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91-705: Piedras Negras is the modern name for a ruined city of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization located on the north bank of the Usumacinta River in the Petén department of northwestern Guatemala . Piedras Negras was one of the most powerful of the Usumacinta ancient Maya urban centers. Occupation at Piedras Negras is known from the Late Preclassic period onward, based on dates retrieved from epigraphic information found on multiple stelae and altars at

182-534: A Venus table which records the heliacal risings of Venus. Using the GMT correlation these agree closely with modern astronomical calculations. Archaeological : Various items that can be associated with specific Long Count dates have been isotope dated . In 1959 the University of Pennsylvania carbon dated samples from ten wood lintels from Tikal . These were carved with a date equivalent to 741 AD, using

273-658: A Distance Number that is to be added to the Long Count date to arrive at this future date. For example, on the west panel at the Temple of Inscriptions in Palenque , a section of the text projects into the future to the 80th Calendar Round (CR) 'anniversary' of the famous Palenque ruler Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal 's accession to the throne (Pakal's accession occurred on a Calendar Round date 5 Lamat 1 Mol, at Long Count 9.9.2.4.8 equivalent to 27 July 615 CE in

364-467: A city of some importance since 400 AD. Panel 12 of Piedras Negras shows three neighboring rulers as captives of Ruler C . One of the captives might be the ninth king of Yaxchilan, Joy B'alam (also known as Knot-Eye Jaguar I), who continued to reign after the panel was made. As subservient rulers were often depicted as bound captives even while continuing to rule their own kingdoms, the panel suggests that Piedras Negras may have established its authority over

455-480: A close military allegiance between the two. Ruler 7's campaigns ended in 808 when he was captured by K’inich Tatb’u Skull III, ruler of Yaxchilan, depicted in Lintel 10. Dedications: Altar 4 Stelae: 12, 15 Panel: 3 Throne: 1 Ruler 7 is the last known of king of Piedras Negras. With his capture, the dynasty which had governed over Piedras Negras since AD 603 effectively ended. However, even before his capture,

546-470: A date of 36 BCE, although Stela 2 from Takalik Abaj , Guatemala might be earlier. [2] Takalik Abaj Stela 2's highly battered Long Count inscription shows 7  bak'tuns , followed by k'atuns with a tentative 6 coefficient, but that could also be 11 or 16, giving the range of possible dates to fall between 236 and 19 BCE. Although Takalik Abaj Stela 2 remains controversial, this table includes it, as well as six other artifacts with

637-471: A description of the ruins of the once great city of Tikal in 1848. Teoberto Maler described the ruins of the city of Motul de San José in 1895. San Clemente was described by Karl Sapper in the same year. The number of known cities grew enormously during the course of the 20th century; 24 cities in Petén alone had been described by 1938. Maya Long Count The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar

728-407: A leap year with the exception of centuries not evenly divisible by 400 (e.g. 100, 200, 300). When the year is divisible by 400 (e.g. 400, 800, etc.), do not add an extra day. The calculated year is 644 CE. The number of leap days, keeping in mind that the year 600 is not a leap year, is 10. Subtracting that from 317 remainder days is 307; in other words, the 307th day of the year 644 CE, which

819-461: A new Moon when the lunar phase day was 1.7 at 6 pm on October 11, 755 (Julian calendar). This works well for many but not all lunar inscriptions. Modern astronomers refer to the conjunction of the Sun and Moon (the time when the Sun and Moon have the same ecliptic longitude) as the new moon. But Mesoamerican astronomy was observational , not theoretical. The people of Mesoamerica did not know about

910-552: A period known as the Calendar Round . To identify days over periods longer than this, Mesoamericans used the Long Count calendar. The Long Count calendar identifies a date by counting the number of days from a starting date that is generally calculated to be August 11, 3114 BCE in the proleptic Gregorian calendar or September 6 in the Julian calendar (or −3113 in astronomical year numbering). There has been much debate over

1001-468: A result of adaptation to a lowland tropical environment that allowed food production amidst areas dedicated to other activities. They lacked the grid plans of the highland cities of central Mexico, such as Teotihuacán and Tenochtitlan . Maya kings ruled their kingdoms from palaces that were situated within the centre of their cities. Cities tended to be located in places that controlled trade routes or that could supply essential products. This allowed

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1092-418: A ruler's inscription and the recently discovered La Corona Hieroglyphic Stairway 2, Block V. Maya inscriptions occasionally reference future predicted events or commemorations that would occur on dates that lie beyond 2012 (that is, beyond the completion of the 13th  bʼakʼtun of the current era). Most of these are in the form of "distance dates" where some Long Count date is given, together with

