Topoxte

Topoxte
Building C on Topoxte Island.[1]
Topoxte is located in Guatemala
Topoxte
Shown within Guatemala
RegionPetén Department, Guatemala

Topoxte (/tɒpɒʃtˈɛ/) (or Topoxté in Spanish orthography) is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in the Petén Basin in northern Guatemala with a long occupational history dating as far back as the Middle Preclassic.[2] As the capital of the Kowoj Maya, it was the largest of the few Postclassic Mesoamerican sites in the area. Topoxte is located on an island on Yaxha Lake across from the important Classic period center of Yaxha.[3]

Topoxte was named by Teobert Maler in 1904;[4] the name means "seed of the Ramón tree." There is no record of the name Topoxte prior to this.[4] The Ramón tree, commonly known as breadnut, was an important component of the ancient Maya diet. Prior to this the site was known as Islapag, as noted in 1831 by Juan Galindo in his report to the Society of Antiquaries of London.[4]

  1. ^ Chase 1976, p.162.
  2. ^ Pinto & Noriega 1995, pp.576–7.
  3. ^ Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.617.
  4. ^ a b c Chase 1976, p.155.