Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Tonina
Tonina (Toniná in the Spanish language) is a Pre-Columbian ruined city of the Maya civilization located in what is now the state of Chiapas, Mexico, some 13 km east of the town of Oscosingo .
The site is medium large, with groups of temple-pyramids, the largest being some 250 feet high, a large court for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame, and over 100 carved monuments, most dating from the Maya Classic Era from the 6th century through the 9th century.
A sculpture from Tonina, 1.2 meters high
Rulers
Rulers of Tonina recorded in heiroglyhphic monuments include:
- B'alam Ya Acal - 6th century
- Chac B'olom Chaak
- K'inich Hix Chapat - c. 595-665
- king, name unknown - 668-687
- K'inich B'aaknal Chaak - 688-715
- King, name undecyphered - c.717 -723
- K'inich Ich'aak Chapat - 723 - c. 739
- K'inich Tuun Chapat - 8th century
- Ruler, name undecyphered - 787 - c. 806
- Uh Chapat - early 9th century
The known last recorded date at the site is about 901.
Recent history of Tonina
The first published account of the ruins was made by Fray Jacinto Garrido at the end of the 17th century. A number of visitors investigated the ruins of Tonina in the 19th century, the first being an expedition led by Guillaume Dupaix in 1808. John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood visited in 1840, but these usually meticulous antiquitarians published only a short mention of their visit which added little to the knowledge of the site. More thorough accounts did not come until the 1890s, when Edward Seller, Karl Sapper, and others mapped and photographed the site.
Frans Bloom and Oliver La Farge investigated the site in 1925 for Tulane University. Bloom returned in 1928, discovering additional monuments in the area.
The French Tonina Project began excavations in 1972 which continued through 1975, then resumed in 1979 to 1980, under the direction of Pierre Becquelin. The Mexican National Institute of Anthropology & History began their own excavations at Tonina the following year.
The site is accessible for tourism and has a small museum.
External Links
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