Pacific Lowlands Ceramic Gallery
Lowlands
and Highlands Sculpture Gallery
|
 In
May 2010, the Sixth Jade Funeral
Mask found in this city (The Most at any Maya site up to
now) was revealed,
its complexity is very unique, due to a Hairdress,
something not seen until now. A recent
discovery (March 2008), of an square "Altar" under a
Stela carefully sited on top of it, could be the
dedicatory monument of the inauguration of the city's
first Maya ruler, ca 200 BC, the glyph are definitely
Preclassic, and the epigraphers will study it. Only 3
sides have been cleared at hopefully the fourth will
tell the exact date. |
In the Early Pre Classic, The Río Naranjo
region was dominated by the site of
La Blanca,
whose sphere of influence probably extended from the Río Suchiate
and Izapa in the west to the Río
Ocosito in the east. including
El Mesak.
The second major center was Tak'alik
A'baj, located 45 km east of
La Blanca in the piedmont region.
Information about Tak'alik A'baj during
the Early and Middle Pre-Classic is limited, but the impressive
corpus of
Olmec sculpture from the site marks
it as the most important regional centers of the Mesoamerican
Pacific Coast at this time (Graham 1977, 1979, 1981, 1989; Graham
and Benson 1990; Graham, Heizer, and Shook
1978; Orrego Corzo 1990).
The trajectory of increasing complexity continued into the latter
half of the Middle Pre-Classic, but in a greatly changed historical
setting. La Blanca
declined sharply at about 600 B.C. and became a small village.
Sometime after that a
Maya group arrived at Tak'alik
A'baj and either conquered or displaced the previous inhabitants, as
witnessed by the great corpus of early Maya sculpture (Graham,
Heizer, and Shook 1978). These events at
Tak’alik A’baj are not well dated, but the expected
publication of the ceramic sequence developed by the Guatemalan
national project working at the site will clarify the cultural and
chronological relationships. Related in some way to these two major
events was the founding and growth of the settlement of
Ujuxte. This
site lies on the coastal plain just 12 km east of
La Blanca and 40 km southwest of
Tak’alik A’baj. The ceramics of
Ujuxte show that it was founded near
the end of the Conchas period, at about 600 B.C., just as La Blanca
declined ( Love
and Herrera). Although Ujuxte has a complex
settlement history, it appears that most of the site area was
occupied soon after 500 B.C. and occupation continued expanding
during the Late Pre-Classic. the middle preclassic sculptural corpus
at
Tak’alik Ab'aj indicates that it was also a major and
powerful center but its size during the middle preclassic is
uncertain.
Tak'alik Ab'aj in the
Pacific Lowlands is a well studied
trade center since the
Early Preclassic, the original population
apparently
arrived
during the Early Preclassic period, and around the Middle Preclassic,
the inhabitants were already involved in a trade network that
connected the Olmec
groups. The trade network was concentrated in a lineal route that
ran along the boca costa region in Guatemala and that connected
Mexico with El Salvador. By the beginning of the Late Preclassic
period, trade nexuses were switched to the Maya groups, with a
strong orientation towards Kaminaljuyú
in the Highlands. The
commercial route was essentially the same, except for the fact that
Kaminaljuyú and its trade connections with the Motagua basin were
integrated into the network. This connection ceased to exist by the
end of the Preclassic period. At the beginning of the Early Classic
period, Tak’alik Ab’aj established new relationships with the
Northwestern Guatemalan Highlands, more specifically with the Solano
group that was in a process of expansion from the centers located in
the northwest, and which eventually took control over Kaminaljuyú.
At that time, the trade route no longer continued in line along the
boca costa, but instead, it became vertical, connecting the South
Coast not only with the Northwestern Highlands but indirectly, with
the Central highlands now under the control of the Solano group.
Another change occurred during the Late Classic, when Tak’alik Ab’aj
apparently became independent just like many other sites of the
South Coast of
Guatemala, such as Chocolá, in the
department of Suchitepéquez, and
Cotzumalguapa, Montana and Texas in the department of Escuintla
(Bove 1989:80).
Tak’alik Ab’aj was experiencing an
era of revitalization, and was initiating a period of intense
reconstruction works to relocate many of the ancient monuments in
critical places, as dictated by the new remodelling of the
structures. It is important to remember that the population of
Tak’alik Ab’aj stayed there uninterruptedly and
in situ,
despite the several changes occurred with their commercial
partners.
