Tonina

Ruins of a structure at Tonina

For the flowering plant of the same name, see Tonina (plant)

Tonina (Toniná in the Spanish language) is a Pre-Colombian ruined city of the Maya civilization located in what is now the state of Chiapas, Mexico, some 13 km east of the town of Ocosingo.

The site is medium large, with groups of temple-pyramids, the largest being some 250 feet high, a large court for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame, and over 100 carved monuments, most dating from the Maya Classic Era from the 6th century through the 9th century.

Rulers

Rulers of Tonina recorded in hieroglyhphic monuments include:

B'alam Ya Acal - 6th century
Chac B'olom Chaak
K'inich Hix Chapat - c. 595-665
king, name unknown - 668-687
K'inich B'aaknal Chaak - 688-715
King, name undecyphered - c.717 -723
K'inich Ich'aak Chapat - 723 - c. 739
K'inich Tuun Chapat - 8th century
Ruler, name undecyphered - 787 - c. 806
Uh Chapat - early 9th century

The known last recorded date at the site is featured on monument 101 as 909 AD.

Recent history of Tonina

Engraving of captive at the Tonina museum

Stela with glyphs at the Tonina museum

The first published account of the ruins was made by Fray Jacinto Garrido at the end of the 17th century. A number of visitors investigated the ruins of Tonina in the 19th century, the first being an expedition led by Guillaume Dupaix in 1808. John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood visited in 1840, but these usually meticulous antiquitarians published only a short mention of their visit which added little to the knowledge of the site. More thorough accounts did not come until the 1890s, when Edward Seller, Karl Sapper, and others mapped and photographed the site.

Frans Blom and Oliver La Farge investigated the site in 1925 for Tulane University. Blom returned in 1928, discovering additional monuments in the area.

The French Tonina Project began excavations in 1972 which continued through 1975, then resumed in 1979 to 1980, under the direction of Pierre Becquelin. The Mexican National Institute of Anthropology & History began their own excavations at Tonina the following year.

The site is accessible for tourism and has a small museum.

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