Tayasal

Tayasal is a Maya archaeological site located in present-day Guatemala [1]. It was a large Maya city with a long history of occupation [1]. The site was occupied from the Middle Preclassic period (c. 1000–350 BC) through to the Late Postclassic (c. 1200–1539 AD) [1]. The Tayasal archaeological site is situated on a peninsula on Lake Petén Itzá a short distance to the north of the modern town of Flores, separated from it by a 270-metre wide stretch of water, and falls within the municipality of Flores, in the department of Petén in northern Guatemala [1]. The site covers an area of approximately 2.75 square kilometres [1]. The University of Pennsylvania mapped the site in 1971 [1]. The University of Pennsylvania project mapped 339 structures; the city possessed large open plazas, palaces, pyramid-temples, an acropolis, defensive walls, residential buildings, and a cenote [1]. As many as fifty burials and twelve caches have been recovered from Tayasal [1].