Seibal
Encyclopedia
Seibal, known as El Ceibal in Spanish
, is a Classic Period
archaeological site of the Maya civilization
located in the northern Petén Department of Guatemala
. It was the largest city in the Pasión River
region.
The site was occupied from the Preclassic Period
through to the Terminal Classic
, with a significant hiatus. The principal phase of occupation dates to the Late Preclassic
(400 BC – AD 200), followed by a decline in the Early Classic
(AD 200–600). Seibal experienced a significant recovery in the Terminal Classic
immediately prior to its complete abandonment, reaching its second peak from about 830 to 890, with a population estimated at 8–10,000 people. The dates on the stelae
at Seibal are unusually late, with monuments still being dedicated after the Classic Maya collapse
had engulfed most of the Petén region. Many of Seibal's late monuments show artistic influence from central Mexico
and from the Gulf Coast of Mexico
.
The early history of the site is lost due to the catastrophic defeat of the polity in AD 735 by the nearby Petexbatun
kingdom with its capital at Dos Pilas
, resulting in the destruction of its earlier sculpted monuments
. Seibal was reduced to being a vassal state
until the destruction of the Petexbatun kingdom in the late 8th century AD. In AD 830 a new elite installed itself at the site with the arrival of Wat'ul Chatel
from Ucanal
to the east. This new arrival reinvigorated Seibal and allowed it to last to the dawn of the 10th century, well after the Classic Maya collapse
had engulfed most of the region.
word ceibal, meaning "place where many ceiba
trees grow". El Ceibal was the name of a lumber camp near the ruins at the time of their discovery. The change in spelling originated with a publication by Teoberto Maler
in 1908, which used a Germanic
form with initial "s".
, a major tributary of the Usumacinta River
. About 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) downstream, the Pasión River joins with the Salinas River
to form the Usumacinta, which flows northwards to the Gulf of Mexico
. The site lies in the Petén department
of northern Guatemala
, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) east of the modern town of Sayaxché
. Seibal lay 27 kilometres (16.8 mi) east of the Late Classic city of Dos Pilas
and 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) south of Tikal
. Lake Petén Itzá
lies 60 kilometres (37.3 mi) to the north of the ruins.
Seibal lies among tropical rainforest
on a limestone
plain that is intermittently hilly and flat.
from the deep Middle Preclassic levels at Seibal belong to the little known Xe phase, found in the western Petén region. A cruciform Olmec
-style cache consisting of a bloodletter and jade
celts
is similar to those found in the Olmec heartland
on the Gulf Coast of Mexico
, and the artifacts were probably manufactured at La Venta
. This cache dates to approximately 900 BC.
The earliest settlement in the Middle Preclassic was mostly confined to Group A. After 300 BC, in the Late Preclassic, settlement expanded to include Group D.
By the end of the Late Preclassic (or Protoclassic), Seibal experienced an unexplained decline in population.
. About AD 650 new inhabitants moved into the city in order to found a new kingdom. Groups A and D saw new construction, with a particular emphasis on Group D, which became an important part of the ceremonial centre. Any monuments raised by the Late Classic rulers responsible for this renewed occupation were defaced when the city suffered a catastrophic defeat in the 8th century AD.
The earliest mention of Seibal in hieroglyphic inscriptions
is on Stela 15 at Dos Pilas, dated to 13 October 721, and refers to Seibal becoming involved in the long-running war between the great cities of Tikal and Calakmul
and their respective allies and vassals. Dos Pilas was a newly founded city in the Petexbatún
region, established by Tikal to exert its control over the Pasión River, a strategy that backfired when Calakmul seized control of the fledgling kingdom.
, the third king of Dos Pilas
, attacked Seibal, capturing Yich'aak B'alam
. The captive king was not executed but rather became a vassal of his more powerful neighbour. Ucha'an K'in B'alam raised monuments to his victory over Seibal at Dos Pilas, Aguateca
and Seibal itself. Yich'aak B'alam is shown under the feet of Ucha'an K'in B'alam on Aguateca
Stela 2. At Seibal a hieroglyphic stairway was built recording the city's new status as a vassal of Dos Pilas. At the same time as he erected these monuments to his victory, Ucha'an K'in B'alam ordered the destruction of the hieroglyphic records on the earlier monuments of Seibal, with inscriptions at Dos Pilas and Aguateca specifically recording the destruction of Seibal's previously recorded history using phrases that translate as "they destroyed the writing" and "they chopped the writing off the statues that were made".
Yich'aak B'alam continued as a vassal under the next king of Dos Pilas, K'awiil Chan K'inich
, who presided over rituals at Seibal in 745 and 747.
Seibal regained its independence in the late 8th century with the destruction of the Dos Pilas kingdom. Ajaw B'ot acceeded to the throne in AD 771, restoring Seibal as an independent capital. After AD 800 Seibal fell into a thirty-year hiatus during which no new monuments were erected.
and ceramics from this period demonstrate connections with the northern Yucatán Peninsula
and the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Seventeen stelae carved between AD 849 and 889 show a mix of Maya and foreign styles, including a lord wearing the beaked mask of Ehecatl
, the central Mexican wind god, with a Mexican-style speech scroll emerging from the mouth. Some of these stelae have a stylistic affinity with the painted murals at Cacaxtla
, a site in the central Mexican state of Tlaxcala
. This hybrid style seem to indicate that the new lords of Seibal were Maya lords adapting to changing political conditions by adopting a mix of symbols originating from both lowland Maya and central Mexican sources. Some of the more foreign-looking stelae even bear non-Maya calendrical glyphs. Changes at Seibal at this time are associated with the Chontal
-controlled trade flowing along the Pasión River. The Chontal Maya themselves were warrior-merchants originating from the Gulf Coast of Mexico who displayed a mixture of Maya and non-Maya characteristics.
Hieroglyphic texts at Seibal indicate that the city's newly refound vigour was sponsored by a new alliance formed by the cities of Caracol
and Ucanal
in the east, two sites that had so far survived the spreading Classic Maya collapse
. It is likely that they were attempting to reopen the old Pasión-Usumacinta trade route and were drawn to Seibal by its defensible location overlooking the Pasión River. Seibal's refounding took place in AD 830 with the installation of Wat'ul Chatel as a vassal of Chan Ek' Hopet of Ucanal. The new king dedicated a new building and stelae in 849, overseen by Jewel K'awil of Tikal
, and Chan Pet, king of Calakmul
. Wat'ul Chatel built an innovative new temple-stelae arrangement to the south of the Central Plaza of Group A. Structure A-3 consists of a low radial pyramid
with an inventive arrangement of sculpted monuments.
Wat'ul Chatel's last monument was erected in 889. This stela is also the last dated monument raised at Seibal and by 900 the city was all but abandoned, the whole region had been engulfed by the Classic Maya collapse and trade no longer flowed along the Pasión-Usumacinta route. Most Classic Maya capitals had already been abandoned and whatever external support Seibal had received from its overlord had vanished.
The late stelae at Seibal show a marked reduction in quality over a span of about forty years, with the loss of Classic Period traits, and bearing flatter and cruder representations than earlier stelae. This may reflect the loss of expertise in the Terminal Classic, with craftsmen less able to work monuments and large structures as time progressed.
by the Guatemalan government
in order to find material to be displayed in the Guatemalan exhibit for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition
in Chicago
. He took molds from some of the stelae and the resulting casts were displayed in the Exposition, bringing the recent discovery of the ruins to the attention of archaeologists for the first time. Two years later, in July 1895, Seibal was explored by Teoberto Maler
on behalf of the Peabody Museum
of Harvard University
. He made a site plan and discovered a new stela to add to those already discovered. He returned to the site for further investigations in August 1905 but discovered no new monuments. The Peabody Museum published Maler's work in 1908, including good quality photos of the stelae.
Seibal was next investigated by Sylvanus Morley
in 1914 on behalf of the Carnegie Institution of Washington
. Dr Barnum Brown
visited the ruins in 1948, and members of the Altar de Sacrificios
Expedition of the Peabody Museum made visits in 1961, 1962 and 1963.
In 1964, the Peabody Museum returned to the site with a thorough investigation that continued until 1968, led by Gordon R. Willey
as Director and A. Ledyard Smith
as Field Director. Further excavations were carried out from May to June in 2006 by the Proyecto Arqueológico Ceibal-Petexbatun (Seibal-Petexbatun Archaeological Project).
Only two structures have been restored at Seibal, the A-3 temple platform and the C-79 circular platform. Both were restored during the investigations carried out by the Peabody Museum in the 1960s.
Seibal possesses a satellite site located to the north, known as El Anonal. This site has large structures built from clay that date to the Middle Preclassic period.
Group C lies on Causeway II, which passes through it to end at the circular Structure C-79. Group C has over forty mounds.
Group D is a compact group at the east end of Causeway III, it is perched in an easily defensible position at the edge of the bluffs overlooking the Pasión river. It has more than seventy structures crowded around five plazas. Group D only had one stela, which was a plain monument erected in front of a 20 metres (65.6 ft) high stepped pyramid.
The East Patio of Group A is part of an acropolis complex located behind Structure A-14. The complex is situated upon a massive platform raised almost 7 metres (23 ft) above the natural surface level. The patio was accessed by a stairway on the south side. It includes Structures A-15 and A-16.
Structure A-3 is a temple platform located in the centre of the south plaza. It has a stairway ascending each of its four sides. Five stelae are associated with this structure, one located at the base of each stairway and a fifth inside the building surmounting the platform. Three large jade cobbles were interred under the central stela. This structure and its associated stelae were dedicated in AD 849 by king Wat'ul Chatel (also known as Aj B'olon Haab'tal). Structure A-3 has the remains of a corbeled
vault, the only surviving example at Seibal. The arrangement of the radial pyramid with its associated stelae was highly innovative. The radial temple form was ancient in the Maya region, dating back to the Late Preclassic, but Wat'ul Chatel placed upon it a square shrine with four doors, one opening onto each of the stairways. The temple building contained three vaulted chambers oriented north-south, with doors joining each chamber along an east-west axis. The cornice
of the temple supported a brightly coloured stucco
frieze
. The frieze collapsed with the temple in ancient times. Archaeologists were able to recover portions of the fallen frieze and attempt a reconstruction of how it originally appeared. Each of the four doors was originally topped by a larger-than-life sculpture of king Wat'ul Chatel. Twelve smaller figures were spaced around the cornice, one at each corner with an additional figure positioned half way between each corner and the central figure of the king. It is not known who these smaller figures represented. The spaces between the figures were occupied by panels with cross-hatch designs and sculpted vegetation and animals. Old gods sat in the centre of each of the sixteen panels, including Itzamna
and Pawatun. Structure A-3 was built over an earlier platform structure.
Structure A-10, a 28 metres (91.9 ft) tall temple-pyramid, is the tallest structure at the site.
Structure A-13 is a radial pyramid. Excavations uncovered a mass burial (Burial 4) with parts of eleven people, including two women and a child. This was not a traditional Classic Maya burial and has been dated to AD 930, very late in the occupation of the site.
Structure A-14 is covered by the forest that has overgrown the northern part of the Central Plaza. It is a range structure running north-south and once had a hieroglyphic stairway detailing Seibal's defeat by Dos Pilas, although the inscriptions have now been removed to the old project camp. The structure was found to contain an elite female burial, labelled as Burial 1.
Structure A-15 is located on the north side of the East Patio of the North Plaza. It is a long, low structure running east-west and closing the patio on the north side. It measures 24 by by 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) tall. The building contained a long room with a wide entrance opening southwards onto the patio, raised from the patio by a step. The room contained a stone bench built from reused blocks. The structure was superimposed upon two earlier substructures, the earliest of which had a different orientation to the final building. All three periods of construction appear to date to the Terminal Classic, with the last phase perhaps dating to about the time of the fall of the city.
Structure A-16 is located on the northeast side of the East Patio of the North Plaza. It is a rectangular structure measuring 16 by, running north-south and facing to the west. The remains of the structure stand 2.7 metres (8.9 ft) high. The western side of the building had been damaged by looters prior to archaeological investiagtion. The looters' trench measured 5 by by 3.5 metres (11.5 ft) deep and cut through the structure's floor, bench and rear wall but did not uncover any burials or offerings. Fallen limestone blocks and slabs reveal that the structure once had a corbel-vaulted chamber. Fragments of stucco
were also recovered, they once made up a colourful frieze above the front of the building that included modelled human figures. The stucco still had traces of orange, green and yellow paint. The building was a palace-type structure with perhaps six rooms, three on the west side and three on the east, and it was originally roofed in stone. The interior had an L-shaped bench. The structure was built of finely cut limestone blocks and the walls were coated with stucco painted orange and turquoise. It is believed that the building was part of a Terminal Classic royal palace with architectural features similar to those of the temple Structure A-3.
Structure A-19 and Structure C-9 are ballcourt
s. They have a resemblance to ballcourts at Chichen Itza
. Both ballcourts are aligned east-west, an unusual feature in the Maya area, although the topography
of the site severely restricted the layout of the city to a principally east-west orientation. Ballcourt A-19 lies on the west side on the north plaza.
Structure C-79 is a circular three-tiered platform built during the Terminal Classic on top of a pre-existing structure dating to the Late Preclassic Period. Circular structures such as this have their origin in central Mexico, where they are typically temples of Ehecatl
, the god of wind. However, the structure at Seibal was surmounted by a rectangular building platform, whereas the temple buildings of Ehecatl were also circular. Structure C-79 has two stairways, the larger ascends the west side, the smaller is on the east side. A circular jaguar altar rests on three pedestals before the structure, two of these are crouching figures that originally supported the altar, the third central column is modern and was put in place as an additional support during restoration of the ruins. The altar has the crude representation of a jaguar's head carved onto its edge. Structure C-79 and the associated altar are dated to about AD 870.
