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Calakmul, Its History and Sphere of Influence
Obviously any work on Calakmul history owes an enormous amount to archaeologists, art historians, epigraphers, and others. Especially in recent years to Simon Martin, who first formulated the hypothesis of larger hegemonies in the Maya World, with Tikal and especially Calakmul at the top. Also to the large group of second-career epigraphers and new younger career epigraphers who continue to make advances in our understandings. This web site has as its aim to make current knowledge on the history of Calakmul and its allied polities more easily accessible to all. More specific credits appear in various places.
Latest changes:
(27 March 2009) Addition of a file seriating the Dzibanche captive steps, seeking clusters of similar features in images and texts.
(27 March 2009) Addition of a file for the chronology of La Corona Stela 1, for which David Stuart's field drawing is now available.
Also included in that file is a chronology for La Corona Altar 4. Both of these monuments have later dates than most others at La Corona.
There are again some small differences between these analyses and those in the 2008 project report.
(27 March 2009) Extensive modifications to the list of dates for La Corona, now pages 7 to 10 of this .pdf, from cross-checking with the
list of dates in the final report for the 2008 season of the La Corona project. Notes at the end of the list of dates here indicate where my best
estimates differ a bit from those of the 2008 season report. Slight addition to the La Corona Monument overview for Glyphic Panels 10 and 2.
(23 March 2009) Link added to the final report for the 2008 season of the La Corona project, available on Mesoweb (in Spanish).
It contains much archaeological context, a list of dates, and some drawings not previously published (esp. "Stela 1" and "Panel 1").
Thanks to Yuri Polyukhovich for corrections (in the Site Q Chronology) to Panel 1 at J1-K1, and at F5.
(19 March 2009) The file (La Corona =) Site Q Chronology now includes Simon Martin's 2008 readings for the parts of the "Dallas Altar" which he treated.
That article is a model both of reasoning and of presentation. A great teaching/learning example.
(17 March 2009) The file "Calakmul Influences" shows events by site (columns) vs. by time (rows), thus an overview of history
and of the reigns of particular rulers. Substantially updated.
(7 to 17 March 2009) Added a list of dates from and referring to Calakmul, and and a list from La Corona.
(Latter to be checked against the new final report fot the 2008 season of the La Corona project, which contains a list of dates.)
Gradually improved and added to these lists during this span of 10 days. Thanks to Randa Marhenke for editing and content suggestions on these.
(17 March, orig. 7 March 2009) Added an overview of La Corona monuments. Thanks to Randa Marhenke for suggestions here also.
Alternative names for them in lists by Peter Mathews and by David Stuart, and sources for photos and drawings.
(21 Feb 2009) Added transcription of Calakmul Stela 100 to the Calakmul Chronology here.
Thanks to Carlos Pallan for allowing these to circulate.
(20 Feb. 2009) Courtesy of Justin Kerr, an Excel listing of the Kerr numbers of 312 Codex-style vases is here.
Such vases were quite possibly produced in Calakmul and related sites, as well as in the Mirador basin. (See also the group of "Dynasty Pots" below.)
Additional info is included in this Excel sheet, but the columns are not yet labeled so it will not be possible yet to use all of that information.
The Excel sheet has many columns, you may have to use left arrows to reach the first column.
(19-20 Feb. 2009) A schematic diagram of Uxul Altar 2, locating some of the calendrics.
(6 Feb. 2009) Added the Pol Box stelas described in the Pari Journal Winter 2009 to the file for SE Campeche Chronology.
(25 Jan. 2009) Modifications to Oxpemul Stela 10 (5th page of SE Campeche Chronology).
Modifications to the unprovenanced panel from El Cayo (1st page of Calakmul Mentions Elsewhere).
Added a link to Elaine Schele's posting to Flickr of 125 photos by David & Linda Schele.
(25 Jan. 2009) Files "Climate_and_History.pdf" and "Maya_Last_Inscriptions.pdf" by site.
These have some important contex relevant to studies of Calakmul.
(12 Jan. 2009) Added "La Corona Archaeological Project", paper by Marcello Canuto and Tomás Barrientos Q.
from the 2008 Simposio in Guatemala. (1.6MB) Thanks to Marcello for making this available.
(11 and 12 Jan. 2009) Extensive additions to SE Campeche Chronology .pdf, partly from Nikolai Grube's English and
Spanish-language papers on this area.
Modifications to Calakmul Chronology.pdf -- paired stelas and where stelas are located.
(9 Jan. 2009) Shifted the El Cayo area panel from Calakmul Chronology .pdf to Calakmul Mentions Elsewhere .pdf.
