Altar de Sacrificios

The site was named by Teobert Maler, who thought that Stela 1 was used for sacrifices. Though an emblem glyph for the site has been identified, its phonetic reading has so far eluded epigraphers. ==Location==

Altar de Sacrificios is located on the Guatemalan side of the international border with Mexico, which follows the Salinas and Usumacinta rivers. It is upriver from the important Classic period Maya city of Yaxchilán and west of Seibal. The site is located on a small island located among seasonal swamps along the south bank of the Pasión River near where it joins the Salinas River (also known as the Chixoy River). This island measures approximately from east to west, with the ceremonial architecture located on the higher eastern end and the residential groups on the lower western end. ==History==

Archaeological investigations uncovered the long occupational history of the site and revealed that it was one of the earliest settlements in the Maya lowlands, having been founded before Tikal and other cities in the central Petén Basin, possibly by Mixe–Zoquean people who arrived from the west. This appears to have occurred around 800 BC, at the beginning of the Middle Preclassic period. Inhabitants lived at ground level in houses made of perishable materials, and had still not developed extensive trade networks. The site begins to show clearer evidence of use as a ceremonial center between 600 and 300 B.C., when houses begin to be built on terraces. Later in the Preclassic the site was settled by Maya peoples. The latter half of the 6th century is marked by a hiatus in inscriptions and the focus of construction moving to Group A. In the early 7th century, the site seems to have recovered and carved stela reappear with features from the Late Classic. By the latter part of this century, the city has reached its peak period. New and old buildings are faced with limestone and a ballcourt is built. Higher occupational levels are mirrored by the large amount of monuments raised. Fine goods - pyrite mirrors, flint projectile points and jadeite beads - are found in burials. By the 9th century, when other sites are also entering the Terminal Classic, the quality of construction and goods begins to decline. By the 8th and 9th centuries AD, the population at Altar de Sacrificios was falling away. During the last phase of occupation (ca. 900-950 CE), fine paste ceramics portraying people with a different appearance replace previous styles. The evidence suggests that during the Terminal Classic the site was occupied by foreigners and prospered at a time when nearby Seibal was also experiencing a resurgence in its fortunes, in both cases linked to the collapse of the Petexbatún kingdom based at Dos Pilas. It has been suggested that the arrival of outsiders as this time was due to Chontal Maya dominance of the Usumacinta riverine trade route at this time. However, with the collapse of the major cities in the Usumacinta drainage, river trade declined drastically and was unable to be renewed by the newcomers. Altar de Sacrificios, together with the few other surviving polities in the western Petén, declined into stagnating inwardly-focused polities in spite of their longer distance contacts. At the same time the reduced population withdrew into defensible locations at the site. There is little evidence of any occupation after ca. 950 AD. Modern history The site was first discovered in 1895 by Teoberto Maler. Sylvanus Morley described the hieroglyphic inscriptions of Altar de Sacrificios in his 1938 work The Inscriptions of Peten. The site was investigated by archaeologists A. Ledyard Smith and Gordon Willey of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology from 1958 to 1963. ==Site description==

There are three main complexes of buildings, known as Groups A, B and C. Group A is organised around two plazas, known as the North Plaza and the South Plaza. It covers an area of approximately . The core is located on the higher eastern end of the small island supporting the site, with residential groups occupying the western end. The site possesses 29 inscribed monuments, most of them so badly eroded as to be unreadable. Those dated monuments that are still legible span the period from AD 455 to AD 849. • Structure A-I had 3 stelas on it, including Stela 1 after which the site was named. • 3 stelae were placed on Structure A-II, along with one inscribed altar and three sculpted panels. • Burial 128 is an elite tomb built into Structure A-III. It is stone lined with a wooden ceiling and contained the remains of a woman aged in her forties, placed on a straw mat. Offerings included ceramics and a number of artefacts made of jade, pyrite, bone and shell. • The Ballcourt or Structure A-V separates the North from the South Plazas of Group A. Group B is west of Group A, which it predates. It is the location of the main pyramid. It measures at is base and is tall. Its importance can be inferred from the 6 inscribed stelae found on it. Stela 10 with the earliest date at the site (August 28, 455 A.D.) was found here. Group C is a small group also west of Group A but south of Group B. No inscribed monuments were found in it. ==Notes==