In the Late Classic, the scene turned into a mosaic of independent
centers in the South Coast and the Altiplano, all of them
interacting, or either, as we shall see in this case, competing with
one another for territory and resources. Therefore, the pottery at
Tak’alik Ab’aj shows a continued evolution since its earliest
occupation, throughout its entire trajectory, and up to the end of
the Late Classic period, reflected in a ceramic tradition
denominated Ocosito. Its frontiers probably extended to the west up
to Coatepeque or beyond, to the south down to the Ocosito River, and
to the east, to the Samala River (Herrera 1995:76). The sole major
change in the sequence took place right at the end of the Late
Classic, with the arrival of pottery originated in the K’iche’ area
and that subsequently began to blend with the Ocosito Tradition.
Shortly after, during the Early Postclassic period, the K’iche’
pottery was quickly infiltrated in the site, and the Ocosito
Tradition disappeared or was absorbed by the new complex. No hiatus
or pause exists between the Late Classic and Early Postclassic
developments. Following the initial contact, the local simply was
replaced with the new, and this covered almost the entire site.
The site has notably large monuments. Six altars weigh between 4.5 and
7.0 tons; the largest altar weighs in excess of 11 tons. Stelas are
similarly monumental; five weigh between 1 and 5 tons; 4 weigh
between 5 and 10 tons; 2 are over 10 tons, and the largest intact
stela weighs 17.25 tons. Average weight of the 12 largest stelas is
14.8 tons. The stone of almost all monuments is andesite and is
identical to the natural boulders which abound in the site and
surrounding areas
Tak’alik A’baj is located in the
Guatemalan
Pacific Low Lands, far away from
Petén at the North, making
it the largest Mayan city in the Pacific Ocean coastal area in Mesoamérica, the city is
also interesting due to its long occupation periods (800 BC to 900 AD).
It was
reoccupied by the
K'iché in the Post Classic until
ca. 1300 AD,
it is the only site in Mesoamerica with
Olmec
influences in
the early years and
Mayan influences
after 600BC, and was a important commerce centre, mainly with
Chocolá and
Kaminal
Juyú in what is now
Guatemala
City.
Tak'alik A'baj's sculptures
may well have been used as exclusionary markers: Monuments 1 and 68,
are both located on stream banks that would have been natural
approaches to the site. Given the limited distribution of Middle
Pre-Classic ceramics at the site, it is possible that the entire
settlement lay within these boundaries. Other Middle Pre-Classic
sculptures are found within this occupation zone, although all were
reset in later times, which leaves us without further avenue for
investigation of Middle Pre-Classic patterning of sculpture within
the site.
Ancient Water supply still working
According to ceramic and stratigraphic
analysis in recent excavations, this site was
reoccupied in the
early postclassic, by
K´iche´ groups around 1000
AC,
much earlier than the accepted K´iche´ expansion to the pacific
lowlands, (1400 to 1450 AC).
The site is located in El Asintal,
Retalhuleu some 118.06 mi (190 km) from Guatemala City in a paved road
about 3 hrs, driving, during witch you will enjoy the major
Volcanoes
of
Guatemala.
It's
Architecture
shows 82 monumental structures, including an
astronomical observatory, temples, terraces, etc. and 282 monuments known
to date, including impressive stelas and altars. The materials used are granite
stones much different from the lime stone used in the Petén cities.
Aeveral burials with
Ceramics,
Obsidian and
Jade objects have been found.
|
Stela 3 |
There is a museum and also a little
Zoo with local species, you will enjoy visiting this site and learning
about the hydraulics capabilities of the ancient Mayas as well as to
take a glimpse of the early
Olmec and
Maya cultures and their
differences. (See National Geographic Magazine, May 2004, page 14).
You will need 3-4 hours to enjoy it, also the site has one of the
few remaining natural forest in the Pacific coast region in
Guatemala.
The climate is hot and humid, but it
is located near Retalhuleu city that has a lot of hotels with swimming
pools and Air conditioned, the
Pacific Ocean is a half hour away from
there, and the Renown
IRTRA Amusing parks of
Xocomil and Xetulul are also very
near, so plan 2 days in the area to enjoy all the different options there.
Perfect for the kids of all ages you don’t need to be in great shape to
visit the area.
