Tikal Maya Archaeology Site, Peten Rainforest, Guatemala In 1848 the Governor of Petén took three days to march through the jungle to the newly discovered Mayan ruins of Tikal. Today the 70 km drive from Flores takes about an hour. The ruins lie within the 576 km2 Tikal National Park, declared a World Heritage site in 1979. Among the 54 species of mammals in the park, the Spider monkeys and Pizotes (Coatimundi) are the easiest to see; among the 333 species of birds is the endemic Ocellated turkey. The site’s mapped district covers 16 km2 and comprises more than 3,000 individual structures, temples, and courtyard groups. Estimates suggest that, during the Classic period, more than 50,000 people lived in Tikal. The metropolis was occupied during the period between 800 BC and 900 AD, but the earliest architecture originates from the 4th century BC. The nobility resided in the Central and North Acropolis, the administrative center of the city, which is also where some of the rulers were buried.
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