Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The base of the
El Tigre Complex
is as large as three football fields, while the large
temple dominating the structure reaches 55 meters (180 feet) in height. The lower flanking
pyramids contain gigantic stucco jaguar masks.
The city's
Central Acropolis
takes the form of a narrow plaza bordered on one side by
a series of small buildings. Moving south from the El Tigre Complex, you come to the
Monos Complex,
anothertriadicstructurenamedafterthehowlermonkeystendingtocon-
gregate in this area.
Thecolossal
La Danta Complex
liestotheeastofthemainplazaandCentralAcropolis.
Although technically lower than El Tigre, it rises to a height of 70 meters (230 feet) thanks
to its elevated location on a hillside, making it the tallest structure in the Mayan world. Its
base is equally impressive. There are jaguar and vulture heads built into the sides of the
smallertempleshereandthespectacular viewsfromthetopofthepyramidaffordviewsof
nearby Mayan sites, including Nakbé and Calakmul.
Other interesting site features include the León Pyramid, at the northern edge of the city,
and Structure 34—a Preclassic building with the oldest known Mayan standing wall.
Excavations are being done under the direction of UCLA's Dr. Richard Hansen, who
has led a larger project aiming to protect the entire Mirador basin as an ecoarchaeological
preserve. The preservation of its delicate monuments is being aided by technological ad-
vances, including housing structures under polycarbonate roofs designed by Hansen and
his associates, so as to protect them from rain and ultraviolet light.
In 2009, Hansen and Guatemalan authorities unveiled the discovery of a frieze at El
MiradordepictingascenefromaMayansacredbook,the
Popol Vuh
,inwhichthemythical
'Hero Twins' visit the underworld. According to Hansen, the frieze lends further credence
tothe
Popol Vuh
'screation mythanditsauthenticity asaMayandocument, despite itsfirst
translation well into the Christian era in the 1700s. The frieze took three months to excav-
ate and was found while archaeologists were looking for water reservoirs at the site.
GETTING TO EL MIRADOR
GettingtoElMiradorisnotaneasytask,thoughyouwouldn'tknowitjudgingbytheread-
iness of certain Flores tour operators to book you on a trip even at the height of the rainy
season.ThetrektoElMiradorisnotforthefaintofheartandshouldnotbeattemptedJuly-
November, when the mud is knee-deep throughout most of the trail. In the worst of places,
a rope is tied to the end of a tree and trekkers must pull themselves through shoulder-deep
mud.Thisis,afterall,atropicalforestandtheterrainischaracterizedbyswamplands.Add
to this the incessant buzz of hungry mosquitos, extreme heat and humidity, and you start to
realize why so few people make it to this remote site. Your best bet is to attempt the trek at
the height of the dry season between February and April. Mel Gibson is rumored to have
visited in 2005. He came in by helicopter.
