Ixkun
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Ixkun (or Ixkún in Spanish orthography) is a pre-Columbian Maya civilization archaeological site, situated in the Petén Basin region of the southern Maya lowlands. It lies to the northwest of the site of Poptún, in the modern-day department of Petén, Guatemala. It is a large site and contains many unexcavated mounds and ruins.
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[edit] Site description
Ixkun shows signs of occupation dating from the Preclassic era of Mesoamerican chronology (ca. 200 CE), reaching its height sometime during the Late Classic (ca. 600—900). The site is large (encompassing some 16 km²), its central area including a ballcourt, temples, vaulted palaces, an E-Group complex and 2 mid-size stepped pyramids, among other structures. There are at least 46 residential groups with 245 burial mounds and several chultuns (artificial subterranean cavities used for fresh water and storage).
Four nearby caves show evidence of having been used for ceremonial purposes during the Classic era.
[edit] Inscriptions and monuments
A number of stelae adorned with writing in the Maya script have been recovered from the site. Ixtun Stela 1 is the largest-known stela in the Petén Basin region, measuring some 4 m (13.1 ft) tall, in size second in the Maya region only to Quirigua Stela E.
Altogether eleven stelae are known for the site, and six altars have also been recovered.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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