El Mirador is a large pre-Columbian site of the Maya civilization, located in the north of the modern department of El Petén, Guatemala. The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences The Maya civilization is a Mesoamerican Civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the Pre-Columbian Americas |||} Guatemala is divided into 22 departments ( departamentos) Alta Verapaz Baja Verapaz Chimaltenango Guatemala (República de Guatemala) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west the Pacific Ocean to the southwest

"El Tigre Complex", in El Mirador

The site was first discovered in 1926, and was photographed from the air in 1930, but the remote site deep in the jungle had little more attention paid to it until Ian Graham spent 10 days here making the first map in 1962. Ian Graham (born 5 January 1943 is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the VFL during the 1960s A detailed investigation was begun in 1978 with an archaeological project under the direction of Bruce Dahlin (Catholic University of Washington) and Ray Matheny (Brigham Young University). To the surprise of the archaeologists, it was found that a large amount of construction was not contemporary with the large Maya classic cities of the area like Tikal and Uaxactun, but rather from centuries earlier in the Pre-Classic era (see: Mesoamerican chronology). Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos Tikal (or Tik’al, according to the more current orthography is the largest of the ancient ruined cities of the Mayan civilization. Uaxactun (waʃakˈtun is an ancient ruin of the Maya civilization, located in the Petén Basin region of the Maya lowlands in the present-day department Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into a number of named successive eras or periods from the earliest evidence of human habitation El Mirador flourished from about the 6th century BC, reaching its height from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD, with a peak population of perhaps 80,000 people. They then experienced a hiatus of construction and perhaps abandonment for generations, followed by re-occupation and further construction in the late classic era, and a final abandonment about the end of the 9th century. The site covers some 10 square miles (26 km²). There are a number of "triadic" structures (around 30 structures), consisting of a large low artificial platform topped with a set of 3 step-pyramids. The most notable such structures are three huge complexes; one is nicknamed "El Tigre", with height 55. 8 metres (183 ft); the other is called "La Danta" (or Danta) temple, is also the name of the largest Maya temple. The Maya civilization is a Mesoamerican Civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the Pre-Columbian Americas The temple get up to 79 metres (259 ft) high^[1], and with a volume of 2,800,000 cubic meters, maybe making it the one of the largest pyramid in the world^[2], and including the large platform the pyramid is set upon, an artificially-built base covering some 18,000 square meters of ground, the largest in the world, Also the "Los Monos" complex is very large although not as famous. A pyramid is a Building where the upper surfaces are triangular and converge on one point Most of the structures were originally faced with cut stone which was then decorated with large stucco faces depicting the deities of Maya mythology. Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water Maya mythology is part of Mesoamerican mythology and comprises all those Mayan tales in which personified forces of nature deities and the heroes interacting with these play the main Carlos Morales-Aguilar, a Guatemalan archaeologist, suggests the existence of an extraordinary alignment between the architectural groups, main temples and carved monuments, related to the trajectory of the sun and the moon. The study reflects an importance of urban planning and sacred spaces since the first settlers.

Although containing striking examples of Pre-Classic Maya civilization, the remote location of El Mirador has prevented it from becoming a popular tourist site.

Structure 34 in El Mirador, painting by Tatiana Prouskouriakoff

In the late Classic c700 AD, at least part of the site was reoccupied and enclosed by a wall which reused some stone from earlier structures, and become the only known source of the "Codex style Ceramic", a particularly fine painted ceramic. The word ceramic is derived from the Greek word κεραμικός ( keramikos)

The site is the center of a series of ancient sacbeob {meaning "white road"}, a raised stone pedestrian causeways, up to 4 mts. Sacbe, plural Sacbeob, ( Yucatec Maya: singular sakbej, plural sakbejo'ob) or "white ways" are raised paved Roads built above the Jungle level, and 40 mts. Jungle usually refers to a dense Forest in a hot climate such as a Tropical rainforest. wide, one linking it to the site of Nakbe some 12 km away. Nakbe is one of the largest early Maya archaeological sites rivaled by El Mirador. Dr. Richard D. Hansen, a distinguished archaeologist from Idaho State University, is the current director of the Mirador Basin Project, and according to his discoveries here, he thinks that the more than 27 sites in El Mirador Basin, may have formed the earliest well-defined political state in the Maya lowlands. Dr Richard D Hansen, PhD is an American Archaeologist and currently Chief Senior Scientist in the Institute for Mesoamerican Research in in the Department of Anthropology Idaho State University (ISU is a public University operated by the U The Mirador Basin is a geographically defined elevated Basin found in the remote rain forest of the northern department of Petén, Guatemala. The Mirador Basin is a geographically defined elevated Basin found in the remote rain forest of the northern department of Petén, Guatemala.

See also

• La Danta
• El Tigre
• Los Monos
• List of tallest ancient structures
• jungle tourism

References

External links

• Global Heritage Fund (GHF) Working to Establish a 525,100 acre Archaeological and Wildlife Preserve in the Heart of the Maya Biosphere
• Mirador Basin Project (formerly RAINPEG): updates Archaeological and preservational work at El Mirador and surrounding sites by the Foundation for Anthropological Research and Environmental Studies (FARES). List of ancient structures by height See also List of tallest buildings and structures in the world Timeline of three tallest Jungle tourism is a rising subcategory of Adventure travel defined by active multifaceted physical means of travel in the Jungle regions of the earth National Geographic Channel, also called Nat Geo, is a subscription television network that features Documentaries produced by the National Geographic Society
• Mirador Archaeological and Wildlife Preserve: information on El Mirador from the Global Heritage Fund
• El Mirador description and Photo Gallerie in Guatemala, Cradle of the Maya Civilization