40 Facts About Calakmul

Calakmul administered a large domain marked by the extensive distribution of their emblem glyph of the snake head sign, to be read "Kaan".

Calakmul was the seat of what has been dubbed the Kingdom of the Snake or Snake Kingdom.

Calakmul itself is estimated to have had a population of 50, 000 people and had governance, at times, over places as far away as 150 kilometers.

Calakmul is a modern name; according to Cyrus L Lundell, who named the site.

The lords of Calakmul identified themselves as k'uhul kaanal ajaw, Divine Lords of the Snake, but the connection of the title to the actual site is ambiguous.

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The ruins of El Tintal are 68 kilometres to the southwest of Calakmul and were linked to both El Mirador and Calakmul itself by causeway.

Calakmul was a true urban city and not just an elite centre surrounded by commoner residences.

Calakmul kingdom included 20 secondary centres, among which were large cities such as La Muneca, Naachtun, Sasilha, Oxpemul and Uxul.

The entire population of the Calakmul kingdom, including the city itself and the rural population in the 13, 000 square kilometres area of the regional state, is calculated at 1.

Calakmul administered a large domain marked by the extensive distribution of their emblem glyph of the snake head sign, to be read "Kaan".

Calakmul was the seat of what has been dubbed the Snake Kingdom.

However, epigraphical studies of the monuments at Calakmul show that prior to the 7th century AD the emblem glyph of Calakmul had nothing to do with a snake, but with a bat.

The Kan emblem glyph, before being associated with Calakmul, is found at Dzibanche, a site more towards the east.

Calakmul has a long occupational history and excavations have revealed evidence from the Middle Preclassic right through to the Postclassic.

However Calakmul was a rival city with equivalent resources that challenged the supremacy of Tikal and engaged in a strategy of surrounding it with its own network of allies.

Calakmul's dynasty seems ultimately derived from the great Preclassic city of El Mirador while the dynasty of Tikal was profoundly affected by the intervention of the distant central Mexican metropolis of Teotihuacan.

The early history of Calakmul is obscure, although a dynastic list has been pieced together that extends back into an ancestral past.

The influence of Calakmul extended deep into the Peten; king Tuun K'ab' Hix of Calakmul oversaw the enthronement of Aj Wosal to the rulership of Naranjo in 546.

Calakmul became the overlord of the city of Caracol, to the south of Naranjo, which had previously been a vassal of Tikal.

Approximately at this time Naranjo, a vassal of Calakmul, broke away when its king Aj Wosal died relatively soon after the death of Uneh Chan of Calakmul.

Calakmul's attempts were brought to an end by his death in 630.

Calakmul experienced its highest achievements during the reign of king Yuknoom Che'en II, sometimes called Yuknoom the Great by scholars.

Calakmul tried to encircle Tikal within an area dominated by its allies, such as El Peru, Dos Pilas and Caracol.

In 677 Calakmul counterattacked against Dos Pilas, driving Tikal out and reinstalled B'alaj Chan K'awiil on his throne.

In 679 Dos Pilas, probably aided by Calakmul, gained an important victory over Tikal, with a hieroglyphic description of the battle describing pools of blood and piles of heads.

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Naranjo completely defeated Caracol in 680 but Naranjo's dynasty disappeared within two years and a daughter of B'alaj Chan K'awiil founded a new dynasty there in 682, indicating that Calakmul had probably intervened decisively to place a loyal vassal on the throne.

The power of Calakmul extended as far as the north shore of Lake Peten Itza, where Motul de San Jose is recorded as its vassal in the 7th century, although it was traditionally aligned with Tikal.

Calakmul was born in 649 and was likely to have been the son of his predecessor.

Calakmul retained the loyalty of K'inich B'alam of El Peru and B'alaj Chan K'awiil of Dos Pilas and gained that of K'ak' Tiliw Chan Chaak in 693, when he was installed on the throne of Naranjo at the age of five.

However, the texts on sculpted monuments do not reveal the full complexity of diplomatic activity, as revealed by a painted ceramic vase from Tikal, which depicts an ambassador of Calakmul's king kneeling before the enthroned king of Tikal and delivering tribute.

Calakmul erected seven stelae to celebrate a calendrical event in 702 and is named at Dos Pilas in that year, presumably demonstrating that Dos Pilas was still a vassal of Calakmul.

The timing of this visit by the king of Calakmul is highly significant, falling between the accession of K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat to the throne of Quirigua as a vassal of Copan and the outright rebellion that was to follow.

Calakmul itself was far enough away from Quirigua that K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat was not afraid of falling directly under its power as a full vassal state, even though it is likely that Calakmul sent warriors to help in the defeat of Copan.

The alliance instead seems to have been one of mutual advantage: Calakmul managed to weaken a powerful ally of Tikal while Quirigua gained its independence.

Sites to the north of Calakmul showed a reduction in its influence at this time, with new architectural styles influenced by sites further north in the Yucatan Peninsula.

However, it is unlikely that Calakmul still existed as a state in any meaningful way at this late date.

Calakmul is the subject of a large-scale project of the National Institute of Anthropology and History under the direction of Ramon Carrasco.

The city of Calakmul was built in a strongly concentric fashion and can be divided into zones as one moves outwards from the centre of the site.

In common with many temple pyramids in the Mesoamerican cultural region, the pyramid at Calakmul increased in size by building upon the pre-existing temple in order to increase its bulk.

Stela 84 is one of the last monuments erected at Calakmul and bears an inscription that is an illiterate imitation of writing.