Yaxha

Yaxha (or Yaxhá in Spanish orthography) is a Mesoamericanarchaeological site in the northeast of the Petén Basin in modern-day Guatemala. As a ceremonial centre of the pre-ColumbianMaya civilization, Yaxha was the third largest city in the region and experienced its maximum power during the Early Classic period (c. AD 250–600).

Geographically situated on a prominent limestone ridge between Lake Yaxha and Lake Sacnab, the city occupied a strategic position controlling ancient trade routes across the eastern Petén lakes region. The name of the city derives from the Mayan yaxa', meaning "blue-green water," representing a rare survival of an authentic Classic period toponym into modern usage. The Yaxha polity controlled an estimated territory of 237 square kilometres (92 sq mi) within what is now the Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo National Park, reaching a peak population of approximately 42,000 during the Late Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology.

Yaxha had a long history of occupation with the first settlement being founded sometime in the Middle Preclassic period (c. 1000–350 BC). It developed into the largest city in the eastern Petén lakes region during the Late Preclassic (c. 350 BC – AD 250) and expanded into an enormous city during the Early Classic (c. AD 250–600). At this time, in common with other sites in Petén, it shows strong influence from the distant metropolis of Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico. It was eclipsed during the Late Classic (c. AD 600–900) by neighbouring Naranjo but was never completely dominated. The city survived well into the Terminal Classic (c. 800–900) but was abandoned by the Postclassic period (c. 900–1525).

The ruins of the city were first reported by Teoberto Maler who visited them in 1904. The site was mapped in the 1930s and again in the 1970s and stabilisation work began in the late 1980s. The ruins include the remains of more than 500 structures with a number of major archaeological groups linked by causeways. Approximately 40 Maya stelae have been discovered at the site, about half of which feature sculpture.