, carved stone shafts, often sculpted with figures and hieroglyphs. The monuments at Seibal are fashioned from a hard limestone
, accounting for their generally excellent preservation. During excavations in the 1960s, 57 stelae
were identified. Of these 22 were sculpted and 35 were plain.
Hieroglyphic Stairway 1 was located on the front of Structure A-14. The stairway was installed by king Ucha'an K'in B'alam of Dos Pilas to record Seibal's status as a vassal after its defeat by that city. The stones are no loner in situ, having been removed to the area of the camp of the old archaeological project.
Stela 1, on the north side of the South Plaza near Structure A-3, names someone called "Knife-Wing", who is also known at distant Chichen Itza. It is dated to AD 869.
Stela 2 is believed to date to around AD 870 although it bears no hieroglyphic text. It depicts the frontal view of a masked figure and is the only monument at Seibal to show a frontal portrayal. It was broken into six or seven pieces and has been restored.
Stela 3 bears a non-Maya calendrical date
, one of the glyphs is cipactli
, a crocodile head used to represent the first day of the 260-day calendar in central Mexico. This stela once stood next to Stela 2 but was removed to a museum in Guatemala City
.
Stela 4 is badly damaged, having been broken into pieces by a falling tree. It was lost for sixty years before being rediscovered. It currently remains buried under a thin covering of soil.
Stela 5 lies to the north of the South Plaza and is badly damage. The broken middle section of the stela is all that is left, it bears the representation of a ballplayer
and dates to about AD 780.
Stela 6 is slightly to the north of Stela 5, bearing hieroglyphic text. This stela was damaged in antiquity when the upper part was broken off and erected by an altar nearby.
Stela 7 stands to the north of stelae 5 and 6. It is in a reasonable state of preservation and bears the image of a ruler dressed as a ballplayer. This monument was probably dedicated in AD 780, although it records the accession of a king of Seibal in AD 771.
Stela 8 is a well preserved monument on the south side of Structure A-3. Here king Wat'ul Chatel wears jaguar claws on his hands and feet, together with other attributes of the Bearded Jaguar God. In one hand the king holds the head of the god K'awiil. The text describes a visitor named Hakawitzil, an early form of Jacawitz
, the name of one of the patron gods of the Postclassic
K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj
in the Guatemalan Highlands
. Schele and Mathews propose that the event depicted on this stela gave rise to the foundation legends of the K'iche' people.
Stela 9 was erected on the west side of Structure A-3. It is badly damaged and one section is missing. The stela depicts Wat'ul Chatel with the attributes of the Maize God
and describes him invoking the Vision Serpent
.
Stela 10 is on the north side of Structure A-3. It depicts Wat'ul Chatel, dressed in Terminal Classic Maya style, although his foreign-looking face bears a moustache, which is not a typically Mayan characteristic. The text on this stela displays the emblem glyphs of Tikal
, Calakmul
and Motul de San José
, describing how he received visitors from those cities. Among the visitors are named Kan-Pet of Calakmul and Kan-Ek' of Motul. Wat'ul Chatel wears a headdress associated with the patron gods of Seibal, the heron god and K'awiil, deities that were also the patrons of Palenque
. This appears to be an attempt by this foreign king to identify himself more closely with the city he came to rule.
Stela 11 is on the east side of Structure A-3 and describes the refounding of Seibal on 14 March 830 and the installation of its new lord, Wat'ul Chatel, as a vassal of Chan Ek' Hopet of Ucanal. A panel beneath the portrait of the ruler depicts a bound captive. The hieroglyphic inscription describes how Wat'ul Chatel arrived with his palanquins and his patron deities.
Stela 13 stands a little to the west of the South Plaza. It dates to AD 870.
Stela 14 dates to about AD 870 and stands at the junction of two causeways and is in a good state of preservation. It has stylistic similarities with sculptures at distant Chichen Itza in the extreme north of the Yucatán Peninsula
.
Stela 18 is one of the last stelae to be erected at Seibal, it lies 20 metres (65.6 ft) west of the group of monuments consisting of Stelae 5, 6 and 7.
Stela 19 demonstrates the foreign influences prevalent at Seibal during the Late Classic. It depicts a lord wearing a mask representing the central Mexican wind god Ehecatl
.
Stela 20 stands to the west of the South Plaza. It was one of the last monuments to be erected at Seibal, dating to AD 889.
Stela 21 is located inside the chamber at the top of Structure A-3. This stela was badly damaged when the vaulted chamber collapsed on top of it and has also suffered from erosion. The monument has been restored and depicts the lord of Seibal Wat'ul Chatel bearing a manikin sceptre. Like Stela 8, the king wears attributes of the Bearded Jaguar God, although without the jaguar claws. The king holds a K'awiil sceptre raised in his right hand, from his other hand hands a shield with the face of the sun god. The inscription on the monument is largely illegible.
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, is a Classic Period
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
archaeological site 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...
located in the northern Petén Department of 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...
. It was the largest city in the Pasión River
Pasión River
The Pasión River is a river located in the northern lowlands region of Guatemala. The river is fed by a number of upstream tributaries whose sources lie in the hills of Alta Verapaz. These flow in a general northerly direction to form the Pasión, which then tends westwards to meet up with the...
region.
The site was occupied from the Preclassic Period
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
through to the Terminal Classic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
, with a significant hiatus. The principal phase of occupation dates to the Late Preclassic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
(400 BC – AD 200), followed by a decline in the Early Classic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
(AD 200–600). Seibal experienced a significant recovery in the Terminal Classic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
immediately prior to its complete abandonment, reaching its second peak from about 830 to 890, with a population estimated at 8–10,000 people. The dates on the stelae
Maya stelae
Maya stelae are monuments that were fashioned by the Maya civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. They consist of tall sculpted stone shafts and are often associated with low circular stones referred to as altars, although their actual function is uncertain. Many stelae were sculpted in low relief,...
at Seibal are unusually late, with monuments still being dedicated after the Classic Maya collapse
Classic Maya collapse
The Classic Maya Collapse refers to the decline and abandonment of the Classic Period Maya cities of the southern Maya lowlands of Mesoamerica between the 8th and 9th centuries. This should not be confused with the collapse of the Preclassic Maya in the 2nd century AD...
had engulfed most of the Petén region. Many of Seibal's late monuments show artistic influence from central Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and from the Gulf Coast of Mexico
Gulf Coast of Mexico
The Gulf Coast of Mexico stretches along the Gulf of Mexico from the border with the United states at Matamoros, Tamaulipas all the way to the tip of the Yucatán Peninsula at Cancún. It includes the coastal regions along the Bay of Campeche. Major cities include Veracruz, Tampico, and...
.
