Tintal, a Late Preclassic Maya City in the Mirador Basin, Peten, Guatemala

Summary

Tintal is an ancient lowland Maya city of the Kan kingdom located 28 km southwest of El Mirador in the north central Peten, Guatemala. Preliminary data from fieldwork conducted by the Mirador Basin Project establish that Tintal was a major urban center contemporaneous with similar large centers within the Mirador Basin such as El Mirador and Nakbe. These and other cities of the Basin were linked by a system of wide elevated causeways during the Middle and Late Preclassic Periods (ca. 600 B.C.– A.D. 150). Investigations to date have focused upon site mapping and excavations of monumental structures and significant features. These include the Henequen and Mano de Leon pyramids, the large Central Ballcourt, the Jade Causeway, an impressive defensive moat which encircles the epicenter of the city, a royal tomb from the Early Classic Period (A.D. 300 – 400), and Stela 01, a large Preclassic stela carved from red sandstone imported from a distant source. Results of the investigations allow for a greater understanding of the occupational history of the site, which collapsed at the end of the Preclassic Era and was re-occupied during the Late Classic and Terminal Late Classic Periods (A.D. 600–900).

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• The Mirador Basin: New Investigations and Conservation Programs

Keywords

Spatial Coverage