Takalik Abaj - Site Description and Layout - Stone Monuments - Maya Style Sculptures

Maya Style Sculptures

There are more than 30 monuments in the early Maya style, which dates to the Late Preclassic, making it the most common style represented at Takalik Abaj. The great quantity of early Maya sculpture and the presence of early examples of Maya hieroglyphic writing suggest that the site played an important part in the development of Maya ideology. The origins of the Maya sculptural style may have developed in the Preclassic on the Pacific coast and Takalik Abaj's position at the nexus of key trade routes could have been important in the dissemination of the style across the Maya area. The early Maya style of monument at Takalik Abaj is closely linked to the style of monument at Kaminaljuyu, showing mutual influence. This interlinked style spread to other sites that formed part of the extended trade network of which these two cities were the twin foci.