Petexbatún
Encyclopedia
Petexbatún is a small lake
formed by a river of the same name, which is a tributary of the La Pasion
river. It is near Sayaxché
, located in the southern area of the Guatemala
n department
of Petén
.
Archaeologists gave the name of Petexbatún State to a group of cities during the Classic period of the Maya Civilization
that include Seibal
, Itzan
, Dos Pilas
, Aguateca
, Tamarindito
, Punta de Chimino
, Nacimiento, and others. This State was the first to be abandoned in the Late Classic, when the Maya Collapse occurred in a south to north pattern, although Seibal
, may have been reoccupied by a foreign group, possibly the Putún Maya
, according to the style of the Stelas in this period. The archaeological findings here have given a lot of information about the Collapse of the Classic Maya Civilization
.
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
formed by a river of the same name, which is a tributary of the La Pasion
Pasión River
The Pasión River is a river located in the northern lowlands region of Guatemala. The river is fed by a number of upstream tributaries whose sources lie in the hills of Alta Verapaz. These flow in a general northerly direction to form the Pasión, which then tends westwards to meet up with the...
river. It is near Sayaxché
Sayaxché
Sayaxché is a municipality in the El Petén department of Guatemala, on the Río La Pasión river. In 2000, it had 47,693 inhabitants.The city was founded in 1874 to provide accommodation for forest workers of Jamet Sastré logging company. It obtain a municipal status in 1929.El Rosario National Park...
, located in the southern area of the Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
n department
Departments of Guatemala
||Guatemala is divided into 22 departments :#Alta Verapaz#Baja Verapaz#Chimaltenango#Chiquimula#Petén#El Progreso#El Quiché#Escuintla#Guatemala#Huehuetenango#Izabal#Jalapa#Jutiapa#Quetzaltenango#Retalhuleu#Sacatepéquez...
of Petén
Petén
Petén or Peten may refer to:*Petén , a department of Guatemala*Petén Basin, the geographical / archaeological region of Mesoamerica and a center of the Maya civilization*Lake Petén Itzá, a lake in the Petén Basin region...
.
Archaeologists gave the name of Petexbatún State to a group of cities during the Classic period of the Maya Civilization
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
that include Seibal
Seibal
Seibal, known as El Ceibal in Spanish, is a Classic Period archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the northern Petén Department of Guatemala. It was the largest city in the Pasión River region....
, Itzan
Itzan
Itzan is a Maya archaeological site located in the municipality of La Libertad in the Petén Department of Guatemala. Various small structures at the site were destroyed in the 1980s during oil exploration activities by Sonpetrol and Basic Resources Ltd, prompting rescue excavations by archaeologists...
, Dos Pilas
Dos Pilas
Dos Pilas is a Pre-Columbian site of the Maya civilization located in what is now the department of Petén, Guatemala. It dates to the Late Classic Period, being founded by an offshoot of the dynasty of the great city of Tikal in AD 629 in order to control trade routes in the Petexbatún region,...
, Aguateca
Aguateca
Aguateca is a Maya site located in northern Guatemala's Petexbatun Basin, in the department of Petén. The first settlements at Aguateca date to the Late Preclassic period , and the city was sacked and abandoned in the early 9th century. Aguateca sits on top of a tall limestone bluff, creating a...
, Tamarindito
Tamarindito
Tamarindito is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located along an escarpment in the Petén department of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Petexbatún region of the southwestern Petén during the Early Classic period but was displaced by the newly founded conquest state of Dos...
, Punta de Chimino
Punta de Chimino
Punta de Chimino is a Maya archaeological site in the Petexbatún region of the department of Petén in Guatemala. Occupation at the site dates to the Preclassic and Classic periods of Mesoamerican chronology...
, Nacimiento, and others. This State was the first to be abandoned in the Late Classic, when the Maya Collapse occurred in a south to north pattern, although Seibal
Seibal
Seibal, known as El Ceibal in Spanish, is a Classic Period archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the northern Petén Department of Guatemala. It was the largest city in the Pasión River region....
, may have been reoccupied by a foreign group, possibly the Putún Maya
Putún Maya
Putún or Chontal Maya is a collective name for several groups of Maya that displaced much of the older leadership of the Maya Lowlands during the Late Classic and Postclassic. The Putún, who came from the Gulf coast in the northwest region of the Maya area, are generally held to have been more...
, according to the style of the Stelas in this period. The archaeological findings here have given a lot of information about the Collapse of the Classic Maya Civilization
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
.