Naranjo
Encyclopedia
Maya city
A Maya city was a centre of population of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica. It served the specialised roles of administration, commerce, manufacturing and religion that characterised ancient cities worldwide...
of the Maya civilization
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
in the Petén Basin
Petén Basin
The Petén Basin is a geographical subregion of Mesoamerica, located in the northern portion of the modern-day nation of Guatemala, and essentially contained within the department of El Petén...
region of the central Maya lowlands. It is located in the present-day department
Departments of Guatemala
||Guatemala is divided into 22 departments :#Alta Verapaz#Baja Verapaz#Chimaltenango#Chiquimula#Petén#El Progreso#El Quiché#Escuintla#Guatemala#Huehuetenango#Izabal#Jalapa#Jutiapa#Quetzaltenango#Retalhuleu#Sacatepéquez...
of Petén
Petén (department)
Petén is a department of the nation of Guatemala. It is geographically the northernmost department of Guatemala, as well as the largest in size — at it accounts for about one third of Guatemala's area. The capital is Flores...
, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
about 10 km west of the border with Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
. It is located within the area of the Cultural Triangle of Yaxha, Nakum, Naranjo
Cultural Triangle Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo National Park
The Cultural Triangle – Yaxha, Nakum, Naranjo is the first multidisciplinary project involving archaeologists, architects, restaurateurs, biologists and obviously workers. It is situated in Peten, Guatemala...
. It was the capital of the Classic Maya kingdom of Saal
Saal
Saal may refer to the following places in Germany:*Saal an der Donau, in the district of Kelheim, Bavaria*Saal an der Saale, in the district Rhön-Grabfeld, Bavaria*Saal, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in the district Vorpommern-Rügen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern...
The ancient Classic Maya language
Classic Maya language
The Classic Maya language is the oldest historically attested member of the Mayan language family. It is the main language documented in the pre-Columbian inscriptions of the Classic Era Maya civilization.- Relationships :...
name for the city was Wak Kab'nal and Maxam. The divine owner of the city, its patron, and the founder of the dynasty was a deity with a yet-undeciphered name, nicknamed "Black Square-Nosed Beastie" (possibly read as Ik' Miin)
The history of Saal is highly interesting in terms of several major disturbances in the dynastic rule when allegiances and identities of local kings were subject to change. Nothing is known about the Early Classic history of Naranjo. The sites of La Sufricaya
La Sufricaya
La Sufricaya is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the Petén Basin region of present-day Guatemala. The site is situated approximately 1.2 km west of the site of Holmul, and the relationship between these two sites during the Classic period occupations is...
and Holmul
Holmul
Holmul may refer to:* Holmul, Guatemala, archaeological site of the Maya civilization* Holmul River in Romania...
to the north of Naranjo were involved in the establishment of the new political order in Peten after the arrival of Siyaj K’ahk'
Siyah K'ak'
Siyaj K'ak' was a prominent political figure mentioned in the glyphs of Classic Period Maya civilization monuments, principally Tikal and Uaxactun...
in AD 378. It is plausible to assume that Naranjo might also be under the sway of Siyaj K'ahk's hegemony and later Mutal (Tikal
Tikal
Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centres of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala...
) rulers. If there were any monuments from that time, they were destroyed and/or cached.
There was a sudden outburst of inscribed monuments in the reign of Aj Wosal Chan K'inich (AD 546-615) who acceded to the throne as a vassal of another Maya ‘superpower’ – Kanal (Calakmul
Calakmul
Calakmul is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful ancient cities ever uncovered in the Maya lowlands...
and Dzibanche) – about the time when it expanded its political influence at the expense of Mutal. However, within the next three generations of rulers, Saal did not prove to be a faithful vassal and was subject to attacks by Kanal and its major vassal, K'antu (Caracol
Caracol
Caracol is the name given to a large ancient Maya archaeological site, located in what is now the Cayo District of Belize. It is situated approximately 40 kilometres south of Xunantunich and the town of San Ignacio Cayo, and 15 kilometers away from the Macal River. It rests on the Vaca Plateau at...
). It seems that one of such attacks resulted in a complete interruption of the royal line of Naranjo about A.D. 680, what led to a re-foundation of the dynasty by Calakmul that orchestrated a marriage between a daughter of the ruler B'alaj Chan K'awiil
B'alaj Chan K'awiil
B'alaj Chan K'awiil was a Maya ruler of Dos Pilas. He is also known as Ruler 1, Flint Sky God K and Malah Chan K'awil.-Biography:...
at Dos Pilas
Dos Pilas
Dos Pilas is a Pre-Columbian site of the Maya civilization located in what is now the department of Petén, Guatemala. It dates to the Late Classic Period, being founded by an offshoot of the dynasty of the great city of Tikal in AD 629 in order to control trade routes in the Petexbatún region,...
