Draft:Star war of 562

The star war of 562 was a star war waged by Caracol against Tikal on AD April 29, 562. The earliest known star war, it resulted in a 130-year dark age in Tikal, the battle's defeated side, and a xxx-year golden age in Caracol, the battle's victor.

CaracolTikal relations
Caracol was Tikal's most significant client city-state or ally from xx to xx./xx

The 9.5.19.1.2 (April 16, 553 Greg.) coronation or accession ceremony of K'inich II was conducted or overseen by Wak Chan K'awiil, the 21st King of Tikal and patriarch of the Mutul dynasty.

CaracolTikal axe event
Tikal is thought to have lost its grip over client states in the 550s. In this same year of 556, El Peru Stela 44 tells us of the accession of a local king who was “owned” by one K’ahk’ Ti’ Ch’ich’ (Stanley Guenter, pers. comm. 2013). Although the titles of this character are too damaged to read, we now know that this was part of the longer name of the Kaanul king Aj Saakil (Martin and Beliaev 2017). There is good reason to believe that these developments are connected [to the 562 star war]. The previous ruler of El Peru, father to the commissioner of Stela 44, was called Chak Tok Ich’aak, a name that is only otherwise used by kings of Tikal. We know that client kingdoms had a propensity for mirroring the names of their patron power, if usually at a generation’s remove. This could well place El Peru as a one-time vassal to Tikal, and its switch in allegiance a sign that Tikal was losing its grip over nearby clients in the build-up to its defeat (David Freidel, pers. comm. 2016).

At least in the case of Caracol, the breakdown of its relationship with one hegemon [Tikal] was directly followed by a new one with its [Tikal's] bitter rival [Kanuul dynasty]./v Martin 2020 346

CaracolTikal relations broke down sometime prior to or on xxx (xxx 556 Greg.), as on said date, Yax Ehb Xook K’inich Ajaw sacked or desecrated Caracol during an axe event. It is widely believed that K'inich II considered this a casus belli, directly resulting in the star war of 562.

It has been suggested that Wak Chan K'awiil's reign (537-xxx) was a time of growing threat from Calakmul, possibly resulting in defensive earthworks being built /Sharer Traxler p367-370

Battle
The only surviving (hieroglyphic) record of the battle states

Tikal Hiatus
Tikal's defeat is commonly thought to have resulted in the Tikal Hiatus, a 130-year gap in monument building and simultaneous interruption of the city-state's dynasty.

That defeat evidently had dire consequences for Tikal, initiating its 130-year monument hiatus and an interruption to its dynastic line – perhaps even the installing of a compliant ruler subject to its conqueror (Jones 1991: 117–118; Martin 2008c, 2017b; Martin and Beliaev 2017). Although the name of that victor is almost illegible, the finger must point to the major beneficiary of Tikal’s downfall, the Kaanul dynasty, which thereafter rose to pre-eminence in the lowlands. In 619 a recently elevated Caracol king, a son of the one installed by Tikal in 553, had his rule sanctioned by the king of Dzibanche, confirming the switch from one hegemonic sphere to that of another./v Martin 2020 345

Caracol's golden age
The Tikal Hiatus was matched with a corresponding period of wealth and population growth in Caracol. It has been further suggested that Caracol's conquest of Naranjo (during a star war in 631 AD), and an extensive expansion of its causeways, was prompted by the former's need to consolidate direct territorial rule over Tikal.

Rediscovery
Altar 23 was excavated (from the central playing alley of the Group A Ballcourt) in 1985 by Keith Sullivan and Arlen Chase. Its close study by Stephen Houston (1991) retrieved a surprising amount of information/xxx

The event has been confirmed, source Stela 3 of Caracol. /// Or Altar 21??

Stela 3 excavated in 1950 by Penn / Found broken in two major fragments, one found in 1950 in Plaza A3, the lower portion found in 1953 at the west edge of Reservoir B. /Carl P. Beetz, Linton Satterthwaite 1981 The Monuments and Inscriptions of Caracol, Belize. The University Museum, University of Pennsylvania.

Altar 21 excavated xxx /Arlen Chase and Diane Chase, 1987 Investigations at the Classic Maya City of Caracol, Belize: 1985-1987. Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, San Francisco.

Alliance
It has been suggested that a CaracolCalakmul alliance defeated Tikal.

Caracol
Yajaw Te' K'inich' II has generally been presumed victor, especially given the event's inclusion in Caracol's Altar 21.

Calakmul
Sky Witness

It has been suggested that the star war was not waged by Yajaw Te’ K’inich’ II, but rather by Sky Witness. Epigraphic evidence has been put forward in support of this theory, namely, that
 * Glyph Q4 has a leftward curl in its upper-left quadrant, which those glyphs naming K'inich' II (eg A4) do not,
 * Glyphs Q4 and R4 resemble those glyphs naming Sky Witness (eg Glyphs D1c and D1b).

It has further been noted that Kaanul dynasty of Dzibanche (Sky Witness patriarch) gained geopolitical influence from Tikal's defeat. For instance, Sky Witness installed a ruler at Los Alacranes in 561 (Grube 2008: 195), making him a prime suspect (Martin 2005b: 3–5). /No long date for accession at Los Alacranes /v Sharer Traxler p=360

K’ahk’ Ti’ Ch’ich’ Aj Saakil

Sky Witness's predecessor, K’ahk’ Ti’ Ch’ich’ Aj Saakil (of the Kaanul dynasty of Dzibanche), has been proposed as the axe event's victor. /Known predecessor of Sky Witness = Tuun Kab Hix /v Sharer Traxler p=360

K’ahk’ Ti’ Ch’ich’ is named in a later section of the Altar 21 text (Sergei Vepretskii, pers. comm. 2017) and his responsibility for the war would make sense of a further record, seen on a vessel painted in the style of Naranjo dating to the later sixth century. This names K’ahk’ Ti’ Ch’ich’ as the overlord of a k’uhul mutul ajaw – which is to say, a full Tikal king – by means of another yajaw formula (Martin and Beliaev 2017). This monarch is otherwise unknown to us and if he ever ruled at the city, perhaps as a puppet following the conquest, he was later struck from Tikal’s numbered dynastic count. The next yajaw statement in the corpus also involves the dynasty of the serpent. It appears within a lengthy stucco frieze text at the site of Holmul, the greater site to which La Sufricaya is attached, which mentions several successive rulers of that centre (Estrada-Belli and Tokovinine 2016). The then-current Holmul sovereign is said both to be the vassal of an unspecified kaanul ajaw and a grandson of Aj Numsaaj Chan K’inich of nearby Naranjo, suggesting that he fell within the orbit of both kingdoms. There are no preserved dates here, but the general timeframe should fall somewhere around 580. More recently, a jade jewel depicting the Maize God was found in a tomb at Holmul, its incised inscription showing that it was once owned by a Kaanul king (Francisco Estrada-Belli, pers. comm. 2016). This was probably a diplomatic gift and part of the reciprocal, but asymmetrical, exchanges between patron and clients.

Recent developments
Scholars have long debated the role of astronomical phenomena in Maya warfare beliefs /Ancient Maya Politics: A Political Anthropology of the Classic Period 150–900 CE. Cambridge University Press, New York. 2020:220–222 /Agency and the “Star War” Glyph: A Historical Reassessment of Classic Maya Astrology and Warfare. Ancient Mesoamerica 16:305–320 xxx.