See Dr.
Richard Hansen's Lecture in UFM, Preclassic Mirador Basin, Guatemala
on Feb 5 2007
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Today
March 7, 2009, was revealed to the world by Dr. Richard
Hansen a large Frieze or Panel, measuring 3 m.
high and 4 m wide, that is dated ca. 300 BC, and
decorated a Royal pool that formed part of the
hydraulics works of the city. The Panel represents
the hero twins Hunahpú and Ixbalnqué, swimming away from
Xibalbá, with his
father's (The Maize God) head as the
Popol Vuh,
19 centuries later relates.
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Just north of
Tikal, in
Petén, northern
Guatemala, lies the
Mirador Basin region, a 2,156
square kilometers (525,100 acre) of
pristine
tropical rainforest
surrounding the oldest and largest Maya pyramids, city and temple
complexes in the Americas. It
contains among other sites to
El Mirador, the largest ancient city of the Mayan world and
Tintal the second largest. The five major cities in the basin
are: El Mirador, Tintal,
Xulnal,
Nakbé and Wakná. But there are at least 26 more cities,
dating from the pre-classic 1000 BC to 300 AD, (In
El Mirador an early uncorrected carbon date from a filling in El
Tigre complex, of 1480 BC (beta 1964) is not associated with known
ceramics of this period and would have been considered erroneous
except that several other samples have been recovered from
throughout the site from this general time period, including Zea
Mais (Corn) from 2,700 BC in Lake Puerto Arturo, nearby.
(Matheny and Matheny 1991) (Wahl, 2004), this suggests that a period
of substantial burning may have occurred at that time), making it the first
organized political and economic state in the American Continent
that shares the same Kan Ahau emblem glyph,
(The Kan Kingdom), with all the other sites in the
Mirador Basin, at the same time
than the
Olmec Culture, earlier thought as the first true
civilization, there are
archeological proof that the Maya in Mirador
developed a writing,
astronomical,
agricultural,
economical,
warfare,
and all the
needed skills that made the
Maya, the most developed and
complicate society, thousands of years before previously thought,
confirmed by the findings in two preclassic sites near the Mirador
Basin, San Bartolo
with its Preclasssic
Murals and
Cival with its giant Stucco Masks. The grandest Mayan city of all, a 15-square-mile collection of
buried temples and pyramids, is called El Mirador, or "The Lookout," in
Spanish. El Mirador, was linked by limestone causeways to
dozens of smaller cities, which at times battled other Mayan regions
for supremacy. El Mirador provides the richest undisturbed
laboratory on the origins of the
Maya civilization and its earliest
kingdoms, culture, history and environment, and the reasons of the
collapse of a civilization of nearly one million people,
walls enclosed
strategic sectors of the ceremonial center, so there is some
evidence to suggest that
war
aimed at
the attack of ceremonial centers concerned some lords in the
Preclassic. However, these defensive works are still a rarity in
early Maya centers. Indeed, fortifications do not become a
commonplace until the Terminal Classic period, nearly a thousand
years later.
The evidence from El Mirador alone
indicates that hunters supplied meat from several
Fauna
such as
turkeys, deer, dogs, pizotes, wild pig, reptiles like iguana,
turtles and tortoises, several feline species, mollusks and possibly
monkeys. Exotic items were brought over long distances to supply the
population with Jade
from the upper motagua river valley,
Obsidian from San Martín
Jilotepeque, and then from El Chayal, near
Kaminaljuyú, and granite and quartzite gridding manos and
metates, cone conch and bivalve shells were imported from the
Caribbean
and
Pacific as well as stemmed chert macroblade points
and bifaces. A red coral bead was also transported inland from the
Caribbean, salt probably from the north coast was transported inland
in addition to lithics, ceramics with
volcanic ash temper from the
highlands
were being transported into El Mirador.
A
Late Classic occupation in the seventh and eighth century AD.
Occurred in the
Mirador Basin, although never
approaching the levels seen during the Late Preclassic heyday of the
site. El Mirador, along with
Nakbé and other smaller sites in
the Mirador Basin, were the only known sources of the famous
Codex-style ceramics,
that is among the most accomplished artistic traditions ever
developed in the Maya world and featuring scenes of
mythology
and legendary history. The tall pyramids constructed by ancient
Snake Kings
made El Mirador and the other major sites in the Mirador Basin,
focus of pilgrimage and ritual, since many of the Preclassic
monuments were found literally half covered with the shattered
remains of Late Classic ceramic vessels. The lack of water sources
is intriguing, due the the more than 100,000 inhabitants that lived
during its heydays ca. 100 BC.
Warfare
seems to have played a part in the ultimate downfall of
El Mirador
as a large wall surrounding the western portion of the site appears
to have been built in the Early Classic. One of the only
documented battlefields of the ancient Maya world was found atop the
Tigre pyramid where dozens of
green obsidian
spear points were found scattered atop debris indicating that the
battle occurred after the pyramid had already fallen into disrepair.
This suggests that the forces of Siyah K’ahk’
of
Tikal overran this area
likely some time in the late fourth century AD.
A
recently discovered bedrock sculpture found in a quarry in
La Muerta,
2 Km away from the Main Ceremonial Center of El Mirador, contains
the name and title of an
Early Classic lord of the Snake Kingdom.
The earliest examples of the
Snake Pollity, Emblem Glyph,
(later held by kings of Calakmul, some 40 Km. north),
come from El Mirador and other sites in the
Mirador
Basin, The kingdom ruled by El Mirador in the
Preclassic appears to have been anciently named Kan,
“Snake”.
El Mirador
has been only partly mapped, but the scale of its central public
architecture is vast beyond anything undertaken by Hasaw- Cha'an-K'awiil
of
Tikal or
his son
Yax'kin Cha'an K'awiil,
or any other contemporaries anywhere, during the Classic apogee of Maya civilization.
There are numerous
other very large Preclassic centers in
north
central
Petén, some of which are fairly close to El Mirador.
While these are impressive concentrations of temples and plazas,
they are dwarfed by El Mirador and probably were subordinate to that
center. To put it simply, the settlement patterns around El Mirador
are beginning to take on the appearance of large satellite
communities near a dominant capitol, at least in Late Preclassic
times. But if El Mirador indeed constituted a primordial hegemonic
state, it was the extraordinary exception and not the rule in early
Maya civilization. In later Classic Maya history, it might have
served as the half remembered glorious precedent for the imperial
ambitions of Tikal and other Petén cities; but it did not divert
Classic Maya society from its principal political form, the
relatively small polity ruled by a single major royal capitol.
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Lagoon, and Tropical rain forest |
El Tigre Complex, El Mirador
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El Mirador is also one of the oldest
Maya cities along with
Nakbé,
Kaminal Juyú,
in the
highlands,
Tak'alik Abaj',
in the
pacific
lowlands and the
Largest City in the Mayan world,
dating 1000 years before
Uaxactún and
Tikal, (the Pre-classic) a time that just a few
years ago was little known and believed to be almost like an stone age
culture, without any building capabilities, due to recent findings in
excavations, burials and monuments dates, this site will change the
known history of the Mayan culture, and the archeologist will have to
re-write it. The Kings that ruled El Mirador were equal in power to
Ramses II and Keops. There have been recently found a site with mural
paintings in excellent condition and similar to those in
San
Bartolo, this site name and precise location, has not been
disclosed yet in order to protect it, but soon it will be
announce to the world.
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La
Danta Summit |
Detailed
Mirador Basin Sites Map |
Twenty-six other Preclassic sites have been identified
In the basin, including
Nakbé,
La Muralla, Waknab,
La Manteca, Tintal,
Xulnal, Wiknal,
Chan Kan, Wakna',
Paixban,
Naachtún,
Dos Lagunas and many more still unnamed, but wonderful Mayan cities
south and east to El Mirador, they were connected by huge Cuseways
called Sacbe'ob, or Sacbé in singular, meaning white roads, due to its
stucco cover, some 6 mt High and 40 mt. wide, and up to 40 Km long, clearly seen on
Satellite photographs. The 40 kilometer causeway between El Mirador and
Tintal was scientifically excavated, and is the longest in
Mesoamerica. There may be as many as 30 smaller sites,
waiting to be uncovered. There are no modern roads in the region and
many sites are a two or three-day hike from the nearest town of
Carmelita, a former Chliclero outpost, some 400 inhabitants, that now
are being trained as guides and helpers in the excavations. From
Carmelita to El Mirador, you will visit 9 big Preclassic Mayan cities.
