Source: WTL© digital photograph taken on site at Tikal (2008).
Comments: This view of the North Acropolis of the Great Plaza is taken from Temple II on the plaza's west side. In this area archeologists found two twelve-foot-high stone masks from the Preclassic Period (100 BCE - 400 CE). In the center of this photo, below the (recently) thatched roof protects one of these giant stone masks. This particular one represents the sculpture of god with a hooked nose, earplugs, and a headdress that looks like a crown; originally, this and the other masks were painted bright green and scarlet. Also below the North Acropolis, archeologists found a burial chamber with a ruler's remains, and, accompanying him were nine servants who had been sacrificed to accompany their ruler in death in the underworld. In this burial chamber there were also the remains of pottery shards, turtles, and even a crocodile (see: <= Tikal #6).