Ofrendas y rituales postclásicos dedicados a Chaahk en el sitio maya de Chilonché (Petén, Guatemala)

La adaptación de los mayas postclásicos a las nuevas condiciones de vida surgidas a raíz de la crisis generalizada del final del período Clásico mediante respuestas resilientes se ha convertido en un tema de creciente interés por parte de los investigadores mayistas en las últimas décadas. El estudio de vestigios arqueológicos adscritos al Postclásico puede ayudar a entender por qué ciertas tradiciones fueron abandonadas, mientras que otras han perdurado a lo largo del tiempo, como es el caso de las ceremonias del culto a la lluvia. Ejemplo de ello son los hallazgos de ofrendas y otros vestigios arquitectónicos realizados en Chilonché, un antiguo asentamiento urbano maya fundado en la cuenc…

Restoration of the Northeast cloister of the Convento de la Compañía de Jesús in Antigua, Guatemala

[EN] The extraordinary history of the foundation, destruction and survival of La Antigua in Guatemala, a city frozen in time over two centuries ago, is the background for the introduction of the history of the Convento de la CompañÌa de Jesús and its northeast cloister, which has recently been restored and whose surrounding buildings have been refurbished to house the headquarters of the Institute of Ibero-American Cooperation in the city.

El patrimonio cultural. Destrucción y resiliencia

El mural de Chilonché: estudio preliminar

espanolEl articulo presenta la investigacion llevada a cabo en uno de los cuartos del Palacio 3E1 de la Acropolis de Chilonche (Peten, Guatemala), en cuyo interior se descubrio un mural pintado por los mayas en el Clasico Tardio con escenas figurativas de indudable valor artistico. Esta contribucion se centra en cinco aspectos principales: su descubrimiento, excavacion, conservacion, documentacion y analisis iconografico del mural. EnglishThis paper presents the research carried out in one of the rooms of the Palace 3E1 of the Acropolis of Chilonche (Peten, Guatemala). Inside, a mural painted by the Maya in the Late Classic with figurative scenes of unquestionable artistic value, was discov…

Templos de Angkor. Más de cinco siglos de historia

[EN] The analysis of the setting problems of the Angkor towers outlined by Giorgio Croci in the previous article is completed by this introduction to Khmer architecture that illustrates its history and evolution and at the same time describes its relationship with water and the environment, its urbanistic peculiarities, the building solutions adopted and the material features of its temples.

Archaeometrical Studies of Classic Mayan Mural Painting at Peten: La Blanca and Chilonche

[EN] La Blanca and Chilonche are two of the many Mayan settlements located on the lower reaches of the Mopan river (Department of Petén, Guatemala). The archaeological work conducted by La Blanca Project (University of Valencia, Spain) over the last ten years has revealed the rich polychrome of the monumental architecture of these sites, where the remains of ancient mural paintings are of the highest quality. In order to ascertain the materials and techniques used by painters at each site throughout the Classic period, our research team has recently conducted an analytical study with a multi-technique approach based on the combination of several non destructive and micro-destructive instrum…

La ruina visitable

Este artículo pretende ofrecer una visión general acerca de los diferentes puntos de vista surgidos en torno al tratamiento de los antiguos monumentos en ruinas, desde la caída del Imperio Romano hasta la actualidad. Por ello, nos centramos en el tratamiento que actualmente se concede a dichas ruinas, con el fin de hacerlas más comprensibles y acercar su contenido e historia al visitante.

La Blanca, un asentamiento urbano maya en la cuenca del río Mopán

[EN] The purpose of this paper is to discuss about a recent research carried out at La Blanca, an ancient Mayan settlement in Guatemala. The urban and architectural features of this site reveal us important data about its social and cultural significance, and also about the role it played in the Mopan river basin area. The research methodology as well as La Blanca cultural heritage enhancement has produced results that demonstrated the possibility of conducting social action aimed at promoting economic and cultural developing of neighboring communities.

Surveying Ancient Maya Buildings in the Forest

During the last few decades, 3D scanning devices and 3D digital image generating technology has been developed to the point where they significantly reduce errors and time during data collection thus making them highly appropriate tools in the field of archaeology. With regards to surveying, terrestrial laser scanning and digital photogrammetry, they are a viable alternative to traditional methods for measuring. Nevertheless, these technologies are rarely used in projects in the Maya region, even though they offer a wide range of applications, which could be explored and utilised in this subtropical environment. This paper presents the results of digital surveying involving two Maya archaeo…