SITE
One of the most important sites of the Classic Maya period, Piedras Negras lies along the east bank of the Usumacinta River, just inside the Guatemala border with Mexico. The archaeological site of Piedras Negras achieved fame in the early 1960s when Russian-born scholar Tatiana Proskouriakoff deciphered the previously inscrutable Maya hieroglyphic script. Proskouriakoff was able to discern the historical content of the inscriptions, which included records and timelines of kings and members of the nobility.

Piedras Negras is remarkable for its magnificent temple-pyramids, baths and ball courts, but most especially for its many fine limestone sculptures, reliefs and stelae. Although the ruins are remote and difficult to reach, this has not deterred looters from ransacking the site. Numerous statues and stelae have been destroyed or stolen.

In the 1930s the site was excavated, but never restored, and now the monuments are seriously jeopardized by erosion. An added threat is the ever-encroaching surrounding rain forest. Almost all of the monuments are overgrown with vegetation and have never been cleared. Walls are threatening to collapse and the inscriptions have faded badly.

Unlike the Aztec, the ancient Maya were not builders of empires. Echoing more the civilization of the ancient Greeks, the Maya formed independent polities, each ruled by its own dynastic nobility. Most likely, allegiances were formed between each polity, but a unified empire under one ruler was never established. The Maya had a distinct class system, with the nobility claiming divine lineage.

The peak of Maya civilization occurred during the Classic Maya period (AD 400-800), where a number of cities flourished in the Petén region, including Piedras Negras. In antiquity Piedras Negras was known as Yokib, which means "entrance", possibly because of a 100-metre-wide cenote (a natural underground reservoir used as a sacrificial well) located near the site.

ARCHITECTURE
The extensive ruins of Piedras Negras have been classified into three architectural units: the west group (site of the main Acropolis), the east group and the south group. The structures of these groups are all situated around open plazas and consist of typical Maya monuments: temple-pyramids, ball courts and sweat baths.

A unique feature of the monuments at Piedras Negras is the frequent occurrence of the so-called "artists' signatures". Individual artists have been identified by the use of recurring glyphs on stelae and other reliefs.

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