1183-643: Is November 3. To summarize: the Long Count date 9.10.11.17.0 corresponds to November 3, 644 CE, in the Proleptic Gregorian calendar . To convert a Julian day to a Julian/Gregorian astronomical date ( Proleptic Julian calendar before 46 BCE): Use an astronomical algorithm such as the Method of Meeus to convert the Julian day to a Julian/Gregorian date with astronomical dating of negative years: In this example: In this example

1274-561: Is a non-repeating base-20 and base-18 calendar used by pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya . For this reason, it is often known as the Maya Long Count calendar . Using a modified vigesimal tally, the Long Count calendar identifies a day by counting the number of days passed since a mythical creation date that corresponds to August 11, 3114 BCE in the proleptic Gregorian calendar . The Long Count calendar

1365-459: Is at least 1.5. If one assumes that the new moon is the first day when the lunar phase day is at least 1.5 at six in the evening in time zone UTC−6 (the time zone of the Maya area), the GMT correlation will match many lunar inscriptions exactly. In this example the lunar phase day was 27.7 (26 days counting from zero) at 6 pm after a conjunction at 1:25 am October 10, 755 and

1456-630: Is considered to be one of the first capital cities of the Maya civilization. The swamps of the Mirador Basin appear to have been the primary attraction for the first inhabitants of the area as evidenced by the unusual cluster of large cities around them. The city of Tikal , later to be one of the most important of the Classic Period Maya cities, was already a significant city by around 350 BC, although it did not match El Mirador. The Late Preclassic cultural florescence collapsed in

1547-612: Is located in the Southern Lowlands of Guatemala, very close to the border with Mexico. Piedras Negras is located along the eastern banks of the Usumacinta River. The settlement is oriented around plazas, without a grid system. The polity is built into a series of hills, offering a natural defensive structure, and is currently heavily forested. The name Piedras Negras means "black stones" in Spanish . Its name in

1638-484: Is more complex. The date sequence is given once, at the beginning of the inscription and opens with the so-called ISIG (Introductory Series Initial Glyph) which reads tzik-a(h) habʼ [patron of Haabʼ month] ("revered was the year-count with the patron [of the month]"). Next come the 5 digits of the Long Count, followed by the Calendar Round (tzolkʼin and Haabʼ) and supplementary series . The supplementary series

1729-525: Is more likely to be the name of the founder as hieroglyphs on Throne 1 and altar 4 show. Piedras Negras had been populated since the 7th century BC. Its population seems to have peaked twice. The first population peak happened in the Late Preclassic period , around 200 BC, and was followed by a decline. The second population peak of Piedras Negras happened in the Late Classic period , around

1820-487: Is most known for his marriage alliance and military defense. He married Lady K’atun Ajaw from Namaan in AD 686. While the site of Namaan is currently unidentified, this marriage shows that Piedras Negras and Namaan were important to one other, and both would have benefited from the marriage. While Ahk II suffered a few military losses, notably the loss of La Mar and in 725 the capture of one of his sajal (a lesser lord) by Palenque,

1911-405: Is optional and contains lunar data, for example, the age of the moon on the day and the calculated length of current lunation . The text then continues with whatever activity occurred on that date. A drawing of a full Maya Long Count inscription is shown below . The earliest contemporaneous Long Count inscription yet discovered is on Stela 2 at Chiapa de Corzo , Chiapas , Mexico, showing

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2002-558: Is possibly a celebration of a k'atun ending. Stela 29, long count 9.5.5.0.0 (AD 539), is in celebration of a hotun (a five-year period) ending during Ruler C's reign. Both would have been causes of celebration in antiquity. K’inich Yo’nal Ahk I : 603–639, induction long count: 9.8.10.6.16. K’inich Yo’nal Ahk I ran a series of military conquests throughout the Usumacinta area, and defeated Palenque in AD 628, taking captive Ch’ok Balum, one of Palenque's lords. Stela 25 commemorates his accession. After K’inich Yo’nal Ahk I's accession, he razed

2093-468: Is the oldest Maya city known, the site was built in 1000 BC, it is thought to have been built by communal labor, an early form of social organization and development where it is believed that many tribes decided to establish a major settlement marking the beginnings of the Maya civilization. Aguada Fenix includes early monumental buildings and the oldest and biggest Maya structure by volume with 1400 meters long, 400 meters wide and 15 meters high. Aguada Fenix

