Ixlu

Ixlu () is a small Maya archaeological site that dates to the Classic and Postclassic Periods.Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.618. Valdés & Fahsen 2005, pp.151-152. It is located on the isthmus between the Petén Itzá and Salpetén lakes, in the northern Petén Department of Guatemala.Aguilar 2000, p.259. The site was an important port with access to Lake Petén Itzá via the Ixlu River. The site has been identified as Saklamakhal, also spelt Saclemacal, a capital of the Kowoj Maya.Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.618. Aguilar 2000, p.259.

The site has over 150 structures, the majority of which in the site core display typically Postclassic characteristics.Sánchez Polo et al 1995, p.592. The site was briefly investigated by Don and Prudence Rice in 1980.

Ixlu is located approximately east of the departmental capital of Flores and north of Guatemala City. Ixlu is approximately south of the ruins of the major Classic Period city of Tikal.

Occupation Archaeological investigations have uncovered potsherds dating as far back as the early Middle Preclassic (1000 BC–800 BC).Aguilar 2000, p.261. Sánchez Polo et al 1995, p.593. Castellanos Cabrera 2008, p.7. Postclassic potsherds are widely distributed in the upper levels of the site to a depth of .Aguilar 2000, p.261. Evidence from the Temple of the Hidden Jars indicates a continuous occupation from the Preclassic right through the Classic (AD 200–900) to the Postclassic Period (AD 900–1525), with occupation continuing until approximately 1700, well after the Spanish Conquest of most of Guatemala, according to ethnohistoric sources. The Petén Lakes region finally fell to the Spanish Crown in 1697,Sharer & Traxler 2006, pp.776-778. at which time Ixlu was in disputed territory between the mutually hostile Itza and Kowoj kingdoms.Jones 2009, p.62.

Structures Fifty structures have been mapped at Ixlu by the Central Peten Historical Ecology Project.Bey, Hanson & Ringle 1997, p.247. Nine of these are C-shaped bench superstructures and two are L-shaped.

Ixlu has two ballcourts and is one of only two Postclassic sites in the central Petén lakes region to have a recognisable ballcourt.Valdés & Fahsen 2005, pp.151-152. However, both ballcourts at Ixlu apparently date to the Late Classic. The site possesses a twin pyramid complex, a feature that is rare outside of Tikal and probably indicates the political influence of that great city.Martin & Grube 2000, p.51.

The architecture at Ixlu resembles that at the Late Classic site of Seibal on the Pasión River.chele & Freidel 1990, p.389.

The Temple of the Hidden Jars The Temple of the Hidden Jars (Templo de las Vasijas Escondidas) has been labelled as Structure 2034. It is bordered by Structure 2041 on the south side, Structure 2036 to the west and Structure 2035 to the north, its eastern side faces onto Patio B. The temple measures and consisted of a two-level platform, the first level was high and the second level had a height of .Aguilar 2000, pp.259-260. The temple has been dated to the Late Postclassic Period (AD 1200-1525).Aguilar 2000, p.260. A stairway ascended the west side of the temple and there was an altar on the summit that measured . The temple is named from two hidden niches on the west side of the temple, one at the foot of the stairway and the second under an altar on the temple steps. Each contained a single red-brown ceramic vessel measuring approximately in diameter and high, each with its respective concave lid. The vessels have four handles spaced equidistantly around the circumference, with the lids also possessing a handle.Aguilar 2000, pp.261, 273. The jars contained only brown soil. This style of hidden niche is similar to niches associated with ceremonial structures in distant Mayapan in the north of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Monuments

Four Classic Period sculpted monuments were recovered from the site, two stelae and two altars.Sánchez Polo et al 1995, p.593. Ixlu Stela 1 bears the date 879 AD, in the Late Classic Period, and depicts a ruler who used the Tikal Emblem Glyph and the K'ul Mutul Ahaw title ("holy lord of Tikal").Valdés & Fahsen 2005, pp.9, 151. Drew 1999, p.352. The stelae at Ixlu resemble traditional Classic Period stelae such as those at Tikal.Schele & Freidel 1990, p.389. Both Stelae 1 and 2 show bloodletting rituals and the materialisation of the Paddler Gods. Ixlu Stela 2 is now located in the main plaza of Flores.Kelly 1996, p.111.

The monuments of Ixlu bear some hieroglyphic texts that closely resemble texts from the site of Dos Pilas, suggesting that the lords of Ixlu may have been refugees from the collapse of that state in the Petexbatún region of the Petén Basin,Schele & Freidel 1990, pp.389-390, 505n20. a state that itself professed to have a legitimate claim to the rulership of Tikal.Webster 2002, p.275.

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