The early history of the site is lost due to the catastrophic defeat of the polity in AD 735 by the nearby Petexbatun
Petexbatún
Petexbatún is a small lake formed by a river of the same name, which is a tributary of the La Pasion river. It is near Sayaxché, located in the southern area of the Guatemalan department of Petén....
kingdom with its capital 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,...
, resulting in the destruction of its earlier sculpted monuments
Monumental sculpture
The term monumental sculpture is often used in art history and criticism, but not always consistently. It combines two concepts, one of function, and one of size, and may include an element of a third more subjective concept. It is often used for all sculptures that are large...
. Seibal was reduced to being a vassal state
Vassal state
A vassal state is any state that is subordinate to another. The vassal in these cases is the ruler, rather than the state itself. Being a vassal most commonly implies providing military assistance to the dominant state when requested to do so; it sometimes implies paying tribute, but a state which...
until the destruction of the Petexbatun kingdom in the late 8th century AD. In AD 830 a new elite installed itself at the site with the arrival of Wat'ul Chatel
Wat'ul Chatel
Wat'ul Chatel was a king of Seibal, the Mayan city. He is also known as Aj B'olon Haab'tal.-Biography:Seibal's refounding took place in AD 830 when Wat'ul Chatel became a king, as a vassal of Chan Ek' Hopet of Ucanal. The new king dedicated a new building and stelae in 849, overseen by Jewel...
from 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...
to the east. This new arrival reinvigorated Seibal and allowed it to last to the dawn of the 10th century, well after the Classic Maya collapse
Classic Maya collapse
The Classic Maya Collapse refers to the decline and abandonment of the Classic Period Maya cities of the southern Maya lowlands of Mesoamerica between the 8th and 9th centuries. This should not be confused with the collapse of the Preclassic Maya in the 2nd century AD...
had engulfed most of the region.
Etymology
Seibal is a corruption of the SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
word ceibal, meaning "place where many ceiba
Ceiba
Ceiba is the name of a genus of many species of large trees found in tropical areas, including Mexico, Central America, South America, The Bahamas, Belize and the Caribbean, West Africa, and Southeast Asia...
trees grow". El Ceibal was the name of a lumber camp near the ruins at the time of their discovery. The change in spelling originated with a publication 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 1908, which used a Germanic
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
form with initial "s".
Location
Seibal is located on bluffs about 100 metres (328.1 ft) above the Pasión RiverPasión River
The Pasión River is a river located in the northern lowlands region of Guatemala. The river is fed by a number of upstream tributaries whose sources lie in the hills of Alta Verapaz. These flow in a general northerly direction to form the Pasión, which then tends westwards to meet up with the...
, a major tributary of the Usumacinta River
Usumacinta River
The Usumacinta River is a river in southeastern Mexico and northwestern Guatemala. It is formed by the junction of the Pasión River, which arises in the Sierra de Santa Cruz and the Salinas River, also known as the Chixoy, or the Negro, which descends from the Sierra Madre de Guatemala...
. About 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) downstream, the Pasión River joins with the Salinas River
Salinas River (Guatemala)
The Salinas is a river in Guatemala. The river is called Chixoy River from its sources in the highlands of Huehuetenango and El Quiché until it reaches the Chixoy hydroelectric dam , where the Río Salama and Rio Carchela converge with the Río Negro...
to form the Usumacinta, which flows northwards to the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
. The site lies in the Petén 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 northern 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...
, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) east of the modern town of Sayaxché
Sayaxché
Sayaxché is a municipality in the El Petén department of Guatemala, on the Río La Pasión river. In 2000, it had 47,693 inhabitants.The city was founded in 1874 to provide accommodation for forest workers of Jamet Sastré logging company. It obtain a municipal status in 1929.El Rosario National Park...
. Seibal lay 27 kilometres (16.8 mi) east of the Late Classic city of 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,...
and 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) south 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...
. Lake Petén Itzá
Lake Petén Itzá
Lake Petén Itzá is a lake in the northern department Petén in Guatemala. It is the second largest lake in Guatemala, the Izabal lake being the largest. It is located around . It has an area of 99 km² some 32 km. long and 5 km wide. Its maximum depth is 160 m...
lies 60 kilometres (37.3 mi) to the north of the ruins.
Seibal lies among tropical rainforest
Tropical rainforest
A tropical rainforest is an ecosystem type that occurs roughly within the latitudes 28 degrees north or south of the equator . This ecosystem experiences high average temperatures and a significant amount of rainfall...
on a limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
plain that is intermittently hilly and flat.
Population
Surveys have revealed an average of 436 structures per square kilometer (1118 per square mile) in the site core, falling to 244 structures/km² (626/square mile) in the periphery. At its height in the Late Preclassic, the population has been estimated at 1600 in the site core with a further 8000 dipersed through the periphery, to produce an estimated total population of almost ten thousand. In the Early Classic the population suffered a severe decline, population is estimated to have dropped to 34% of peak population. In the Late to Terminal Classic the population increased to 85% of its Late Preclassic level, an expansion that appears to have occurred rapidly and spread to all parts of the site, perhaps as the result of an influx of refugees arriving from other sites around AD 830. This was followed by a population crash to 14% of peak Preclassic population in the Early Postclassic (AD 900–1200) prior to the complete abandonment of the site.Known rulers
All dates A.D.| Name | Title or nickname | Ruled |
|---|---|---|
| Yich'aak B'alam Yich'aak B'alam -Biography:In AD 735 Ucha'an K'in B'alam - the fourth king of Dos Pilas kingdom - attacked Seibal, capturing Yich'aak B'alam. The captive king was not executed but rather became a vassal of his more powerful neighbour... |
"Jaguar Claw" | c.735–747+ |
| Ajaw B'ot Ajaw B'ot Ajaw B'ot - also known as Ruler D and Ah-Bolon-Abta - was a king of Seibal .-Biography:Ajaw B'ot acceeded to the throne in AD 771, on January 20, restoring Seibal as an independent capital.It is unknown when did he died.... |
Ruler D, Ah-Bolon-Abta | 771–? |
| Wat'ul Chatel Wat'ul Chatel Wat'ul Chatel was a king of Seibal, the Mayan city. He is also known as Aj B'olon Haab'tal.-Biography:Seibal's refounding took place in AD 830 when Wat'ul Chatel became a king, as a vassal of Chan Ek' Hopet of Ucanal. The new king dedicated a new building and stelae in 849, overseen by Jewel... |
Aj B'olon Haab'tal | 830–889+ |
History
The site was occupied by the Middle Preclassic, then declined from the Late Preclassic through to the Early Classic, with a renewed expansion in the Late to Terminal Classic before being completely abandoned.Preclassic
Seibal was first settled around 900 BC in the Preclassic Period. It reached its peak population in the Late Preclassic around 200 BC. CeramicsMaya ceramics
Maya ceramics are important in the study of the Pre-Columbian Maya culture of Mesoamerica. Through the years, the vessels took on different shapes, colors, sizes, and purposes...
from the deep Middle Preclassic levels at Seibal belong to the little known Xe phase, found in the western Petén region. A cruciform Olmec
Olmec
The Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco....
