Uaxactun

17.393561111111 - 89.634533333333Koordinaten: 17 ° 23 ' 37 "N, 89 ° 38 ' 4" W

Uaxactún is an archaeological site of the Maya in present-day Guatemala. The city is located about 23 kilometers north of Tikal. The name with reference to the Mayan numeral waxak was given by Sylvanus Morley, because he found an inscription from the Baktun 8 of the Mayan calendar here. Uaxactun now lies within the National Park of Tikal.

The city is one of the earliest Mayan historical sites and was inhabited ( BC about 1000 to 350) since the middle Präklassik. Like many other important centers of Präklassik Uaxactún was abandoned towards the end of Präklassik (around 200 AD) and soon settled it again. The city flourished in the following period, however, always remained in the shadow of its larger neighbor Tikal. According to an inscription found there a native of the central Mexican Teotihuacán king was employed in the year 378. It continued in the following years, a profound cultural changes which found their end only with the collapse of the great Mayan centers of classical music in the 8th and 9th centuries. Also Uaxactún was not spared from collapse; the last inscription mentions the year 889 after Christ.

Uaxactún is explored archaeologically since the 1920s. The city was the first place of the Maya, were discovered on the findings from an era before the Classic.

1966 could be the Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi of the city Uaxuctún inspire a work for chorus and orchestra, which he gave the title Uaxuctum.