Located deep within the lush rainforest of southern Campeche lies the once powerful Maya city of Kalak’mul - now a dim shadow of what it once was, its monuments closely surrounded by trees and brush and its unique stelae slowly crumbling away into time. Forgotten long ago like most of the Maya cities, Kalak’mul slept untroubled until its discovery in 1931. Excavations led by William J. Folan of the Universidad Autonoma de Campeche and, more recently, by Ramon Carrasco of the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia have uncovered a vast city – and not only in terms of construction and populace. During Kalak’mul’s golden age it played overlord to other Maya cites such as Caracol, Dos Pilas, and Naranjo and created marital alliances with El Peru, Yaxchilan and Naachutan. A deep and abiding rivalry with Tikal would last for over a century and even Palenque, more than 150 miles away, was not safe from the far-reaching grasp of the Lords of Kalak’mul. One of the great powers during the Classic period, Kalak’mul still sits proudly despite its decaying state and welcomes those who wish to know of its glory days.

It is difficult to tell when Kalak’mul was first established, but like its rival Tikal, it was a Preclassic site of some magnitude – one of the earliest settlements to date - surviving to grow into an even more prosperous Classic period city. In the Early Preclassic period two large pyramids were constructed that dominated the jungle around them – it is from these monuments that the name Kalak’mul, meaning “two adjacent mounds” is derived. Further construction during this period includes plazas and palatial complexes with buildings around patios – the foundations of the great city to come. The nucleus of the city is situated on a natural mound of approximately 25 square kilometers and is surrounded by reservoirs and canals specifically created to exploit the nearby areas that flooded easily during the rainy season. To offsite the dry months of spring and early summer, at least five major reservoirs were constructed, the largest a massive rectangle measuring 794 feet by 695 feet which is located 1.2 miles north of the city center. The sophisticated resource management and the investment into extensive public works reflects one of the reasons why the city of Kalak’mul eventually grew to a population of at least 50,000.

Around approximately 431 the Lords of Kalak’mul embarked on an extensive renovation project aimed at changing the appearance of the city, but without modifying the urban plan. The growth of the city resulted in over 6,000 structures occupying the city center itself, making it the largest Classic city yet recorded, and the installation, over time, of 113 stelae - the most of any Maya city. The most massive temple platform at Kalak’mul is Structure 2 – measuring 394 feet on each side of its base and rising to a height of more than 148 feet. Like the city itself, the structure’s roots are in the Preclassic period, the core of it a preclassic pyramid that still represents its highest point. Its northern face originally supported a long stucco-decorated building that was covered over during the Early Classic period by a huge extension supporting three new temples (Temples 2B, C & D) each with an access stairway. Tomb 4, located in the floor of Temple 2B, is one of the richest burials yet found in Kalak’mul – it contained a skeleton of a man shrouded in textiles and jaguar skin (the jaguar skin itself enough to denote this person was of the upper echelons of society), a jade mosaic mask, jade ear ornaments, bone beads, mother-of-pearl and spondylus shells and a variety of other rich grave goods. A plate found within the tomb specifically names Yich’aak K’ak’ (Jaguar Paw) as the plate’s owner, however – and as will be told further down – it is highly unlikely that the body itself is Jaguar Paw.