Archaeological Sites in Guatemala
City/town/settlement in Guatemala (65)
Acrópolis Aguateca
Aguateca is a Maya archaeological site located in northern Guatemala's Petexbatun Basin in the department of Petén. The center was occupied from approximately 200 B.C. until about…
Arroyo de Piedra
Arroyo de Piedra is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in the Petexbatún region of Guatemala, located 2-3 km northeast of Dos Pilas and 3 km west of Tamarindito. The site…
Balberta
Balberta is a major Maya archaeological site on the Pacific coastal plain of southern Guatemala, dated to the Early Classic period. It is the only known major site on the…
Bejucal
Bejucal is a Maya archaeological site located in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala, within the San Miguel La Palotada biotope in the municipality of San José. It is…
Bilbao
Bilbao is a major Mesoamerican archaeological site near Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa in the Escuintla department of Guatemala, situated on the Pacific coastal plain among sugar…
Cancuén
Cancuen was the capital and port city of a powerful Maya kingdom in the Upper Pasion River valley, Guatemala, flourishing during the Late Classic Period (AD 657-800). The site…
Chama
(8th c. AD) Chama is a small Late-Classic Maya highland settlement in the Chixoy River valley of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, approximately 50 km northwest of San Pedro Carchá. The…
Chitinamit
Chitinamit is a Maya archaeological site in highland Guatemala, identified as Jakawitz—the first capital of the K'iche' Maya kingdom. Located in the El Quiché department,…
Chocolá
Chocola is a major Preclassic Maya site in the Suchitepequez Department of Guatemala, active from c. 1000 BC to 200 AD. The site spans several square kilometers with over 100…
Chutixtiox
Chutixtiox is a Maya archaeological site near Sacapulas in Guatemala's Quiche department. Excavated by A. Ledyard Smith in the 20th century, ceramic evidence indicates strong ties…
Cival
Cival is a major Preclassic Maya site in the Peten Basin of Guatemala, about 40 km east of Tikal, that flourished from the 6th century BC through the 1st century AD with a peak…
Cotzumalhuapa
Cotzumalhuapa is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological zone in the piedmont of Escuintla Department, Guatemala, near Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa. Occupied from the Middle Preclassic…
Dos Pilas
Dos Pilas is a Pre-Columbian Maya city in Guatemala's Petén department, founded in AD 629 by a branch of Tikal's dynasty to control trade along the Pasión River in the Petexbatún…
El Baúl
El Baul is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in Escuintla, Guatemala, part of the Cotzumalhuapa Archaeological Zone alongside Bilbao and El Castillo. Flourishing during the Late…
El Ceibal
Seibal (El Ceibal) is a major Maya archaeological site in the Peten Department of Guatemala, first settled around 900 BC and spanning some 2,000 years of occupation. The largest…
El Mirador
El Mirador is a large pre-Columbian Middle and Late Preclassic Maya settlement in northern El Petén, Guatemala, considered the most important Preclassic Maya complex. The site…
El Perú
Also known by its ancient Maya name Waka', this major city-state capital sits near the San Pedro River in Guatemala's Peten department, 60 km west of Tikal. Occupied from c. 500…
El Porvenir
A small Maya settlement 2 km northeast of the major centre of Piedras Negras, along the Usumacinta River in Guatemala's Peten department. Occupied from c. 500 BC through the…
El Temblor
A medium-sized Maya settlement about 18 km south of Tikal in Guatemala's Peten department, first recorded by Ian Graham in 1974. The site consists of at least three architectural…
El Tintal
500 BC – 550 AD: El Tintal is a Maya archaeological site in the northern Petén region of Guatemala, located about 25 km northeast of Carmelita. It is the second-largest site in…
El Zotz
El Zotz is a Maya archaeological site in Guatemala's Petén Basin, situated about 20 km west of Tikal and 26 km west of Uaxactun. The site derives its name from the abundant bat…
Holmul
Holmul is a major Maya archaeological site in the Peten region of Guatemala, continuously occupied from 800 BC to 900 AD. First scientifically excavated by R.E. Merwin in 1911, it…
Isla Principal Topoxte
Topoxte is a Late Postclassic Maya ceremonial center (1250-1500 AD) on an island in southwestern Lake Yaxha, northeastern Peten, Guatemala. As capital of the Kowoj Maya, it was…
Ixkun Mayan Arqueológico Site
A major Maya archaeological site in the Peten Department of Guatemala, 6.5 km north of Dolores, occupied from the Preclassic through the Postclassic period with its peak between…
Ixlu
Located on the isthmus between Petén Itzá and Salpetén lakes in northern Guatemala, Ixlu was a major port city of the Classic and Postclassic Maya periods. The site controlled…
Ixtonton
Ixtonton is a Maya archaeological site in the Petén Department of Guatemala, located 2 km east of Dolores in the northwestern Maya Mountains. It served as the capital of one of…
Ixtutz
Ixtutz was a Classic Period Maya city in southeastern Petén, Guatemala, situated in the Poxte River valley within the western Maya Mountains. The site was inhabited from the…
Kaminal Juyu Parque Arqueológico
Kaminaljuyu is a Pre-Columbian Maya site located in present-day Guatemala City, Guatemala. Primarily occupied from 1500 BC to 1200 AD, it was a major political and ceremonial…
Kinal
Kinal is a major pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala. The site's major occupational phase dates to the Late Classic period…
Kʼatepan
K'atepan (meaning "old temple" in Chuj) is a Postclassic Maya archaeological site located 1 km east of San Mateo Ixtatan in Guatemala's Huehuetenango Department. Dating to c.…
La Amelia
La Amelia was a Pre-Columbian Maya city near Itzan in Guatemala's Petén Department, situated along the lower Pasión River. It operated as an independent polity during the Late…
La Blanca
La Blanca is a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in San Marcos Department, western Guatemala, primarily occupied during the Middle Preclassic period (900–600 BC). The…
La Sufricaya
La Sufricaya is a pre-Columbian Maya site in the Peten Basin of Guatemala, situated 1.2 km west of the larger city of Holmul. Its core features an elevated plaza with a temple, a…
Machaquila
Machaquila is a ruined Maya city in the Peten department of Guatemala, approximately 90 km west of Poptun, that flourished during the Late to Terminal Classic periods with its…
Mixco Viejo
Mixco Viejo (now identified as Jilotepeque Viejo) is a Postclassic Maya fortified city in the Chimaltenango department of Guatemala, strategically situated on a hilltop above the…
Montana
Montana is a large Mesoamerican archaeological site on the Pacific coastal plain in Escuintla, Guatemala. Around AD 400 it replaced nearby Balberta as the regional capital,…
Naachtun
Naachtun is a major archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located at the northeastern edge of the Mirador Basin in the southern Maya lowlands of modern-day…
Nakbe
Nakbe is one of the largest early Maya archaeological sites, located in the Mirador Basin of Guatemala's Petén region, approximately 13 km south of El Mirador. Excavations…
Naranjo
Naranjo (ancient name Wak Kab'nal) is a major Pre-Columbian Maya city in Guatemala's Peten Basin, occupied from about 500 BC to 950 AD. The second-largest Maya kingdom in the…
Nixtun-Ch’ich
An Itza Maya archaeological site on a peninsula extending into Lake Peten Itza in Guatemala's Peten Department, covering approximately one square mile. It features the only known…
Pajaral
Pajaral is a Classic Maya archaeological site in the Peten department of Guatemala, identified as a capital of the ancient Hixwitz ("Jaguar Hill") kingdom. Previously known only…
Parque Arqueológico Uaxactun
Uaxactun is an ancient Maya ceremonial center in the Peten department of Guatemala, located 19 km north of Tikal within the Maya Biosphere Reserve. Settled from the Middle…
Parque Arqueológico Zaculeu
Zaculeu is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in the western highlands of Guatemala, located 3.7 km (2.3 mi) outside Huehuetenango. Occupation dates to the Early Classic…
Piedras Negras
Located on the north bank of the Usumacinta River in Petén, northwestern Guatemala, Piedras Negras (Maya name Yo'k'ib') was one of the most powerful ancient Maya urban centers of…
Punta de Chimino
Located in the Petexbatún region of Guatemala, Punta de Chimino was a Maya settlement spanning the Preclassic to Terminal Classic periods. After a Late Preclassic population surge…
Quirigua (Parque Arqueológico y Ruinas de Quiriguá)
Quiriguá is an ancient Maya archaeological site in southeastern Guatemala's Izabal department, situated along the lower Motagua River. The medium-sized site covers approximately 3…
Qʼumarkaj
Q'umarkaj, also known as Utatlan, was the capital of the K'iche' Maya kingdom, founded around 1400 AD by king Q'uq'umatz on an easily defended plateau surrounded by ravines over…
Río Azul