2184-573: The Copernican nature of the solar system — they had no theoretical understanding of the orbital nature of the heavenly bodies. Some authors analyze the lunar inscriptions based on this modern understanding of the motions of the Moon but there is no evidence that the Mesoamericans shared it. The first method seems to have been used for other inscriptions such as Quirgua stela E (9.17.0.0.0). By

2275-400: The Julian date is noon October 31, 644. The Method of Meeus is not valid for negative year numbers (astronomical), so another method such as the method of Peter Baum should be used. A full Long Count date not only includes the five digits of the Long Count, but the 2 character Tzolkʼin and the two-character Haabʼ dates as well. The five digit Long Count can therefore be confirmed with

2366-746: The Tzolkʼin ( Tonalpohualli ) date of the event was 1 Snake. Post-conquest scholars such as Sahagún and Durán recorded Tonalpohualli dates with a calendar date. Many indigenous communities in the Mexican states of Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas and in Guatemala, principally those speaking the Mayan languages Ixil, Mam, Pokomchí and Quiché, keep the Tzolkʼin and in many cases the Haabʼ. These are all consistent with

2457-475: The highlands and neighbouring Pacific coast, with long-occupied cities in exposed locations relocated, apparently due to a proliferation of warfare . Cities came to occupy more-easily defended hilltop locations surrounded by deep ravines, with ditch-and-wall defences sometimes supplementing the protection provided by the natural terrain. Chichen Itza, in the north, became what was probably the largest, most powerful and most cosmopolitan of all Maya cities. One of

2548-522: The language of the Classic Maya has been read in Maya inscriptions as Yo'k'ib' ( [ˈjoʔkʼib] ), meaning "great gateway" or "entrance", considered a possible reference to a large and now dry sinkhole nearby. It may also be a reference to its location as a prominent intermediary along the trade routes leading to the Tabasco floodplain. Some authors think that the name is Paw Stone, but

2639-502: The proleptic Gregorian calendar ). It does this by commencing with Pakal's birthdate 9.8.9.13.0   8 Ajaw 13 Pop (24 March 603 CE Gregorian ) and adding to it the Distance Number 10.11.10.5.8. This calculation arrives at the 80th Calendar Round since his accession, a day that also has a CR date of 5 Lamat 1 Mol , but which lies over 4,000 years in the future from Pakal's time—the day 21 October in

2730-592: The supplementary series . For example: An inscription at the Temple of the Sun at Palenque records that on Long Count 9.16.4.10.8 there were 26 days completed in a 30-day lunation. This Long Count is also the entry date for the eclipse table of the Dresden Codex . Using the third method, the Palenque system, the new moon would have been the first evening when one could look to the west after sunset and see

2821-602: The 1st century AD and many of the great Maya cities of the epoch were abandoned; the cause of this collapse is as yet unknown. In the highlands, Kaminaljuyu in the Valley of Guatemala was already a sprawling city by AD 300. During the Classic Period (AD 250-900), the Maya civilization achieved its greatest florescence. During the Early Classic (AD 250-300), cities throughout the Maya region were influenced by

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2912-523: The 9th century AD, the central Maya region suffered major political collapse , marked by the abandonment of cities, the ending of dynasties and a northward shift of population. During this period, known as the Terminal Classic, the northern cities of Chichen Itza and Uxmal show increased activity. Major cities in Mexico 's Yucatán Peninsula continued to be inhabited long after the cities of

3003-542: The Chronicle of Oxcutzkab and the books of Chilam Balam . De Landa records a date that is a Tun ending in the Short Count . Oxkutzcab contains 12 Tun endings. Bricker and Bricker find that only the GMT correlation is consistent with these dates. The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel contains the only colonial reference to classic long-count dates. The Julian calendar date of 11.16.0.0.0 (November 2, 1539) confirms

3094-496: The Early Classic monuments and some of the buildings, in an effort to discredit the symbols of earlier kings, and, additionally, began construction and renovating older architecture in the South Group to establish his dynasty and lineage. Dedications: Stelae: 25, 26, 31 Itzam K'an Ahk I : 639–686, induction Long Count: 9.10.6.5.9. The son of K’inich Yo’nal Ahk I, Ruler 2 continued his father's military conquests, and in 662,

3185-649: The East Group, indicating a move from the South and West Groups previously used by rulers. Dedications: Stelae: 14, 16 Ha’ K’in Xook : 767–780, induction long count: 9.16.16.0.4. Accession stela: Stela 23. Brother of Yo’nal Ahk III, son of Ruler 4, abdicated in 780, according to Throne 1. Dedications: Stelae: 13, 18, 23 K'inich Yat Ahk II : 781–808, induction long count: 9.17.10.9.4. Son of Ruler 4, brother of Yo’nal Ahk III and Ha’ K’in Xook, ruler 7 continued to use

