Dzibanché

Dzibanche, anciently called Kaanu'l, is an extensive archaeological site of the ancient Maya civilization located in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico [1]. The initial settlement of the site dates to the Preclassic period (around 300 BC) [1]. During the Early Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology the city was the seat of the Kaan kingdom dynasty that later ruled from Calakmul to the southwest; Dzibanche appears to have been the Kaan capital in the 5th and 6th centuries [1]. The hieroglyphic stairway at Dzibanche contains the earliest known use of the Kaan dynasty Emblem glyph, dated to AD 495 [1]. At the end of the Terminal Classic period, Dzibanche was one of the last cities in the Maya area to create a dated hieroglyphic text, in AD 909 [1].