(at the time a client state of Calakmul
Calakmul
Calakmul is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful ancient cities ever uncovered in the Maya lowlands...
whose rulers were claimants to the throne of Tikal
Tikal
Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centres of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala...
) and an unidentified nobleman, possibly of local Naranjo origin. This woman from the Dos Pilas dynastic lineage—named as (Ix) Wak Chanil Ajaw, aka "(Lady) Six Sky"—arrived in Naranjo in the year 682, to establish (or re-establish) a regal dynastic line at Naranjo. Wak Chanil is presumed to be the mother of the next-recorded Naranjo ruler, K'ak' Tiliw Chan Chaak who acceded in 693, although no known inscription explicitly establishes this relationship. Given that K'ak' Tiliw Chan Chaak was five years old when he acceded, it is most likely that his mother Lady Six Sky was de facto ruler of the Saal/Naranjo polity for some time, ruling in his name through the young king's childhood. It seems that at that time the kingdom reached the peak of its influence that extended from Lake Yaxha
Laguna Yaxhá
Laguna Yaxhá is a Guatemalan lake situated in the northern department of El Petén.The ancient Maya City of Yaxhá was built on the shores of Laguna Yaxhá, and the Maya ruins of Topoxté occupy a group of small islands at the western end of the lake....
to Western Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
(west-east) and from Holmul to Ucanal
Ucanal
Ucanal is an archaeological site of the ancient Maya civilization. It is located in the Petén department of northern Guatemala.-Location:Ucanal is located inside a bend of the Mopan River. It is accessed via the highway from Flores to Melchor de Mencos, and is near to the village of Tikalito...
(north-south). However, as the power of Calakmul
Calakmul
Calakmul is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful ancient cities ever uncovered in the Maya lowlands...
waned, rulers of Saal had to confront a resurgent Mutal and that confrontation ended in a complete defeat of Saal in AD 744. However, Naranjo once again rose as major regional power in the last quarter of the eighth century AD. Eventually, the kingdom fell in the mid-ninth century AD. for reasons that are not yet understood
The regal-ceremonial core of the site of Naranjo, the seat of its rulers and the houses of its gods, is about 1 km² and includes over 112 structures grouped in six triadic complexes
Triadic pyramid
Triadic pyramids are a Preclassic Maya civilization innovation consisting of a dominant structure flanked by two smaller inward-facing buildings, all mounted upon a single basal platform...
, two ‘palace’ compounds, one E-Group
E-Group
E-Groups are unique architectural complexes found among a number of ancient Maya settlements. They are central components to the settlement organization of Maya sites and could have served as astronomical observatories. The alignment of these structural complexes corresponds to the sun's...
and two ball courts
Mesoamerican ballcourt
A Mesoamerican ballcourt is a large masonry structure of a type used in Mesoamerica for over 2,700 years to play the Mesoamerican ballgame, particularly the hip-ball version of the ballgame. Over 1,300 ballcourts have been identified, 60% in the last 20 years alone...
.
The site was rediscovered by Teoberto Maler
Teoberto Maler
Teoberto Maler or Teobert Maler was an explorer who devoted his energies to documenting the ruins of the Maya civilization....
in 1905. He spent 3 months exploring, mapping, and photographing the site. In the 1910s further investigations of the site were made by Sylvanus G. Morley and Oliver Ricketson. There are 45 carved and inscribed monuments most of which were documented by Ian Graham
Ian Graham
Ian Graham is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the VFL during the 1960s.His best season came in 1964 when he won the Copeland Trophy for Collingwood's Best and Fairest player...
who also mapped the central area of the site.
Naranjo was one of the earliest sites to suffer from large-scale looting, as sculptures were illegally removed for sale to collectors. By the 1920s, many of the ancient sculptures had already disappeared. The problem worsened during the 1960s, when many of the site's large sculptures were smashed into fragments by looters in order to remove and sell the fragments. Some of the city's monuments are known today only from photographs taken by the early explorers; even when the looted monuments are subsequently brought back into circulation, their uncertain provenance
Provenance
Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", refers to the chronology of the ownership or location of an historical object. The term was originally mostly used for works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including science and computing...
makes it very difficult for them to be placed in an appropriate context.
European and North American collectors continued to support the removal of artifacts from the site, the problem intensifying during and after the Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
n civil war of the 1960s and 1970s. It is claimed that the military governments of the time were complicit. Even now, archaeologists
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
excavating the site are from time to time forced to abandon their work because of the lawless activities of the well armed
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
looters.