-style cache consisting of a bloodletter and jade
Jade use in Mesoamerica
Jade use in Mesoamerica was largely influenced by the conceptualization of the material as a rare and valued commodity among pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Olmec, the Maya, and the various groups in the Valley of Mexico. The only source from which the indigenous cultures could...
celts
Celt (tool)
Celt is an archaeological term used to describe long thin prehistoric stone or bronze adzes, other axe-like tools, and hoes.-Etymology:The term "celt" came about from what was very probably a copyist's error in many medieval manuscript copies of Job 19:24 in the Latin Vulgate Bible, which became...
is similar to those found in the Olmec heartland
Olmec heartland
The Olmec heartland is the southern portion of Mexico's Gulf Coast region between the Tuxtla mountains and the Olmec archaeological site of La Venta, extending roughly 80 km inland from the Gulf of Mexico coastline at its deepest...
on the Gulf Coast of Mexico
Gulf Coast of Mexico
The Gulf Coast of Mexico stretches along the Gulf of Mexico from the border with the United states at Matamoros, Tamaulipas all the way to the tip of the Yucatán Peninsula at Cancún. It includes the coastal regions along the Bay of Campeche. Major cities include Veracruz, Tampico, and...
, and the artifacts were probably manufactured at La Venta
La Venta
La Venta is a pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Olmec civilization located in the present-day Mexican state of Tabasco. Some of the artifacts have been moved to the museum "Parque - Museo de La Venta", which is in Villahermosa, the capital of Tabasco....
. This cache dates to approximately 900 BC.
The earliest settlement in the Middle Preclassic was mostly confined to Group A. After 300 BC, in the Late Preclassic, settlement expanded to include Group D.
By the end of the Late Preclassic (or Protoclassic), Seibal experienced an unexplained decline in population.
Early Classic
During the Early Classic, the decline that began in the Late Preclassic continued unabated until the site was all but abandoned around AD 300 for unknown reasons.Late Classic
Seibal underwent a revival in the Late Classic with an expansion of occupation linked to the great city of TikalTikal
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...
. About AD 650 new inhabitants moved into the city in order to found a new kingdom. Groups A and D saw new construction, with a particular emphasis on Group D, which became an important part of the ceremonial centre. Any monuments raised by the Late Classic rulers responsible for this renewed occupation were defaced when the city suffered a catastrophic defeat in the 8th century AD.
The earliest mention of Seibal in hieroglyphic inscriptions
Maya script
The Maya script, also known as Maya glyphs or Maya hieroglyphs, is the writing system of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica, presently the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered...
is on Stela 15 at Dos Pilas, dated to 13 October 721, and refers to Seibal becoming involved in the long-running war between the great cities of Tikal and 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 their respective allies and vassals. Dos Pilas was a newly founded city in the Petexbatún
Petexbatún
Petexbatún is a small lake formed by a river of the same name, which is a tributary of the La Pasion river. It is near Sayaxché, located in the southern area of the Guatemalan department of Petén....
region, established by Tikal to exert its control over the Pasión River, a strategy that backfired when Calakmul seized control of the fledgling kingdom.
Defeat
In AD 735 Ucha'an K'in B'alamUcha'an K'in B'alam
Ucha'an K'in B'alam was the fourth Mayan king of Dos Pilas. He is also known as the Ruler 3, Master of Sun Jaguar, Scroll-head God K, Spangle-head and Jewelled-head. His title was "He of Five Captives"....
, the third king of 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,...
, attacked Seibal, capturing Yich'aak B'alam
Yich'aak B'alam
-Biography:In AD 735 Ucha'an K'in B'alam - the fourth king of Dos Pilas kingdom - attacked Seibal, capturing Yich'aak B'alam. The captive king was not executed but rather became a vassal of his more powerful neighbour...
. The captive king was not executed but rather became a vassal of his more powerful neighbour. Ucha'an K'in B'alam raised monuments to his victory over Seibal at Dos Pilas, Aguateca
Aguateca
Aguateca is a Maya site located in northern Guatemala's Petexbatun Basin, in the department of Petén. The first settlements at Aguateca date to the Late Preclassic period , and the city was sacked and abandoned in the early 9th century. Aguateca sits on top of a tall limestone bluff, creating a...
and Seibal itself. Yich'aak B'alam is shown under the feet of Ucha'an K'in B'alam on Aguateca
Aguateca
Aguateca is a Maya site located in northern Guatemala's Petexbatun Basin, in the department of Petén. The first settlements at Aguateca date to the Late Preclassic period , and the city was sacked and abandoned in the early 9th century. Aguateca sits on top of a tall limestone bluff, creating a...
Stela 2. At Seibal a hieroglyphic stairway was built recording the city's new status as a vassal of Dos Pilas. At the same time as he erected these monuments to his victory, Ucha'an K'in B'alam ordered the destruction of the hieroglyphic records on the earlier monuments of Seibal, with inscriptions at Dos Pilas and Aguateca specifically recording the destruction of Seibal's previously recorded history using phrases that translate as "they destroyed the writing" and "they chopped the writing off the statues that were made".
Yich'aak B'alam continued as a vassal under the next king of Dos Pilas, K'awiil Chan K'inich
K'awiil Chan K'inich
K'awiil Chan K'inich was the last Maya king of Dos Pilas. He is also known as the Ruler 4 and God K Sky Mahk'ina.He reigned from June 23, 741. Dates of his birth and death are unknown.-Biography:...
, who presided over rituals at Seibal in 745 and 747.
Seibal regained its independence in the late 8th century with the destruction of the Dos Pilas kingdom. Ajaw B'ot acceeded to the throne in AD 771, restoring Seibal as an independent capital. After AD 800 Seibal fell into a thirty-year hiatus during which no new monuments were erected.
Terminal Classic
With its independence came a new apogee, and for a brief time Seibal became a prominent regional capital located on the important Pasión River trade route. The architectureMaya architecture
A unique and spectacular style, Maya architecture spans several thousands of years. Often the most dramatic and easily recognizable as Maya are the stepped pyramids from the Terminal Pre-classic period and beyond. Being based on the general Mesoamerican architectural traditions these pyramids...
and ceramics from this period demonstrate connections with the northern Yucatán Peninsula
Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel...
and the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Seventeen stelae carved between AD 849 and 889 show a mix of Maya and foreign styles, including a lord wearing the beaked mask of Ehecatl
Ehecatl
Ehecatl is a pre-Columbian deity associated with the wind, who features in Aztec mythology and the mythologies of other cultures from the central Mexico region of Mesoamerica. He is most usually interpreted as the aspect of the Feathered Serpent deity as a god of wind, and is therefore also known...
, the central Mexican wind god, with a Mexican-style speech scroll emerging from the mouth. Some of these stelae have a stylistic affinity with the painted murals at Cacaxtla
Cacaxtla
Cacaxtla is an archaeological site located near the southern border of the Mexican state of Tlaxcala. It was a sprawling palace containing vibrantly colored murals painted in unmistakable Maya style. The nearby site of Xochitecatl was a more public ceremonial complex associated with Cacaxtla...
, a site in the central Mexican state of Tlaxcala
Tlaxcala
Tlaxcala officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tlaxcala is one of the 31 states which along with the Federal District comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 60 municipalities and its capital city is Tlaxcala....
. This hybrid style seem to indicate that the new lords of Seibal were Maya lords adapting to changing political conditions by adopting a mix of symbols originating from both lowland Maya and central Mexican sources. Some of the more foreign-looking stelae even bear non-Maya calendrical glyphs. Changes at Seibal at this time are associated with the Chontal
Putún Maya
Putún or Chontal Maya is a collective name for several groups of Maya that displaced much of the older leadership of the Maya Lowlands during the Late Classic and Postclassic. The Putún, who came from the Gulf coast in the northwest region of the Maya area, are generally held to have been more...
-controlled trade flowing along the Pasión River. The Chontal Maya themselves were warrior-merchants originating from the Gulf Coast of Mexico who displayed a mixture of Maya and non-Maya characteristics.
Hieroglyphic texts at Seibal indicate that the city's newly refound vigour was sponsored by a new alliance formed by the cities of 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...
and 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...
in the east, two sites that had so far survived the spreading Classic Maya collapse
Classic Maya collapse
The Classic Maya Collapse refers to the decline and abandonment of the Classic Period Maya cities of the southern Maya lowlands of Mesoamerica between the 8th and 9th centuries. This should not be confused with the collapse of the Preclassic Maya in the 2nd century AD...
. It is likely that they were attempting to reopen the old Pasión-Usumacinta trade route and were drawn to Seibal by its defensible location overlooking the Pasión River. Seibal's refounding took place in AD 830 with the installation of Wat'ul Chatel as a vassal of Chan Ek' Hopet of Ucanal. The new king dedicated a new building and stelae in 849, overseen by Jewel K'awil 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 Chan Pet, king 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...
. Wat'ul Chatel built an innovative new temple-stelae arrangement to the south of the Central Plaza of Group A. Structure A-3 consists of a low radial pyramid
Mesoamerican pyramids
Mesoamerican pyramids, pyramid-shaped structures, are an important part of ancient Mesoamerican architecture. These structures were usually step pyramids with temples on top – more akin to the ziggurats of Mesopotamia than to the pyramids of Ancient Egypt...
with an inventive arrangement of sculpted monuments.
Wat'ul Chatel's last monument was erected in 889. This stela is also the last dated monument raised at Seibal and by 900 the city was all but abandoned, the whole region had been engulfed by the Classic Maya collapse and trade no longer flowed along the Pasión-Usumacinta route. Most Classic Maya capitals had already been abandoned and whatever external support Seibal had received from its overlord had vanished.
The late stelae at Seibal show a marked reduction in quality over a span of about forty years, with the loss of Classic Period traits, and bearing flatter and cruder representations than earlier stelae. This may reflect the loss of expertise in the Terminal Classic, with craftsmen less able to work monuments and large structures as time progressed.
Modern history
The ruins of Seibal were probably discovered around 1890 by loggers working for the Hamett Mahogany Company. Federico Artes first reported the existence of the ruins in 1892 after he was sent to PeténPetén (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...
by the Guatemalan government
Politics of Guatemala
Politics of Guatemala takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Guatemala is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both...
in order to find material to be displayed in the Guatemalan exhibit for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. He took molds from some of the stelae and the resulting casts were displayed in the Exposition, bringing the recent discovery of the ruins to the attention of archaeologists for the first time. Two years later, in July 1895, Seibal was explored 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....
on behalf of the Peabody Museum
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is a museum affiliated with Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.Founded in 1866, the Peabody Museum is one of the oldest and largest museums focusing on anthropological material, and is particularly strong in New World ethnography and...
of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He made a site plan and discovered a new stela to add to those already discovered. He returned to the site for further investigations in August 1905 but discovered no new monuments. The Peabody Museum published Maler's work in 1908, including good quality photos of the stelae.
Seibal was next investigated by Sylvanus Morley
Sylvanus Morley
Sylvanus Griswold Morley was an American archaeologist, epigrapher, and Mayanist scholar who made significant contributions toward the study of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in the early twentieth century....
in 1914 on behalf of the Carnegie Institution of Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Dr Barnum Brown
Barnum Brown
Barnum Brown , a paleontologist born in Carbondale, Kansas, and named after the circus showman P.T. Barnum, discovered the second fossil of Tyrannosaurus rex during a career that made him one of the most famous fossil hunters working from the late Victorian era into the early 20th century.Sponsored...
visited the ruins in 1948, and members of the Altar de Sacrificios
Altar de Sacrificios
Altar de Sacrificios is a ceremonial center and archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, situated near the confluence of the Pasión and Salinas Rivers , in the present-day department of Petén, Guatemala...
Expedition of the Peabody Museum made visits in 1961, 1962 and 1963.
In 1964, the Peabody Museum returned to the site with a thorough investigation that continued until 1968, led by Gordon R. Willey
Gordon Willey
Gordon Randolph Willey was an American archaeologist famous for his fieldwork in South and Central America as well as the southeastern United States...
as Director and A. Ledyard Smith
A. Ledyard Smith
A. Ledyard Smith was an American archaeologist who worked on various projects in the Maya region on behalf of the Carnegie Institution, including Uaxactun. From 1958 to 1963 he led investigations at Altar de Sacrificios in Guatemala together with Gordon Willey on behalf of the Peabody Museum of...
as Field Director. Further excavations were carried out from May to June in 2006 by the Proyecto Arqueológico Ceibal-Petexbatun (Seibal-Petexbatun Archaeological Project).
The site
Seibal is a medium-sized site. The site core is divided into three principal hilltop groups (Groups A, C and D) connected by causeways and covers a little over 1 km². The causeways were faced with masonry and had parapets in places. Causeway I is the western causeway, Causeway II is the south causeway and Causeway III is the eastern causeway. Group D is a fortress refuge concealed above the river frontage. Group B is a small complex located about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the site core. Group A is smaller than Group D but has most of the sculptured monuments. Various small housemound groups lie beyond the site core. They are spaced between 50 and 100 m (54.7 and 109.4 yd) apart, extending for several kilometers to the north, south and west.Only two structures have been restored at Seibal, the A-3 temple platform and the C-79 circular platform. Both were restored during the investigations carried out by the Peabody Museum in the 1960s.
Seibal possesses a satellite site located to the north, known as El Anonal. This site has large structures built from clay that date to the Middle Preclassic period.
Architecture
Group A is in the site core. It features three plazas, the North, South and Central Plazas and lies at the west end of Causeway I. Group A has more than fifty mounds arranged around the three plazas. Monuments dating to the period when Seibal was a vassal of Dos Pilas (AD 735–761) are situated in the Central Plaza of the group.Group C lies on Causeway II, which passes through it to end at the circular Structure C-79. Group C has over forty mounds.
Group D is a compact group at the east end of Causeway III, it is perched in an easily defensible position at the edge of the bluffs overlooking the Pasión river. It has more than seventy structures crowded around five plazas. Group D only had one stela, which was a plain monument erected in front of a 20 metres (65.6 ft) high stepped pyramid.
The East Patio of Group A is part of an acropolis complex located behind Structure A-14. The complex is situated upon a massive platform raised almost 7 metres (23 ft) above the natural surface level. The patio was accessed by a stairway on the south side. It includes Structures A-15 and A-16.
Structure A-3 is a temple platform located in the centre of the south plaza. It has a stairway ascending each of its four sides. Five stelae are associated with this structure, one located at the base of each stairway and a fifth inside the building surmounting the platform. Three large jade cobbles were interred under the central stela. This structure and its associated stelae were dedicated in AD 849 by king Wat'ul Chatel (also known as Aj B'olon Haab'tal). Structure A-3 has the remains of a corbeled
Corbel arch
A corbel arch is an arch-like construction method that uses the architectural technique of corbeling to span a space or void in a structure, such as an entranceway in a wall or as the span of a bridge...
vault, the only surviving example at Seibal. The arrangement of the radial pyramid with its associated stelae was highly innovative. The radial temple form was ancient in the Maya region, dating back to the Late Preclassic, but Wat'ul Chatel placed upon it a square shrine with four doors, one opening onto each of the stairways. The temple building contained three vaulted chambers oriented north-south, with doors joining each chamber along an east-west axis. The cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
of the temple supported a brightly coloured stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
. The frieze collapsed with the temple in ancient times. Archaeologists were able to recover portions of the fallen frieze and attempt a reconstruction of how it originally appeared. Each of the four doors was originally topped by a larger-than-life sculpture of king Wat'ul Chatel. Twelve smaller figures were spaced around the cornice, one at each corner with an additional figure positioned half way between each corner and the central figure of the king. It is not known who these smaller figures represented. The spaces between the figures were occupied by panels with cross-hatch designs and sculpted vegetation and animals. Old gods sat in the centre of each of the sixteen panels, including Itzamna
Itzamna
In Yucatec Maya mythology, Itzamna was the name of an upper god and creator deity thought to be residing in the sky. Little is known about him, but scattered references are present in early-colonial Spanish reports and dictionaries. Twentieth-century Lacandon lore includes tales about a creator...
and Pawatun. Structure A-3 was built over an earlier platform structure.
Structure A-10, a 28 metres (91.9 ft) tall temple-pyramid, is the tallest structure at the site.
Structure A-13 is a radial pyramid. Excavations uncovered a mass burial (Burial 4) with parts of eleven people, including two women and a child. This was not a traditional Classic Maya burial and has been dated to AD 930, very late in the occupation of the site.
Structure A-14 is covered by the forest that has overgrown the northern part of the Central Plaza. It is a range structure running north-south and once had a hieroglyphic stairway detailing Seibal's defeat by Dos Pilas, although the inscriptions have now been removed to the old project camp. The structure was found to contain an elite female burial, labelled as Burial 1.
Structure A-15 is located on the north side of the East Patio of the North Plaza. It is a long, low structure running east-west and closing the patio on the north side. It measures 24 by by 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) tall. The building contained a long room with a wide entrance opening southwards onto the patio, raised from the patio by a step. The room contained a stone bench built from reused blocks. The structure was superimposed upon two earlier substructures, the earliest of which had a different orientation to the final building. All three periods of construction appear to date to the Terminal Classic, with the last phase perhaps dating to about the time of the fall of the city.
Structure A-16 is located on the northeast side of the East Patio of the North Plaza. It is a rectangular structure measuring 16 by, running north-south and facing to the west. The remains of the structure stand 2.7 metres (8.9 ft) high. The western side of the building had been damaged by looters prior to archaeological investiagtion. The looters' trench measured 5 by by 3.5 metres (11.5 ft) deep and cut through the structure's floor, bench and rear wall but did not uncover any burials or offerings. Fallen limestone blocks and slabs reveal that the structure once had a corbel-vaulted chamber. Fragments of stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
were also recovered, they once made up a colourful frieze above the front of the building that included modelled human figures. The stucco still had traces of orange, green and yellow paint. The building was a palace-type structure with perhaps six rooms, three on the west side and three on the east, and it was originally roofed in stone. The interior had an L-shaped bench. The structure was built of finely cut limestone blocks and the walls were coated with stucco painted orange and turquoise. It is believed that the building was part of a Terminal Classic royal palace with architectural features similar to those of the temple Structure A-3.
Structure A-19 and Structure C-9 are ballcourt
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...
s. They have a resemblance to ballcourts at Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Municipality of Tinúm, Yucatán state, present-day Mexico....
. Both ballcourts are aligned east-west, an unusual feature in the Maya area, although the topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
of the site severely restricted the layout of the city to a principally east-west orientation. Ballcourt A-19 lies on the west side on the north plaza.
Structure C-79 is a circular three-tiered platform built during the Terminal Classic on top of a pre-existing structure dating to the Late Preclassic Period. Circular structures such as this have their origin in central Mexico, where they are typically temples of Ehecatl
Ehecatl
Ehecatl is a pre-Columbian deity associated with the wind, who features in Aztec mythology and the mythologies of other cultures from the central Mexico region of Mesoamerica. He is most usually interpreted as the aspect of the Feathered Serpent deity as a god of wind, and is therefore also known...
, the god of wind. However, the structure at Seibal was surmounted by a rectangular building platform, whereas the temple buildings of Ehecatl were also circular. Structure C-79 has two stairways, the larger ascends the west side, the smaller is on the east side. A circular jaguar altar rests on three pedestals before the structure, two of these are crouching figures that originally supported the altar, the third central column is modern and was put in place as an additional support during restoration of the ruins. The altar has the crude representation of a jaguar's head carved onto its edge. Structure C-79 and the associated altar are dated to about AD 870.
Monuments
The monuments of Seibal include a number of stelaeStele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
, carved stone shafts, often sculpted with figures and hieroglyphs. The monuments at Seibal are fashioned from a hard limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, accounting for their generally excellent preservation. During excavations in the 1960s, 57 stelae
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
were identified. Of these 22 were sculpted and 35 were plain.
Hieroglyphic Stairway 1 was located on the front of Structure A-14. The stairway was installed by king Ucha'an K'in B'alam of Dos Pilas to record Seibal's status as a vassal after its defeat by that city. The stones are no loner in situ, having been removed to the area of the camp of the old archaeological project.
