Yaxha is one of the few centres in the Triangulo Park area with copious traces of oc-cupation and civic-ceremonial construction activity during the Terminal Classic.
During most of the Classic period Yaxha was located in a zone of competition between the kingdoms of Tikal and Naranjo (the latter belonged to the wider Calakmul sphere).
Inscriptions from many carved monuments (Grube 2000) as well as similarities in archi-tecture (as exemplifi ed by the presence of the Twin Pyramid Group in Yaxha, which was invented and widespread in Tikal) indicate especially close relations between Yaxha and Tikal. Information from inscriptions concerning military operations by Naranjo against Yaxha (in AD 710 and 799) suggests that Yaxha was under the infl uence of Tikal for a long time and may have served as its agent and protected its affairs in this part of the Southern Lowlands. This probably explains why Yaxha became the target of attacks from Naranjo (an ally of Calakmul). Inscriptions from two Naranjo stelae (nos. 12 and 35) mention the attack on Yaxha in AD 799. Stela 12 refers to the campaign that Itzamnaaj K’awiil car-ried out in February AD 799 in three locations which, in all likelihood, were satellites of Yaxha (Martin and Grube 2000: 82). Yaxha itself was attacked twice in July and September of that year and its king was captured and most probably sacrifi ced during a special ritual which recreated a myth in which a jaguar deity was burnt by a young god
201 (Grube 2004: 206–207). Thus it seems that at the turn of 8th and 9th century, Yaxha was subordinated to Naranjo. During the Terminal Classic, when authority and royal power declined in Naranjo, there is evidence that Yaxha broke free of the infl uence of its neigh-bour to gain independence. Archaeological evidence indicates that Yaxha did not experi-ence as deep a crisis as many other Maya centres in the Southern Lowlands and most likely adjusted to the new political and economic conditions that prevailed during the Terminal Classic.
Archaeological research carried out at the site during the last few years reveals strong traces of settlement and construction activity during the Terminal Classic in all of the complexes that were explored in the core of the city. New palaces were constructed and there is evidence of signifi cant architectural remodelling of existing ceremonial and res-idential structures. Archaeological data show that during the Terminal Classic, Yaxha society remained hierarchical. The elites were most likely under the leadership of a ruler whose bloodline could be traced to the Late Classic royal lineage. It seems that during the Terminal Classic period, the North Acropolis complex became a very important resi-dence for the Yaxha elites, with several palace structures being constructed or rebuilt.
The latest investigations at Yaxha in the area of the South Acropolis indicate that during the Terminal Classic period, this great palace complex underwent important rebuilding programmes while it continued to be inhabited by members of the Yaxha elite. The ruling class retained the power to realise large construction projects in the city. It is hard to es-timate the number of Yaxha inhabitants during the Terminal Classic but it seems that the city did not experience severe depopulation. Hermes et al. (1999) opine that during the Terminal Classic, the dismantling of the control point situated at the end of the Lake Causeway was due to the desire of the Yaxha elites to attract people dispersed after the political and economic decline of the nearby centres. Studies by the Central Peten Historical Ecology Project in the Yaxha-Sacnab basin confi rms this assumption as the largest concentration of the Terminal Classic settlement was documented in two tran-sects on both sides of the Yaxha centre (Suboperations 1 and 2) (Rice and Rice 1980).
The numerous Terminal Classic settlement remains found in these transects may indicate that a relatively large population stayed at Yaxha peripheries and that this area was not depopulated during the Terminal Classic.
During the Terminal Classic period in Yaxha, we observe the appearance of new ar-chitectural elements (Structure 90 with columns on the facade; use of small, well-worked stones for the construction of chambers in case of Structure 1 and 128 as well as the use of the same material in the construction of columns of Structure 90). These architectural elements are most probably indications of contacts between Yaxha and other Maya cen-tres where the use of small well-worked stones (e.g. sites of the south-eastern Peten) and columns in Terminal Classic architecture was widespread. Though we can observe a con-tinuation in settlement and heavy construction activity in Yaxha during the Terminal Classic, carved monuments were no longer dedicated. The last carved monument known from Yaxha is Stela 13, which records two dates: AD 793 and 797 (Grube 2000). During the Terminal Classic, the inhabitants of Yaxha limited themselves to the relocation of existing carved or plain monuments. Such a tendency can be observed also in other cen-tres in the Southern Lowlands during the Terminal Classic (e.g. Tikal, [Satterthwaite 1958, Coe 1965]; La Milpa [Hammond and Tourtellot 2004] and Naranjo [Fialko et al.
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2004]). At Yaxha, monuments were mainly transported to locations which in the Terminal Classic were places of great importance in the religious and political life of the city, and where the heaviest construction activity took place (East Acropolis, Maler Group and area in front of stairway leading to the North Acropolis complex).
In sum, archaeological data indicate that during the Terminal Classic period Yaxha established itself as an important socio-political centre associated with the trade route which might have existed along the Central Peten lakes where important Terminal Classic occupation and continuation of settlement between the Classic and Postclassic periods is observed (see Rice and Rice 2004). The success of Yaxha was most probably caused by the demise of its two powerful neighbours, Tikal and Naranjo.
