Nim Li Punit
 Ballcourtat Nim Li Punit Mayan ruins. | |
| Location | Belize |
|---|---|
Nim Li Punit(/nimlipuˈnit/) is aMaya Classic Periodsite in theToledo Districtof the nation ofBelize,located 50 kilometres north of the town ofPunta Gorda,[1]and directly adjacent to the village of Indian Creek.[2]Nim Li Punit is sometimes known asBig HatorTop Hat;the name isKekchi Mayafor "BigHat",referring to the large elaboratehead-dresson astelasculpturefound on site depicting one of the site's ancient kings.[3]It is bordered by the Maya Mountains to the west and lowland swamps and the Caribbean Sea to the east.
Nim Li Punit is a medium-sized site from theMaya Classic Period,flourishing from the 5th century AD through the 8th century AD. It consists of structures around threeplazas,including several step-pyramids,the tallest being 11 meters high.[1]It was populated in the Maya Classic Period and reached a maximum population of around 7000 residents, but was rapidly abandoned when the Maya civilization began to decline.[4]There was extensive trade throughout the region in goods such as obsidian during this period.[5]In addition to trade, fertile soils in the area helped in the success of the settlement. Archaeological exploration of Nim li Punit began in 1976, though the site was already known to locals.[3]
Geography and geology
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Nim Li Punit is situated in thefoothillsof theMaya Mountainsin close proximity to multiple mountainstreams.The Maya Mountains form a nearly impenetrable backdrop of forest to the north and east, while the expansive somewhatswampycoastallowlands adjoining theCaribbean Sealie to the east. Low-lying swampland between theSarstoonandTemash Riversis situated to the south. The site is within two kilometres of Belize'sSouthern Highway,accessed by an unpaved road. (The Southern Highway itself is paved in the vicinity of the site). Area soils are relatively fertile for tropical standards, and explain the region's ability to support sizeable indigenous settlements such as Nim Li Punit. Localsandstonesare found in nearby stream and river beds, and these materials were used as the principal building stones for the site's structures and stelae. The Maya Mountains and foothills are among the oldest surface rock formations ofCentral America;thesePaleozoicsedimentswere uplifted about 200 million years ago in the lateCarboniferous(Pennsylvanian) andEarly Permianperiods.[6]
Economy and trade
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In addition to Nim li Punit, the Maya Mountains of Southern Belize contain four major Maya archaeological sites-Xnaheb,Lubaantun,Uxbennka,andPushilha.All these sites are in close proximity to one another, with the farthest site from Nim li Punit, Pushilha, being only 47 kilometers to the southwest.[5]Despite their close geographic proximity, the extent of the economic and political relationships between Nim li Punit and these other polities is still debated, and scholars remain unsure of what allowed them all to thrive so close to one another.[5]Archaeologists have used goods with economic value in Maya culture discovered at Nim li Punit have to draw conclusions on the extent to which these interactions occurred.[5]
One of these goods that has been extensively uncovered at Nim li Punit isobsidian.[7]Obsidian was used to denote status in the Maya Classic Period and was available primarily to royalty.[8]An analysis of obsidian artifacts from Nim li Punit and Lubaantun, revealed that the majority of the obsidian they received originated from El Chayal and Ixtepeque,[7]which are both located in present-day Guatemala.[5]Compared to Lubaantun, Nim li Punit received around twice as much obsidian from Ixtepeque. The ratio of the total mass of obsidian compared to the total mass of pottery was also approximately twice as high at Nim li Punit than at Lubaantun.[5]Overall, obsidian was more abundant at Nim li Punit than other nearby settlements.
Architecture
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The ancient city of Nim Li Punit was laid out in a fashion consistent with other Maya lowland Classic Era sites, such asLubaantun,PusilhaandUxbenka;the latter two of these sites are deemed to have arisen earlier than the former two. Nim Li Punit is constructed in the Classic Period prototypical geometric form, using large amounts of fill material to achieve expansiveplazasand terraces.[9]
It is thought that within the Plaza of the Stela in the South Group that there is anE Groupgeometry that would have been used for astronomical observations. For example, several monuments present before a long terrace known as Structure One, which mark the location ofsolsticesandequinoxes.Unlike Lubaantun, wheredry-stoneconstruction was employed, the stone structures are cemented with Mayamortar;moreover, the elaborate notched jointing often found in Lubaantun is absent in Nim Li Punit.[10]
Population and occupation
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The peak population of Nim Li Punit is estimated to have been in the range of 5000 to 7000 people during the peak occupation Late Classic period.[11]Early residents of this site probably migrated fromGuatemala,similar to the history of nearbyLubaantun.The peoples of Nim Li Punit are thought to have spoken a dialect of theCholanlanguage, commonly spoken in the Maya heartland. Evidence from carved stelae document that the site was active in the period 721 to 790 AD, based upon actual Maya calendar dates inscribed on at least six different stones. As at many other Maya sites occupation of Nim Li Punit ceased rather suddenly in the 9th century AD, probably associated with areawideoverpopulationexceeding the region'scarrying capacityof the then prevalentmilpafarming system.[4]The Nim Li Punit population is thought to have aligned with Maya settlements such as Tikal in thePetén Basinregion of Guatemala.
Ecology
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Nim Li Punit is situated in a locale rich inforest,soil, rock and othernatural resources.These assets, coupled with proximity to ample flowing mountainstreams,provided the indigenous Maya at Nim Li Punit a resource base that allowed their civilization to thrive. While most of the surroundingbroadleaftropicalrainforestissecondary growth,due to the disturbance of the Maya themselves, there is considerablebiodiversityof trees,herbs,mammals,birds,reptilesand other life forms. In addition to the soils being able to support staplecropssuch as beans and corn, there are a diversity ofherbsin the vicinity known to have been used for medicinal purposes.
Mammals found in the area include twoprimatespecies: TheYucatán black howler monkey,Alouatta pigraand Central Americanspider monkey,Ateles geoffroya.Numerousrodentsare found here including the commonpaca,Agouti paca.A variety ofcarnivoresare present, such as thecougarPuma concolorandjaguarPanthera onca.Hosts of bats frequent the forest as well.[12]
Archaeology and excavation
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Nim Li Punit was first investigated by archaeologists from outside of Belize in 1976, through research conducted by Norman Hammond of theBritish Museum-Cambridge University,though site had been known to local Maya people well before this date.[3]Hammond produced the first site map and excavated a portion of the central plaza. Barbara McLeod of theUniversity of Texas,Austin, then produced the first detailed analyses of stelae inscriptions. Richard Levanthal in 1983 bored test pits and surveyed the site as part of an overall southern Belize Maya mapping project. In the 1990s minorexcavationswere conducted by the Belize Department of Archaeology under the supervision of John Morris and Juan Luis Bonor. In 2015, tomb excavations were conducted by the Toledo Regional Interaction Project directed by Geoffrey Braswell. This excavation unearthed numerous clay pots and a large jade pendant inscribed withMayan hieroglyphs.[13][14]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ab"Nim li Punit".The Mayan Ruins Website.
- ^Braswell, Geoffrey (2022).The Southern Belize Region in Early to Late Classic Period Mesoamerica.Routledge.ISBN9781351268004.
- ^abcBraswell, Geoffrey E. (2017). Recent Discoveries in the Classic Maya Palace Complex of Nim li Punit, Belize.Journal of Field Archaeology,Vol. 42, Issue 2 (pp. 69-81).
- ^abJaime Awe,Maya Cities and Sacred Caves,Cubola BooksISBN976-8161-11-6(2006)
- ^abcdefFauvelle, Mikael D.H., Pitcavage, Megan R., Braswell, Geoffrey E. (2012). Dynastic Capital, Minor Center, or Both? Recent Investigations at Nim li Punit, Toledo District, Belize.Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology,Vol. 9 (pp. 51-59).
- ^Katherine M. Emmons et al., ‘' Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary'‘, Producciones de la Hamaca, Belize and Orang-utan Press, Gays Mills, Wisconsin, USA (1996)
- ^abDaniels, James (2013). Nondestructive Geophysical and Archaeometric Investigations at the Southern Belize Sites of Lubaantun and Nim li Punit.University of California, San Diego.
- ^Sidrys, Raymond V. (2017). Classic Maya Obsidian Trade.Cambridge University Press,Vol. 41, Issue 4 (pp. 449-464).
- ^The ancientMayaof the Belize Valley: half a century ofarchaeologicalresearch,ed. J.F.Garber,GainesvilleUniversity Press of Florida (2004)
- ^C. M.Hogan,Comparison of Mayan sites in southern and western Belize,Lumina Technologies (2006)
- ^'‘Nim Li Punit'‘, published by the Department of Archaeology, Blmopan, Belize, Project ACP-RPR 544, Cubola Productions, March, 1999
- ^"Mammals of Belize".The Belize Zoo.
- ^"Archaeologists Unearth Tombs at Nim Li Punit".News 5.Belize. 4 June 2015.Retrieved28 February2017.
- ^Prager, Christian M.; Braswell, Geoffrey E. (28 November 2016)."Maya Politics and Ritual: An Important New Hieroglyphic Text on a Carved Jade from Belize".Ancient Mesoamerica.27(2): 267–278.doi:10.1017/S095653611600033X.S2CID157992596.Retrieved28 February2017.
External links
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Media related toNim Li Punitat Wikimedia Commons
16°19′N88°48′W/ 16.317°N 88.800°W
