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 Florida (Namaan), now the town of El Naranjo on the Mexico-Guatemala border [1]. The site was discovered in 1994 during construction of the Xan-La Libertad oil pipeline and was immediately recognized as an important undiscovered Classic period Maya city [1]. Directed by Charlotte Arnauld, Erik Ponciano, and Veronique Breuil, the La Joyanca project conducted excavations from 1998 to 2003 [1]. Work continued through the Proyecto Peten Noroccidente at related sites including Zapote Bobal and Pajaral [1].