Poxte River

Poxte River
Location
CountryGuatemala
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationDolores Plateau
Basin features
River systemUsumacinta

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 on the 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 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to the west.[5] It continues westwards into the San Juan River, which is a tributary of the Machaquila River.[6] The Machaquila River feeds into the Pasión River,[7] which flows into the Usumacinta River and into 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 itself measures 20 kilometres (12 mi) long and is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) wide.[10] The river valley drainage is broken and confused, and the land has been largely cleared of forest in order 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]

Notes

  1. ^ Laporte 2005, p.221.
  2. ^ Authentic Maya
  3. ^ Valdizón 2003, p.140.
  4. ^ Escobedo 2008, p.568.
  5. ^ Escobedo 2008, p.568.
  6. ^ Laporte 2009, p.44. Laporte 1997, p.455.
  7. ^ Laporte et al, p.1.
  8. ^ Smith 1968, p.82.
  9. ^ Escobedo 2008, p.568.
  10. ^ Escobedo 2008, p.568.
  11. ^ Laporte 1997, p.455.
  12. ^ Valdizón 2003, p.140.
  13. ^ Valdizón 2003, p.140.
  14. ^ Valdizón 2003, p.140.

References

  • Escobedo, Hector L. (2008). "Vertiente Occidental: Cuenca del Río Poxte: Municipios de Dolores y Poptun" (PDF online publication). Registro de Sitios Arquelógicos del Sureste y Centro-Oeste de Petén 1987-2008 (in Spanish). Dirección General de Patrimonio Cultural y Natural, Guatemala. pp. 567–633. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  • Laporte, Juan Pedro; Héctor E. Mejía; Jorge E. Chocón (n.d.). "Machaquila en una Perspectiva Geográfica Regional" (PDF). Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI). Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  • Laporte, Juan Pedro (1997). "Geografía y asentamiento prehispánico en el sureste de Petén" (PDF). X Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 1996 (edited by J.P. Laporte and H. Escobedo) (in Spanish). Guatemala: Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología: 452–461. Archived from the original (versión digital) on 2011-09-14. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  • Laporte, Juan Pedro (2005). "Terminal Classic Settlement and Polity in the Mopan Valley, Petén, Guatemala". In Arthur A. Demarest; Prudence M. Rice; Don S. Rice (eds.). The Terminal Classic in the Maya lowlands: Collapse, transition, and transformation. Boulder: University Press of Colorado. pp. 195–230. ISBN 0-87081-822-8. OCLC 61719499.
  • 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 (in Spanish). Dirección General de Patrimonio Cultural y Natural, Guatemala. pp. 44–56. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  • Smith, A. Ledyard (1968). "Reconstruction at the Maya Ruins of Seibal" (PDF). Monumentum, Vol II, 1968. Peabody Museum. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
  • 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 (in Spanish). Dirección General de Patrimonio Cultural y Natural, Guatemala. pp. 140–144. Retrieved 2010-07-28.

16°20′N 89°46′W / 16.333°N 89.767°W / 16.333; -89.767

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