Calakmul

Calakmul (; also Kalakmul and other less frequent variants) is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful Mayan cities.

Calakmul was a major Maya power within the northern Petén Basin region of the Yucatán Peninsula of southern Mexico. Calakmul administered a large domain marked by the extensive distribution of its emblem glyph of the snake head sign, to be read "Kaan". Calakmul was the seat of what has been dubbed the Kingdom of the Snake or Snake Kingdom. This Snake Kingdom reigned during most of the Mesoamerican Classic period. Calakmul is estimated to have had a population of 50,000 people and had governance, at times, over places as far away as 150 kilometers (93 mi). There are 6,750 ancient structures identified at Calakmul, the largest of which is the great pyramid at the site. Structure 2 is over high, making it one of the tallest of the Mesoamerican pyramids.

Four tombs have been located within the pyramid. Like many temples and pyramids within Mesoamerica, the pyramid at Calakmul increased in size by sequentially building upon the existing pyramid until it reached its final size. The size of the central monumental architecture is approximately and the whole of the site, mostly covered with dense residential structures, is about .

Throughout the Classic period, Calakmul maintained an intense rivalry with the city of Tikal to the south, and the political maneuverings of these two cities have been considered to be a struggle between two Maya superpowers.

Rediscovered from the air by biologist Cyrus L. Lundell of the Mexican Exploitation Chicle Company on December 29, 1931, the find was reported to Sylvanus G. Morley of the Carnegie Institute at Chichen Itza in March 1932.

Etymology

thumb|Calakmul's [[stele|Stela 88 stands upon the stairway of Structure 13]]

Calakmul is a modern name; according to Cyrus L. Lundell, who named the site, in Maya, ca means "two", lak means "adjacent", and mul signifies any artificial mound or pyramid, so Calakmul is the "City of the Two Adjacent Pyramids". In ancient times the city core was known as Ox Te' Tuun, meaning "Place of Three Stones". Another name associated with the site, and perhaps a larger area around it, is Chiik Naab. The lords of Calakmul identified themselves as k'uhul kaanal ajaw, Divine Lords of the Snake, but the connection of the title to the actual site is ambiguous. The ruins of El Tintal are to the southwest of Calakmul and were linked to both El Mirador and Calakmul itself by causeway. Calakmul was about south of the contemporary city of Oxpemul and approximately southwest of La Muñeca.

The city is located on a rise about above a large seasonal swamp lying to the west, This swamp measures approximately and was an important source of water during the rainy season. During the 1st millennium AD the area received moderate and regular rainfall, although there is less surface water available than further south in Guatemala.

Population and extent

At its height in the Late Classic period the city is estimated to have had a population of 50,000 inhabitants and to have covered an area of over . The city was the capital of a large regional state with an area of about . During the Terminal Classic the city's population declined dramatically and the rural population plummeted to 10% of its former level.

The Late Classic population density of Calakmul has been calculated at 1000/km2 (2564 per square mile) in the site core and 420/km2 (1076 per square mile) in the periphery (an area of . Calakmul was a true urban city and not just an elite centre surrounded by commoner residences.

thumb|The Emblem Glyph of the Kanul dynasty at Calakmul

The Calakmul kingdom included 20 secondary centres, among which were large cities such as La Muñeca, Naachtun, Sasilha, Oxpemul and Uxul. Calakmul administered a large domain marked by the extensive distribution of their emblem glyph of the snake head sign, to be read "Kaan". Calakmul was the seat of what has been dubbed the Snake Kingdom. At times the city had governance over places as far away as 150 kilometers.]]

Emblem Glyph

At Calakmul's peak in the 7th century, the polity was known as Kaan. The Preclassic political state in the Mirador Basin also used the title Kaan. There is the idea that, after the collapse of the Mirador state, its refugees migrated north towards Calakmul, where they founded a new Kaan polity. However, epigraphical studies of the monuments at Calakmul show that prior to the 7th century AD the emblem glyph of Calakmul had nothing to do with a snake, but with a bat. It seems that a different polity ruled there. The Kaan emblem glyph, before being associated with Calakmul, is found (once) at Dzibanché, a site more towards the east. Perhaps during the late 6th/early 7th century, the polity at Dzibanché moved to Calakmul in order to establish a more strategically placed capital. After Calakmul's power dwindled in the 8th century, after the rule of Yuknoom Took K'awiil, it appears that the bat emblem glyph made its resurgence. Still, many uncertainties remain and new epigraphical studies have to be done to fill the gaps.

