maya World. The Maya of El Mirador and their contemporaries at Izapa may have Spanish during the 16th century by the parish priest of Chichicastenango, Father Francisco
founded a Mesoamerican or even North American myth, as Red Horn’s sons are part of Jiménez. With the help of an
the legend and traditions of the Siouan-speaking people. The heroes in the Navajo informant, who shared the stories of
creation myth are also hero twins, named "Monster Slayer" and "Child Born for Water". his people with him, Jiménez
The similarities between the myths of the Siouan and Maya are very precise, even though collected the oral traditions of the
the first lived in the Mississippi-Ohio area, far away from El Mirador. Although in the case Quiche in a chronology accessible to
of the Navajo religion it is said that its origin may be traced to ancient Mexico, scholars the Western mind. This was
like Oswaldo Chinchilla and Michael Coe seem to point to a common origin in the Maya important because the stories of the
culture that flourished earlier than the high civilizations of ancient Mexico. We may easily ancient indigenous peoples do not
relate the origin of all religion in the Pre-Columbian Americas to the creation mythology of occur in Western chronological order,
the early Pre-classic Maya. but are extremely sui generis in their
concepts of space and time. Up till the
Dual souls end of the 20th century, many
scholars disputed the validity of this
One central aspect to Maya religion is the idea of the duality of the soul. The Maya saw book, arguing that probably most of
one part of their soul as indestructible, invisible, and eternal. The Maya referred to this the important information was lost A recreation of the Popol Vuh
soul as ch’ul. The second soul, is the way', defined as supernatural guardian or protector. during translation, even accusing
It is a supernatural companion, usually taking the guise of a wild animal and shares the Father Jiménez of making it all up.
body with the ch’ulel from birth. The sign of this animal is called the nahual, becoming
But then, the hydraulic system friezes at the Great Central Acropolis of El Mirador in 2008, ruled by very different kinds of deities.
the Stelae of Nakbé in 2004 and the recently discovered murals dating from 250 BC from
the site of San Bartolo, Petén confirm that the Popol Vuh is the true and Original Maya Rituals of the Maya
creation Myth and the myths described survived 1500 years in the stories of the Highland
tribes.
The Maya are well known for their elaborate religious ceremonies. Because religion
played such a large role in Maya existence, it is extremely hard to discern the line
The underworld between religion and politics. Some of the rituals that appear to have a solid religious
backing may have also been used politically.
The entrance to Xibalbá (place of fright), the underworld was traditionally held to be a
cave in the vicinity of Cobán, though many caves in Belize and Petén contain ancient Maya
The Maya ball game
sacrificial remains and pottery. In the heavens, the Road to Xibalbá (Xibalbá bé), was
represented by the dark rift visible in the Milky Way. Actually, the underworld was below
The Maya ball games (named Pitz) and their associated mythology were not only central
the sea and was ruled by two gods called Hun Caquix, One Death and Vucub Caquix,
to religious Maya beliefs; they were also the first organized team sports in the history of
Seven Death.
mankind, dating from 1500 BC. While the game was played casually for simple recreation
including by children and women, it also had important religious aspects and major formal
Life in Xibalbá was similar to life on earth. Like humans, the death gods had wives and ballgames would be held as ritual events. The game was taken very seriously and was
children, they feasted, drank and went on with their lives. The cave was the transition regularly used to settle disputes between rival communities, often sacrificing the loosing
zone from the safe human space on the surface of the earth to the dangerous team to the gods.
supernatural space of the gods, and the Maya performed important rituals at these sacred
access points. Although many researchers refer to any supernatural location below the
The Maya ballgame was a dramatic event, and the court was center stage, the symbol of a
surface of the earth as the underworld, the Popol Vuh clearly indicates that the sea and
city’s wealth and power. Shaped like a capital letter "I" or double "T" from above, it was
the underworld were thought to be distinct locations and that they were inhabited and
built of cut stone covered in plaster and painted with bright colors. With sloping walls on
each long side, the average size was 30 by 8 meters. The oldest court accurately dated
has been found in Nakbé, Petén Guatemala, from 500 BC. There are more than 500 ball
courts (Halaw) in Guatemala alone and they have been found from Arizona to Nicaragua
and also in various Caribbean Islands such as Cuba, emphasizing the popularity of this
American sport.
The ancient Maya loved a good show. Their ballplayers entered the court dressed in the
finest jewelry, animal skins and feathered headdress, but for the actual game, the players
probably wore little more than carefully placed protective gear. Each team had their own
mascot, and ceremonial and protective gear was usually designed after this animal. The
ballgame was a fast and dangerous sport played with a heavy ball that could break bones
or even kill, so the uniform had to protect the player yet allow for quick movement. While
gear varied with each culture, the most popular elements were the yuguito (protectors on
wrists, knees or shins), the yoke (worn around the waist, it could be made from textile,
A painting of the ballgame on a Classic vase wood or leather for protection or carved stone for ceremonial purposes), the hacha ( a
decorative stone accessory worn on the yoke), the palma (used only in the Late Classic, it
was also a decoration on the yoke) and the manopla (handstone, used to hit the heavy
Blood sacrifice
The Maya believed in blood sacrifice (ch'ab') and bloodletting. Bloodletting permeated
Maya life. Kings and priests would perform bloodletting rites for every stage in life, every
important political or religious event and significant calendar period endings. The most
sacred blood is said to come from the ear (Tub), tongue, (Ak') and penis foreskin (Ach). By
