Takalik Abaj

Tak'alik A'baj'  is an ancient ruin in Guatemala; it used to be called Abaj Takalik. It is one of several Mesoamerican sites that have Olmec and Maya features. The site was inhabited the during the Preclassic and Classic periods, from the 9th century BC through to at least the 10th century AD. It was an important place for trade.Love 2007, p.297. Popenoe de Hatch 2005, pp.992, 994. It traded with Kaminaljuyu and Chocolá. It is one of the largest sites with carved monuments on the Pacific coast.Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.236. Olmec-style sculptures include a possible colossal head, rock carvings and others.Love 2007, p.288. The site has one of the biggest collections of Olmec-style sculpture outside of the Gulf of Mexico.

Takalik Abaj shows the first signs of Maya culture that happened by about 400 BC.Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.33. The site includes a Maya royal tomb and examples of Maya writing that are among the first from the Maya region. Studies continue at the site; the monumental buildings and long tradition of sculpture in a variety of styles suggest the site was important.Adams 1996, p.81.

Finds from the site indicate contact with the distant city of Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico. They imply that Takalik Abaj was conquered by it or its allies.Popenoe de Hatch & Schieber de Lavarreda 2001, pp.993–4. Takalik Abaj was linked to long-distance Maya trade routes that let the city take part in a trade network that included the Guatemalan highlands and the Pacific coastal plain from Mexico to El Salvador.

Takalik Abaj was a large city with the main buildings in four main groups spread across nine terraces. While some of these were natural, others were man-made, needing a lot of work and materials.Wolley Schwarz 2001, pp.1006, 1009. The site had a clever water drainage system and many stone sculptures.

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Other websites

Takalik Abaj at The Guatemala Times online . Information and news in English, some by investigating archaeologists.
Site description and gallery 

Category:History of Mesoamerica
Category:Maya civilization
Category:Archaeological sites in Guatemala