3276-421: The East Group, specifically O-13, as the area for his stelae to be placed. In 785, he commissioned Throne 1, placing it in str. J-6, one of the finest pieces of sculpture from Piedras Negras. Ruler 7 engaged in numerous military conquests, including the defeat of Santa Elena in 787 and wars with Pomoná. Stela 12 depicts Ruler 7 with La Mar Ajaw, Parrot Chaak, sitting in judgement over captives from Pomoná, indicating

3367-695: The Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies in Crystal River, Florida . To render December 21, 2012, as a doomsday event or moment of cosmic shifting, she says, is 'a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in. ' " "There will be another cycle," says E. Wyllys Andrews V, director of the Tulane University Middle American Research Institute (MARI). "We know

3458-491: The GMT correlation, the current creation started on September 6, −3113 ( Julian astronomical) – August 11, 3114 BCE in the Proleptic Gregorian calendar . The study of correlating the Maya and western calendar is referred to as the correlation question. The GMT correlation is also called the 11.16 correlation. In Breaking the Maya Code , Michael D. Coe writes: "In spite of oceans of ink that have been spilled on

3549-572: The GMT correlation. The Annals of the Cakchiquels contains numerous Tzolkʼin dates correlated with European dates. These confirm the GMT correlation. Weeks, Sachse and Prager transcribed three divinatory calendars from highland Guatemala. They found that the 1772 calendar confirms the GMT correlation. The fall of the capital city of the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan , occurred on August 13, 1521. A number of different chroniclers wrote that

3640-440: The GMT correlation. Munro Edmonsen studied 60 Mesoamerican calendars, 20 of which have known correlations to European calendars, and found remarkable consistency among them and that only the GMT correlation fits the historical, ethnographic and astronomical evidence. Astronomical : Any correct correlation must match the astronomical content of classic inscriptions. The GMT correlation does an excellent job of matching lunar data in

3731-611: The GMT correlation. The average carbon date was 746±34 years. Recently one of these, Lintel 3 from Temple I, was analyzed again using more accurate methods and found to agree closely with the GMT correlation. In 2012, using modern AMS radiocarbon dating, a single beam from Tikal was dated, also strongly supporting the GMT. If a proposed correlation only has to agree with one of these lines of evidence there could be numerous other possibilities. Astronomers have proposed many correlations, for example: Lounsbury , Fuls, et al. , Böhm and Böhm and Stock. Today, 28 November 2024 ( UTC ), in

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3822-606: The Long Count calendar predates the Maya. La Mojarra Stela 1, the Tuxtla Statuette, Tres Zapotes Stela C and Chiapa Stela 2 are all inscribed in an Epi-Olmec , not Maya, style. El Baúl Stela 2, on the other hand, was created in the Izapan style. The first unequivocally Maya artifact is Stela 29 from Tikal , with the Long Count date of 292 CE (8.12.14.8.15), more than 300 years after Stela 2 from Chiapa de Corzo. More recently, with

3913-647: The Long Count is 13.0.12.2.0 (using GMT correlation). According to the Popol Vuh , a book compiling details of creation accounts known to the Kʼicheʼ Maya of the Colonial-era highlands, humankind lives in the fourth world. The Popol Vuh describes the first three creations that the gods failed in making and the creation of the successful fourth world where men were placed. In the Maya Long Count,

4004-528: The Lunar Series shows that at least two different methods and formulas were used to calculate the moon's age and position in the six-month cycle ..." which gives eclipse seasons when the Moon is near its ascending or descending node and an eclipse is likely to occur. Dates converted using the GMT correlation agree closely with the Dresden Codex eclipse tables. The Dresden Codex contains

4095-465: The Maya area, Coba was the most important Maya capital. Capital cities of Maya kingdoms could vary considerably in size, apparently related to how many vassal cities were tied to the capital. Overlords of city-states that held sway over a greater number of subordinate lords could command greater quantities of tribute in the form of goods and labour. The most notable forms of tribute pictured on Maya ceramics are cacao , textiles and feathers. During

4186-487: The Maya thought there was one before this, and that implies they were comfortable with the idea of another one after this." It is important to know the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars when calculating a Western calendar date from a Long Count date. Using as an example the Long Count date of 9.10.11.17.0 (Long Count date mentioned on the Palenque Palace Tablet), first calculate