perforating (Pich') their ears, the Maya were “opening” them to hear the gods’ oracles
and revelations. In cutting the tongue, it is said that they could speak what they had
heard. When the penis foreskin was cut (Pich' ach), it was to participate in the divine
procreation of the cosmos. The blood of kings and queens from their genitalia was
Images of the rubber tree on a ceramic vessel poured on paper and then burned to keep the cosmos in balance. Performing this ritual
was supposed to call forth ancestors’ spirits, with the spirits taking the appearance of a
rubber balls). The ball itself was made of a mix of latex from the rubber tree and juices of vision serpent.
a morning glory species (read more on this in the “Panama rubber tree” section of El
Mirador Guide: Plants). The size varied from tennis ball to watermelon size and weighed 3 The rulers may have dramatized this self-
to 16 kilograms. “The balls of this land are very heavy, the Indians run and jump so much sacrifice ritual, using it to intimidate their
that it is as if the balls have quicksilver within” - wrote Fray Toribio de Benavente, one of people and convince them of the necessity
the first Franciscan monks to arrive in the New World. Some balls had human skulls at the of royal blood to communicate with the
core. Rubber strips were wound around the skulls to form a large hollow ball, making it gods and that performing these rituals
lighter and bounce higher than a solid ball. would, in turn, maintain order in the
universe. During ceremonies the priests
The game itself varied from region to region considerably. The number of players was practiced the impersonation of gods, using
between 2 and 5 in each team, and generally the head, hips, knees and elbows were the hallucinogens or other substances in order
only parts of the body allowed to hit the ball. Scoring was obtained by hitting the flat to enhance their powers of divination. The
stone marker at each end of the court with the ball, although points were awarded to the king would often be joined by his wife or
opposing team if the ball hit the ground or certain parts of the body. other members of the nobility in the
rituals. The Ch'akba' or "suicide
The game between competing teams of players symbolized the battles between the gods autosacrifice" in the carotids, depicted in
in the sky and the lords of the underworld. In some of these ritual games, the leader of Ceibal, Quiriguá and Palenque among
the losing team would be decapitated, and his skull would then be used as the core others, may possibly be understood as a
around which a new rubber ball would be made. The ancient Maya were believed to ritual in which Hunahpu's and Xbalanque's
reenact, through the ball game, the mythic Underworld contest between the gods of life dance of decapitation and resurrection as
or fertility and the gods of death. This may have been an agriculture-related ritual or an related in the Popol Vuh was either
apotheosis of the military conquest. The ancient Maya ballgame holds many similarities to mimicked or reenacted as real suicide in a
today’s sport events through elements like fan bases, war-like rivalry, iconography, music ceremony. In the “Scattering” rite, blood
and gambling on the game. Maya relief of royal blood-letting would be drawn from the hands and
in Yaxchilán, Mexico sprinkled into the offering plates,
symbolizing the earth, and imitating the
planting of maize. Also, men with
perforated genitals would whirl in a kind of dervish dance that drew the blood out onto their minds to another level of thinking. The Spaniards reported that Mayas added
long paper and cloth streamers tied to their wounded members. tobacco or toad skins to their alcoholic beverages to give it an added kick. Nymphaea
alba, the common water lily from Guatemala's lakes was smoked or eaten raw due to the
The aim of these great cathartic rituals was the Vision Quest, the opening of a portal into hallucinogen characteristics' of its bulbs and roots. The water lilies are prominent plants in
the Otherworld through which gods and the ancestors could be enticed to commune with the iconography of the Maya, often interpreted as indicative of death and the gods of the
the beings of this world. The Maya thought of this process as giving “birth” to the god or underworld, as well as references to the afterlife.
ancestor, enabling it to take physical form in this plane of existence. The vision quest was
the central act of the Maya world. The ceremonies were often held at nighttimes with Maya Culture
torches and a great display was made. People would gather in a big public plaza to
observe the king and other participants on top of the great temples. There were At El Mirador, signs of chiefdom and political organization emerged during the Middle
elaborately costumed dancers, musicians, and warriors. As common women were Pre-classic era, leading to the birth of a ruling elite and the development of city-state
considered impure because of their menstruation, they were not allowed to attend the governing systems in the Late Pre-classic, leading to rivalry and wars among them. The
ceremonies. An exception was made to the vestal virgins that could attend the fires. The Mayans were the only ancient American civilization with a recorded history of their own,
bloodletting implements were specially carved, usually bone and stingray spine or a blade they broadcast on stone billboards (stelae) the loudest messages of all Mesoamerican
of flint or obsidian, and adorned with bright feathers.The ceremonies generally began cultures. They recorded on lithic monuments, pottery, papers and skins the grand events
with preparation and purification through fasting and abstinence. Then there were of their abstruse culture. Though their hieroglyphs, especially Pre-classic ones, remain to
offerings of food, ornaments and valuables belonging to the elite practicing the blood be totally deciphered, we may soon have the benefit of viewing an advanced civilization
sacrifice (including human sacrifice). To close the ceremonies there was usually feasting built upon "primary technology" taken to the fullest understanding of nature's provisions.
and a lot of drinking. In other words the Mayans went about as far as anyone could go within a category of
earth and stone technology, according to our present knowledge. Their knowledge of