Stela 1, on the north side of the South Plaza near Structure A-3, names someone called "Knife-Wing", who is also known at distant Chichen Itza. It is dated to AD 869.
Stela 2 is believed to date to around AD 870 although it bears no hieroglyphic text. It depicts the frontal view of a masked figure and is the only monument at Seibal to show a frontal portrayal. It was broken into six or seven pieces and has been restored.
Stela 3 bears a non-Maya calendrical date
Mesoamerican calendars
Mesoamerican calendars are the calendrical systems devised and used by the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica. In addition to the basic function of a calendar—defining and organizing periods of time in a way that allows events to be fixed, ordered and noted relative to each other and some...
, one of the glyphs is cipactli
Cipactli
Cipactli 'Crocodile' or 'Caiman', was the first day of the Aztec divinatory count of 13 X 20 days , and Cipactonal 'Sign of Cipactli' was considered to have been the first diviner. In Aztec cosmology, the crocodile symbolized the earth floating in the primeval waters...
, a crocodile head used to represent the first day of the 260-day calendar in central Mexico. This stela once stood next to Stela 2 but was removed to a museum in Guatemala City
Guatemala City
Guatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...
.
Stela 4 is badly damaged, having been broken into pieces by a falling tree. It was lost for sixty years before being rediscovered. It currently remains buried under a thin covering of soil.
Stela 5 lies to the north of the South Plaza and is badly damage. The broken middle section of the stela is all that is left, it bears the representation of a ballplayer
Mesoamerican ballgame
The Mesoamerican ballgame or Tlatchtli in Náhuatl was a sport with ritual associations played since 1,000 B.C. by the pre-Columbian peoples of Ancient Mexico and Central America...
and dates to about AD 780.
Stela 6 is slightly to the north of Stela 5, bearing hieroglyphic text. This stela was damaged in antiquity when the upper part was broken off and erected by an altar nearby.
Stela 7 stands to the north of stelae 5 and 6. It is in a reasonable state of preservation and bears the image of a ruler dressed as a ballplayer. This monument was probably dedicated in AD 780, although it records the accession of a king of Seibal in AD 771.
Stela 8 is a well preserved monument on the south side of Structure A-3. Here king Wat'ul Chatel wears jaguar claws on his hands and feet, together with other attributes of the Bearded Jaguar God. In one hand the king holds the head of the god K'awiil. The text describes a visitor named Hakawitzil, an early form of Jacawitz
Jacawitz
Jacawitz was a mountain god of the Postclassic K'iche' Maya of highland Guatemala. He was the patron of the Ajaw K'iche' lineage and was a companion of the sun god Tohil. It is likely that he received human sacrifice...
, the name of one of the patron gods of the Postclassic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj
K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj
The K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj was a state in the highlands of modern day Guatemala which was founded by the K'iche' Maya in the thirteenth century, and which expanded through the fifteenth century until it was conquered by Spanish and Nahua forces led by Pedro de Alvarado in 1524.The K'iche'...
in the Guatemalan Highlands
Guatemalan Highlands
The Guatemalan Highlands is an upland region in southern Guatemala, lying between the Sierra Madre de Chiapas to the south and the Petén lowlands to the north....
. Schele and Mathews propose that the event depicted on this stela gave rise to the foundation legends of the K'iche' people.
Stela 9 was erected on the west side of Structure A-3. It is badly damaged and one section is missing. The stela depicts Wat'ul Chatel with the attributes of the Maize God
Maya maize god
Like other Mesoamerican peoples, the traditional Mayas recognize in their staple crop, the maize, a vital force with which they strongly identify. This is clearly shown by their mythological traditions. According to the 16th-century Popol Vuh, the Hero Twins have maize plants for alter egos and man...
and describes him invoking the Vision Serpent
Vision Serpent
The Vision Serpent is an important creature in Pre-Columbian Maya mythology, although the term itself is now slowly becoming outdated.The serpent was a very important social and religious symbol, revered by the Maya. Maya mythology describes serpents as being the vehicles by which celestial bodies,...
.
Stela 10 is on the north side of Structure A-3. It depicts Wat'ul Chatel, dressed in Terminal Classic Maya style, although his foreign-looking face bears a moustache, which is not a typically Mayan characteristic. The text on this stela displays the emblem glyphs 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...
, 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 Motul de San José
Motul de San José
Motul de San José is an ancient Maya site located just north of Lake Petén Itzá in the Petén Basin region of the southern Maya lowlands. It is located a few kilometres from the modern village of San José, in Guatemala's northern department of Petén...
, describing how he received visitors from those cities. Among the visitors are named Kan-Pet of Calakmul and Kan-Ek' of Motul. Wat'ul Chatel wears a headdress associated with the patron gods of Seibal, the heron god and K'awiil, deities that were also the patrons of Palenque
Palenque
Palenque was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that flourished in the 7th century. The Palenque ruins date back to 100 BC to its fall around 800 AD...
. This appears to be an attempt by this foreign king to identify himself more closely with the city he came to rule.
Stela 11 is on the east side of Structure A-3 and describes the refounding of Seibal on 14 March 830 and the installation of its new lord, Wat'ul Chatel, as a vassal of Chan Ek' Hopet of Ucanal. A panel beneath the portrait of the ruler depicts a bound captive. The hieroglyphic inscription describes how Wat'ul Chatel arrived with his palanquins and his patron deities.
Stela 13 stands a little to the west of the South Plaza. It dates to AD 870.
Stela 14 dates to about AD 870 and stands at the junction of two causeways and is in a good state of preservation. It has stylistic similarities with sculptures at distant Chichen Itza in the extreme north of the Yucatán Peninsula
Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel...
.
Stela 18 is one of the last stelae to be erected at Seibal, it lies 20 metres (65.6 ft) west of the group of monuments consisting of Stelae 5, 6 and 7.
Stela 19 demonstrates the foreign influences prevalent at Seibal during the Late Classic. It depicts a lord wearing a mask representing the central Mexican wind god Ehecatl
Ehecatl
Ehecatl is a pre-Columbian deity associated with the wind, who features in Aztec mythology and the mythologies of other cultures from the central Mexico region of Mesoamerica. He is most usually interpreted as the aspect of the Feathered Serpent deity as a god of wind, and is therefore also known...
.
Stela 20 stands to the west of the South Plaza. It was one of the last monuments to be erected at Seibal, dating to AD 889.
Stela 21 is located inside the chamber at the top of Structure A-3. This stela was badly damaged when the vaulted chamber collapsed on top of it and has also suffered from erosion. The monument has been restored and depicts the lord of Seibal Wat'ul Chatel bearing a manikin sceptre. Like Stela 8, the king wears attributes of the Bearded Jaguar God, although without the jaguar claws. The king holds a K'awiil sceptre raised in his right hand, from his other hand hands a shield with the face of the sun god. The inscription on the monument is largely illegible.