All the cities share the same Emblem
Glyph the Kan Ahau glyph.
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Sacbé
Landsat image |
El
Mirador Causeways (Sacbeob) |
Excavation of El Mirador and other sites has begun only in recent
decades. The Mirador Basin, part national park and part multi-use area,
is also a target for illegal forestry activities, this Basin is still a
virgin forest with 6 different types of
Tropical forest and has a large variety
of
fauna, it is by far the largest virgin tropical ecosystem besides the Amazonia in Brazil.
The archaeologist Richard Hansen and his team have been
working more that 20 years there, and in 2001 initiated "The
Mirador Basin Project", which aims to gain permanent
archaeological and environmental protection for the region while
spurring economic growth through ecotourism development. He has
The National Geographic Society and the
Novella Foundation, support among
other institutions and individuals, both in Guatemala and outside the
country.
NGS made a Documentary for TV named "Dawn of the Maya", (Candidate to an
Oscar in 2005). in witch he defined this basin as the oldest and more
extensive Mayan site of the world. If you have been in Tikal, just
imagine the central plaza in Mirador that is 4 times larger and has two
enormous pyramids, among hundreds of buildings, one of them known as La Danta (Tapir), dated ca 400 BC., witch is, by far, the most massive
building
discovered to date any where in the world, with an amazing base (that
could accommodate 36 football fields): 1,089 feet (330 mt.) by 2,046 feet (620 mt.) and 237.6 feet tall (72 mt.)
with a volume of 2,800.000 cubic mt. that
make the Great Pyramid in Egypt smaller by 200,000 cubic mt., its base is larger that the
Central Acrópolis in Tikal, and up today, Only its topmost pyramid has
been fully excavated. It is the Tallest Building in Pre
columbian America, Hansen estimates that 15 million man/days were
necessary to build it. (See
Gallery). This complex has 4 Platforms, and 3
temples in the uppermost being the central the tallest with 24 mt.,
in front of this massive pyramid and in the first platform is the Pavas group, with an acropolis some 28
mt high, among several smaller temples and the Puma group. Large public plaza appears
to have been an important feature in the late preclassic period as
there is a large one on each major level of the Danta complex. Public plazas have
been noted from the late preclassic period at
Tikal by 100 BC (Culbert 1977:38),
some of the late preclassic structures in the
Danta complex may have had perishable superstructures, Its
Major
architectural features were central inset stairways,
large projecting
masonry block masses once supporting masks flanking
the stairways, small nonfunctional stairways, carefully cut and
shaped block masonry and thick plaster coverings on masonry and
floors. Masonry was finely executed, the blocks were usually large
and rectangular in shape, joints appear to have been mortared with
mud instead of plaster. The practice of painting plaster surfaces
with red pigment was observed on the Danta and
Pava acropolises, a feature found also in
Tikal by 300 BC. At least 3
proceces of remodeling have been documented, and the last activity
was ca 150 AD. At Tikal, Coe found that
rites
carried out in shrines on top of important tombs is suggestive of
high status (Coe 1965), this may be the case at the
La Danta complex such activities are
present not only in the form of early classic ceramic offerings left
on the structures after they had been abandoned but also in late
preclassic period pits that were hacked through the floors of the
structures for the purpose of burning offerings in them, that
similar activities took place in the same locations but at widely
separated times is suggestive of a common significance placed on the
structure itself or its contents, perhaps the presence of a tomb
containing a common ancestor. No middle preclassic activity is
evidenced in the area in sharp contrast to the rest of the site.
During the late preclassic the Danta complex
appears to have come into use and apparently flourished as a center
of ceremonial activity. there does not appear to have been much
residential occupation of the danta complex during the preclassic
period, it was during this period that El
Mirador and the Danta complex
developed as a preeminent center in the Maya
lowlands.
