Review of Radiocarbon Dates from Tikal and the Maya Calendar Correlation Problem

Abstract

AbstractRadiocarbon dates for samples from three buildings at Tikal, Guatemala, the lintel beams of which bear Maya hieroglyphs, are presented. These include dates recently determined at the University of California at Los Angeles and two UCLA and University of Pennsylvania inter-laboratory cross-checks. Two dates from the inner and outer portions of a sapote log have been determined in order to assess the growth rates of the logs from which the temple beams were fashioned and thereby help to explain some of the differences among radiocarbon dates which were previously determined. The dates for samples considered to be reliable continue to support the Goodman-Thompson-Martinez “Correlation B” hypothesis for Temples IV and I, but they also indicate that the previous chronological interpretation of the hieroglyphs of Structure 10 should be revised.