Poxte River

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 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]

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

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.

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