Itzan

The ruins are {{convert|25|km|mi}} northwest of the Dos Pilas archaeological site on the bank of a minor tributary of the Pasión River.Sharer & Traxler 2006 , p.387.Coe 1999, p.152. The city was on a natural hilltop surrounded by ravines and seasonal swamps.Ponciano 1991, p.234. The tributary of the Pasion River has its origin in Laguna Itzan, a small lake to the east of the site. A spring to the west of the site appears to have been a permanent watersource for the city. Itzan is situated roughly halfway between the Classic Period cities of Altar de Sacrificios and Seibal, and is located about {{convert|14|km|mi}} northeast of the former.Román de León & Johnston 1992, p.50.Houston, p.3. The site is located approximately {{convert|50|km|mi}} west of the modern town of Sayaxché and {{convert|8|km|mi}} north of the Pasion River.

Stanol evidence infers occupation of the Laguna Itzan catchment from the Early Preclassic. {{cite journal |last1=Keenan |first1=Benjamin |title=Molecular evidence for human population change associated with climate events in the Maya lowlands |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |date=2021 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106904|doi-access=free }}

Itzan was continuously occupied from the Middle Preclassic through to the Late Classic, with much reduced activity during the Early Classic, with the latter period only being evidenced by a single burial accompanied by a ceramic plate.Román de León & Johnston 1992, p.56.

Hieroglyphic Stairway 2 at the Late Classic period kingdom of Dos Pilas records that in 652 AD the powerful city of Calakmul seized control of Itzan,Fahsen et al 2003, p.689. and Dos Pilas itself also won a major victory over the city.Demarest 2006, p.139. Itzan may also have gone to war against El Chorro.Houston, p.4.

A noblewoman from Itzan became the main wife of Bʼalaj Chan Kʼawiil, a king of Dos Pilas, and their son was Itzamnaaj Bʼalam. The collapse of the aggressive Dos Pilas kingdom in the late 8th century AD apparently benefited Itzan, which then experienced a period of renewed activity.Martin & Grube 2000, p. 65.

The site was discovered in February 1968 by Dennis and Louisa Wheeler, two Peace Corps volunteers. The ruins were then explored by archaeologists of the Ceibal Project in 1978, who only spent a few hours at the site.

Itzan was a small city but was considered by archaeologists to have characteristics that made excavation worthwhile. Initial investigations recorded a number of carved monuments and large structures, some standing up to {{convert|7|m|ft}} high. The site core was mapped in 1986, when archaeologists noted that a number of carved monuments had been damaged by looters and that some of the buildings had been cut by looters' trenches. Various monument pieces that had been cut by looters were transferred to the departmental capital Flores with the intention of later moving them to Guatemala City.Ponciano 1991, p.235.

The centre of the site is grouped around the North and South Plazas, both of which are open plazas, and the closed West and East Plazuelas which are completely enclosed by architecture.Román de León & Johnston 1992, p.52.

The site core includes a formal acropolis, large plazas and a large amount of stelae and altars, totalling at least 25 monuments, all of which have been moved from their original locations by looters in order to excavate below them. Most of these monuments were originally positioned in open plazas in front of the largest structures. The remains of hieroglyphic texts were found associated with the North and South Stairways of the West Plaza. Much of the Late Classic period acropolis was built upon earlier Preclassic structures.Román de León & Johnston 1992, pp.54-55.

The site periphery between {{convert|3.6|to|4|km|mi}} south of the site core included at least three groups of simple perishable Late Classic residential structures laid out around central patios, without being built upon platforms, suggesting that the population of the site was greater than initially thought based on the site's monumental architecture.Johnston et al 1992, pp.131, 134, 144. The entire settled area of Itzan occupies a ridge in a strip about {{convert|300|m|ft}} wide by {{convert|7|km|mi}} long, with the site core being situated near the centre of this zone.Johnston et al 1992, p.134. A modern road cuts through the area of settlement.

Stela 17 includes a hieroglyphic text that mentions lords of Itzan and of the nearby city of Altar de Sacrificios. It also contains a section of damaged text that may indicate warfare between Itzan and the site of El Chorro.Houston, pp.3-4.

Stela 20 is fragmented. A large piece was found to the northwest of the acropolis.Román de León & Johnston 1992, p.55.

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

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• {{cite book |author=Demarest, Arthur A. |author-link=Arthur Demarest |year=2006 |title=The Petexbatun Regional Archaeological Project: A Multidisciplinary Study of the Maya Collapse |series=Vanderbilt Institute of Mesoamerican Archaeology (series) |volume=1 |publisher=Vanderbilt University Press |location=Nashville, Tennessee, USA |isbn=0-8265-1443-X |oclc=63178772}}
• {{cite web |author=Fahsen, Federico |author2=Jorge Mario Ortiz |author3=Jeannette Castellanos |author4=Luis Fernando Luin |year=2003 |title=La Escalinata 2 de Dos Pilas, Petén: Los nuevos escalones. |url=http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/58.02%20-%20Fahsen%20y%20Ortiz%20-%20en%20PDF.pdf |format=PDF online publication |work=XVI Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2002 (editado por J.P. Laporte, B. Arroyo, H. Escobedo y H. Mejía), pp. 679–692. |publisher=Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala |access-date=2009-06-13 |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707175830/http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/58.02%20-%20Fahsen%20y%20Ortiz%20-%20en%20PDF.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-07 }}
• {{cite web |author=Houston, Stephen D. |author-link=Stephen D. Houston |title=Problematic Emblem Glyphs: Examples from Altar de Sacrificios, El Chorro, Río Azul, and Xultun |url=http://www.mesoweb.com/bearc/cmr/RRAMW03.pdf |format=PDF online publication |work=Mesoweb articles |publisher=Mesoweb: An Exploration of Mesoamerican Cultures |access-date=2010-02-14}}
• {{cite journal |author=Johnston, Kevin |author2=Fernando Moscoso Moller |author3=Stefan Schmitt |year=1992 |title=Casas no-visibles de los Mayas Clásicos: Estructuras residenciales sin plataformas basales en Itzan, Petén. |journal=V Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 1991 (edited by J.P. Laporte, H. Escobedo and S. Brady) |pages=131–147. |publisher=Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología |location=Guatemala |format=PDF |url=http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/16.91%20-%20Kevin.pdf |access-date=2010-06-13 |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904132705/http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/16.91%20-%20Kevin.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-04 |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite book |author=Martin, Simon |author-link=Simon Martin (Mayanist) |author2=Nikolai Grube |author2-link=Nikolai Grube |year=2000 |title=Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya |location=London and New York |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=0-500-05103-8 |oclc=47358325 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/chronicleofmayak00mart }}
• {{cite journal |author=Ponciano, Erick M. |year=1991 |title=Recientes investigaciones arqueológicas en Itzan, La Libertad, Petén. |journal=II Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 1988 (edited by J. P. Laporte, S. Villagrán, H. Escobedo, D. de González and J. Valdés) |pages=232–235. |publisher=Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología |location=Guatemala |format=PDF |url=http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/29.88%20-%20Erick%20Ponciano%20-%20en%20PDF.pdf |access-date=2010-06-11 |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110914115725/http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/29.88%20-%20Erick%20Ponciano%20-%20en%20PDF.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-14 |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite journal |author=Róman De León, Otto |author2=Kevin Johnston |year=1992 |title=Hallazgos arqueológicos Preclásicos en Itzan, Petén. |journal=IV Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 1990 (edited by J.P. Laporte, H. Escobedo and S. Brady) |pages=50–57. |publisher=Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología |location=Guatemala |format=PDF |url=http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/04.90%20-%20Otto.pdf |access-date=2010-06-12 |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904131314/http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/04.90%20-%20Otto.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-04 |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite book |author=Sharer, Robert J. |author-link=Robert Sharer |author2=Loa P. Traxler |year=2006 |title=The Ancient Maya |edition=6th (fully revised) |location=Stanford, CA |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0-8047-4817-9 |oclc=57577446 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientmaya0006shar }}

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{{clear}}

{{Maya sites}}

{{Authority control}}

{{coord missing|Guatemala}}

Category:Maya sites in Petén Department

Category:Former populated places in Guatemala

Category:Populated places established in the 10th century BC

Category:10th-century BC establishments in the Maya civilization

Category:10th-century disestablishments in the Maya civilization