Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Afterthisdefeat,Tikalunderwenta130-yearhiatusfromerectinginscribedmonuments,
though it has recently been discovered that Temple V was constructed during this period.
Mayanists now believe Tikal was never completely broken, despite defeat at the hands of
its bitter rival.
Height of Power and Decline
Tikal reemerged as a dominant power beginning in A.D. 682 under the new leadership of
Hasaw Chan K'awil (Heavenly Standard Bearer), whose 52-year reign was marked by the
definitive defeat ofCalakmul inA.D.695withreassertion ofcontrol overregional satellite
cities such as Río Azul and Waka' as well as a frenzy of new temple construction. The six
great temples dominating Tikal's ceremonial center were reconstructed between A.D. 670
and 810 by Hasaw Chan K'awil and his successors.
At the height of the Classic period, Tikal covered an area of about 30 square kilometers
and had a population of at least 100,000, though some Mayanists believe it may have been
much greater.
By the beginning of the 9th century A.D., conditions worsened for many city-states
across the Mayan lowlands with the Classic Maya collapse in full swing. Tikal was no ex-
ception. The city-state's last inscription is recorded on Stela 24, which dates to A.D. 869.
Tikal, like Petén's other Mayan cities, was completely abandoned by the late 10th century
A.D. The city would be reclaimed by the jungle and largely forgotten until its rediscovery
in the late 17th century.
Rediscovery
TheItzáwhooccupiedthepresent-dayislandofFloresprobablyknewaboutTikalandmay
have worshipped here. Spanish missionary friars passing through Petén after the conquest
mention the existence of cities buried beneath the jungle, but it wasn't until 1848 that the
Guatemalan government commissioned explorers Modesto Méndez and Ambrosio Tut to
visit the site. The pair brought along an artist, Eusebio Lara, to record their discoveries. In
1877, Swiss explorer Dr. Gustav Bernoulli visited Tikal and removed the carved wooden
lintels from Temples I and IV. He shipped them to Basel, where they remain on display at
the Museum für Völkerkunde.
Scientific study of the site would begin in 1881 with the arrival of British archaeologist
Alfred P. Maudslay. His work was subsequently continued by Teobert Maler, Alfred M.
Tozzer, and R. E. Merwin, among others. The inscriptions at Tikal owe their decipherment
to the work of Sylvanis G. Morley. In the mid-1950s, an airstrip was built, making access
to the site much easier. The University of Pennsylvania carried out excavations between
1956 and 1969, along with Guatemala's Institute of Anthropology and History. With help
from Spanish Cooperation, Temples I and V have been restored as part of a project begun
in 1991.
