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    Quiriguá

    Quiriguá is located in the department of Izabal in Guatemala; it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981.

    Quiriguá is a medium-sized site on the lower reaches of the Río Motagua. The ceremonial center is located about 1 km from the left bank of the river. What is exceptional about Quiriguá is the fact that almost all the sculptures are excellently preserved and dated by Long Count glyphs. The period of occupation falls within the Classic Period of the Maya culture. The settlement began around 200, the construction of the acropolis around 550, the heyday with the magnificent buildings began from 700 and around 850 all construction work came to a complete halt. The rise of the city was due to the victory of the king of Quiriguá K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat over Copán in 738. Prior to this, Quiriguá was probably a vassal state of Copán and then became independent.

    The proportion of large ceremonial buildings is quite small compared to the total area and importance of Quiriguá. The so-called Acropolis, the ceremonial and palace city of Quiriguá, rises at the southern end of the Plaza Grande. It was built from around 550 to around 810; even an older ball court was built over. The wide steps leading to the newer ball court and the foundations of a palace building with 3 entrances can still be seen.

    More significant than the architecture are the many stelae and altars, which are among the most impressive in ancient Mesoamerica. Some of the stelae, which were elaborately cut from monolithic stone blocks, are unusually high. The largest measures more than 10 m and weighs around 60 tons. In addition to the tall vertical stelae, there are a number of zoomorphic altars that were elaborately carved as mythological animals. Their size is also almost unique.

    Some of the monuments in Quiriguá display exceptional craftsmanship. Probably the best example is "Stela D" (766) with extraordinary full-body anthropomorphic versions of hieroglyphic writing on one side; the other surfaces of the stela are also carved. The "Zoomorph B" (780) still shows remnants of red paint; the "Zoomorph P" (795) was named The Great Turtle by its discoverer Alfred Maudslay. Both monuments are masterpieces of Meso-American sculpture.

    Overall, the artistic quality of the sculptures does not come close to that of Palenque or Copán. Most of the monuments are monumentally formal and appear austere compared to the natural grace of the art of these other two sites.

    Quiriguá was rediscovered in modern times by Frederick Catherwood in 1840, but due to adverse circumstances he was only able to stay at the ruins for a short time. However, he made drawings of two stelae, which were published together with a short description of the journey in John Lloyd Stephen's book Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. - Among the other researchers, Alfred Maudslay should be mentioned in particular. He carried out a very thorough investigation, during which he photographed all the visible monuments, carried out some small excavations and made paper and plaster casts of all the hieroglyphic inscriptions and the most important sculptures. These casts were then shipped to England; today they are in the British Museum.

    In 1910, the United Fruit Company bought Quiriguá and all the land and large areas in the surrounding area for banana plantations. An area of 120,000 m² was designated as an archaeological zone.

    An extensive archaeological project sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania, the National Geographic Society and the Guatemalan government was carried out in Quiriguá from 1975 to 1980. The stelae were covered with palm roofs to protect them - especially from the chemical pesticides sprayed from airplanes.

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