Kaminal Juyu Parque Arqueológico

Kaminaljuyu is a Pre-Columbian site of the Maya civilization located in Guatemala City [1]. Kaminaljuyu, when first mapped scientifically, comprised some 200 platforms and pyramidal mounds [1]. The site was largely swallowed up by real estate developments [1]. The known parts of Kaminaljuyu lie on a broad plain beneath roughly the western third of modern Guatemala City [1]. The architecture of Middle Preclassic structures consisted of hardened adobe bricks that served, later, as foundations for raised platforms and pyramidal temples [1]. The apogee of Preclassic developments at Kaminaljuyu occurred during what scholars refer to as the "Miraflores" period – once a name for a Late Preclassic ceramic phase, now split into two, the Verbena and Arenal [1]. Enormous thrones and stelae attest to the might and splendor of "Miraflores" Kaminaljuyu [1]. Kaminaljuyu's strategic location also facilitated interactions with central Mexican centers, including Teotihuacan, extending Kaminaljuyu's regional and transregional connections and influence [1].