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Mayapan was an important fortified city with a densely occupied area within the city walls. The principal pyramid at Mayapan was modelled after the main pyramid at Chichen Itza. The city was the most important site in Yucatán for a period of about 250 years during the Postclassic Period, with the earliest structures dating to the 12th century AD.
Maya ruins of Xunantunich. The Maya ruins of Belize [1] [2] include a number of well-known and historically important pre-Columbian Maya archaeological sites. Belize is considered part of the southern Maya lowlands of the Mesoamerican culture area, and the sites found there were occupied from the Preclassic (2000 BCE–200 CE) until and after the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century.
In the southeast, Copán was the most important city. [48] Palenque and Yaxchilán were the most powerful cities in the Usumacinta region. [48] In the north of the Maya area, Coba was the most important Maya capital. [13] Capital cities of Maya kingdoms could vary considerably in size, apparently related to how many vassal cities were tied to ...
The Templo Redondo with a Mayan carving in the foreground. In 1841 John L. Stephens was the first to document parts of the Mayapan site with two important illustrations. The first was of the Q-152 round temple, and the second was of the Pyramid of Kukulkan. He was the first in a long string of explorers who drew the ruins of Mayapan.
Stela M and its associated altar are at its base and a large sculpted figure is located in the centre of every 12th step. These figures are believed to represent the most important rulers in the dynastic history of the site. The stairway takes its name from the 2200 glyphs that together form the longest known Maya hieroglyphic text.
Uxmal (Yucatec Maya: Óoxmáal [óˑʃmáˑl]) is an ancient Maya city of the classical period located in present-day Mexico.It is considered one of the most important archaeological sites of Maya culture, along with Palenque, Chichen Itza and Calakmul in Mexico, Caracol and Xunantunich in Belize, and Tikal in Guatemala.
According to post-Conquest sources (Maya and Spanish), pre-Columbian Maya sacrificed objects and human beings into the cenote as a form of worship to the Maya rain god Chaac. Edward Herbert Thompson dredged the Cenote Sagrado from 1904 to 1910, and recovered artifacts of gold, jade , pottery and incense , as well as human remains. [ 11 ]
Tikal was the capital of a state that became one of the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient Maya. [5] Though monumental architecture at the site dates back as far as the 4th century BC, Tikal reached its apogee during the Classic Period , c. 200 to 900.