Toniná

The excavation site of Toniná lies 14km/8.7mi east of Ocosingo. This Maya site experienced its heyday during Maya Classic period in the 8th and 9th c. From inscriptions on stelae it has been established that Ruler 3 of Toniná took Kan-zul (Maya: "precious animal"), the ruler of Palenque, prisoner in ad 711.

The site extends over seven terraces on a hill, at the foot of which are two ball game courts. A large number of stelae dated from between ad 495 and 909, round calendar stones and human sculptures without heads were found in the excavation area. Particularly noteworthy finds are an underground chamber with a typical overhanging arch and a wooden door lintel, a tomb with a sarcophagus, large stone masks and stucco figures. Finds made in the early 1990s - including the Palace of the Underworld, measuring 4 3 12 m (13 3 40 ft) and built from a kind of stone previously completely unknown in this region, and with Maya motifs and Toltec memorials and the large stucco mural with the Fourth Sun - lead experts to think that Toniná survived the end of the Maya Classic period and came under Toltec influence. In September 1997 a wonderful frieze with a unique mural portraying four princes in the underworld was discovered. The princes symbolise War, Agriculture, Commerce and Tributes. This seems to confirm the legend found in "Popul-Vuh" (Book of Council). A new museum, the building of which has caused some controversy, is due to open in the year 2000.