SITIO ARQUEOLÓGICO DE UAXACTÚN

Much of the history of Uaxactún is inseparable from that of Tikal. The reason lies in their extreme proximity, the two cities being remote only about kilometres away. It seems, that it was Uaxactún that was first born, almost four millennia ago. Then, men settled on the current site of Tikal and developed a city. During the preclassic period (from 800 B.C. to 200 ha. The two cities co-ordinate peacefully. The reason for this peace was their mutual subordination to a third city-state, El Mirador, located about kilometres away. El Mirador's dominance in the region held the expansionist aspirations of the two neighbouring cities for a long time. But, towards the end of the th century. The mighty El Mirador was shot dead. The two cities of Tikal and Uaxactún could then give free reign to their appetite for conquest. At the same time, they embarked on important architectural work. Temples, acropoles and altars were born. Too close, the two cities eventually became disturbed by the presence of a rival power in their neighbourhood. In 378, the conflict ended by the definitive defeat of Uaxactún, now the independence of Tikal.

Uaxactún looks nothing like Tikal unless it is by the pervasiveness of the lush forest. Indeed, there are no astonishing pyramids here. Uaxactún is a modest site consisting of six groups of structures scattered on both sides of the old airstrip built at the time the city was the object of an important excavation program. After leaving the guard station located on the airstrip, walk about 500 m towards the northeast direction it. At the end of this road you will find, on your right, a trail that will lead you, after crossing some remains (complex D), to the monumental complex E, the most interesting group of structures. It consists mainly of four small buildings, including E-VII temple. Located in the middle of a square, in the north, east and south, the other three monuments, this temple is the oldest in Uaxactún but also in Petén. Archaeologists go back to 2000 B.C. The remains of the temple that can be seen are precisely those of the foundation. They were covered, at the time of exploration and study of the site, from several other pyramids. The holes found at the top of the building suggest that it was certainly surmounted by a rudimentary construction (an altar) composed of wooden poles in these small cavities. Four ramps of stairs make it possible to climb it, each staircase being surrounded with imposing masks of stucco.

As for the other three structures of the complex, they were used by the Maya as an astronomical observatory. On the other side of the airstrip are the B and A complexes, which consist of several temples of modest dimensions as well as a few stelas including a date of 328 B.C., which makes it the oldest stele of the Maya world ever found.