page_title: Izapa
section_title: Notable monuments
hierarchical_section_title: Izapa / Izapan monumental art / Notable monuments
caption_attribution_description: English: Drawing of Izapa Stela 25 taken from Japanese Wikipedia where "This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. This applies worldwide."
context_page_description: Izapa is a very large pre-Columbian archaeological site located in the Mexican state of Chiapas; it is best known for its occupation during the Late Formative period. The site is situated on the Izapa River, a tributary of the Suchiate River, near the base of the volcano Tacaná, the sixth tallest mountain in Mexico.
  The settlement at Izapa extended over 1.4 miles, making it the largest site in Chiapas. The site reached its apogee between 850 BCE and 100 BCE; several archaeologists have theorized that Izapa may have been settled as early as 1500 BCE, making it as old as the Olmec sites of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán and La Venta. Izapa remained occupied through the Early Postclassic period, until approximately 1200 CE.
  Due to the abundance of carved Maya stelae and monuments at Izapa, the term "Izapan style" is used to describe similarly executed works throughout the Pacific foothills and highlands beyond, including some found at Takalik Abaj and Kaminaljuyu.
  Izapa is located on wet and hilly land made of volcanic soil; it is still fertile for agriculture. The weather is very hot and very wet.
context_section_description: Izapa Stela 1 features a long lipped deity, which Coe describes as the early version of Maya god of lightning and rain, Chaac.  In Stela I, the god is walking on water while collecting fish into a basket and also wearing a basket of water on his back.
  Izapa Stela 2, like Stela 25, has been linked to the battle of the Maya Hero Twins against Vucub Caquix, a powerful ruling bird-demon of the Maya underworld, also known as Seven Macaw.
  Izapa Stela 3 shows a deity wielding a club.  This deity's leg turns into a serpent while twisting around his body.  This could be an early form of the Maya God K, who carried a staff.
  Izapa Stela 4 depicts a bird dance, which has a king being transformed into a bird.  The scene is most likely connected with the Principle Bird Deity.  This transformation could symbolize shamanism and ecstasy, meaning the shaman-ruler used hallucinogens to journey to another world.  The type of political system that was in place at Izapa is still unknown, though Stela 4 could suggest that a shaman was in charge.  This shaman-ruler would serve the role of both the political and religious leader.
  Izapa Stela 5 presents perhaps the most complex relief at Izapa.  Central to the image is a large tree, which is surrounded by perhaps a dozen human figures and scores of other images.  The complexity of the imagery has led some fringe researchers, particularly Mormon and "out of Africa" theorists, to view Stela 5 as support for their theories.
  Izapa Stela 8 shows a ruler seated on a throne, which is located within a quatrefoil. The scene shown on Stela 8 is often compared to Throne 1, which was located by the central pillar of Izapa.  Stela 8 may be showing a ruler seated atop Throne 1.
  "When considered as a conceptual unit, the imagery of Throne 1 and Stela 8 directly associates the ruler's political authority, symbolised by the throne, with his supernatural abilities, symbolised by the quatrefoil portal (Guernsey 2006). A striking parallel exists between the imagery of Chalcatzingo Monument 1 and Izapa Stela 8, both of which feature elite individuals enthroned within a quatrefoil."
  Izapa Stela 21 is a rare depiction of violence involving deities.  The Stela illustrates a warrior holding the head of a decapitated god.
  Izapa Stela 25 possibly contains a scene from the Popol Vuh.  The image depicted on Stela 25 is most likely the Maya Hero Twins shooting a perched Principle Bird Deity with a blowgun.  This scene is also shown on the Maya pot called the "Blowgunner Pot".  It is also suggested that Stela 25 could be seen as a map of the night sky, which was used to tell the story of the Hero Twins shooting the bird deity.
caption: Izapa Stela 25
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