History

thumb|right|Jade mask, currently exhibited at the Museum of Maya Architecture

Calakmul has a long occupational history and excavations have revealed evidence from the Middle Preclassic right through to the Postclassic.

Calakmul vs. Tikal

thumb|right|The history of Classic Maya civilization was dominated by the rivalry between the opposed alliance networks of Calakmul and Tikal (pictured)

The history of the Maya Classic period is dominated by the rivalry between Tikal and Calakmul, likened to a struggle between two Maya "superpowers". Earlier times tended to be dominated by a single larger city and by the Early Classic Tikal was moving into this position after the dominance of El Mirador in the Late Preclassic and Nakbe in the Middle Preclassic. However Calakmul was a rival city with equivalent resources that challenged the supremacy of Tikal and engaged in a strategy of surrounding it with its own network of allies. From the second half of the 6th century AD through to the late 7th century Calakmul gained the upper hand although it failed to extinguish Tikal's power completely and Tikal was able to turn the tables on its great rival in a decisive battle that took place in AD 695. Half a century later Tikal was able to gain major victories over Calakmul's most important allies.

The great rivalry between these two cities may have been based on more than competition for resources. Their dynastic histories reveal different origins and the intense competition between the two powers may have had an ideological grounding. Calakmul's dynasty seems ultimately derived from the great Preclassic city of El Mirador while the dynasty of Tikal was profoundly affected by the intervention of the distant central Mexican metropolis of Teotihuacan. The early history of Calakmul is obscure, although a dynastic list has been pieced together that extends back into an ancestral past. This dynasty has been reconstructed in part from Late Classic ceramics from the region of great Preclassic cities of El Mirador and Nakbe. This may mean that Calakmul ultimately inherited its political authority from one of these cities, with its dynasty originating in the Late Preclassic in the Mirador Basin and relocating itself to Calakmul in the Classic period after the collapse of these cities.]]

Both Calakmul and Tikal were sizeable Preclassic cities that survived into the Classic Period.

By the middle of the 6th century AD Calakmul was assembling a far-reaching political alliance, activity that brought the city into conflict with the great city of Tikal. The influence of Calakmul extended deep into the Petén; king Tuun K'ab' Hix of Calakmul oversaw the enthronement of Aj Wosal to the rulership of Naranjo in 546. Sky Witness is also mentioned at Okop, a site much further north in Quintana Roo. Uneh Chan engaged in an aggressive campaign in the western Maya region and attacked Palenque on 23 April 599 with his ally Lakam Chak, lord of the small city of Santa Elena east of Palenque, defeating Palenque's queen Lady Yohl Ik'nal and sacking the city. The defeat is recorded on a series of hieroglyphic steps at Palenque itself and the event initiated a long-lasting grudge against Calakmul. Lady Yohl Ik'nal survived the battle and ruled for several more years, although she perhaps paid tribute to Calakmul.

Uneh Chan maintained his alliances with cities in the east and he is depicted on Caracol Stela 4 supervising an event involving king Yajaw Te' K'inich of that city that occurred before 583. Palenque was now ruled by king Ajen Yohl Mat who had gained some sort of independence from Calakmul, provoking the new invasion. Palenque suffered a lengthy decline in its fortunes after this date before it was able to recover from its disastrous war with Calakmul. The wars against Palenque may have been undertaken by Uneh Chan in order to seize control of wealthy trade routes that passed through the western Maya region.

