Guatemala

Tak'alik Ab'aj

The research in Mesoamerica is related to the geoarchaeological research project (coordinated by the Polish part by Michal Gilewski and the Guatemalan part by Christa Schieber de Lavarreda) carried out in the framework of cooperation with the renowned Guatemalan archaeological research project and National Archaeological Park Tak' alik Ab'aj, important pre-Columbian archaeological site in southern Guatemala. Several renowned Guatemalan researchers from the Tak'alik Ab'aj National Archaeological Park participate in the project, including Christa Schieber de Lavarreda (Guatemalan team coordinator), Miguel Orrego Corzo, Miguel Medina, Carlos Espigares, Victor Flores and Aldo Aleman.

Previous archaeological investigations at the Tak'alik Ab'aj site (southern Guatemala) have not only provided abundant information on various aspects of the daily life of pre-Columbian peoples, but have also brought to light magnificent remains of art, architecture and techniques developed through the centuries for their production.

The first settlement was built on the site around 700 BC. Although the first inhabitants were accompanied by monuments carved in the Olmec style, they were soon followed by sculptures in the early Maya style, as well as several of the earliest Maya hieroglyphic scripts and long count inscriptions. .

The objective of the research is to understand the processes involved in the creation of the cultural landscape of this important center. All the buildings and sculptures in the center of the site are situated in artificially enlarged natural terrace-plazas, documented in previous investigations. However, the terrain of the site was not limited to the most important areas, which had ceremonial and ritual functions. In the areas between and around the main architectural groups, where neither sculptures nor monumental structures, nor important archaeological objects are found, the excavations of the archaeologists in almost every place of this site found rubbish dumps and archaeological fills, which suggest to be to level the ground. The investigation of the proposed project consists of measuring the natural lay of the land, as well as the amount of land displaced. For this, detailed surveys will be carried out with geological drilling.

The second part of the investigation will consist of examining fill samples collected from the center of the site and from outside, using various geological methods. The content of various elements in the soils will be examined (for example, the amount of phosphorus measured, in this way the degree of human activity in the area will be determined) or clayey materials (which will allow us to answer, for example, the question where the soil comes from). Some of the geoarchaeological results (soil organic matter or lost to fire) also allow studying the possible agricultural function of certain areas.

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Ministry of Culture and Sports Guatemala