A Classic Maya centre located north of Tikal in the northeastern Peten province of Guatemala. The central complex consists of a small plaza flanked by long, low palace- or apartment-style buildings and two temple-pyramids. However, the site is best known for its Late Chican el stucco decoration in the Izapan style, which is especially evident on the beautiftilly preserved E-VII sub-pyramid. Though never a large centre, a seriation of its ceramics laid the basis for the whole of the Lowland Maya chronology (see Kidder). Stele 9 has one of the earliest Long count dates of the Classic Period (ad 328). The terminal Long Count date for the site is ad 889.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied