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Bonampak

(Encyclopedia)Bonampak bōnämpäkˈ [key], ruined city of the Late Classic period of the Maya, close to Tuxtla, in Chiapas, S Mexico. Discovered in 1946, it consists of a group of temples, one of which is remarkab...

Palenque

(Encyclopedia)Palenque pälāngˈkĕ [key], ancient city of the Maya in Chiapas, S Mexico, in the Usumacinta Valley. Its architectural elegance, adapted to tropical and topographical conditions, was a high point in...

Uxmal

(Encyclopedia)Uxmal o͞oshmälˈ, o͞oz– [key], ancient city, northern Yucatán peninsula, Mexico. A Late Classic period Maya center situated in the Puuc hills, Uxmal flourished between 600 and 900. It is one of ...

Canis Minor

(Encyclopedia)Canis Minor [Lat.,=lesser dog], small constellation ying near the celestial equator, E of Orion and NE of Canis Major, the Large Dog. Known as the Small Dog, Canis Minor is traditionally identified as...

Maya, indigenous people of Mexico and Central America

(Encyclopedia)Maya mīˈə, Span. mäˈyä [key], indigenous people of S Mexico and Central America, occupying an area comprising the Yucatán peninsula and much of the present state of Chiapas in Mexico, Guatemala...

Morley, Sylvanus Griswold

(Encyclopedia)Morley, Sylvanus Griswold, 1883–1948, American archaeologist, b. Chester, Pa., grad. Harvard, 1908. A specialist in Middle American archaeology and Mayan heiroglyphs, Morley did fieldwork (1909–14...

Tikal

(Encyclopedia)Tikal tēkälˈ [key], ruined city of the Classic Period of the Maya, N central Petén, Guatemala. The largest and possibly the oldest of the Maya cities, Tikal consists of nine groups of courts and p...

Montgomery, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Montgomery, city (1990 pop. 187,106), state capital and seat of Montgomery co., E central Ala., near the head of navigation on the Alabama River just below the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa r...

Quiriguá

(Encyclopedia)Quiriguá kērēgwäˈ, kērēwäˈ [key], city of the Classic epoch of the Maya, E Guatemala. It is famous for its zoomorphics. Its stone steles have fine hieroglyphs. Near the ruins the United Fruit...

Itzamna

(Encyclopedia)Itzamna ētsämˈnä [key], chief deity of the Maya. Son of Hunab Ku, the creator, he was believed to be lord of the heavens, day, and night. Thought by the Maya to have been the inventor of writing a...