Takalik Abaj is a pre-Columbian archaeological site in Guatemala. It is
one of several Mesoamerican sites with both Olmec and Maya features.
The site flourished in the Preclassic and Classic periods, from the 9th
century BC through to at least the 10th century AD, and was an
important centre of commerce, trading with Kaminaljuyu and Chocolá.
Investigations have revealed that it is one of the largest sites with
sculptured monuments on the Pacific coastal plain. Olmec-style
sculptures include a possible colossal head, petroglyphs and others.
The site has one of the greatest concentrations of Olmec-style
sculpture outside of the Gulf of Mexico. Takalik Abaj is representative
of the first blossoming of Maya culture that had occurred by about 400
BC. The site includes a Maya royal tomb and examples of Maya
hieroglyphic inscriptions that are among the earliest from the Maya
region. Excavation is continuing at the site; the monumental
architecture and persistent tradition of sculpture in a variety of
styles suggest the site was of some importance. Finds from the site
indicate contact with the distant metropolis of Teotihuacan in the
Valley of Mexico and imply that Takalik Abaj was conquered by it or its
allies. Takalik Abaj was linked to long-distance Maya trade routes that
shifted over time but allowed the city to participate in a trade
network that included the Guatemalan highlands.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takalik_Abaj>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1867:
U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the purchase of
Alaska for US$7.2 million from Russia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_purchase>
1940:
World War II: Wang Jingwei was officially installed by Japan as head of
a puppet state in China.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Jingwei>
1961:
The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, an international treaty aimed
against the illicit manufacture and trafficking of narcotic drugs, was
signed.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Convention_on_Narcotic_Drugs>
1972:
Vietnam War: North Vietnamese forces began the Easter Offensive in an
attempt to gain as much territory and destroy as many units of South
Vietnam as possible
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Offensive>
1981:
Trying to impress actress Jodie Foster, obsessed fan John Hinckley, Jr.
shot and wounded U.S. President Ronald Reagan and three others outside
the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_assassination_attempt>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
pepo (n):
1. A kind of fruit possessing a hard rind and producing many seeds in a
single, central, pulpy chamber; a melon, gourd.
2. A plant producing such a fruit
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pepo>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The best way of knowing God is to love many things. Love this friend,
this person, this thing, whatever you like, and you will be on the
right road to understanding Him better, that is what I keep telling
myself. But you must love with a sublime, genuine, profound sympathy,
with devotion, with intelligence, and you must try all the time to
understand Him more, better and yet more.
--Vincent van Gogh
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh>