Topoxte
Topoxte is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in the Petén Basin in northern Guatemala with a long occupational history dating as far back as the Middle Preclassic. As the capital of the Kowoj Maya, it was the largest of the few Postclassic Mesoamerican sites in the area. Topoxte is located on an island on Yaxha Lake across from the important Classic period center of Yaxha.
Topoxte was named by Teobert Maler in 1904; the name means "seed of the Ramón tree." There is no record of the name Topoxte prior to this. The Ramón tree, commonly known as breadnut, was an important component of the ancient Maya diet. Prior to this the site was known as Islapag, as noted in 1831 by Juan Galindo in his report to the Society of Antiquaries of London.
Location
Topoxte occupies five of a cluster of six islands at the western end of Lake Yaxha in the municipality of Melchor de Mencos in the eastern part of the Guatemalan department of Petén. Due to the extreme fluctuations of the water level of the lake, these islands can sometimes become landlocked.The principal occupation existed on the three islands named Topoxte, Cante and Paxte. When the water level was higher the lake was connected via a natural canal to the neighbouring Lake Sacnab, which lies to the east. Three smaller lakes lie to the west, from west to east they are lakes Chompoxte, Colorada and Coloradita.
The island of Topoxte lies at an altitude of above sea level. The island is formed from limestone with the highest elevation in the northern part of the island, sloping gently down towards the south.
The closest town is Flores, the capital of the Petén department, to the west as the crow flies. Topoxte is west of the international border with Belize and about south of the international border with Mexico. It is northeast of Zacpeten, another important Kowoj settlement.
History
Archaeological investigations have revealed that the site was occupied from the Middle Preclassic right through to the Late Postclassic. Obsidian from the Ixtepeque source started to be used from the Terminal Classic onwards and is used as a diagnostic marker for dating finds to the later periods of occupation at the site, when Ixtepeque became the principal source of obsidian for Topoxte and the wider Maya lowlands.The site was abandoned at the end of the Classic period and reoccupied during the Postclassic at approximately 1100. After being inhabited for a further three and a half centuries it may finally have been abandoned around 1450, although this has now been challenged.
Preclassic Period
The site was first occupied toward the end of the Middle Preclassic, as evidenced by a number of burials and artifacts dating to this period, and the possible Late Preclassic substructure underlying Building C on Topoxte Island. However, evidence for Middle Preclassic occupation is scarce and is largely confined to the Main Plaza on Topoxte Island.Ceramic evidence indicates that there was a degree of contact with the Guatemalan highlands in the Late Preclassic.
Classic Period
Burial 49, which dates to AD 750, indicates a marriage of the Lady Twelve Guacamaya from Topoxte with a prince from Tikal. In the Terminal Classic, immediately prior to the temporary abandonment of the site, the ceramic style of Topoxte was very similar to the ceramics of Tikal and Uaxactun. At this time, Topoxte was a part of the Yaxha polity.Postclassic Period
Topoxte was an important site in the Postclassic and had close ties with the city of Mayapan in the north of the Yucatán Peninsula. It was fortified and probably served as an important nexus in the trade routes between the Maya highlands and the Yucatán. It was a small capital with about six temples and a similar number of open halls. As well as strong ties with Mayapan, there are striking similarities with sites of the Tulum group, indicating that these sites belong to the same specific cultural tradition.Some plain stelae were raised in the Postclassic, which were perhaps covered in stucco and painted. This may represent a revival of the katun-ending ceremonies that occurred in the Classic Period, again reflecting ties with the northern Yucatán. Strong ties with Mayapan are also reflected by the ceramic style, particularly modelled effigy incense burners.
The three principal islands were densely inhabited during the Postclassic with a great deal of construction taking place. The site was abandoned about the same time as Mayapan, around 1450, when the Kowoj Maya, moved their capital west to Zacpetén Island in the Salpetén lake, near the Peten Itza lake.
