The 12 day Guatemala circuit (Day 7) - Quirigua archeological site - The 31st of March 2008

We drove back to Guatemala fairly early in the morning so as to be able to visit the archeological site of Quirigua in the department of Izabal in the south-eastern part of the country.

We stopped a few times on the way, the first of which was just along the road to see some banana plantations which caught our attention  and the last by some petrol station where an advert on its café also drew our "curiosity".

According to historians Quirigua shares its architectural and sculptural styles with the nearby Classic Period city of Copan, with whose history it is closely entwined. Quirigua's expansion in the 8th century was tied to the military victory by its king K'ak Tilw Yopaat over Copan in 738.

The site's importance lies in the wealth of sculpture. It is said  the local hard red sandstone being very strong and  not prone to shearing or fracturing  allowed the sculptors to recet the tallest freestanding stone monuments in the Americas.

After having walked through a forest like path we "entered" the Great Plaza, said to be the largest in the whole Maya region.

 

 

 Stela A erected in 775 representing the sovereign Cauak Sky (detail)

Details of Stela D erected in 766 A.D. representing the sovereign Cauak Sky standing on the representation of the mask of the monster of the earth (south side).

  

Hieroglyphic inscriptiond on the east and west sides of Stela D (details)

Stela E (details), possibly the largest standing worked monolith in the NewWorld.

Zoomorph G - the memorial monument to K'ak Tiliw Chan Yopaat showing the face of the dead king emerging from the maw of an enormous jaguar (amphibian like shape thus representing dualiy).

Stela J erected in 756 representing Cauak Sky

Altar M, this ryolite scupture in the form of a reptile head (boa or masacuata) is the earliest monument dedicated to K'ak Tiliw Chan Yopaak. Its importance lies in the text, in which this prominet King of Quirigua claimed  the title of k'uhul ajaw, holy lord and began his bid for independence from Copan.

The Acropolis with its large tiers built in limestone and a stone looking like marble.

I was really impressed with the monumentality of the site, the detailed sculptures and the fact that it was interspersed with tropical vegetation, tough I once more found it hard to  retain the whole information about the Maya culture.