North Acropolis, Tikal
The North Acropolis of the ancient Maya city of Tikal in Guatemala is an architectural complex that served as a royal necropolis and was a centre for funerary activity for over 1300 years.
[2] An early tomb in the North Acropolis has been tentatively identified as that of the dynastic founder Yax Ehb' Xook (ruled c.
The earliest traces of working of the limestone bedrock under the basal platform of the acropolis date to about 800 BCE, consisting of deep cuts into the rock associated with refuse from domestic and ceremonial activity.
[5] During the Late Preclassic (c. 300 BCE – 250 CE), a 49-metre (161 ft) wide causeway was built to unite the North Acropolis with the Mundo Perdido complex to the southwest.
[3] At this time there was a gradual shift in focus from the major Preclassic Mundo Perdido complex to the North Acropolis, which was marked out as the new ceremonial centre of the city and received the first royal burials, so far not conclusively identified with named rulers.
[1] Towards the end of the 7th century, King Jasaw Chan K'awiil I ordered the construction of a new version Temple 33, possibly to house the remains of Nuun Ujol Chaak, his father.
This new building completely blocked the entrance to the North Acropolis, formerly ending its role as the preferred burial ground of Tikal's kings.
[11] Around 734 CE king Jasaw Chan K'awiil was entombed in Temple I on the east side of the plaza, ending the tradition of interring rulers within the North Acropolis.
[1] Towards the end of Tikal's dwindling occupancy, during the 10th or 11th centuries, squatters were mining the North Acropolis in search of jade grave goods in the elite tombs; some of the easier-to-find burials were located and looted at this time.
[13] The basal platform of the North Acropolis covers an area of just under 1 hectare (2.5 acres);[14] measuring approximately 100 by 80 metres (330 by 260 ft).
During the Preclassic period, the facades of many of the temples were decorated with brightly coloured stucco ornamentation, including giant masks flanking some of the access stairways.
[14] By the Early Classic, eight temple-pyramids stood upon the platform, each with an access stairway flanked by masks, a small summit shrine and an elaborate roof comb.
The Early Classic construction involved the complete finishing of the basal platform as a distinct architectural unit before the additional structures were built upon it.
[18] Temple 25 (Structure 5D-25) is located on the southwest corner of the basal platform; it was first built around 250 CE and underwent a second Early Classic construction phase that completely covered the earlier version.
[19] The northern portion of the structure stood over a Late Preclassic tomb (Burial 85) dated to around 100 CE, which has been tentatively identified as that of dynastic founder Yax Ehb' Xook.
[36] Temple 34 (Structure 5D-34) was the first pyramid to be built along the front terrace of the North Acropolis;[37] it dates to the Early Classic period.
[19] Ceremonial fires for the burning of inanimate sacrifices were lit directly above Yax Nuun Ayiin's tomb well into the Late Classic period and may be indicative of continued ancestor worship centuries after the king's death.
[28] It is the westernmost of the row of pyramids facing south onto the Great Plaza; it has not been explored by archaeologists and is considered to be one of two likely locations for the tomb of 7th-century king Nuun Ujol Chaak.
Unusually for Maya sculpture, but typically for Teotihuacan, Yax Nuun Ayiin is depicted with a frontal face, rather than in profile.
[44] It was dedicated in 445 CE and bears images of Siyaj Chan K'awiil II and his father Yax Nuun Ayiin I, who is depicted as a Teotihuacano warrior on the sides of the monument.
A lengthy hieroglyphic text on the back details his birth in 415, his promotion to a junior rank in 434 and his accession to the throne in 458, as well as a brief description of his father's reign.
The tomb contained a large quantity of grave goods, including an impressive array of ceramic vessels, many decorated with Teotihuacan-linked imagery.
The king appears to have been hastily interred in a tomb that was still being prepared while the burial took place, since plaster from the walls was splashed on some of the grave goods and a flint pick was accidentally left behind by a workman.
[54] The tomb contained painted ceramic dishes that appear to name Nuun Ujol Chaak's father and grandfather, who both preceded him as rulers of the city.
[55] Burial 48 was carved from the bedrock under the terrace, upon the central north-south axis of the North Acopolis directly under Temple 33;[56] it has been identified as the tomb of king Siyaj Chan K'awiil II.
[9] The tomb was centrally located upon the north-south axis of the North Acropolis, under what would later become Temple 26, and contained a single male skeleton, which lacked a skull and its thighbones.
[64] The dynastic founder of Tikal, Yax Ehb Xook, has been linked to this tomb, which lies deep in the heart of the North Acropolis.
[66] The missing head was replaced by a small greenstone mask with shell-inlaid teeth and eyes and bearing a three-pointed royal headband.
The tomb was flooded soon after it was sealed, leaving a thick layer of mud that dried to preserve the hollow forms of the king's burial offerings long after the wooden artefacts had rotted away.
Archaeologists filled these hollows with plaster of Paris and were thus able to reconstruct many of the perishable items from the tomb, including four large carved panels depicting the king, a small throne decorated with hieroglyphs, a ballgame yoke and four stucco figurines of the deity K'awiil.
