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Nicole's
Travelogues and Budget Travel Tips..
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TONINA, MEXICO
The Tonina Ruins are about 12 miles down a dirt road from the city of Ocosingo (about halfway between Palenque and San Cristobal) and are said to be the last capital of the Maya empire.
Tonina consists of an artificial mountain of seven platforms on a calcareous hill that overlooks the valley. It has many underground passageways you can explore - so don't forget your flashlight!
These ruins are much less visited than the larger Palenque ruins (about a 3 hour drive from Tonina). As you can see from the photos, we were the only ones at the site that day. The site itself was extremely well kept and absolutely beautiful!
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Tonina is located in the Ocosingo Valley and was most active in the years 500 to 800 A.D. One of the things Tonina is most famous for is the stucco work of the Four Suns from Tonina, which depicts the God of Death holding the severed head of a prisoner. A popular theme in Tonina sculptures is captives being decapitated or subjected to torture. The last ruler to be immortalized by any remaining record was Jaguar Serpent in 903. This is the last period that Tonina is believed to experienced any standing as a society. Tonina was explored in the twenties by the University of Tulane but it was not until the 1970s that the French researchers, Pierre Becquelin, Claud-Fracois Baudez and Eric Taladoire excavated the site.
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