Editing Uaxactun (section)

==History of discovery==
With recent{{When|date=February 2016}} achievements in the [[decipherment]] of the ancient [[Maya hieroglyphics|Maya hieroglyphic]] [[writing system]], it has been determined that the ancient name for this site translates roughly as '''''Siaan K'aan''''' or "Born in Heaven". The name ''Uaxactun'' was given to the site by its rediscoverer, archaeologist [[Sylvanus Morley]], in May 1916. He coined the name from Maya words ''Waxac'' and ''Tun'', to mean "Eight Stones". The name has two meanings; Morley's stated reason for the name was to commemorate it as the first site where an inscription dating from the 8th Baktún of the [[Maya calendar]] was discovered (making it then the earliest known Maya date). The other meaning is a pun, since "Uaxactun" sounds like "[[Washington, D.C.|Washington]]", the U.S. capital and home of the [[Carnegie Institution for Science|Carnegie Institute]] which funded Morley's explorations.<ref>O'Neil, '' The Maya'' p. 143</ref>

Morley's initial investigation of the site mostly focused on the hieroglyphic inscriptions; after that Uaxactun was not visited again until 1924, when [[Frans Blom]] made a more detailed investigation of the structures and mapped the site. The Carnegie Institution conducted archeological excavations there from 1926 through 1937, led by Oliver Ricketson.  The excavations added greatly to knowledge of the [[Mesoamerican chronology|early Classic and pre-Classic]] Maya.{{Citation needed|date=February 2016}} The remains of several badly ruined late Classic era temple-pyramids were removed, revealing well-preserved earlier temples underneath them.

[[Image:Uaxactun GroupE fromTempleOfMasks.png|thumb|276px|right|View of E Group from the temple of masks at Uaxactun]]
For most of the Carnegie team's time at Uaxactun, communication with the outside world was via a four-day [[mule]] convoy to [[El Cayo]], [[Belize|British Honduras]]. Towards the end of the time an airstrip was opened. Flights to Uaxactun continued and a small village grew there, as it became a center for gathering of [[chicle]] sap from the Petén jungle. In 1940 A. L. Smith and [[Edwin M. Shook|Ed Shook]] of the Carnegie project returned to make some additional excavations. In the late 1970s a rough road was opened, connecting Uaxactun to Tikal and thence to [[Flores, Guatemala]]. Air flights were discontinued.  In 1984 the road was much improved. Shook returned again in 1974 to oversee consolidation and restoration of some architecture excavated earlier. In 1982 Guatemala's ''Tikal National Park'' was expanded to include the ruins of Uaxactun within its protected area. In 1990 the Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR) was created, including Uaxactun as a part of the reserve's Multiple Use Zone.

In 2009 an excavation project of Slovak Archaeological and Historical Institute (SAHI) was started by professor Milan Kováč.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sahi.sk/uaxactun.php|title=Slovenský archeologický a historický inštitút – SAHI|access-date=5 February 2016|archive-date=July 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701095119/http://www.sahi.sk/uaxactun.php}}</ref>