66 UNIT 1 PREHISPANIC MESOAMERICA
Elements of Teotihuacan symbolism are present in the art of many later Mayan
sites, in reference to founding mythology or as components of kingly war gear. These
elements include balloon headdresses, atlatls, square shields, Tlaloc (Mexican rain
god) goggle-eyed figures, and the mosaic war serpent headdresses.
The pivotal events at Tikal in the fourth century A.D. subsequently entered the
mythic history of the Classic Mayas and were regularly recycled to legitimize later dy-
nasties. Opportunities presented by the dynastic interventions of Spearthrower Owl
and his emissaries catapulted Tikal to prominence as one of the two major super-
powers of the Mayan world.
Tikal’s Classic hiatus began when it was attacked in A.D. 562 in a “star war” event
timed with the motion of Venus. This action is recorded on an altar at Caracol, a
large site in the Mayan Mountains of Belize, and Caracol was likely acting under the
auspices of Tikal’s rival city of Calakmul. Monuments are not recorded at Tikal for
the subsequent 130 years (until A.D. 692), and nearby cities also suffer a similar de-
pression. Calakmul, however, rose to power in the vacuum created by Tikal’s demise.
New information about the hiatus reveals that Tikal was not entirely crippled. Rich
burials of otherwise silent hiatus kings attest to continued noble functions and dy-
nastic succession at the city. Calakmul again attacked Tikal in A.D. 657 and sponsored
other rivals of Tikal at this time.
King Jasaw Chan K’awiil I (A.D. 682–734) ended Tikal’s hiatus and brought the
city back to greatness in A.D. 695 by defeating Calakmul. He initiated massive con-
struction projects including the city’s famous twin-pyramid complexes, a ballcourt,
Temple 2; and he revamped the city’s huge palace compound known as the Central
Acropolis. He revitalized the political and economic strength of Tikal, although the
city’s geographic sphere of political influence was still curtailed by a network of Calak-
mul’s allies.
Jasaw’s son, Yik’in Chan K’awiil (acceding in A.D. 734) continued major building
projects at the city, including the final phase of Temple I, where his father was buried.
He was a military hero, who expanded the kingdom to dominance in the Petén re-
gion through a suite of victories over major cities, including Calakmul, although it
is not known how long he ruled. He was succeeded by a brief unnamed 28th ruler
of two years (A.D. 766–768), followed by Yax Nuun Ayiin II (acceding in A.D. 768), who
was the final great king of Tikal, although his regional control seems to have de-
clined. Four other kings are named in the succeeding ninth century, during a time
when southern lowlands dynasties were declining and cities were becoming depop-
ulated. Tikal’s final monument was erected in A.D. 869.Palenque. Palenque occupies a dramatic natural setting, nestled in the hills of
Chiapas overlooking the Gulf Coast plain. Much of what we see today at the site of
Palenque was constructed during the reigns of its two most notable rulers: K’inich
Janaab’ Pakal I (A.D. 615–683), or Great-Sun Shield, and his oldest son, K’inich
Kan B’alam II (A.D. 684–702), or Great-Sun Snake Jaguar. Pakal and Kan B’alaam
ruled for most of the seventh century, although inscriptions at the site date the
beginnings of Palenque’s dynastic history to A.D. 431.