4277-415: The Maya were using an abbreviated Short Count . Long Count dates are written with Mesoamerican numerals, as shown on this table. A dot represents 1 while a bar equals 5 . The shell glyph was used to represent the zero concept. The Long Count calendar required the use of zero as a place-holder and presents one of the earliest uses of the zero concept in history . On Maya monuments, the Long Count syntax

4368-469: The West Group, whereas early stelae were raised in South Group. Dedications: Panels: 2, 4, 7 Stelae: 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 Throne: 2 K’inich Yo’nal Ahk II : 687–729, ascension long count: 9.12.14.13.1. All eight of his stelae, placed in West Group, indicating that K’inich Yo’nal Ahk II abandoned the South Group which had been used by his ancestor's. The son of Ruler 2, K’inich Yo’nal Ahk II

4459-442: The abundant number of stelae recovered from Piedras Negras, Tatiana Proskouriakoff revolutionized current understanding of Maya hieroglyphs. Proskouriakoff realized that stelae which depicted a person within a niche and the glyphic texts on them were in fact the long count recounting important events in the life of a ruler, such as their date of birth and accession to the throne. Proskouriakoff's contribution to Mayan epigraphy changed

4550-632: The capital city of the Kaqchikel Maya. Good relations did not last and the city was abandoned a few months later. This was followed by the fall of Zaculeu , the Mam Maya capital, in 1525. In 1697, Martín de Ursúa launched an assault upon the Itza capital Nojpetén and the last remaining independent Maya city fell to the Spanish. By the 19th century, the existence of five former Maya cities

4641-463: The city gathered for public activities. Elite residential complexes occupied the best land around the city centre, while commoners had their residences dispersed further away from the ceremonial centre. Residential units were built on top of stone platforms to raise them above the level of the rain season floodwaters. Until the 1960s, scholarly opinion was that the ruins of Maya centres were not true cities but were rather empty ceremonial centres where

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4732-550: The deeds of the ruling dynasty. City centres also featured plazas, sacred ballcourts and buildings used for marketplaces and schools. Frequently causeways linked the centre to outlying areas of the city. Some of these classes of architecture formed lesser groups in the outlying areas of the city, which served as sacred centres for non-royal lineages. The areas adjacent to these sacred compounds included residential complexes housing wealthy lineages. Art excavated from these elite residential complexes varies in quality according to

4823-461: The discovery in Guatemala of the San Bartolo (Maya site) stone block text ( c. 300 BCE), it has been argued that this text celebrates an upcoming time period ending celebration. This time period may have been projected to end sometime between 7.3.0.0.0 (295 BCE) and 7.5.0.0.0 (256 BCE). Besides being the earliest Maya hieroglyphic text so far uncovered, this would arguably be

4914-574: The earliest evidence to date of Long Count notation in Mesoamerica. The Maya and Western calendars are correlated by using a Julian day number (JDN) of the starting date of the current creation — 13.0.0.0.0, 4 Ajaw , 8 Kumkʼu. This is referred to as a "correlation constant". The generally accepted correlation constant is the Modified Thompson ;2, " Goodman –Martinez– Thompson ", or GMT correlation of 584,283 days. Using

5005-454: The eight oldest Long Count inscriptions according to Dartmouth professor Vincent H. Malmström (two of the artifacts contain two dates and Malmström does not include Takalik Abaj Stela 2). Interpretations of inscriptions on some artifacts differ. GMT (584283) correlation Of the six sites, three are on the western edge of the Maya homeland and three are several hundred kilometers further west, leading some researchers to believe that

5096-443: The elites that controlled trade to increase their wealth and status. Such cities were able to construct temples for public ceremonies, thus attracting further inhabitants to the city. Those cities that had favourable conditions for food production, combined with access to trade routes, were likely to develop into the capital cities of early Maya states. The political relationship between Classic Maya city-states has been likened to

5187-589: The great metropolis of Teotihuacan in the distant Valley of Mexico . At its height during the Late Classic, Tikal had expanded to have a population of well over 100,000. Tikal's great rival was Calakmul, another powerful city in the Petén Basin. In the southeast, Copán was the most important city. Palenque and Yaxchilán were the most powerful cities in the Usumacinta region. In the north of

5278-695: The haphazard addition to all of the palaces, temples and other buildings. Most Maya cities tended to grow outwards from the core, and upwards as new structures were superimposed upon preceding architecture . Maya cities usually had a ceremonial and administrative centre surrounded by a vast irregular sprawl of residential complexes. The centres of all Maya cities featured sacred precincts, sometimes separated from nearby residential areas by walls. These precincts contained pyramid temples and other monumental architecture dedicated to elite activities, such as basal platforms that supported administrative or elite residential complexes. Sculpted monuments were raised to record

