The Mundo Perdido (Spanish for 'Lost World') is the largest ceremonial complex dating from the Preclassic period at the ancient Maya city of Tikal, in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala. The complex was organised as a large E-Group astronomical complex consisting of a pyramid aligned with a platform to the east that supported three temples. The Mundo Perdido complex was rebuilt many times over the course of its history. By AD 250–300 its architectural style was influenced by the great metropolis of Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico, including the use of the talud-tablero form. During the Early Classic period (c. 250–600) the Mundo Perdido became one of the twin foci of the city, the other being the North Acropolis. From AD 250 to 378 it may have served as the royal necropolis. The Mundo Perdido complex was given its name by the archaeologists of the University of Pennsylvania. The large plaza centred upon the Lost World Pyramid (5C-54) and the ceremonial platform to the west (5C-53) is divided into two clearly demarcated areas referred to as the High Plaza and the Low Plaza. The High Plaza is the area around the Lost World Pyramid. It is closed on the south side by Structures 6C-24 and 6C-25. A range of eight adjoining structures divide the High Plaza from the Plaza of the Seven Temples to the east. On the north side, the Plaza is principally delimited by Structures 5D-77, 5D-45, 5D-46, together with some smaller structures. The Low Plaza lies to the west of the Lost World Pyramid, centred upon Structure 5C-53, a low platform. The Low Plaza is closed on its north side by the Talud-Tablero Temple (5C-49), which is the second largest structure in the whole complex. The complex has a surface area of approximately 60,000 square metres (650,000 sq ft). Guatemalan archaeologists have made major discoveries in the Mundo Perdido since the 1970s. The National Tikal Project (Proyecto Nacional Tikal) investigated the Mundo Perdido from 1979 until 1985, and partially restored the principal structures of the complex. The Mundo Perdido was the first architectural complex to be built at Tikal in the Preclassic period and the last to be abandoned during the Terminal Classic.
History
Preclassic The Mundo Perdido underwent six phases of construction; four of these date to the Preclassic and two to the Classic. Each construction phase produced a new version of the E-Group (the Lost World Pyramid and the East Platform). Evidence recovered from the Mundo Perdido dates back to the earliest years of occupation at Tikal in the Middle Preclassic prior to 700 BC, although these remains represent rubbish rather than structures. The complex began to take form around the end of the Middle Preclassic, around 600 BC, when structures started to be added to a series of artificially levelled surfaces or platforms. Gradually both the complexity and the height of the structures increased. The Lost World Pyramid and the East Platform together form an E-Group that is the oldest architectural complex in Tikal. During the Late Preclassic a causeway was built to unite the Mundo Perdido with the North Acropolis; this causeway channelled runoff rainwater into a canal that fed into the Temple Reservoir. About AD 100, toward the end of the Late Preclassic, three temples were built upon the East Platform.
Early Classic
Around AD 250, at the beginning of the Early Classic, the Mundo Perdido plaza was expanded westwards in order to make the Lost World Pyramid the centre of the complex rather than the western extreme. It was this construction phase that led to the Mundo Perdido achieving its final surface area of around 60,000 square metres (650,000 sq ft). After this the various structures in the Mundo Perdido were remodelled many times to match the architectural styles developing throughout the city. A small platform was added to the East Platform in the Early Classic, the surface of the platform possesses a series of holes that may have supported banners. The platform covered a large pit that contained the bodies of seventeen sacrificial victims, including men, women and children, possibly sacrificed during a dedicatory ceremony for the platform itself. In the 4th century AD the first version of Structure 5D-82 was built, to the north of the East Platform. In the second half of the 4th century six tombs were built in the East Platform. Ceramic offerings in the tombs included effigy vessels representing monkeys and macaws. The high artistic and technical quality of the funerary offerings in these tombs identify the deceased as members of Tikal's elite; they may have been members of a line of the ruling dynasty that lost power among the political upheaval of the late 4th century and included the kings K'inich Muwaan Jol and Chak Tok Ich'aak I. With the entry of Siyaj K'ak' and the establishment of a new political order in the city, the focus of royal funerary rites was shifted from the Mundo Perdido to the North Acropolis. From the 4th century through to the 6th century the use of talud-tablero architecture became notable in the Mundo Perdido. In the 5th century the talud-tablero form was applied to Structures 5C-51 and 5C-52 at the western limit of the complex, and 6C-24 on the south side. In the latter part of the 6th century or during the 7th century a fifth version of the Talud-Tablero Temple 5C-49 was built, with a new stairway and summit shrine.
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