Almost literally "in the shadow of a giant," El Zotz is so close to its powerful neighbor Tikal that Temple IV can be seen on the horizon. But there is a substantial wall between the two cities, and El Zotz seems well disposed to Tikal's enemy El Peru. A royal court with monumental architecture that seems to have sprung into being at a time of dynastic turbulence in Tikal, El Zotz bears all the marks of a "founded" polity that flourished briefly along a borderland between two larger kingdoms.
Is Zotz an opportunistic city, suddenly developing, suddenly undergoing decline?
Why did El Zotz grow during the Peten hiatus?
Why does Zotz share its paired emblem glyphs with Yaxchilan?
Why are some of first sculptor's signatures here?
Why are the first way images found here?
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