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Portal:Mesoamerica/Did you know/archive

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The monthly Portal:Mesoamerica Did you know? section ran from May 2012 to September 2017. Since then, the section has been randomly generated.

September 2017

Bottle of pulque at a stall in Zacatlán, Puebla, Mexico

August 2017

Conquest of El Salvador illustrated in the Lienzo de Tlaxcala

July 2017

Name glyph of K'inich Yat Ahk II


June 2017

Ceramic figurine from Jaina Island


May 2017

K'inich Yat Ahk II's name glyph


April 2017

Sculpture from La Corona


March 2017

Yaxha from the air


February 2017

Name glyph of Ha' K'in Xook

  • ... that the reign of Ha' K'in Xook (name glyph pictured), who ruled the Maya city of Piedras Negras from 767–780 AD, seems to have been relatively free from war?
  • ... that the Acala Maya were hunted by the Spanish after they killed two Dominican friars in 1559, and within 165 years they had disappeared completely?
  • ... that the ancient Maya lightning god Yopaat helped with the rebirth of the maize god by breaking the shell of a turtle with his thunderbolt?


January 2017

Lintel 24 from Yaxchilan


December 2016

Cylinder seal from San Andrés


November 2016

Page 49 of the Dresden Codex


October 2016

Maya graffiti at La Blanca


September 2016

Cerro Quiac


August 2016

Sacul Emblem Glyph

  • ... that, in the late 8th and early 9th centuries, the Maya city of Sacul was one of the few kingdoms in the southeastern Petén region to use its own Emblem Glyph (pictured)?
  • ... that the Spanish believed that the fierce Chinamita Maya were cannibals?
  • ... that the Balsas River valley is regarded as one of the earliest maize growing sites in Mexico, dating from around 9,200 years ago?


July 2016

Temple I at Tikal


June 2016

Ruins of Wajxaklajun


May 2016


April 2016

Stela-altar pair at El Chal


March 2016

"Smiling faces" figurines


February 2016

caption


January 2016

The North Acropolis at Tikal


December 2015

Palace complex at La Blanca


November 2015

Lost World Pyramid

  • ... that the Lost World (pictured) at the ancient Maya city of Tikal was the first architectural complex to be built at the city?
  • ... that the early Maya farming village of Cuello in Belize has a mass grave containing 26 sacrificed war captives?
  • ... that the Madrid Codex, one of only three surviving pre-Columbian Maya books, contains almanacs and horoscopes that were used to assist Maya priests in their ceremonies?


October 2015

Xochipala figurines


September 2015

Painting of a ruler


August 2015

East pyramid


July 2015

Circular step pyramid


June 2015

Las Limas Monument 1


May 2015

Maya eccentric flint


April 2015

Pyramid at Calakmul


March 2015

Pyramid at Topxte


February 2015

Section of frieze at Balamku

  • ... that the Maya city of Balamku in Mexico features an almost intact 16.8-metre (55 ft) long decorated frieze (pictured) first uncovered by looters?
  • ... that the Maya city of Kinal in northern Guatemala possessed an unusually complex acropolis but is noted for its complete absence of sculpted stelae and altars?
  • ... that Mexican feather work was prized by both Aztec and European rulers?


January 2015

Ballplayer with speech scroll


December 2014

Tzeltal child


November 2014

Aztec sun stone


October 2014

Pyramid at Toniná


September 2014

Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis


August 2014

Ruins of Zaculeu


July 2014

Statue of Coatlicue


June 2014

Structure 12 at Takalik Abaj


May 2014

Olmec wrestler statue

  • ... that art historian George Kubler declared The Wrestler (pictured), an ancient Olmec statuette, "among the great works of sculpture of all ages"?
  • ... that the final version of the 33-metre-high (108 ft) Temple 33 at the ancient Maya city of Tikal in Guatemala was completely destroyed by archaeologists in 1965?
  • ...that from around 900 to 1500 the Mixtec people wrote using pictorial representations and symbols?


April 2014

Last two pages of the Paris Codex


March 2014

Aztec double-headed serpent


February 2014

Ruins of Xlapak


January 2014

Maya chacmool from Chichen Itza


December 2013

Structure 5D-96, the largest of the seven temples


November 2013

Santa Muerte


October 2013

Model of the Templo Mayor


September 2013

Rampart of Mixco Viejo


August 2013

Palace at Sayil


July 2013

Temple I at Tikal


June 2013

North side of Temple V at Tikal


May 2013

Low relief sculpture of two figures sacrificing a third

  • ... that the South Ball Court of El Tajín, Mexico, has a panel (pictured) showing a ballplayer being beheaded?
  • ... that the monuments of the ancient Maya city of Seibal in Guatemala display an unusual mix of Maya and foreign elements?
  • ... that a Maya ruler of Ixlu, a small ancient city in Guatemala, claimed to be the lord of the major Maya city of Tikal?


April 2013


March 2013

Trajinera in Xochimilco


February 2013

Zapotec urn in the form of Cocijo


January 2013

Mosaic mask of Xiuhtecuhtli in the British Museum


December 2012

Pre-Columbian pyramid at Tenayuca


November 2012

The southern Yacata (pyramid) at Tzintzuntzan


October 2012

Danza de los Voladores


September 2012

The ruins of Xichitecatl


August 2012

Small potbelly sculpture


July 2012

Xiuhcoatl


June 2012

Xipe Totec


May 2012