Central America 2016 pt. 3 (Uaxactun)
After our visit to Tikal we traveled approximately 25 kilometers north to the ancient city of Uaxactun. Though fairly close to Tikal, Uaxactun is much more sparsely visited since to get there in the first place it is necessary to hire a private tour in a 4x3 truck (as the road to the site is not exactly a highway). The trip from 25 km trip from Tikal to Uaxactun takes approximately 60 minutes and cuts through the dense jungle of the Peten basin. The archaeological site itself is extremely repressive and features a gorgeous astronomical observatory decorated with giant stucco masks on each side. The archaeological site also has several large scale elite residential areas, as well as stelae and even a ball court. Hieroglyphic and archaeological evidence points tot he fact that the growth and splendor of the city led their nearby (and much larger) neighbor Tikal to turn Uaxactun in to a sort of vassal state. Furthermore it is likely that during the centuries of conflict between the two super powers of the Peten (Tikal and Calackmul) Uaxactun served as a useful forward base of operations for Tikal to both launch and repel attacks. The area is also particularly rich with wildlife, which is of course awesome. Anyway hope you enjoy the photos.
2 comments:
There was a herd of horses grazing in the acropolis last time I was there. We caught some kids smoking pot in the back room of a temple. The road in was 4x4 land to the extent that I had mud half way up my grill, it took better than an hour for the car wash crew to clean the underside of the rental before I returned it to the agency. It was a wet year.
I suspect Uaxactun was an administrative center, a place to settle disputes, neutral ground so to speak. A place where an aggrieved party could meet their adversary without going into Tikal's citadel. The ruin at Uaxactun is barely uncovered , it is much bigger than the cleared park setting would have us believe. I wandered off site a bit, just to give the place a survey-it was a spread out place in its day. Your little drone would be handy at a place like Uaxactun, just to get a good idea of its road network and city sprawl.
There was a herd of horses grazing in the acropolis last time I was there. We caught some kids smoking pot in the back room of a temple. The road in was 4x4 land to the extent that I had mud half way up my grill, it took better than an hour for the car wash crew to clean the underside of the rental before I returned it to the agency. It was a wet year.
I suspect Uaxactun was an administrative center, a place to settle disputes, neutral ground so to speak. A place where an aggrieved party could meet their adversary without going into Tikal's citadel. The ruin at Uaxactun is barely uncovered , it is much bigger than the cleared park setting would have us believe. I wandered off site a bit, just to give the place a survey-it was a spread out place in its day. Your little drone would be handy at a place like Uaxactun, just to get a good idea of its road network and city sprawl.
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