Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Postclassic Period (900-1524)
Some of the Maya who abandoned El Petén must have moved southwest into the highlands
of Guatemala. In the 13th and 14th centuries they were joined by Maya-Toltecs from the
Tabasco or Yucatán areas of Mexico. Groups of these newcomers set up a series of rival
states in the Guatemalan highlands: the most prominent were the K'iche' (or Quiché; capit-
al, K'umarcaaj, near modern Santa Cruz del Quiché), the Kaqchiquels (capital, Iximché,
near Tecpán), the Mam (capital, Zaculeu, near Huehuetenango), the Tz'utujil (capital,
Chuitinamit, near Santiago Atitlán), and the Poqomam (capital, Mixco Viejo, north of
Guatemala City). Another group from the Yucatán, the Itzáes, wound up at Lago de Petén
Itzá in El Petén, settling in part on the island that is today called Flores.
Archaeologists estimate that only 10% of Tikal - one of the country's biggest and most famous Maya sites
- has been uncovered.
