Tikal Temple V is the name given by archaeologists to one of the major

pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

s at

Tikal Tikal (; ''Tik'al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the Pre-Col ...

. Tikal is one of the most important archaeological sites of the

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writin ...

and is located in the

Petén Department Petén (from the Itza' language, Itz'a, , 'Great Island') is a Departments of Guatemala, department of Guatemala. It is geographically the northernmost department of Guatemala, as well as the largest by area at it accounts for about one third o ...

of northern

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. Temple V stands south of the Central Acropolis and is the mortuary pyramid of an as yet unidentified ruler of the once great city. The temple stands high, making it the second tallest structure at Tikal—only Temple IV is taller. The temple has been dated to about AD 700, in the Late Classic period, via radiocarbon analysis and the dating of ceramics associated with the structure places its construction during the reign of Nun Bak Chak in the second half of the 7th century. The

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

style of the pyramid includes features that were popular during the Early Classic period, such as wide balustrades flanking the main stairway and the rounded corners of the temple. These features indicate the continued influence of earlier traditions.

Location

Temple V is located in the southern part of Tikal's site core, upon an east-west ridge that also supports the Lost World complex, the Plaza of the Seven Temples and the South Acropolis. In front of the artificial platform supporting the temple structure is a depression that was used as one of the city's

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

s. By the Late Classic, access to the temple was severely limited by the reservoir immediately to the north, by the South Acropolis to the west, by a palace complex to the east and by a natural depression in the terrain to the south. All of the other main temples at Tikal were linked to the city's network of

causeways A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tr ...

but Temple V was an exception. This may indicate that it had already been abandoned by the Late Classic and fallen into disrepair, possibly explaining Temple V's poor state of preservation when compared to the other principal temples in the city.

The structure

The pyramid sits upon a platform that is higher than the level of the Central Plaza. The platform was built by constructing a system of compartments with sloping

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...

ic walls reinforced with vertical interior

retaining wall Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to ...

s, these compartments were filled with alternating layers of compacted earth and stone. This leveled off the natural terrain and allowed the platform to support the massive weight of the temple. The base of the pyramid covers an area of approximately . The pyramid base measures north-south by east-west. The temple rises in seven high stepped levels with inset rounded corners, the curve having a

radius In classical geometry, a radius (: radii or radiuses) of a circle or sphere is any of the line segments from its Centre (geometry), center to its perimeter, and in more modern usage, it is also their length. The radius of a regular polygon is th ...

of . Temple V is unique in this respect, with no other major temple at Tikal having rounded corners, although similar corners are known from a triadic temple at

Caracol Caracol is a large ancient Maya archaeological site, located in what is now the Cayo District of Belize. It is situated approximately south of Xunantunich, and the town of San Ignacio, and from the Macal River. It rests on the Vaca Plateau, ...

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

. The main body of the pyramid appears to have originally supported decorated mouldings although surviving examples have only been found at the corners of the building. The main stairway measures wide and rises from the north, unusually for Tikal where most of the larger temples face east or west. The stairway of the pyramid projects over from the pyramid base and has about 90 steps; the balustrades of the stairway are wide and rise the whole height of the stairs. At Tikal this is a feature that is usually found in buildings dating to the Early Classic. The shrine at the top of the pyramid contains a single room of small size, measuring only deep, while the rear wall behind this tiny room measures thick. The room is wide and high. This room is the smallest room of any shrine at Tikal and is the only example from the larger temples that contains only one room. Above the room are three sealed vaulted chambers, the function of which is to reduce the overall weight of the structure. The shrine still contains the original wooden

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented/structural item. In the case ...

s. The

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

of the shrine is decorated on the north side with three masks of the rain

god In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

Chaac Chaac (also spelled Chac or, in Classic Maya language, Classic Mayan, Chaahk ) is the name of the Maya civilization, Maya god of rain, thunder, and lightning. With his lightning axe, Chaac strikes the clouds, causing them to produce thunder and r ...

and with frames containing human figures on the sides. Tikal Temple V northwest corner 1

The temple is topped by a large

roof comb The roof comb (or roof-comb) is the structure that tops a pyramid in monumental Mesoamerican architecture. Typically, the roof combs crowned the summit of pyramids and other structures; they consisted of two pierced framework walls which leaned o ...

measuring high. The weight of the roof comb is lessened by 11 or 12 vaulted voids. It consists of four stepped sections, although very little remains of the top section, and the surviving three sections were decorated with eight masks. The north side of the lower section displays a very large mask of Chaac; this is flanked by two masks occupying the corners of the roof comb that represent the Maya sun god. Offering 1 was found when a test pit was sunk into the basal platform immediately to the north of the pyramid's main stairway. It consisted of two ceramic basins placed rim-to-rim one on top of the other. Inside were found an

earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed Vitrification#Ceramics, nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids ...

bowl and a small ceramic vessel and three shells that had been perforated to use as jewellery. The finds were all dated to the Early Classic, although they appeared to be in a Late Classic context. Offering 2 was interred under the north-south axis of the pyramid and appears to be a dedicatory offering before construction began. It consists of five used incense burners associated with evidence of the burning of wood and incense. Two of the incense burners are cylindrical with applied masks of the sun god, with traces of red and blue paint, this were placed on either side of three effigy incense burners shaped like human figures. All are dated to the Late Classic. Burial 1 was found interred under two unworked stones only north of Offering 1. It consisted of the skeleton of an adolescent human female aged approximately 15 years placed in a fetal position, facing to the west. Her teeth had been perforated for decorative purposes. She appeared to have died from a

systemic infection A systemic disease is one that affects a number of Organ (anatomy), organs and Tissue (biology), tissues, or affects the Human body, body as a whole. It differs from a localized disease, which is a disease affecting only part of the body (e.g., ...

that may have originated in an

abscess An abscess is a collection of pus that has built up within the tissue of the body, usually caused by bacterial infection. Signs and symptoms of abscesses include redness, pain, warmth, and swelling. The swelling may feel fluid-filled when pre ...

in one of her teeth. An earthenware bowl was placed by her right knee. The burial was dated to the Late Classic. Burial 2 was discovered when archaeologists tunneled underneath the pyramid itself. The burial was interred in a

cist In archeology, a cist (; also kist ; ultimately from ; cognate to ) or cist grave is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. In some ways, it is similar to the deeper shaft tomb. Examples occur ac ...

with two ceramic vessels placed covering the top. The cist was carved directly from the bedrock and, unusually, it was capped with planks of wood rather than the usual stone slabs. These planks were inserted into slots, indicating that they were long and thick. The cist itself measured by deep. The cist was not located under the central axis of the pyramid but rather under the central axis of the summit shrine, indicating that the builders had detailed

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

construction plans providing precise measurements, allowing them to calculate exactly where to bury the deceased. The burial was accompanied by funerary offerings that included an earthenware bowl containing a ceramic incense burner that were placed on top of the wooden lid closing the cist. Tikal Temple V northwest corner 2

The remains were those of a young adult male, between 18 and 22 years of age. His height was calculated from an intact

femur The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only long bone, bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many quadrupeds, four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg. The Femo ...

as , which is taller than the average for an adult male in the Late Classic. The skull of the deceased was elongated, having been subject to

artificial cranial deformation Artificial cranial deformation or modification, head flattening, or head binding is a form of body alteration in which the skull of a human being is deformed intentionally. It is done by distorting the normal growth of a child's skull by apply ...

and his teeth had been filed and perforated. Any decoration inserted into the perforations of the upper jaw had fallen out but the lower canines still contained

pyrite The mineral pyrite ( ), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue ...

incrustations. He appeared to have enjoyed general good health during his life except for a bout of childhood

anemia Anemia (also spelt anaemia in British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen. This can be due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin availabl ...

. The bones had been disarticulated before burial and many of the smaller bones were missing, for instance some bones from the hands and the spine. In the opinion of the excavator it is unlikely that the remains were those of a

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease deity, gods, a human ruler, public or jurisdictional demands for justice by capital punishment, an authoritative/prie ...

specifically in order to dedicate the temple since there were few signs of cutmarks on the bones. Burial 2 is believed to have been interred after the artificial leveling of the terrain and prior to the construction of the pyramid itself. The cist contained ashes at the bottom and small fragments of

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

, evidence of a ritual performed before the human remains were deposited inside and the pyramid was built. On top of this was deposited a layer of brown dust that is believed to be all that remains of a wooden box used to contain the human remains. The date of burial is estimated as AD 600–650, based on the accompanying ceramics and is not believed to be that of a ruler due to the relatively poor offering accompanying it.

History

Temple V was one of the greatest construction projects undertaken at Tikal during the Late Classic period. It is believed by some investigators to be the funerary temple of the eldest son of Jasaw Chan Kʼawiil I who is presumed to have died shortly after taking power in AD 734. This is not universally accepted however. Excavations of the platform have revealed activity dating back as far as the Early Classic and that construction began between AD 550 and 650. The temple was built in one construction phase and was not superimposed upon an earlier building. Investigating archaeologist Oswaldo Gómez has theorized that the temple was dedicated to the rain god Chaac, or was the funerary monument of a ruler who greatly venerated Chaac, based upon the presence of six large Chaac masks upon the roof comb and the placement of the temple with its unusual northward orientation facing directly onto the greatest source of water in the city.

Modern history

Although Temple V is one of the largest buildings in the site core, it was largely overlooked in the 20th century, perhaps due in part to its apparent lack of hieroglyphic inscriptions. Due to its poor preservation and its continuing decay, in 1987 Temple V was included on a list of planned works by the Proyecto Nacional Tikal. Temple V was the first temple to be discovered by Modesto Méndez, the governor of Petén, on the first expedition to the ruins. From a reexamination of Méndez' account, it appears he climbed the pyramid on 26 February 1848 and was able to discern the other major temples from its summit. Alfred P. Maudslay visited Tikal in 1881 and photographed the north face of Temple V, which he denominated as Temple D. He also briefly described the interior of the summit shrine.

Teoberto Maler Teobert Maler, later Teoberto (12 January 1842 – 22 November 1917), was an explorer who devoted his energies to documenting the ruins of the Maya civilization. Biography Teobert Maler was born on January 12, 1842, in Rome, Italy, to Friedri ...

arrived at the ruins in 1894 and it was he who renamed the pyramid as Great Temple V. Maudslay also wrote a fuller description of the structure. Both Maudslay and Maler had the pyramid cleared of vegetation during their investigations. Alfred Tozzer arrived at the site in 1911 and surveyed the ruins; he was the first to record the temple simply as Temple V. After Tozzer's visit the rainforest was allowed to reclaim the structure. In 1965 Christopher Jones of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

carried out investigations at the base of the stairway in an unsuccessful search for two monuments reported by Teoberto Maler in the 19th century. A few years later, in 1968, Miguel Orrego carried out further investigations of the temple. In 1987 and again in 1991 rescue work was undertaken upon the

by the Proyecto Nacional Tikal to repair damage caused by a hole that allowed visitors to climb through onto the crest of the building. Further investigations of the temple were started in November 1995 by Oswaldo Gómez.Gómez 1998, p.54.

Notes

References

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