Rebellion at Naranjo

King Yuknoom Chan of Calakmul supervised an event at Caracol in 619. Caracol Stela 22 records the accession of Tajoom Uk'ab' K'ak' to the Calakmul throne in 622. Calakmul experienced its highest achievements during the reign of king Yuknoom Che'en II, sometimes called Yuknoom the Great by scholars. Yuknoom Che'en II was 36 years old when he came to the throne of Calakmul in AD 636. B'alaj Chan K'awiil was installed on the throne of the new outpost at the age of four, in 635, and for many years served as a loyal vassal fighting for his brother, the king of Tikal. In AD 648 Calakmul attacked Dos Pilas and gained an overwhelming victory that included the death of a Tikal lord. B'alaj Chan K'awiil was captured by Yuknoom Che'en II but, instead of being sacrificed, he was re-instated on his throne as a vassal of the Calakmul king, and went on to attack Tikal in 657, forcing Nuun Ujol Chaak, the then king of Tikal, to temporarily abandon the city. The first two rulers of Dos Pilas continued to use the Mutal emblem glyph of Tikal, and they probably felt that they had a legitimate claim to the throne of Tikal itself. For some reason, B'alaj Chan K'awiil was not installed as the new ruler of Tikal; instead he stayed at Dos Pilas.

Tikal counterattacked against Dos Pilas in 672, driving B'alaj Chan K'awiil into an exile that lasted five years. Calakmul tried to encircle Tikal within an area dominated by its allies, such as El Peru, Dos Pilas and Caracol. In 677 Calakmul counterattacked against Dos Pilas, driving Tikal out and reinstalled B'alaj Chan K'awiil on his throne. The patronage of Yuknoom Che'en II as overlord is recorded at a range of important cities, including El Peru where he oversaw the installation of K'inich B'alam as king and strengthened the tie with the marriage of a Calakmul princess to that king. Yuknoom Che'en II commanded the loyalty of three generations of kings at Cancuen, to the south, and supervised the enthronement of at least two of them, in 656 and 677. He was born in 649 and was likely to have been the son of his predecessor. He already held high office before he was named king and may have been responsible for the major successes of the latter part of Yuknoom Che'en II's reign. It is unknown what happened to Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ak'; a stucco sculpture from Tikal shows a captive and the king is mentioned in the accompanying caption but it is not certain if the captive and the king are the same person. This event marked the end of Calakmul's apogee, with diplomatic activity dropping away and fewer cities recognising Calakmul's king as overlord. A partial reading of his name is Yuknoom Took' K'awiil.

Calakmul and Quiriguá

After this the historical record of Calakmul becomes very vague, due both to the poor state of the heavily eroded monuments at the city itself and also its reduced political presence on the wider Maya stage. Wamaw K'awiil is named at Quiriguá on the southern periphery of Mesoamerica. By 734 K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat had shown that he was no longer an obedient subordinate of Copán when he started to refer to himself as k'ul ahaw, holy lord, instead of using the lesser term ahaw, subordinate lord; at the same time he began to use his own Quiriguá emblem glyph.

This local act of rebellion appears to have been part of the larger political struggle between Tikal and Calakmul. In 736, only two years later, K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat received a visit from Wamaw K'awiil of Calakmul, while Copán was one of Tikal's oldest allies. The timing of this visit by the king of Calakmul is highly significant, falling between the accession of K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat to the throne of Quiriguá as a vassal of Copán and the outright rebellion that was to follow. This strongly suggests that Calakmul sponsored Quiriguá's rebellion in order to weaken Tikal and to gain access to the rich trade route of the Motagua Valley. It is likely that contact with Calakmul had been initiated soon after K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat acceded to the throne.

In 738 K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat captured the powerful but elderly king of Copán, Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil. An inscription at Quiriguá, although difficult to interpret, suggests that the capture took place on 27 April 738, when Quiriguá seized and burned the wooden images of Copán's patron deities. The captured lord was taken back to Quiriguá and on 3 May 738 he was decapitated in a public ritual.

In the Late Classic, alliance with Calakmul was frequently associated with the promise of military support. The fact that Copán, a much more powerful city than Quiriguá, failed to retaliate against its former vassal implies that it feared the military intervention of Calakmul. Calakmul itself was far enough away from Quiriguá that K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat was not afraid of falling directly under its power as a full vassal state, even though it is likely that Calakmul sent warriors to help in the defeat of Copán. The alliance instead seems to have been one of mutual advantage: Calakmul managed to weaken a powerful ally of Tikal while Quiriguá gained its independence.

