Poxte River Explained
Poxte is a river and valley of the Maya Mountains in Guatemala. The valley is noted for numerous Maya sites such as Ixtutz and the Petén Caves.[1] [2] The river is located southwest of the Dolores plateau and northwest of Poptún, in the Guatemalan department of Petén.[3] The source of the river is on the same plateau, near the villages of Boca del Monte and Santo Domingo.[4] The river flows westwards through the similarly named hamlet of Poxte, it then disappears amongst the karst topography and resumes its course 7km (04miles) to the west.[5] It continues westwards into the San Juan River, a tributary of the Machaquila River.[6] The Machaquila River feeds into the Pasión River,[7] which flows into the Usumacinta River and the Gulf of Mexico.[8] The upper reaches of the Poxte River shares its drainage with the Mopan River, which flows eastwards into the Caribbean Sea.[9]
The Poxte River Basin measures 20km (10miles) long and is 5km (03miles) wide.[10] The river valley drainage is broken and confused, and the land has been largely cleared of forest to graze cattle.[11] The Poxte valley includes modern settlements of Las Nuevas Delicias, La Lucha, Santo Domingo and Boca del Monte.[12] The valley encompasses the Maya archaeological sites of Chaquix, Curucuitz, El Eden 2, Ixcoxol 1, 2 and 3, Ixtutz, La Lucha, Machaca 2, Nocsos, Nuevas Delicias 1,2 and 3, Poxte 1 and 2, San Luis Pueblito and Tesik.[13] It also includes the cave systems of Balam Na (also known as Sebanal).[14]
References
- Web site: Escobedo, Hector L. . 2008 . Vertiente Occidental: Cuenca del Río Poxte: Municipios de Dolores y Poptun . PDF online publication . 567–633 . Registro de Sitios Arquelógicos del Sureste y Centro-Oeste de Petén 1987-2008 . Dirección General de Patrimonio Cultural y Natural, Guatemala . 2010-09-15. es.
- Web site: Laporte, Juan Pedro . Juan Pedro Laporte . Héctor E. Mejía . Jorge E. Chocón . n.d. . Machaquila en una Perspectiva Geográfica Regional . . . 2010-07-28.
- Laporte, Juan Pedro . 1997 . Geografía y asentamiento prehispánico en el sureste de Petén. . X Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 1996 (edited by J.P. Laporte and H. Escobedo) . 452–461 . Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología . Guatemala . versión digital . 2010-07-28 . es . https://web.archive.org/web/20110914204023/http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/37.96_-_Laporte.pdf . 2011-09-14 . dead .
- Book: Laporte, Juan Pedro . 2005 . Terminal Classic Settlement and Polity in the Mopan Valley, Petén, Guatemala . Arthur A. Demarest . Prudence M. Rice . Don S. Rice. The Terminal Classic in the Maya lowlands: Collapse, transition, and transformation . registration . Boulder . . 195–230. 0-87081-822-8 . 61719499.
- Web site: Laporte, Juan Pedro . Héctor L. Escobedo . 2009 . Ixtutz: Algunas consideraciones generales. . PDF online publication . Ixtutz y Curucuitz: Entidades políticas de la cuenca alta del río Poxte, Dolores y Poptun, Petén. Monografía 8, Atlas Arqueológico de Guatemala . 44–56 . Dirección General de Patrimonio Cultural y Natural, Guatemala . 2009-06-14. es.
- Web site: Smith, A. Ledyard . A. Ledyard Smith . 1968 . Reconstruction at the Maya Ruins of Seibal . . Monumentum, Vol II, 1968 . . 2009-01-31.
- Web site: Valdizón, W. Mariana . 2003 . Las cuevas del río Poxte en Poptun, Petén: Reporte de las cuevas Sebanal o Balam Na, 1992. . PDF online publication . Reporte 17, Atlas Arqueológico de Guatemala . 140–144 . Dirección General de Patrimonio Cultural y Natural, Guatemala . 2010-07-28. es.
Notes and References
- Laporte 2005, p.221.
- http://www.authenticmaya.com/peten_caves.htm Authentic Maya
- Valdizón 2003, p.140.
- Escobedo 2008, p.568.
- Escobedo 2008, p.568.
- Laporte 2009, p.44. Laporte 1997, p.455.
- Laporte et al, p.1.
- Smith 1968, p.82.
- Escobedo 2008, p.568.
- Escobedo 2008, p.568.
- Laporte 1997, p.455.
- Valdizón 2003, p.140.
- Valdizón 2003, p.140.
- Valdizón 2003, p.140.