Matthew Patay's
Note of the Month

 November 2007

 

Map and flag images provided by Graphic Maps

This month's featured note is from Guatemala.
The denomination is 1/2 Quetzal (50 Centavos) and the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money (SCWPM) Number is P-79. 

The note is dated 1992.

(front)

The banknote is brown on multicolored underprint.  Tecún Umán (ca. 1500 - 1524), the last ruler of the Quiché people and a modern day Guatemalan national hero is at right.

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The following information was obtained from:
Wikipedia the online Encyclopedia

Tecún Umán
(ca. 1500 - 1524)
(For the full article, please refer to the link above.)
 

Tecún Umán (Alternatively Tecún Umaán, Tecúm Umán, or Tekun Umam 1500?-1524) was the last ruler of the Quiché people, in the highlands of what is now Guatemala. According to the Kaqchikel annals, he was slain by Spanish Conquistador Don Pedro de Alvarado while waging battle against the Spaniards in the grasslands of El Pinal (Valley of Olintepeque) on February 20, 1524.

Tecún Umán is considered the most representative of his people for his bravery and dignity because he fought to protect his land and his people. He was declared Guatemala's official national hero on March 22, 1960 and is commemorated on February 20, on the anniversary of his death.

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(back)
A temple at the city of Tikal is at center.

The following information was obtained from:
Wikipedia the online Encyclopedia

The City of Tikal
(For the full article, please refer to the link above.)

Tikal (or Tik’al, according to the more current orthography) is the largest of the ancient ruined cities of the Maya civilization. It is located in the El Petén department of Guatemala at 17°13?19?N, 89°37?22?W. Now part of Guatemala's Tikal National Park, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a popular tourist spot. The closest large towns are Flores and Santa Elena, about 30 kilometers away.

Tikal was one of the major cultural and population centers of the Maya civilization. Though monumental architecture at the site dates to the 4th century BC, Tikal reached its apogee during the Classic Period, ca. 200 AD to 850 AD, during which time the site dominated the Maya region politically, economically, and militarily while interacting with areas throughout Mesoamerica, such as central Mexican center of Teotihuacan. There is also evidence that Tikal was even conquered by Teotihuacan in the 4th century A.D. Following the end of the Late Classic Period, no new major monuments were built at Tikal and there is evidence that elite palaces were burned. These events were coupled with a gradual population decline, culminating with the site’s abandonment by the end of the 10th century.

There are thousands of ancient structures at Tikal and only a fraction of these have been excavated after decades of archaeological work. The most prominent surviving buildings include six very large Mesoamerican step pyramids, labeled Temples I - VI, each of which support a temple structure on their summits. Some of these pyramids are over 60 meters high (200 feet). They were numbered sequentially during the early survey of the site.

The majority of pyramids currently visible at Tikal were built during Tikal’s resurgence following the Tikal Hiatus (i.e., from the late 7th to the early 9th century). It should be noted, however, that the majority of these structures contain sub-structures that were initially built prior to the hiatus.

Temple I (also known as the Temple of Ah Cacao or Temple of the Great Jaguar) was built around C.E. 695; Temple II or the Moon Temple in C.E. 702; and Temple III in C.E. 810. The largest structure at Tikal, Temple IV, is approximately 70 meters (230 feet) tall. Temple IV marks the reign of Yik’in Chan Kawil (Ruler B, the son of Ruler A or Jasaw Chan K'awiil I) and two carved wooden lintels over the doorway that leads into the temple on the pyramid’s summit record a long count date (9.15.10.0.0) that corresponds to C.E. 741 (Sharer 1994:169). Temple V dates to about C.E. 750, and is the only one where no tomb has been found. Temple VI, also known as the Temple of the Inscriptions, was dedicated in C.E. 766.

Str. 5C-54, in the southwest portion of Tikal’s central core and west of Temple V, is known as the Lost World Pyramid. A 30 mt. High "True Pyramid", with stairways in 3 sides and stucco masks, dating to the Late Preclassic, this pyramid is part of an enclosed complex of structures that remained intact through and un-impacted by later building activity at Tikal. The organization of this complex adheres to the themes defined for E-Groups.

The ancient city also has the remains of royal palaces, in addition to a number of smaller pyramids, palaces, residences, and inscribed stone monuments. There is even a building which seemed to have been a jail, originally with wooden bars across the windows and doors. There are also seven courts for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame, including a set of 3 in the "Seven Temples Plaza" a unique feature in Mesoamerica.

The residential area of Tikal covers an estimated 60 km² (23 square miles), much of which has not yet been cleared, mapped, or excavated. A huge set of earthworks has been discovered ringing Tikal with a 6 meter wide trench behind a rampart. Only some 9km of it has been mapped; it may have enclosed an area of some 125 km square (see below). Population estimates place the demographic size of the site between 100,000 and 200,000.

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The following information was obtained from:
Wikipedia the online Encyclopedia

Pre-Columbian History of Guatamala
(For the full article, please refer to the link above.)

The first proof of human settlers in Guatemala goes back to 10,000 BC, although there is some evidence that puts this date at 18,000 BC, such as obsidian arrow heads found in various parts of the country. There is archaeological proof that early Guatemalan settlers were hunters and gatherers, but pollen samples from Petén and the Pacific coast indicate that maize cultivation was developed by 3500 BC. Archaic sites have been documented in Quiché in the Highlands and Sipacate, Escuintla on the central Pacific coast (6500 BC).

Archaeologists divide the pre-Columbian history of Mesoamerica into 3 periods: The Pre-Classic from 2000 BC to 250 AD, the Classic from 250 to 900 AD, and the Post-Classic from 900 to 1500 AD. Until recently, the Pre-Classic was regarded as a formative period, with small villages of farmers who lived in huts, and few permanent buildings, but this notion has been challenged by recent discoveries of monumental architecture from that period, such as an altar in La Blanca, San Marcos, some 3 mt. in diameter from 1000 BC; ceremonial sites at Miraflores and El Naranjo from 800 BC; the earliest monumental masks; and the Mirador Basin cities of Nakbé, Xulnal, Tintal, Wakná and El Mirador.

El Mirador was by far the most populated city in the pre-Columbian America, and contained the largest pyramid in the world, at 2,800,000 cubic meters in volume (some 200,000 more than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt). Mirador was the first politically organized state in America, named the Kan Kingdom in ancient texts. There were 26 cities, all connected by Sacbeob (highways), which were several kilometers long, up to 40 meters wide, and 2 to 4 meters above the ground, paved with stucco, that are clearly distinguishable from the air in the most extensive virgin tropical rain forest in Mesoamerica.

The Classic period of Mesoamerican civilization corresponds to the height of the Maya civilization, and is represented by countless sites throughout Guatemala, although the largest concentration is in Petén. This period is characterized by heavy city-building, the development of independent city-states, and contact with other Mesoamerican cultures.

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For more information about the Guatemala visit:

TThe CIA World Factbook

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