5369-482: The idea of the ancient Maya from a people of peace and cosmology to a people actively participating and recording political and social histories. The site was first explored, mapped, and its monuments photographed by Teoberto Maler at the end of the 19th century. An archeological project at Piedras Negras was conducted by the University of Pennsylvania from 1931 to 1939 under the direction of J. Alden Mason and Linton Satterthwaite . Further archaeological work here

5460-472: The middle Usumacinta drainage in about 9.4.0.0.0 (514 AD). The artistry of the sculpture of the Late Classic period of Piedras Negras is considered particularly fine. The site has two ball courts and several plazas; there are vaulted palaces and temple pyramids, including one that is connected to one of the many caves in the site. Along the banks of the river is a large boulder with the emblem glyph of Yo’ki’b carved on it, facing skyward. A unique feature of

5551-519: The monumental masonry architecture , sculpted monuments and causeways that characterised later cities in the Maya lowlands. In the Late Preclassic Period (400 BC - 250 AD), the enormous city of El Mirador grew to cover approximately 16 square kilometres (6.2 sq mi). It possessed paved avenues, massive triadic pyramid complexes dated to around 150 BC, and stelae and altars that were erected in its plazas. El Mirador

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5642-442: The monuments at Piedras Negras is the frequent occurrence of the so-called "artists' signatures". Individual artists have been identified by the use of recurring glyphs on stelae and other reliefs. Ruler 7 (reigned 781-808?) of Piedras Negras was captured by K'inich Tatbu Skull IV of Yaxchilan. This event was recorded on the lintel 10 of Yaxchilan. Piedras Negras might have been abandoned within several years after this event. Before

5733-578: The most important cities in the Guatemalan Highlands at this time was Qʼumarkaj , also known as Utatlán, the capital of the aggressive Kʼicheʼ Maya kingdom . The cities of the Postclassic highland Maya kingdoms fell to the invading Spanish conquistadors in the first half of the 16th century. The Kʼicheʼ capital, Qʼumarkaj , fell to Pedro de Alvarado in 1524. Shortly afterwards, the Spanish were invited as allies into Iximche ,

5824-419: The number of days that have passed since the zero date (August 11, 3114 BCE; GMT correlation, in the Proleptic Gregorian calendar , September 6, −3113 Julian astronomical). Then add the GMT correlation to the total number of days. This number is a Julian day . To convert a Julian day to a Proleptic Gregorian calendar date: From this number, subtract the nearest smaller Julian Day Number (in

5915-407: The polity seemed to be in decline. When Throne 1 was unearthed in 1930, it had been shattered. After additional excavations in the 1990s, it became evident that there were other signs of burning and destruction throughout the site, but most notably at the royal palace. The internal feuding between Piedras Negras and Yaxchilán, beginning in the fifth century AD, played a large role in the instability of

6006-566: The polity. The conflict between the two was not limited to fighting and warfare; the two polities both are known for their artistic output which offered an additional way in which to validate and enforce the polity's respective power. Though monument construction and dedication did not continue into the ninth century, occupation of the site itself did. The site was abandoned by AD 930. It is not possible to fully ascertain whether limited occupation continued as no archaeological evidence has yet been unearthed for occupation continuing after AD 930. Using

6097-512: The precise correlation between the Western calendars and the Long Count calendars. The August 11 date is based on the GMT correlation. The completion of 13 bʼakʼtuns (August 11, 3114 BCE) marks the Creation of the world of human beings according to the Maya. On this day, Raised-up-Sky-Lord caused three stones to be set by associated gods at Lying-Down-Sky, First-Three-Stone-Place. Because

6188-423: The previous creation ended at the end of a 13th bʼakʼtun. The previous creation ended on a Long Count of 12.19.19.17.19. Another 12.19.19.17.19 occurred on December 20, 2012 (Gregorian Calendar), followed by the start of the 14th bʼakʼtun, 13.0.0.0.0, on December 21, 2012. There are only two references to the current creation's 13th bʼakʼtun in the fragmentary Mayan corpus: Tortuguero Monument 6, part of

6279-608: The priesthood performed religious rituals for the peasant farmers, who lived dispersed in the middle of the jungle. Since the 1960s, formal archaeological mapping projects have revealed that the ceremonial centres in fact formed the centres of dispersed cities that possessed populations that at some sites could reach tens of thousands. During the Middle Preclassic Period (1000-400 BC), small villages began to grow to form cities. Aguada Fenix in Tabasco , Mexico