Colonial history
Spanish missionaries Fuensalida and Orbita are said to have passed by Lake Yaxha in 1618, at which time they reported that there appeared to be no inhabitants, indicating that the site had already been abandoned by this time. However, it has been suggested that their indigenous guides deliberately led them via a neighbouring lake in order to mislead them into thinking that the Yaxhá region was uninhabited. The mention of Lake Yaxha by these missionaries is the only mention of the lake in colonial period records.Modern history
Although he probably never visited the site, the existence of Topoxte was first reported by Juan Galindo in 1831, in his report to the Society of Antiquaries. Teoberto Maler spent three days at the site in 1904, clearing the site core and describing Building C and recording 9 stela-altar pairs. Sylvanus Morley visited Topoxte in 1914, describing the sculptured stelae of the site, including 2 on Cante Island. In 1933 Cyrus L. Lundell and L. C. Stuart made a new plan of the main plaza and assigned the nomenclature to the structures that is still used today. William R. Bullard carried out excavations at Topoxte from 1958 to 1960 and identified the Postclassic occupation of the site. Further excavations were carried out in 1973 and 1974 by Don and Prudence Rice, on Cante Island.The site was damaged by looters in the 1970s and 80s. PRONAT undertook clearing and restoration work at Topoxte in 1989, including the erection of scaffolding and a protective roof on Building C, the main temple. Archaeological investigations of the site were undertaken from 1991 to 1993.
The site
The principal ruins of the pre-Columbian city are spread over three islands:Topoxte, Cante and Paxte, in the southwest of Yaxha Lake, of which Topoxte is the largest. All three of these islands were densely occupied, with all construction except the ceremonial architecture being aligned according to the local topography.Paxte Island
Paxte Island is the smallest of the three principal islands with a surface area of approximately. It is about west of Topoxte Island. 68 structures have been identified on Paxte, mostly low rectangular platforms built from unworked limestone, presumably the remains of domestic buildings. There are two groups of larger buildings located on the highest part of the island, aligned north–south, a fact that distinguishes them from the smaller residential buildings, which are aligned according to the local topography. Excavations suggest that Paxte was occupied from the Late Classic into the Postclassic.Cante Island
Cante Island has a surface area of approximately, with a steep slope on the east side and a gentler slope on the west side. Cante lies to the west of Paxte Island and contains the remains of 142 structures that have been mapped. The main group is organised around a plaza but the majority of the buildings were arranged according to the local topography. Almost all the structures of Cante are medium-sized rectangular platforms. Like Paxte, Cante appears to have been occupied from the Late Classic into the Postclassic. Sylvanus Morley found 2 sculpted stelae on the island in 1914, they have been dated to the Late Classic.Topoxte Island
Topoxte Island measures roughly from north to south and from east to west, it has a crescent shape with a bay on the west side. It is the largest of the three principal islands and contains the remains of around 100 structures, as well as the principal ceremonial centre of the city. The largest structures are largely concentrated in two groups in the centre and in the north of the island.Topoxte Island had a surge in construction activity in the Postclassic suggesting a population influx at this time, in parallel to an equivalent influx into the area of Lake Petén Itzá region in response to the collapse of Chichen Itza in the north of the Yucatán Peninsula. The ceremonial architecture at Topoxte includes two major periods of construction in the Late Postclassic and closely reflects that at Zacpeten, another Kowoj site, and also seems to be linked to activity at Mayapan.
Ten different construction phases are apparent in the archaeological record of Topoxte. The first three phases date to the Preclassic. There are three distinctive groups at the site, two 5 meter tall platforms, and a low residential area consisting of more than 100 structures. The site's central plaza is bounded by 3 temples constructed in the Postclassic architectural style similar to structures at Mayapan.
The ruins on the island of Topoxte start about four meters above the current level of Lake Yaxha, indicating that the Postclassic water level was roughly the same as present, or perhaps slightly higher. The site was laid out in a manner very similar to the contemporary site of Tayasal on Lake Petén Itzá, now covered by the modern town of Flores, with buildings on the north, south and east side of the main plaza and the west side open to the lake and the sunset. The stone buildings of Topoxte were all built with limestone.
The Main Plaza is built upon an artificial platform constructed with more than of fill. It is roughly rectangular with a surface area of approximately, it is one of the highest plazas on the island. The plaza is open on the west side and bordered on the north by Building G, on the south by Building B and on the east by Buildings C, D and E. The majority of worked monuments at Topoxte are located in the southwest corner of this plaza. The Main Plaza was the focus of activity from very early in the history of the site, with an offering dating to the Middle Preclassic being found in front of Building E and further Middle Preclassic evidence being found in deep levels in front of Building D. However, the plaza did not reach its maximum size until the Postclassic.