The city also has 2 other huge
and earlier complexes, El Tigre, a 182 Foot
high Triadic complex, with a
surface of 21,750 m2, Tikal's central plaza
would fit in its base,
The total volume of the public architecture immediately surrounding
the El Tigre plaza comes to roughly
428,680 m3 of soil and stone, allowing approximately
48,680 m3 of fill for the smaller structures, such as St
34. in the El Tigre area, however,
earlier ceremonial structures were razed and placed in structural
fill plazas and walls. Lithic specialists during the late preclassic
period also established a workshop in the center of the El Tigre plaza.
Los Monos,
a 145 foot high complex. The base of Los Monos
complex (160,000 m3) appears to be the earliest of the
large complexes, the excavations suggest that the
Los Monos pyramid appears to have been
constructed in three phases evidence suggests that the first level
was constructed during the early middle
preclassic period and the second and third levels during the
late preclassic period. The main pyramid structure of Los Monos is 42 mt high and has an
estimated volume of approximately 305,000 m3, although
Los Monos is only the third largest
structure at El Mirador, it still represents one of the largest structures in the Maya lowlands.
Along with evidence from El Tigre and
the central acropolis indicate that
El Mirador was occupied during the
early middle preclassic. Other 15 large Temples, 3
ball courts and several plazas, among its major features. Several
Jade
and
Obsidian
artifacts have been found here.
Dr. Richard Hansen Believes that this was the
Capitol of the mythic Kingdom of Kan, that was considered a legend among the Classic Maya,
(like Camelot), because it was the origin of their culture. the site was
partially reoccupied in the Late Classic and is the only
source of the
Codex Style pottery, dated around 700 AC those
classic inhabitants used some Temples to build houses
jeopardizing the large pyramids, but in recent consolidation
works, archeologists manage to stabilize them.
Hansen says that the
spectacular rise of El Mirador over
Nakbé, was related to that site's better supply of water
and especially to its more
defensible position. The important public
architecture at El Mirador was constructed on the brink of a steep escarpment,
which provided protection to the settlement's northern and western flanks,
while
the east is protected by swamps (bajos).
Dr. Hansen also has demonstrated that
the Preclassic Maya suffered ca 150 AD, a
Collapse similar to
that of the Classic and for the same reasons,
Warfare, Deforestation and inability
to feed the people, due to the extensive forest slash for firewood
in order to make stucco for their colossal Pyramids, (One average
size temple would need some 400 Ha. of forest), the poor soil
of the area deforested fill the bajos and thus, the Preclassic Maya
intensive agricultural system.
El
Mirador, was abruptly abandoned around A.D. 150
(R.D. Hansen 1990; Howell and Copeland 1989). The abandonment of El
Mirador and the surrounding area appears to have been relatively
rapid and enduring. The pollen data from Puerto
Arturo corroborate this abandonment. The paleo-environmental evidence
for this abandonment is similar to that of the Middle Preclassic
recovery phase. Increased values of grasses and weeds, including
maize pollen, from ca. 300 B.C. to A.D. 100, mark the intervening
disturbance period. After A.D. 100, these grasses began a steep
decline and minimum values persist from ~A.D. 130-225. Thus, it
appears
the Preclassic abandonment was underway shortly after A.D.
100. (David Wahl, 2005)
The project gained the support of the Guatemalan government, and in
2002, agreed to create the Regional System for the Special Protection of
Cultural Heritage as a means of protecting archaeological sites within
the Maya Biosphere Reserve. The 242,811 Hectares (580,000 acres) of the Mirador-Río Azul, reserve as a "Special
Archaeological Zone" are officially named as the Mirador Basin. The Mirador Basin Project, has gained considerable
national and international support in the past years, there is a project
funded by the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) and it is poised to
transform El Mirador into the most-visited archaeological site and
tourist attraction in Mesoamérica.
Mirador “Is a world wonder – and needs to be protected. We may be
talking about the single most ambitious conservation and development
project related to protected areas proposed in the Americas.”
states Roan McNab, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Travel & Leisure
magazine, June, 2005.
The project aims to establish visitor centers and a park service team
of rangers, administrators and law-enforcement personnel to provide
nature,
wildlife and archaeological conservation. It proposes a system
of tourism lodges and hiking routes linking archaeological sites within Mirador Basin.