Nakum was the scene of the greatest cultural and political development during the Terminal Classic period in the Triangulo Park area. The latest investigations of the Nakum Archaeological Project as well as limited research of the Triangulo Project in the North Sector of the site indicate that this area was still inhabited during the Terminal Classic and it underwent important building programmes (construction of Structure 96, a new version of Structure 99, remodelling in the North Acropolis and in the Merwin Group). Archaeological investigations of the Triangulo Project undertaken during the past several years in the Central and South Sectors convincingly demonstrate that all the structures erected in the previous period were rebuilt during the Terminal Classic (Structures A, D, E, F, I, N/60/61, R and 14/15). A new version of the platform of the South Acropolis with three stairways at its northern facade was constructed. Twelve pa-tio groups located on the summit of this complex achieved their fi nal form and extent due to the construction of many new buildings. These new structures that appeared during Terminal Classic include Buildings 24, 26 (sweatbath), 27, 62, 63, 63A, 64, 65, G, H, L, O, Q, S, Y and Z. Moreover, several new constructions were built in the sacred precinct of the Central Sector (Structures C, 12, 12A, 52 and 53).
It should be kept in mind that Nakum is situated on the banks of the Holmul River which was a very important trade and communication route during the Classic period.
The Holmul River runs through the heart of the Peten. Tikal and Yaxha are situated near the tributaries of the Holmul River whereas other neighbouring sites such as Holmul and Yaloch were also built on its banks (Fialko 2000a: 689). Most likely, during the Late Classic Nakum was under the infl uence of one of two powerful neighbours: Tikal or Naranjo. The similarities between the architecture of Nakum monumental pyramid-tem-ples (e.g. Structure U) and the structures of this type known from Tikal (Temple I, Temple III) may be an indication of this infl uence. It should be noted that Structure U from Nakum is dated to the Tepeu 2 horizon, the same period as great temples from Tikal (except Temple V [see Gómez and Vidal 1997; Gómez 1998]). As mentioned, during the Terminal Classic, a number of secondary centres, including Nakum, gained partial or complete independence from Tikal and Naranjo by taking advantage of the political and economic crises that had engulfed these two large centres. This allowed Nakum to take control over most of the important trading routes that passed through its territory, includ-ing the Holmul River.
Epigraphic data from Nakum suggest that this centre gained independence at the end of the Late or the beginning of the Terminal Classic period. In AD 815, Stela C was erected in front of Structure C. The text on this monument mentions the scattering of
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“droplets” of incense at a certain place in order to commemorate a hotun (Grube and Martin 2004: 81). The name of the ruler who dedicated this monument is preserved only partly in the stela inscription but the glyph following it is most likely the Nakum emblem glyph (Grube 2000: 253, fi g. 196). It is the fi rst and only epigraphic trace indicating that a ruler having the high title of k’uhul ajaw was in power at Nakum. The Nakum emblem glyph is followed by the name of a place called naah ho’ chan (“First Five Sky”), which refers to a mythical homeland of several supernaturals, including the Paddler Deities. It is worth mentioning that the Paddler Deities were widespread in the iconography of Terminal Classic monuments in many Southern Lowland Maya sites (Schele and Grube 1995: 138) and it must have played a very important role in legitimizing the power of the rulers during that turbulent time. A slightly later stela from Nakum (Stela D, dedicated in AD 849 in front of Structure D) is the last dated monument in the Triangulo Park area and indicates that Nakum predominated in this region while most of the other centres had weakened greatly (Grube 2000: 266). The ruler’s headdress and a short inscription that includes the prestigious title of ochk’in kaloomte’ which had become very popular in the Terminal Classic inscriptions (John Harris, personal communication, 2003) survived on several fragments of Stela D.
Control of the Holmul River trading route could ensure access to exotic products for the elites of Nakum as well as for the general population. Consequently, trade became an important source of wealth during the Terminal Classic. “New” architectural elements appeared in Nakum at that time. These included pillars in the facade of Structure 64 and at the end of a T-shaped courtyard situated between Structures G and H, the appearance of a round structure (Structure 12), the construction of Structure 63A with an architec-tural plan similar to the contemporaneous tandem structures from Chichen Itza, and the appearance of a vertical wall-moulding and reverse talud motif (with closest analogies to several Puuc centres) at the foot of the outer walls of Chambers 1 and 5 situated between Structures G and H. These architectural elements are evidence of external infl uences, including Northern Yucatan, (Puuc centres and Chichen Itza itself), where column and pillar structures were widespread. Evidence of further relations with the north and Chichen Itza as well with other Lowland Maya sites with important Terminal Classic occupation (e.g. Seibal and centres from Belize) may be attested by the presence of a round structure (Str. 12) at Nakum. Also, a graffi ti (no. E12) depicting a legged serpent, a motif often appearing in the art of Chichen Itza, indicates close relations between these two centres. The above-mentioned data is evidence for trade contacts and cultural infl u-ences from the Northern Maya Lowlands and possibly, the migration of people from that area. Close relations with the Northern Lowlands and traces of migration from that area were documented in many other Maya centres during the Terminal Classic (among oth-ers, centres situated in the Central Peten lakes area [Rice and Rice 2004], in the south-eastern Peten [Laporte and Quezada 1998; Laporte and Mejía 2002; Laporte 2004] and in Belize [e.g. Nohmul (Hammond et al. 1988; Chase and Chase 1982)]. Nakum’s trade and cultural contacts may have extended even farther. A talud-tablero-reverse talud ar-chitectural motif is found on the platform of Chamber 6, Structure E in Nakum, and it may indicate infl uences from Veracruz on the Gulf Coast or from Central Mexico (where ta-lud-tablero-reverse talud style was widespread during the Epiclassic period). Therefore,