El Tajín is the name of the principal metropolitan Classic period Maya site in Veracruz, Mexico. El Tajin was occupied from the pre-urban days, but reached its height during the Classic Maya period, AD 250-900, when the population may have been as large as 20,000.
The site of El Tajin has 168 public buildings, including temples, ball courts, and plazas, within an area of nearly 200 hectares. At least a dozen ball courts have been identified at El Tajín, and several depictions of the game are lavishly carved into and painted on the walls of the buildings.
Archaeologists associated with El Tajín include Alexander von Humboldt, Ellen Spinden and Agustin de la Vega. Most recent investigations have been conducted at El Tajín by INAH and the University of Veracruz.
Sources
This is part of the About.com Guide to the Maya Civilization.
Serro, Patricia J., Juergen K. Brueggemann, and S. Jeffrey K. Wilkerson, 2002. El Tajin. Pp 691-698. In Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia, Susan Toby Evans and David L. Webster, eds. Garland Publishing, Inc. New York.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst.