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Chitinamit is marked as Jakawitz on this map of the Postclassic Maya highlands
Chitinamit
(or
Chitinamit-Chujuyup
) is an archeological site of the
Maya civilization
in the
highlands
of
Guatemala
. It has been identified as
Jakawitz
, the first capital of the
K'iche'
Maya
.
[1]
The site is located in the
El Quiche
department
, in the
municipality
of
Uspantan
.
[2]
Chitinamit dates from the
Early Classic
through to the
Late Postclassic
periods and covers approximately 2 hectares (220,000 sq ft), making it the largest site in its region.
[3]
Site description
[
edit
]
The site overlooks the Queca River in a rugged region that is considered particularly poor for agriculture, it is therefore likely that the mountain-top location was selected because it was readily defensible.
[4]
The site is located on the mountain of Chujuyup, on the western edge of the Chuyujup Valley and was excavated in 1977 by Kenneth Brown of the
University of Houston
.
[5]
It is defended by a stone rampart and possesses stone terraces, together with a
ballcourt
and a temple to the K'iche' patron god, also named
Jakawitz
. Its occupation seems to have come to a violent end, with many projectile points being found together with evidence of the burning of buildings.
[6]
Chitinamit includes residential structures measuring roughly 3 by 7 metres (9.8 by 23.0 ft) with the walls marked out with vertical
schistose
slabs measuring approximately 15 centimetres (5.9 in) high. These structures differ from the
architectural style
of the original Maya population and are presumed to represent the style of intrusive K'iche' lineages.
[7]
The site is arranged around an enclosed plaza.
[8]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.622.
- ^
Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes. Item 1005.
- ^
Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.290. Smith 2005, p.423. Van Akkeren 2002, p.1.
- ^
Christenson 2003, 2007, p.210.
- ^
Carmack & Weeks 1981, pp.324-326. Van Akkeren 2002, p.1. Christenson 2003, 2007, p.210.
- ^
Fox 1989, p.674.n.9.
- ^
Fox 1987, 2008, p.91.
- ^
Carmack 2001a, p.288.
References
[
edit
]
- Carmack, Robert M.
; John M. Weeks (April 1981). "The Archaeology and Ethnohistory of Utatlan: A Conjunctive Approach".
American Antiquity
.
46
(2). Society for American Archaeology: 323?341.
doi
:
10.2307/280211
.
- Carmack, Robert M.
(2001a).
Kik'ulmatajem le K'iche'aab': Evolucion del Reino K'iche'
(in Spanish). Guatemala: Iximulew.
ISBN
99922-56-22-2
.
OCLC
253481949
.
- Christenson, Allen J. (2007) [2003].
"Popul Vuh: Sacred Book of the Quiche Maya People"
(
PDF
online publication)
.
Mesoweb articles
. Mesoweb: An Exploration of Mesoamerican Cultures
. Retrieved
2010-01-23
.
- Fox, John W. (September 1989). "On the Rise and Fall of Tulans and Maya Segmentary States".
American Anthropologist
. New Series.
91
(3). Oxford/Arlington, VA:
Blackwell Publishing
on behalf of the
American Anthropological Association
: 656?681.
doi
:
10.1525/aa.1989.91.3.02a00080
.
- Fox, John W. (2008) [1987].
Maya Postclassic state formation
. Cambridge, UK and New York, USA:
Cambridge University Press
.
ISBN
978-0-521-10195-0
.
OCLC
297146853
.
- Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes.
"Base de Datos Sitios Arqueologicos"
(PDF)
(in Spanish). Guatemala: Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes. Archived from
the original
(
PDF
)
on 2012-05-26
. Retrieved
2010-01-23
.
- Sharer, Robert J.
; Loa p. Traxler (2006).
The Ancient Maya
(6th (fully revised) ed.). Stanford, CA:
Stanford University Press
.
ISBN
0-8047-4817-9
.
OCLC
57577446
.
- Smith, Michael E. (May 2005). "City Size in Late Postclassic Mesoamerica".
Journal of Urban History
.
31
(4). Sage Publications: 403?434.
doi
:
10.1177/0096144204274396
.
- van Akkeren, Ruud (2002).
"El lugar en donde salio el primer sol para los K'ich'e; Jakawits, su nueva ubicacion"
(PDF)
.
XV Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueologicas en Guatemala, 2001 (edited by J.P. Laporte, H. Escobedo and B. Arroyo)
(in Spanish). Guatemala: Museo Nacional de Arqueologia y Etnologia: 1?12. Archived from
the original
(version digital)
on 2011-09-04
. Retrieved
2010-01-23
.
15°17′21″N
91°05′21″W
/
15.2892°N 91.0892°W
/
15.2892; -91.0892