The rise and fall of Maya kingdoms in the Holmul region

Summary

Research in the Holmul region of northeastern Peten has focused on Cival as its major political center during the Middle and Late Preclassic period since its rediscovery in 2001. The goals of this research continue to be inspired by several ideas expressed in Forest of Kings in 1990. Mainly, the rise of kingship in the Late Preclassic period, the interpretation of giant 'mask' sculptures on the facade of pyramids as backdrop for royal rituals as well as the interpretation of ritual caches. Centers like Cival, El Mirador and Cerros were simultaneously abandoned and replaced by new political capitals in the Early Classic period, such as Holmul, Tikal and Santa Rita Corozal. Newly acquired imagery and texts as well as environmental data allow us today to build upon the influential ideas expressed in the 1990 volume and reveal new untold stories on the nature of Maya kingdoms.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Contextualizing Maya History and Archaeology Part I: Reflections on the 25th Anniversary of Forest of Kings   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage