Calakmul has a long occupational history and excavations have revealed evidence from the Middle Preclassic right through to the Postclassic.[1] The causeway network that linked Calakmul with the cities of El Mirador, Nakbe and El Tintal suggest strong political links between the four cities that may have begun in the Preclassic, when both Calakmul and El Mirador were important cities, and continued into the Classic period when Calakmul itself was the most powerful city in the region.[2] Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful ancient cities ever uncovered in the Maya lowlands.[3]

Calakmul vs. Tikal  The history of Classic Maya civilization was dominated by the rivalry between the opposed alliance networks of Calakmul and Tikal (pictured)

The history of the Maya Classic period is dominated by the rivalry between Tikal and Calakmul, likened to a struggle between two Maya "superpowers".[4] Earlier times tended to be dominated by a single larger city and by the Early Classic Tikal was moving into this position after the dominance of El Mirador in the Late Preclassic and Nakbe in the Middle Preclassic.[5] However Calakmul was a rival city with equivalent resources that challenged the supremacy of Tikal and engaged in a strategy of surrounding it with its own network of allies.[6] From the second half of the 6th century AD through to the late 7th century Calakmul gained the upper hand although it failed to extinguish Tikal's power completely and Tikal was able to turn the tables on its great rival in a decisive battle that took place in AD 695.[7] Half a century later Tikal was able to gain major victories over Calakmul's most important allies.[7] Eventually both cities succumbed to the spreading Classic Maya collapse.[8]

The great rivalry between these two cities may have been based on more than competition for resources. Their dynastic histories reveal different origins and the intense competition between the two powers may have had an ideological grounding. Calakmul's dynasty seems ultimately derived from the great Preclassic city of El Mirador while the dynasty of Tikal was profoundly affected by the intervention of the distant central Mexican metropolis of Teotihuacan.[8] With few exceptions, Tikal's monuments and those of its allies place great emphasis upon single male rulers while the monuments of Calakmul and its allies gave greater prominence to the female line and often the joint rule of king and queen.[6]

Preclassic

Calakmul was already a large city in the Preclassic period.[9] The early history of Calakmul is obscure, although a dynastic list has been pieced together that extends back into an ancestral past. This dynasty has been reconstructed in part from Late Classic ceramics from the region of great Preclassic cities of El Mirador and Nakbe.[10] This may mean that Calakmul ultimately inherited its political authority from one of these cities, with its dynasty originating in the Late Preclassic in the Mirador Basin and relocating itself to Calakmul in the Classic period after the collapse of these cities.[10]

Early Classic  Stela 43 dates to AD 514, in the Early Classic period.[11]

Both Calakmul and Tikal were sizeable Preclassic cities that survived into the Classic Period.[9] Early hieroglyphic texts from stelae found in Structure 2 record the probable enthronement of a king of Calakmul in AD 411 and also records a non-royal site ruler in 514.[9] After this there is a gap in the hieroglyphic records that lasts over a century, although the Kaan dynasty experienced a major expansion of its power at this time. The lack of inscriptions recording the events of this period may be either due to the fact that the Kaan dynasty was located elsewhere during this time or perhaps that the monuments were later destroyed.[9]

The earliest legible texts referring to the kings of the Kaan dynasty come from excavations of the large city of Dzibanche in Quintana Roo, far north of Calakmul.[9] A hieroglyphic stairway depicts bound captives, their names and the dates they were captured together with the name of king Yuknoom Che'en I, although the exact context of the king's name is unclear - the captives may have been his vassals captured by an enemy or they may have been rulers captured by the king of Calakmul. The dates are uncertain but two of them may fall within the 5th century AD.[9] The nearby Quintana Roo site of El Resbalón has a jumbled hieroglyphic text, including a date in 529, that indicates that the city was within the control of the Kaan dynasty.[12]

By the middle of the 6th century AD Calakmul was assembling a far-reaching political alliance, activity that brought the city into conflict with the great city of Tikal.[13] The influence of Calakmul extended deep into the Petén; king Tuun K'ab' Hix of Calakmul oversaw the enthronement of Aj Wosal to the rulership of Naranjo in 546.[13] Another vassal of Tuun K'ab' Hix was taken captive by Yaxchilan on the banks of the Usumacinta River in 537.[13]

In 561, the king now known as Sky Witness installed a ruler at the site of Los Alacranes.[13] Sky Witness played a major part in the political events of the Maya region. He became the overlord of the city of Caracol, to the south of Naranjo, which had previously been a vassal of Tikal.[13] In 562, according to a damaged text at Caracol, Sky Witness defeated Tikal itself and sacrificed its king Wak Chan K'awiil, thus ending his branch of the royal dynasty at Tikal.[13] This catastrophic defeat began a 130-year hiatus for Tikal, reflecting an extended period of dominance by Calakmul.[13] This event is used as a marker to divide the Early Classic from the Late Classic.[14] Sky Witness is also mentioned at Okop, a site much further north in Quintana Roo.[13] The last reference to Sky Witness occurs at Caracol and is dated to AD 572. The text is damaged but probably records the death of this powerful king.[13]

Late Classic War with Palenque

Sky Witness was quickly succeeded by First Axewielder, who is mentioned in a text from Dzibanche celebrating the K'atun-ending of 573.[13] First Axewielder ruled for about six years.[13] In 579 Uneh Chan became king of Calakmul.[15] Uneh Chan engaged in an aggressive campaign in the western Maya region and attacked Palenque on 23 April 599 with his ally Lakam Chak, lord of the small city of Santa Elena 70 kilometres (43 mi) east of Palenque, defeating Palenque's queen Lady Yohl Ik'nal and sacking the city.[16] The defeat is recorded on a series of hieroglyphic steps at Palenque itself and the event initiated a long-lasting grudge against Calakmul.[17] Lady Yohl Ik'nal survived the battle and ruled for several more years, although she perhaps paid tribute to Calakmul.[18]

Uneh Chan maintained his alliances with cities in the east and he is depicted on Caracol Stela 4 supervising an event involving king Yajaw Te' K'inich of that city that occurred before 583.[15] Calakmul again sacked Palenque on 7 April 611 under the personal direction of Uneh Chan.[19] Palenque was now ruled by king Ajen Yohl Mat who had gained some sort of independence from Calakmul, provoking the new invasion.[18] The immediate aftermath of this second victory over Palenque involved the deaths of the two most important nobles at the city, Ajen Yohl Mat himself and Janab Pakal, a high-ranking member of the royal family and possibly co-ruler. Janab Pakal died in March 612 and Ajen Yohl Mat a few months later. Their deaths so soon after the sacking of the city suggests that their demise was directly linked to Calakmul's triumph.[20] Palenque suffered a lengthy decline in its fortunes after this date before it was able to recover from its disastrous war with Calakmul.[21] The wars against Palenque may have been undertaken by Uneh Chan in order to seize control of wealthy trade routes that passed through the western Maya region.[22]

Rebellion at Naranjo

King Yuknoom Chan of Calakmul supervised an event at Caracol in 619.[23] Caracol Stela 22 records the accession of Tajoom Uk'ab' K'ak' to the Calakmul throne in 622.[23] Two stelae were erected at Calakmul in 623 but their texts are too badly damaged to reveal the names of the royal couple involved.[23] Approximately at this time Naranjo, a vassal of Calakmul, broke away when its king Aj Wosal died relatively soon after the death of Uneh Chan of Calakmul.[23] Naranjo was independent of Calakmul by at least AD 626, when it was twice defeated by Caracol and Yuknoom Chan may have been attempting to bring Naranjo back under Calakmul control. His attempts were brought to an end by his death in 630.[23] In 631 Yuknoom Head, the new king of Calakmul, finally regained control of Naranjo. Texts relate that the king of Naranjo was already captive at Calakmul on the day that his city was overrun and his punishment on the very same day is described by the word k'uxaj (/k’uːˈʃäχ/) meaning either "tortured" or "eaten".[23] Yuknoom Head conquered another city in March 636, although the exact site is unknown.[23]

Apogee

The Kaan dynasty was not originally established at Calakmul but rather re-located there in the 7th century from another city.[24][25] Calakmul experienced its highest achievements during the reign of king Yuknoom Che'en II, sometimes called Yuknoom the Great by scholars.[26] Yuknoom Che'en II was 36 years old when he came to the throne of Calakmul in AD 636.[26] A significant increase in the production of stelae at the city began with his reign and 18 stelae were commissioned by the king.[26] Yuknoom Che'en II was probably responsible for the construction of the palace complexes that form a major part of the site core.[26]

Calakmul and Dos Pilas

In 629 Tikal had founded Dos Pilas in the Petexbatún region, some 110 kilometres (68 mi) to its southwest, as a military outpost in order to control trade along the course of the Pasión River.[27] B'alaj Chan K'awiil was installed on the throne of the new outpost at the age of four, in 635, and for many years served as a loyal vassal fighting for his brother, the king of Tikal.[28] In AD 648 Calakmul attacked Dos Pilas and gained an overwhelming victory that included the death of a Tikal lord.[29] B'alaj Chan K'awiil was captured by Yuknoom Che'en II but, instead of being sacrificed, he was re-instated on his throne as a vassal of the Calakmul king,[30] and went on to attack Tikal in 657, forcing Nuun Ujol Chaak, the then king of Tikal, to temporarily abandon the city. The first two rulers of Dos Pilas continued to use the Mutal emblem glyph of Tikal, and they probably felt that they had a legitimate claim to the throne of Tikal itself. For some reason, B'alaj Chan K'awiil was not installed as the new ruler of Tikal; instead he stayed at Dos Pilas.

Tikal counterattacked against Dos Pilas in 672, driving B'alaj Chan K'awiil into an exile that lasted five years.[31] Calakmul tried to encircle Tikal within an area dominated by its allies, such as El Peru, Dos Pilas and Caracol.[32] In 677 Calakmul counterattacked against Dos Pilas, driving Tikal out and reinstalled B'alaj Chan K'awiil on his throne.[29] In 679 Dos Pilas, probably aided by Calakmul, gained an important victory over Tikal, with a hieroglyphic description of the battle describing pools of blood and piles of heads.[29]

Troubles continued in the east, with renewed conflict between Naranjo and Caracol. Naranjo completely defeated Caracol in 680 but Naranjo's dynasty disappeared within two years and a daughter of B'alaj Chan K'awiil founded a new dynasty there in 682, indicating that Calakmul had probably intervened decisively to place a loyal vassal on the throne.[33] The patronage of Yuknoom Che'en II as overlord is recorded at a range of important cities, including El Peru where he oversaw the installation of K'inich B'alam as king and strengthened the tie with the marriage of a Calakmul princess to that king.[33] The power of Calakmul extended as far as the north shore of Lake Petén Itzá, where Motul de San José is recorded as its vassal in the 7th century, although it was traditionally aligned with Tikal.[34] Yuknoom Che'en II commanded the loyalty of three generations of kings at Cancuen, 245 kilometres (152 mi) to the south, and supervised the enthronement of at least two of them, in 656 and 677.[33] King Yuknoom Che'en II was involved, directly or indirectly, in the crowning of a king at Moral to the west in Tabasco and one of Yuknoom's nobles supervised a ritual at Piedras Negras on the Guatemalan bank of the Usumacinta River.[33] Yuknoom Che'en II died in his eighties, probably at the beginning of 686. When he died, Calakmul was the most powerful city in the central Maya lowlands.[33]

Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ak' succeeded Yuknoom Che'en II, his crowning on 3 April 686 was recorded on monuments at Dos Pilas and El Peru.[35] He was born in 649 and was likely to have been the son of his predecessor. He already held high office before he was named king and may have been responsible for the major successes of the latter part of Yuknoom Che'en II's reign.[35] He retained the loyalty of K'inich B'alam of El Peru and B'alaj Chan K'awiil of Dos Pilas and gained that of K'ak' Tiliw Chan Chaak in 693, when he was installed on the throne of Naranjo at the age of five.[35] However, the texts on sculpted monuments do not reveal the full complexity of diplomatic activity, as revealed by a painted ceramic vase from Tikal, which depicts an ambassador of Calakmul's king kneeling before the enthroned king of Tikal and delivering tribute.[35] Just four years later, in August 695, the two states were once again at war. Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ak' led his warriors against Jasaw Chan K'awiil I in a catastrophic battle that saw the defeat of Calakmul and the capture of the image of a Calakmul deity named Yajaw Maan.[36] It is unknown what happened to Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ak'; a stucco sculpture from Tikal shows a captive and the king is mentioned in the accompanying caption but it is not certain if the captive and the king are the same person.[37] This event marked the end of Calakmul's apogee, with diplomatic activity dropping away and fewer cities recognising Calakmul's king as overlord.[37] No stelae remain standing in the site core recording Yuknoom Yich'aal K'ak, although there are some in the Northeast Group and 2 broken stelae were buried in Structure 2.[37]

Later kings

The next ruler of Calakmul, Split Earth, is mentioned on a pair of carved bones in the tomb of Tikal king Jasaw Chan K'awiil I. He was ruling by November 695 but it is not known if he was a legitimate member of the Calakmul dynasty or whether he was a pretender placed on the throne by Tikal.[37]

The next known king used a number of name variants, and is referred to by different name segments within and outside of Calakmul.[38] A partial reading of his name is Yuknoom Took' K'awiil.[38] He erected seven stelae to celebrate a calendrical event in 702 and is named at Dos Pilas in that year, presumably demonstrating that Dos Pilas was still a vassal of Calakmul. El Peru also continued as a vassal and Yuknoom Took' K'awiil installed a new king there at an unknown date.[38] La Corona received a queen from Yuknoom Took'. Naranjo also remained loyal.[38] Yuknoom Took' K'awiil commissioned seven more stelae to mark the k'atun-ending of 731.[38] A new defeat at the hands of Tikal is evidenced by a sculpted altar at that city, probably dating to sometime between 733 and 736, depicting a bound lord from Calakmul and possibly names Yuknoom Took' K'awiil.[39]

Calakmul and Quiriguá

After this the historical record of Calakmul becomes very vague, due both to the poor state of the heavily eroded monuments at the city itself and also its reduced political presence on the wider Maya stage.[40] Wamaw K'awiil is named at Quiriguá on the southern periphery of Mesoamerica.[40] Quiriguá traditionally had been a vassal of its southern neighbour Copán, and in 724 Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil, king of Copán, installed K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat upon Quiriguá's throne as his vassal.[41] By 734 K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat had shown that he was no longer an obedient subordinate of Copán when he started to refer to himself as k'ul ahaw, holy lord, instead of using the lesser term ahaw, subordinate lord; at the same time he began to use his own Quiriguá emblem glyph.[42]

This local act of rebellion appears to have been part of the larger political struggle between Tikal and Calakmul. In 736, only two years later, K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat received a visit from Wamaw K'awiil of Calakmul, while Copán was one of Tikal's oldest allies. The timing of this visit by the king of Calakmul is highly significant, falling between the accession of K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat to the throne of Quiriguá as a vassal of Copán and the outright rebellion that was to follow. This strongly suggests that Calakmul sponsored Quiriguá's rebellion in order to weaken Tikal and to gain access to the rich trade route of the Motagua Valley.[43] It is likely that contact with Calakmul had been initiated soon after K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat acceded to the throne.[44]

In 738 K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat captured the powerful but elderly king of Copán, Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil.[45] An inscription at Quiriguá, although difficult to interpret, suggests that the capture took place on 27 April 738, when Quiriguá seized and burned the wooden images of Copán's patron deities.[46] The captured lord was taken back to Quiriguá and on 3 May 738 he was decapitated in a public ritual.[47]

In the Late Classic, alliance with Calakmul was frequently associated with the promise of military support. The fact that Copán, a much more powerful city than Quiriguá, failed to retaliate against its former vassal implies that it feared the military intervention of Calakmul. Calakmul itself was far enough away from Quiriguá that K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat was not afraid of falling directly under its power as a full vassal state, even though it is likely that Calakmul sent warriors to help in the defeat of Copán. The alliance instead seems to have been one of mutual advantage: Calakmul managed to weaken a powerful ally of Tikal while Quiriguá gained its independence.[48]

Collapse

Five large stelae were raised in 741, although the name of the king responsible is illegible on all of them and he has been labelled as Ruler Y.[40] Calakmul's presence in the wider Maya area continued to wane, with two of the city's major allies suffering defeats at the hands of Tikal.[40] El Peru was defeated in 743 and Naranjo a year later and this resulted in the final collapse of Calakmul's once powerful alliance network, while Tikal underwent a resurgence in its power.[40]

In 751 Ruler Z erected a stela that was never finished, paired with another with the portrait of a queen.[49] A hieroglyphic stairway mentions someone called B'olon K'awiil at about the same time.[49] B'olon K'awiil was king by 771 when he raised two stelae and he was mentioned at Toniná in 789.[49] Sites to the north of Calakmul showed a reduction in its influence at this time, with new architectural styles influenced by sites further north in the Yucatán Peninsula.[49]

A monument was raised in 790 although the name of the ruler responsible is not preserved. Two more were raised in 800 and three in 810.[49] No monument was erected to commemorate the important Bak'tun-ending of 830 and it is probable that political authority had already collapsed at this time.[49] Important cities such as Oxpemul, Nadzcaan and La Muñeca that were Calakmul's vassals at one time now erected their own monuments, where before they had raised very few; some continued producing new monuments until as late as 889.[49] This was a process that paralleled events at Tikal.[49] However, there is strong evidence of an elite presence at the city continuing until AD 900, possibly even later.[50]

In 849, Calakmul was mentioned at Seibal where a ruler named as Chan Pet attended the K'atun-ending ceremony; his name may also be recorded on a broken ceramic at Calakmul itself. However, it is unlikely that Calakmul still existed as a state in any meaningful way at this late date.[49] A final flurry of activity took place at the end of the 9th century or the beginning of the 10th. A new stela was erected, although the date records only the day, not the full date. The recorded day may fall either in 899 or 909 with the latter date the most likely.[49] A few monuments appear to be even later although their style is crude, representing the efforts of a remnant population to maintain the Classic Maya tradition. Even the inscriptions on these late monuments are meaningless imitations of writing.[49]

Ceramics dating to the Terminal Classic period are uncommon outside of the site core, suggesting that the population of the city was concentrated in the city centre in the final phase of Calakmul's occupation.[50] The majority of the surviving population probably consisted of commoners who had occupied the elite architecture of the site core but the continued erection of stelae into the early 10th century and the presence of high status imported goods such as metal, obsidian, jade and shell, indicate a continued occupation by royalty until the final abandonment of the city.[50] The Yucatec-speaking Kejache Maya who lived in the region at the time of Spanish contact in the early 16th century may have been the descendants of the inhabitants of Calakmul.[51]

Modern history

Calakmul was first reported by Cyrus Lundell in 1931.[52] A year later he informed Sylvanus Morley of the site's existence and the presence of more than 60 stelae.[52] Morley visited the ruins himself on behalf of the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1932.[52] In the 1930s surveys mapped the site core and recorded 103 stelae.[52] Investigations stopped in 1938 and archaeologists did not return to the site until 1982 when William J. Folan directed a project on behalf of the Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, working at Calakmul until 1994.[53] Calakmul is now the subject of a large-scale project of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) under the direction of Ramón Carrasco.[53]