Río Azul is an ancient Maya city in Guatemala's Petén Department, situated southeast of the Azul river near the Mexico-Belize border. At its peak during the Early Classic period…
Sacul
Sacul was a Maya city in the upper Mopan River drainage of Guatemala's Petén department, occupying a key trade route through the Maya Mountains. The main period of occupation…
San Bartolo
San Bartolo is a small pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in Guatemala's Petén Department, northeast of Tikal and roughly fifty miles from the nearest settlement. The site…
San Clemente
San Clemente (also known as Chichantun) is a Classic-period Maya site in El Peten, Guatemala, approximately 55 km from Flores. Its core covers about 60,000 sq m and includes an…
Sitio Arqueológico El Chal
El Chal is a pre-Columbian Maya site in the upper San Juan River valley of southeastern Peten, Guatemala, occupied from approximately 300 BC to 1300 AD. Archaeologists have mapped…
Sitio Arqueológico Iximche
Iximcheʼ is a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the western highlands of Guatemala. It served as the capital of the Late Postclassic Kaqchikel Maya kingdom from…
Sitio Arqueológico La Blanca, Peten
La Blanca is a Maya pre-Columbian archaeological site in the Mopan River valley of northern Petén, Guatemala. The settlement was predominantly occupied during the Middle…
Sitio Arqueológico Motul
Motul de San Jose, known anciently as Ik'a' ('Windy Water'), is an ancient Maya civic-ceremonial centre north of Lake Peten Itza in Guatemala's Peten department. First settled…
Takalik Abaj National Park
Tak'alik Ab'aj (9th c. BC - 10th c. AD) is a pre-Columbian city in Guatemala with both Olmec and Maya features, one of the largest sculptured sites on the Pacific coastal plain.…
Tamarindito
Tamarindito is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization situated along an escarpment in the Petén department of Guatemala. During the Early Classic period (c. 300–600 AD),…
Tayasal
Tayasal is a Maya archaeological site on a peninsula on Lake Peten Itza in northern Guatemala, occupied from the Middle Preclassic (c. 1000 BC) through the Late Postclassic period…
Tres Islas
Tres Islas is a small pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site situated 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of modern Cancuen in Guatemala's Petén Department, within the dense tropical…
Ucanal
Ucanal is a major Maya archaeological site located inside a bend of the Mopan River in the Peten department of Guatemala, founded between 1000 and 400 BCE. The site contains 114…
Wajxaklajun
Wajxaklajun is a Classic period Maya ruin in the highlands of Guatemala near San Mateo Ixtatán. It is the most important archaeological site in the San Mateo Ixtatán area. The…
Witzna
Witzna (c. 1st–8th century AD) is a mid-sized Maya archaeological site in Guatemala's Petén Basin. Inscriptions found at the site confirm its ancient name was Bahlam Jol. The…
Xultun
Xultun, anciently known as B'aax Witz ('Quartz Mountain'), is a major Maya city 40 km northeast of Tikal in Guatemala's Peten province. Its largest pyramid (Structure B-7) has a…
Zacpeten
Zacpeten is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in northern Petén Department, Guatemala, occupied from approximately 1000 BC to AD 950. It is notable as one of the few Maya…
Zapote Bobal
Zapote Bobal is a pre-Columbian Maya site in the Peten department of Guatemala, discovered by Ian Graham in the 1970s. Built atop a levelled hill 1 km long and 700 m wide, the…
Temple complex in Guatemala (5)
Cerro Quiac
Cerro Quiac is a Maya archaeological site at 2,635 m elevation in the Guatemalan Highlands. When archaeologists visited in 1970, five stone sculptures were documented; by 1977…
La Joyanca
La Joyanca is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in Guatemala's Petén department, situated south of the San Pedro Martir river and east of the former Maya center of La…
La Muerta
La Muerta is a Maya archaeological site in northern Peten, Guatemala, situated on a promontory 3.5 km south of El Mirador's El Tigre complex. The site is considered a satellite of…
Sitio Arqueológico Altar de Los Sacrificios
Altar de Sacrificios is a Maya ceremonial centre at the confluence of the Pasion and Salinas rivers in Peten, Guatemala, where they combine to form the Usumacinta. First…
Yaxhá
The third-largest Maya city in Guatemala, located on the north shore of Lake Yaxha in the Peten Basin. The name means "blue-green water" in Mayan. Occupied from around 500 BC, the…
Pyramid complex in Guatemala (1)
Settlement in Guatemala (1)
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