(7 Jan. 2009) Integrated info in the Simon Martin paper on Snakes and Bats with Calakmul Chronology .pdf
(Dec. 2008) Added .pdf of analyses for texts of SE Campeche.
For the Dynasty Pots, a king list perhaps from very early times, please click here.
For a list of Calakmul dates including probably all of those referred to in the 2009 workbook from Austin, please click here. For a survey of the history of Calakmul, and mentions of its lords on monuments from other sites, please click here. These two documents together cover most of what is available. The second .pdf chart mentioned is three pages across and five pages down. It is similar to charts provided for the Maya Weekends in 1993 and 1994 for Tikal/Belize and for the Usumacinta. It includes citations collected by John Harris for the Philadelphia glyph group together with dates on Calakmul from other sources. It also includes mentions of Calakmul lords or events at sites from Southeastern Campeche. Glyph groups in Philadelphia and in Washington DC have been studying these during the fall of 2008. Corrections and additions have been added by others, and are much appreciated. (Credits near the end of this page.)
A page of book and online references includes also links to pictures of Calakmul. References from SE Campeche are included.
Analyses of Calakmul monuments, transcribed in Mayan with some additional notes in English
Analyses of stelas 114 and 89 produced in part working with glyph groups in DC and Philadelphia.
Here integrated with information from Simon Martin's (2005) article
"Of Snakes and Bats: Shifting Identities at Calakmul" Pari Journal vol.6 no.2 pp.5-13
www.mesoweb.com/pari/publications/journal/602/SnakesBats_e.pdf
and with information from Martin's (2008) article on the "Dallas Altar",
and with contents of the 2009 Sourcebook from Austin, among other sources..
Analyses of SE Campeche monuments early to late (Balakbal, Los Alacranes, Pol Box, Champerico, Uxul, Oxpemul).
A schematic diagram of Uxul Altar 2, locates some of the calendrics.
Calakmul Mentions Elsewhere currently includes a panel from the El Cayo region; Resbalon; El Peru; Moral-Reforma).
An Overview of La Corona monuments includes traditional names for them and the newer names used in the 2009 Austin workbook, along with information on sources of photos, etc. This will be checked against the new La Corona project report available here (in Spanish).
Dates in La Corona history are included as the fourth pair of pages here. A list of dates is now also included along with much archaeological context in the final report of the 2008 season of the La Corona project, available on Mesoweb (in Spanish), which also contains a drawing of La Corona Stela 1, not previously published.
A Stan Guenter paper on Mesoweb has pictures of left and right sides of La Corona Panel 1.
Analyses of Site Q = La Corona monuments
A list of rulers,
A detailed chronology, updated 7 March to include both traditional and Stuart's names for the monuments
A chart showing that important accession dates at La Corona have a much higher correlation with Venus at maximum elongation as evening star than one might expect by chance. Some discussion of that chart.
Three panels probably from La Corona, http://www.mayavase.com/corona/La_Corona.html (12 photos in varying light of panels K9126, K9127, K9128). With analyses by Simon Martin and by David Stuart
The Site Q "Grolier" panel has a number of difficulties in the chronology. The solution adopted here is to assume that the long count and the Tzolkín were both intended, that the Tzolkín is an abbreviation for a date well known to the people of Site Q, 9.8.11.16.8, 3 Lamat 11 Zotz', followed 2 K'atuns and 1 day later by its "anniversary" at 9.10.11.16.9, 13 Muluc 17 Keh, which is the Calendar Round linked by the written Distance Number 5.19 to the written 2 Lamat 16 Kumk'u. This solution seems to involve the fewest and smallest deviations from what is written. The interval between this date and the long count in the initial series may also be deliberately planned, it is 10.2.0 (10 x 364).
"La Corona Archaeological Project" by Marcello Canuto and Tomás Barrientos Q., from the 2008 Simposio in Guatemala.
Thanks to Agnes Cougnaud and Catherine Leluc for extended discussions beginning in early November 2008 of some details of Site Q monuments, for readings by several epigraphers, and for correcting some of my errors. Agnes has suggested a date for Site Q Glyphic Panel C so that it is within the reign of "Sak Ma-su". Thanks to the Philadelphia and Washington DC glyph groups for discussions of these monuments over several months (participants listed here). These discussions are a constant source of new insights and new questions.
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Documents on this site are Copyright © 2008 Lloyd B. Anderson. All Rights Reserved, with this one exception:
Individuals may make a single copy for their individual private use only, but only directly from this web site, so that it will always be the latest version.
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