La Joyanca

La Joyanca is the modern name for a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site located south of the San Pedro Martir river in the Petén department of Guatemala [1]. The site was discovered in 1994 during the construction of the Xan-La Libertad oil pipeline in Guatemala [1]. It was immediately recognized as an important, undiscovered Classic period (AD 200-900) Maya city and became the focus of an archaeological project [1]. La Joyanca was occupied for well over 1000 years [1]. Dates from the site range from the Late Preclassic (200 BC) to the Terminal Classic/Postclassic (AD 1000) [1]. Population levels reached their height here during the Late Classic (AD 600-900); during this era the rulers of La Joyanca embarked upon an ambitious building project in two areas, dubbed the Plaza Principal and the Grupo Guacamaya [1]. The Grupo Guacamaya, a complex of vaulted rooms and corridors, may have served as their palace and thus the seat of local government [1]. The Grupo Guacamaya was briefly occupied by squatters in the 10th century, but the area was ultimately abandoned by AD 1000 [1].