6370-589: The publicity generated by the 2012 date, Susan Milbrath, curator of Latin American Art and Archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History , stated that "We have no record or knowledge that [the Maya] would think the world would come to an end" in 2012. USA Today writes " 'For the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle,' says Sandra Noble, executive director of

6461-401: The rank and prestige of the lineage that it housed. The largest and richest of these elite compounds sometimes possessed sculpture and art of craftsmanship equal to that of royal art. The ceremonial centre of the Maya city was where the ruling elite lived, and where the administrative functions of the city were performed, together with religious ceremonies. It was also where the inhabitants of

6552-401: The region and may have paid tribute to others at times. It had an alliance with Yaxchilan , in what is now Chiapas , Mexico , some 40 km up the Usumacinta River. Ceramics show the site was occupied from the mid-7th century BC to 850 AD. Its most impressive period of sculpture and architecture dated from about 608 through 810, although there is some evidence that Piedras Negras was already

6643-481: The relationships between city-states in Classical Greece and Renaissance Italy . Some cities were linked to each other by straight limestone causeways, known as sacbeob , although whether the exact function of these roads was commercial, political or religious has not been determined. Maya cities were not formally planned like the cities of highland Mexico and were subject to irregular expansion, with

6734-509: The ruler was victorious over Yaxchilan in 727, capturing a sajal , as commemorated in Stela 8. K’inich Yo’nal Ahk II's tomb has been identified as Burial 5, under Patio 1 in front of J-3. Dedications: Altar 1 Panel: 15 Stelae: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Itzam K'an Ahk II : 729–757, induction long count: 9.14.18.3.13. Ascension Stela: Stela 11. Son of K’inich Yo’nal Ahk II. Most of his stelae were in West Group. Using Panel 3, issued by Ruler 7,

6825-497: The second digit from the right (and only that digit) rolls over to zero when it reaches 18. Thus 0.0.1.0.0 does not represent 400 days, but rather only 360 days and 0.0.0.17.19 represents 359 days. The name bʼakʼtun was invented by modern scholars. The numbered Long Count was no longer in use by the time the Spanish arrived in the Yucatán Peninsula , although unnumbered kʼatuns and tuns were still in use. Instead

6916-477: The second half of the 8th century, during which the maximum population of the principal settlement is estimated to have been around 2,600. At the same time, Piedras Negras was also the largest polity in this region with a total population estimated to be around 50,000. Piedras Negras was an independent city-state for most of the Early and Late Classic periods , although it was sometimes in alliance with other states of

7007-1079: The site was abandoned, some monuments were deliberately damaged, including images and glyphs of rulers defaced, while other were left intact, suggesting a revolt or conquest by people literate in Maya writing. Relatively little is known of the Late Preclassic/Early Classic rulers, but excavations of the West Group Plaza found masonry dating to the Early Classic, and altar 1 is dedicated to Ruler A, dating to AD 297. K'an Ahk I : AD 297- ?, induction Long Count Date : 8.13.0.0.0 K'an Ahk II : AD ca 460-ca 478 Yat Ahk I (or Turtle Tooth ): 510-514. Panel 2 mentions him, and states that Turtle Tooth had an overlord at an unknown cite. Ancient Maya name unknown, but some scholars believe his name to be Yah Ahk 1 Ruler C : 514–53, induction Long Count Date: 9.4.0.0.0. Lintel 12 depicts Ruler C receiving 4 captives, including Knot-eye Jaguar of Yaxchilan . Stela 30, long count 9.5.0.0.0 (AD 534),

7098-477: The site. Piedras Negras is an archaeological site known for its large sculptural output when compared to other ancient Maya sites. The wealth of sculpture, in conjunction with the precise chronological information associated with the lives of elites of Piedras Negras, has allowed archaeologists to reconstruct the political history of the Piedras Negras polity and its geopolitical footprint. Piedras Negras

7189-407: The sky still lay on the primordial sea, it was black. The setting of the three stones centered the cosmos which allowed the sky to be raised, revealing the sun. Rather than using a base 10 scheme, the Long Count days were tallied in a modified base-20 scheme. In a pure base 20 scheme, 0.0.0.1.5 is equal to 25 and 0.0.0.2.0 is equal to 40. The Long Count is not pure base-20, however, since

7280-416: The southern lowlands ceased to raise monuments. The Postclassic Period (AD 900-c.1524) was marked by a series of changes that distinguished its cities from those of the preceding Classic Period. The once-great city of Kaminaljuyu in the Valley of Guatemala was abandoned after a period of continuous occupation that spanned almost two thousand years. This was symptomatic of changes that were sweeping across

