El Perú (Maya site)
El Perú (also known as Waka'), is a pre-Columbian Maya archeological site occupied during the Preclassic and Classic cultural chronology periods (roughly 500 BC to 800 AD).
The site was the capital of a Maya city-state and is located near the banks of the San Pedro River in the Department of Petén of northern Guatemala.
This union was a political maneuver that linked El Peru (K’inich Balam) to Calakmul and its leader Yuknom Cheen in a military alliance.
Calakmul's ruler Yuknoom Took' K'awiil, likely the brother of Lady T'abi, was defeated, captured, and sacrificed in Tikal's central plaza in 732.
[2] Waka' was eventually destroyed a decade later, an event that included the capture and sacrifice of K'inich Balam's successor.
As a trading power, Waka' held proximity to the San Pedro River which flowed westward from the Petén.
The close location to the dominant Maya capitals Calakmul and Tikal contributed to the trading power of Waka'.
[3] A number of tombs have recently been discovered at Waka' that contribute to the understanding of past Maya culture.
This object was in clear association with the individual's genital region, and indicates that royal women practiced genitalia bloodletting rituals.
An additional tomb for an elite individual was recently found within an 18 meter tall pyramid located in the site's central core.
The tomb's chamber, which is 5.1 meters long by 1.5 meters wide, contained a rich assemblage of grave goods, including jade offerings, shell artifacts, ceramic vessels, 12 ballgame player figurines, the paws of jaguar, and stones from the Eastern Highlands and the Pacific Lowlands, which were used as signs of wealth.
[6] The Late classic shows a transition from iconographic logogram usage for the emblem glyph to use of syllables to spell out the name.
Scholars David Stuart, Stephen Houston, and others have found a different emblem glyph they believe provides a better representation of El Perú during the Late Classic.
In Stanley Paul Guenter's article, "Emblem Glyph of El Perú" he says -a' refers to the Maya word used for water.
According to epigrapher David Stuart (Mayanist), this stela supports the idea of Siyaj K'ahk' traveling through Waka' roughly eight days before taking over Tikal's government.
The monument, found a few yards away from Stela 15, shows a man wearing a headdress and royal outfit similar to rulers of Teotihuacan.
Epigrapher Stanley Guenter deciphered part of the Maya script on Stela 16 and believes it says "planted [his] banner stone, Siyaj K'ahk".
The stela describes how Mah-Kina-Balam and his wife were a part of the period-ending rites and displayed the God K scepter to Jaguar-Paw.
[11] In 2006, Field Director Michelle Rich and her team discovered a collapsed tomb of a supposed ruler who died in the early 7th century.
In David Freidel's article, "Resurrecting the Maize King", he discusses how these figurines are a depiction of a royal court performing a ceremony.
According to Michelle Rich, ancient Maya associated cinnabar coated caches, containing offerings, with resurrecting rulers, more specifically the maize god.
This figurine was an important discovery because it is evidence that the ancient Maya knew about the Olmec maize god.
Along with these individuals were items that suggested to researches the deposit was used for a ritual feasting event, important for establishing social position.
The items included many bowls, plates, vases, bones of animals, ceramic figurines of a jaguar head and monkey wearing a headdress, and musical instruments.
Keith Eppich of Southern Methodist University believes the items were intentionally broken in the deposit for the feasting ritual.
During excavations led by David Freidel of Washington University in St. Louis uncovered a tomb in the city's main pyramid temple and it was identified as belonging to Lady Ka’bel, the military ruler of the Wak kingdom between AD672 and 692.
Both names are thought to refer to Lady K'abel, who governed the Wak kingdom for her family, the empire-building Kan, or "Snake", dynasty, based in the Maya capital Calakmul.
[15] An altar has been discovered at El Peru, featuring a quatrefoil on the back of a zoomorphic creature in which sits a ruler.
[16][17] "While the imagery bears remarkable similarities to that of Izapa Stela 8, the text of the El Peru altar elucidates the significance of the quatrefoil, describing it as tu yol ahk, 'at the heart of the turtle' or 'in the portal of the turtle', a reference to the creation narrative of the Maize god's rebirth".
It sits atop an escarpment in the Laguna del Tigre National Park (part of the Maya Biosphere Reserve), six kilometers north of the San Pedro River.
