Ixtonton

Ixtonton is a Maya archaeological site in the department of Petén in northern Guatemala [1]. It is located in the northwestern portion of the Maya Mountains in the municipality of Dolores [1]. Ixtonton was the capital city of one of the four Maya kingdoms in the upper Mopan Valley [1]. The site was occupied from the Late Preclassic period (c. 400 BC – AD 200) through to the Terminal Classic (c. AD 800-900), with some evidence of continued activity into the Postclassic (c. 900–1521) [1]. The acropolis at Ixtonton is laid out around two plazas on top of an artificially modified karstic hill [1]. Ixtonton was first reported to the Guatemalan authorities in 1985, by which time most of its stelae had already been looted [1]. The site covers an approximate area of 6 square kilometres, with its borders not clearly demarked but rather a gradual phasing into neighbouring centres [1]. Ixtonton is one of only two cities in the central Dolores plateau that possess two ballcourts instead of only one, the other city being Ix Ak [1].