Drugs of the Maya Nature surely surpasses ours. The Maya flourished thanks to a deep understanding of
their geographic setting, and surprising adaptations to the environmental conditions that
A variety of drugs and alcoholic beverages were used by the Maya. Drunkenness was surrounded them. Ironically, these were the major players in their downfall, too.
connected with the wide-spread practice of divination, a ritual act designed to allow
direct communication with the "way" and summon supernatural forces that could foretell The world of the Maya has many faces: some of them ancient, as found carved on
the future. A drunken state was supposed to give one the insight to interpret the reasons sculptures, paintings and towering temples, others as modern as those of the people who
for illness, misfortune, adverse weather, and so forth. The drink, Balché was made with live in Guatemala today. They are the descendants of the ancient Maya people, consisting
the bark of the Balché tree (Lonchocarpus longistylus) and honey. Wild tobacco (Nicotiana of 23 ethnic groups in total. Each group has its own language, special folklore, yet they
rustica), kutz, is stronger than the domestic one and could be hallucinogen and other share a common ancestral heritage as expressed in religion, music, dance, traditional
species of plants were smoked or administered in enemas to induce a trance-like state foods and even social organization. Maya influences can be found in both the performing
(ingesting psychoactive drugs anally produces a more powerful and instantaneous and design arts. The handcraft of textiles, in particular, is wonderfully colored, and part of
reaction than drugs taken orally). Some mushroom names clearly indicate their use, such the everyday dress, a big difference with its neighboring countries. Most archaeologists
as one type called "K'aizalah Okox," the "lost judgment mushroom" (Psilocybe cubensis). agree that ancient Guatemala was the cultural and commerce center of the Americas, and
There is evidence the Maya were really hooked on the stuff, using the seeds of the that the Mayan civilization is the jewel of all ancient American cultures, and one of the
morning glory, angel's trumpet, devil's trumpet and various other mind-altering tropical greatest civilizations the world has ever known.
species in their rituals.
Once centered in what is now Guatemala, extending through-out the nation and into
Easily the most entertaining device for altering the mind was due large tropical maritime neighboring Chiapas, Yucatán, Campeche, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras was a region
toad (wad toad), Bufo marinus. Used to deter would-be predators, the frog excretes a known to us as the Maya World. The investigations in various Pre-classic sites proved the
compound that was extracted by the Maya and taken in measured doses to transport
early existence of an elite and the quick process of urbanization which is critical for These ceramics appear to have been produced primarily within the Mirador Basin,
understanding the emergence of civilization in Mesoamerica. The improvement in the particularly at Nakbé. This pottery consists of fine, black line scenes painted on a white or
food supply led to an increase in population, a higher standard of living and more time to cream background. Many of these looted ceramics are found in private collections
experiment with agricultural techniques and artistic niceties. Decorative pots and throughout the world and are among the finest examples of ancient Maya art. At El Tigre
healthier, fatter corn strains were produced. Pyramid, on the second level archeologists have found a Late Classic ceramic workshop
while digging test pits. Some staircases on La Danta and other structures have been
Maya History stripes away to provide building material for these ancient squatters.
It’s accepted that, barring a few Vikings in the north and proven direct transpacific
migration from Southeast Asia as long ago as 50.000 BC, the pre-Hispanic inhabitants of
the Americas arrived from Siberia. They came in several migrations between perhaps
60,000 and 8000 BC, during the last ice age, crossing land that is now submerged beneath
the Bering Strait, then gradually moving southward. The first proof of human settlers in
Guatemala goes back to 10,000 BC; they were hunters and gatherers. Climatic and
population density changes led to agriculture, in which maize (corn) became king. The
inhabitants of what are now Guatemala successfully hybridized this native grass
(Euchlæna luxurians) with Tripsacum spp, obtaining Zea luxurians, formerly known as Zea
guatemalae, and planted it alongside beans, tomatoes, chili peppers and squashes
(marrow). They wove baskets to carry in the harvest, and they domesticated turkeys and
dogs for food. These early homebodies used crude stone tools and primitive pottery, and
shaped simple clay fertility figurines.
In the Early Pre-Classic there were few attempts to shape the landscape. The modification
of space was limited to the construction of dwellings on high ground. Some of these
dwellings were apparently more elaborate than others and may have served as the scene
of special actions or ritual acts. This is an important step, however, in that specific
behaviors became fixed in space; they became associated with a locale. It was the first
step toward segregating and regularizing activities in space. Things changed
fundamentally at the beginning of the Middle Pre-Classic. Monumental architecture of the
type constructed at La Blanca, Ujuxte, Tak'alik Ab'aj, El Mirador and other centers had
several effects on social interaction. The size and durability of these monuments is
significantly greater than anything that previously existed in Mesoamerica. At the same
time social space was becoming more highly segregated during the Pre-Classic, the
measuring of time was also becoming more formalized and more elaborate. The
disciplinary dimensions surrounding the control of time by the elite are enormous and
had ramifications for every aspect of daily life. Late Classic architecture at El Mirador
consists of corbelled-vault buildings, ornate sculpture, elite tomb constructions and
dispersed residential compounds nestled among the Pre-classic ruins. Withh elite Late
Classic residences placed among the ruins of the great Pre-classic sites, scribes and
artisans were painting an exotic polychrome pottery known as Codex-style ceramics.

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El Mirador Guide: The Hike elmiradorhike.blogspot.

Edited by: Ron Steyers

Cover photo: Detail of Hydraulic System Frieze, El Mirador

Contents Pava Group .................................................................................................................. 17

Residential area ........................................................................................................... 18

THE MAYA OF EL MIRADOR ................................................................................................ 31

Ancient Maya science and trade ..................................................................................... 31

Triadic pattern ................................................................................................................ 31

Maya religion .................................................................................................................. 32

Maize God ................................................................................................................... 33

The Hero Twins ........................................................................................................... 33

Dual souls .................................................................................................................... 34

The Maya calendar ...................................................................................................... 34

Popol Vuh .................................................................................................................... 34

The underworld .......................................................................................................... 35

Rituals of the Maya ......................................................................................................... 35

The Maya ball game .................................................................................................... 35

Blood sacrifice ............................................................................................................. 36

Drugs of the Maya ....................................................................................................... 37

Maya History ................................................................................................................... 38

Carmelita, the last village

Human presence in the Mirador Basin

Modern discovery of El Mirador The Mirador Basin Project

to consume alcohol or drugs

A basic, early map of Wakná (Graham)

Artistic impression of El Mirador in 200 BC (National Geographic, 2003)

Drawing of La Danta Complex with the E Group and Pava Group

Acropolis at El Mirador is one of many examples of colossal Pre-classic architectural

Structures 313 and 314

The hydraulic system

Jaguar Paw Temple

In 1979 a new Mirador Project coordinated by Washington’s Catholic University and

Modeled pieces of stucco. La Muerta, A1

• it was used in ceremonial events in a large open plaza, together with

Stucco heads from La Muerta, A1 (H. Iwamoto)

EVAC info: El Mirador camp is 40 minutes away.

Cylindrical vase, El Tintal

Map of the Mano de Leon Complex, El Tintal

Drawings of the green jade pieces found at Tomb 1, Tintal. Translations

least seven individuals placed in

A bivalve conch shell was

Drawing of the excavated southern side of Tomb 1, El Tintal

The Orion Nebula up close

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