Seibal

A Lowland Maya center located in south-central Petén, Guatemala. The site was occupied as early as 800 BC, expanded in size and importance in Preclassic period, and was at its height in the Late Classic, 770-900 AD, while rest of Maya civilization was declining. Archaeologists think that influx of non-Classic Maya (Putun) from the Gulf Coast prompted its development at that time. The site is dominated by three groups of ceremonial buildings, built around plazas and connected by causeways. Most of the population lived in small house clusters around these nuclei. Seibal was abandoned by 950, probably as part of the general decline of the Classic Petén centers.

Lowland Maya site, located on a high bluff overlooking the Pasion River in the Peten Province of Guatemala. Although there is evidence of occupation in the Middle PreClassic (e.g. Xe pottery and a cache of OLMEC-style jade axes) its period of maximum activity is in the Late Classic between ad 830 and 890. The site is dominated by three groups of ceremonial buildings, built around plazas and connected by causeways. Most of the population, however, lived in small house clusters around these nucleii. The site’s florescence coincides with an influx of Putun and the receding influence of nearby Altar de Sacrificios; it is therefore likely that Seibal replaced Altar as a trading station. A second influx of foreigners occurred in the Early Post-Classic (c930); the appearance of images of Tlaloc, serpent motifs and speech scrolls in their iconography strongly implies they were of Mexican origin. Seibal was abandoned by 950, probably as part of the general decline of the Classic Peten centres.