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.

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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

_____________________________ 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

___________________________ 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