Trails will also link to gateway communities which will
provide tourist services just outside the reserve. Supporters of the Mirador Basin project say it will integrate local communities into the
wealth creation and development of sustainable tourism, which is far
more lucrative than logging and slash-and-burn agriculture. There is
also a plan to join the largest cities by a small train, that will
respect any big tree or site making it a very ecological solution to
visit the basin without slash the Rain Forest by building Highways, that
in time will attract illegal settlers. One of Mirador’s most unique attributes
is the diversity of forest types and the
wildlife distribution. The Director of Biological
Conservation, Professor Cesar Castañeda and Dean of Tropical
Botany
for the University Del Valle and his team have found over 40
threatened wildlife species, 200 native and migratory
birds, 300
species of trees and 2,000 different flora. Dr. Castañeda and his
team have documented the wide range of its forest types within a
contained ecosystem, including the five primary ecosystems of palm
forest (huanales), ramón forest (ramonales), wetland marshes (civales),
high canopy forest (zapotales), and tree- covered seasonal swamps or
bajos (tintales). Valuable renewable resources are also contained
within the Mirador such as floral palms (xate), allspice (pimienta)
and chewing gum base (chicle), and more recently, ramon nuts (Brosimum
alicastrum) as a high protein supplement. In addition, these
rainforests are also an important source of oxygen, carbon fixation
and may also provide important cosmetics and natural
pharmaceuticals. Mirador is home to five of the six species of
cat found in Guatemala, and the largest jaguar preserve in Central
America, with an estimated 300 to 400 jaguars living in Mirador’s
dense forests. Protecting the
jaguar, which only exists in the
Americas, requires assessing, prioritizing and conserving not only
the individual population, but also the wide variety of ecological
interactions associated with them.
Global Heritage Fund.
The village of Carmelita (A former camp site for collectors of "Chicle"
(Chicleros) or chewing gum base, extracted from the
Chico-Zapote tree,
is the nearest point to the site that you can go by car, there, you will
find guides and rental of the equipment needed to go to the main city of
El Mirador either hiking or on horseback. You will have to spend at
least 4 days to enjoy the sites and learn about the Jungle as well. All
the camping equipment, purified water and food will be provided at
Carmelita, so you just have to go with your essential belongings and a
lot of explorer spirit. The Mirador Basin is without any doubt the
ultimate Tropical Jungle Ecological, and Mayan Archeological Adventure
at the same time. A Community Visitor
Center in Carmelita is under construction with six lodges, tourism
center, Internet and computer facilities, guiding center, water and
showers, kitchen and visitors services, and a Museum is Planned. 8
Major structures have been restored, only in its facades.
In Jan 31, 2007, the USA and Guatemala Governments, signed a
US $ 35 million Treaty to promote Ecotourism and Archaeological
protection in
Petén, that will promote
the conservation and development of the Maya Biosphere Reserve,
that will begin in The Mirador Basin
Río Azul and
Carmelita, a 4000 Km2 area. Mirador is Guatemala’s leading
nomination for UNESCO World Heritage. Since October 2007, the
visitor's center in Carmelita is in operation, also, there are
bungalows with all the basic services, even Internet access.
Guatemala's new President Alvaro Colom said in his inauguration
speech that his administration would seek the UNESCO monument
recognition, and make El Mirador the first Maya attraction of the
World. In May, 2008 a group of private
business announce in
Antigua Guatemala, a donation of US
$ 5 million to Dr. Hansen and his team, as the government announced
the creation of the largest archaeological and ecological park in
Mesoamerica (18,000 Km2), to ensure the protection and
sustainability of the communities and the protection of
Guatemala's Natural and Historical wealth.
Mirador Archaeological and Wildlife
Preserve is a proposed 525,100 acre protected area located in the
heart of the Maya Biosphere in northern Guatemala. Mirador is home
to the earliest and largest Preclassic Maya archeological sites in
Mesoamerica, including the largest pyramid in the world La Danta.
Experts describe EL Mirador as the Cradle of Maya Civilization.
GHF http://www.globalheritagefund.org/where/mirador_scroller.html
