[Go to Parent Session] [Previous Page] [SEARCH] [DAILY OUTLINES]

Misinterpreting and reinterpreting the earthworks of Tikal, Guatemala

Jay Silverstein (JPAC/University of Hawaii)

Abstract

At the WAC-5, I presented a paper: ‘The Defense of Tikal: Strategic Architecture in the Maya Lowlands,’ presenting preliminary results of a study of the earthworks of Tikal. Four years later, we can say that our data indicates that the earthworks of Tikal are not what had been assumed since their discovery in 1966. Our new data indicate that presumptions of a defensive function of the earthworks are unsupported. In their place, I propose a hydraulic hypothesis modeling the earthwork as a limestone filtration trench. This trench would have served as a unique adaptation to the specific environmental, hydrologic and geological circumstances of the Tikal environs.