Tikal

This card illustrates our global village: it shows a Mayan site in Guatemala, was printed in Australia and sent to me by a Postcrosser in Europe. She also sent another UNESCO card  featuring the Mayan site of Copan in Honduras from the same series.

Tikal was an important Mayan kingdom during the Classic Period, influencing much of the region and controlling local economics. As a result it was able to build many impressive buildings such as this large temple Mayan kingdoms created complex political alliances and were involved in many wars for territory and captives. These actions plus changes in the amount of resources available to feed large settled populations led to the collapse of many kingdoms including Tikal in the 800s AD.

Temple of the Great Jaguar was built in the 700s. It was the tomb of a king, containing offerings of jade, shell and ceramics. The structure is 154 feet high with a religious temple on the top.