Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
an city-states, aided by its dominance of strategic lowland trade routes. Tikal's influence
reached as far south as Copán and as far west as Yaxchilán.
At the same time, the city-state of Calakmul, just north of the Guatemalan border in
present-day Mexico, began its assent toward regional dominance. As the power and in-
fluence of Teotihuacán waned in the 5th century A.D., Calakmul emerged as a geopolit-
ical force to be reckoned with, incorporating a number of vassal states surrounding Tikal
and contesting its dominion over the Mayan lowlands. A key alliance was forged between
Calakmul and Caracol, in present-day Belize. Tikal launched a preemptive strike against
Caracol in A.D. 556. With backing from Calakmul, Caracol launched a counterattack on
Tikal in A.D. 562; the latter suffered a crushing defeat. Desecration of Tikal's stelae and
ritual burials, in addition to the destruction of many of its written records, followed.