7371-461: The subject, there now is not the slightest chance that these three scholars (conflated to G-M-T when talking about the correlation) were not right ...". The evidence for the GMT correlation is historical, astronomical and archaeological: Historical : Calendar Round dates with a corresponding Julian date are recorded in Diego de Landa 's Relación de las cosas de Yucatán (written circa 1566),

7462-470: The table below), in this case 1,940,206, which corresponds to the year 600 CE. Next, divide this number by 365 days (vague year). The remainder is 44.86849 years, which is 44 years and 317 days. The full year date is 644 CE. Now calculate the month and day number, taking into account leap days over the 44 years. In the Gregorian Calendar, every fourth year is

7553-406: The thin crescent moon. Given our modern ability to know exactly where to look, when the crescent Moon is favorably located, from an excellent site, on rare occasions, using binoculars or a telescope, observers can see and photograph the crescent moon less than one day after conjunction. Generally, most observers cannot see the new Moon with the naked eye until the first evening when the lunar phase day

7644-439: The third method, that stela should show a moon age of 26 days, but in fact it records a new moon. Using the GMT correlation at six AM in the time zone UTC−6, this would be 2.25 days before conjunction, so it could record the first day when one could not see the waning moon. Fuls analysed these inscriptions and found strong evidence for the Palenque system and the GMT correlation; however, he cautioned: "Analysis of

7735-530: The year 4772. The inscription notes that this day would fall eight days after the completion of the 1st piktun (since the creation or zero date of the Long Count system), where the piktun is the next-highest order above the bʼakʼtun in the Long Count. If the completion date of that piktun —13 October 4772—were to be written out in Long Count notation, it could be represented as 1.0.0.0.0.0. The 80th CR anniversary date, eight days later, would be 1.0.0.0.0.8   5 Lamat 1 Mol. Despite

7826-557: Was abandoned around the year 750 BC for unknown reasons, after this, several sites started to flourish along the Maya Lowlands . By 500 BC these cities possessed large temple structures decorated with stucco masks representing gods . Nakbe in the Petén Department of Guatemala is the earliest well-documented city in the Maya lowlands, where large structures have been dated to around 750 BC. Nakbe already featured

7917-730: Was conducted from 1997 to 2000, directed by Stephen Houston of Brigham Young University and Hector Escobedo of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala , with permission from the Instituto de Antropología e Historia de Guatemala (IDAEH). Maya city Maya cities were the centres of population of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica . They served the specialised roles of administration, commerce , manufacturing and religion that characterised ancient cities worldwide. Maya cities tended to be more dispersed than cities in other societies, even within Mesoamerica, as

8008-412: Was known in the Petén region of Guatemala . Nojpetén had been visited by Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1525, followed by a number of missionaries at the beginning of the 17th century. The city was finally razed when it was conquered in 1697. Juan Galindo, governor of Petén, described the ruins of the Postclassic city of Topoxte in 1834. Modesto Méndez, a later governor of Petén, published

8099-594: Was placed in front of O-13, in the East Group. Excavated in 1997 by Héctor Escobedo and Tomás Barrientos, a royal interment, Burial 13, was found. The interment was similar to that of Burial 5, with the exception that it had been reentered later, indicated by absent or burned bones. Tomb reentry was culturally significant to the Maya, and indicates that Ruler 4 was well respected both in life and in death. Dedications: Altar: 2 Stelae: 9, 10, 11, 22, 40 Yo’nal Ahk III : 758–767, induction long count: 9.16.6.17.1. Son of Ruler 4, ascension stela: Stela 14. Stelae were placed in

8190-627: Was victorious over Santa Elena, which is commemorated in Stela 35. Panel 15 celebrates the capture of an unknown polity and an unknown captive, which was issued by Ruler 2's son after his death. This act of commissioning an artist to memorial one's predecessor is not rare and can be seen again in Ruler 2's commission of Panel 2 which celebrates the k’atun anniversary of the death of K’inich Yo’nal Ahk I. It also recalls Turtle Tooth's receiving of 6 captives after battle and mentions his unknown overlord at another site. Later in his reign two stelae were placed in

8281-624: Was widely used on monuments. The two most widely used calendars in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica were the 260-day Tzolkʼin and the 365-day Haabʼ . The equivalent Aztec calendars are known in Nahuatl as the Tonalpohualli and Xiuhpohualli , respectively. The combination of a Haabʼ and a Tzolkʼin date identifies a day in a combination which does not occur again for 18,980 days (52 Haabʼ cycles of 365 days equals 73 Tzolkʼin cycles of 260 days, approximately 52 years),

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