Collapse

Five large stelae were raised in 741, although the name of the king responsible is illegible on all of them and he has been labelled as Ruler Y. A hieroglyphic stairway mentions someone called B'olon K'awiil at about the same time.

Modern history

Calakmul was first reported by Cyrus Lundell in 1931. Calakmul is now the subject of a large-scale project of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) under the direction of Ramón Carrasco.]]

The site core of Calakmul covers an area of approximately , an area that contains the remains of roughly 1000 structures. The city of Calakmul was built in a strongly concentric fashion and can be divided into zones as one moves outwards from the centre of the site. The innermost zone covers an area of approximately It contains most of the monumental architecture and has 975 mapped structures, about 300 of which are built from vaulted stone masonry. About 92 structures were built on large pyramids laid out around plazas and courtyards.

Aguada 1 is the largest of the reservoirs and has a surface area of . Two of these have been mapped, three have been identified visually on the ground and three more identified with remote sensing. Those causeways that cross swampy land are elevated above the surrounding wetland and they now tend to support denser vegetation than the surrounding forest.

Sacbe 1 is long and is lined and filled with stone. It is located within the mapped urban area of the site core.

Sacbe 4 runs southeast from the site core, it is also visible from the summit of Structure 1 and was discovered in 1982.

Structures

right|thumb|Structure I.

thumb|right|[[Mesoamerican ballcourts|Ballcourt at Calakmul]]

thumb|right|Calakmul

Structure 1 (or Structure I) is a pyramid to the east of the site core. A number of stelae were erected at its base by Yuknoom Took' K'awiil in 731. Because it was built on a low hill, Structure 1 appears to be higher than Structure 2, although this is not the case.

Structure 2 (or Structure II) is a massive north-facing pyramid temple, one of the largest in the Maya world. Its base measures square and it stands over high. The core of the building (Structure 2A) is a triadic pyramid dating to the Late Preclassic period, with this ancient building still forming the highest point of the structure. In the Early Classic a massive extension was added to the front of the pyramid, covering an earlier stucco-covered building on the north side. Three new shrines were built upon this extension (Structures 2B, 2C and 2D), each of these shrines had its own access stairway. At a later time buildings were erected along the base of the facade, each of these contained stelae.

Structure 3 (or Structure III, also known as the Lundell Palace) is southeast of Structure 4, on the east side of the Central Plaza. It is a building with multiple rooms.

Structure 7 (or Structure VII) is a temple pyramid on the north side of the Central Plaza. It underwent several construction phases from in the Late to Terminal Classic. The pyramid was topped by a three-room temple that possessed a tall stucco-covered roof comb. They are not accessible to the public.

The most prominent figure in these murals is identified as Lady Nine Stone; she appears in many scenes. This brings a world of the Maya marketplace to vibrant life for archaeologists. Another highly beneficial resource to Maya archaeological understanding at Calakmul is the ceramic remains. The composition of the ceramic materials identifies the region or more specifically the polity that produced them. Ceramics with the snake emblem glyph found at several sites also give more evidence to identify ties or control over that site by Calakmul.

thumb|Calakmul ceramic plate, AD 600-800

Stela 1 is associated with an altar and located by Structure 8.

Stela 9 is a thin slate monument dated to 662. Its text describes the birth of king Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ak' and gives him his full royal title.

Stela 50 is one of the last monuments erected during the final decline of the city. It bears a crude, clumsily executed portrait.

Royal burial

Tomb 4 was set into the floor of Structure 2B in the 8th century AD and is the richest burial known from Calakmul. which opened on December 15, 2024

Notes

References

External links

Calakmul – Patrimonio Cultural de la Humanidad INAH site on Calakmul
(from The State of Campeche Book)
Friends of Calakmul
Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, information from Mexico's National Parks Commission
Virtual Walking Tour of Calakmul by David R. Hixson (click on "Calakmul" for photo gallery)
Kaan Emblem Principal Glyphs at FAMSI: A, B