Altar De Sacrificios

The Maya site at the junction of the Pasion and Chixoy Rivers in Peten, Guatemala, occupied from c 1000 BC (Middle Pre-Classic) until c 950-1000 AD (beginning of Postclassic). Early remains are of Xe pottery and formal architecture (thatch-and-pole) date to c 500 BC. The site flourished due to its position on water routes and eventually plazas, a ball court, and temple pyramid were built. There is evidence of intrusion of a group (probably Putun) around 800-850 AD and a second invasion c 910. After this, the site declined in power and was eventually abandoned.

Lowland Maya site located at the junction of the Pasion and Chixoy Rivers in the southwest Peten province of Guatemala. Its earliest remains (Xe pottery) date to 1000 bc, the Middle Pre-Classic. The beginnings of formal architecture (a ceremonial precinct of three thatch-and-pole buildings on packed lime-and-ash floors on raised platforms) date to <500 bc. Due to its prime commercial position on major water routes joining the interior to the coast, the site flourished in the Classic period as a trade station. Major architecture includes plazas, a ball court and a temple-PYRAMiD with steLAE and altars located on its steep stairway. The intrusion of a Mexican-influenced group (probably the Putun) becomes evident in the period ad 800-850. A second invasion of more clearly Mexican-associated groups occurs at the very end of the Classic period in c910 (a long count date of 889 is the most recent on the site). After this time power shifted up river to the more defensively positioned site at Seibal. Both sites were abandoned by 950.