Maya Classic Period

Palenque (; Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itzaʼ language as Lakamha ("big water" or "big waters"), was a Maya city-state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD. After its decline, it was overgrown by the jungle of cedar, mahogany, and sapodilla trees, but has since been excavated and restored. It is located near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas, about south of Ciudad del Carmen, above sea level. It is adjacent to the modern town of Palenque, Chiapas. It averages a humid with roughly of rain a

Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. It is one of the most important sites of the Maya civilization, which was not excavated until the 19th century. The ruined citadel and imposing public squares reveal the three main stages of development before the city was abandoned in the early 10th century.

Calakmul (; also Kalakmul and other less frequent variants) is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful Mayan cities.

pre-Columbian archaeological site in Guatemala

Coba () is an ancient Maya city on the Yucatán Peninsula, located in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The site is the nexus of the largest network of stone causeways of the ancient Maya world, and it contains many engraved and sculpted stelae that document ceremonial life and important events of the Late Classic Period (AD 600–900) of Mesoamerican civilization. The adjacent modern village bearing the same name, reported a population of 1,278 inhabitants in the 2010 Mexican federal census.

Caracol is a large ancient Maya archaeological site, located in what is now the Cayo District of Belize. It is situated approximately south of Xunantunich, and the town of San Ignacio, and from the Macal River. It rests on the Vaca Plateau, at an elevation of above sea-level, in the foothills of the Maya Mountains. Long thought to be a tertiary center, it is now known that the site was one of the most important regional political centers of the Maya Lowlands during the Classic Period. Caracol covered approximately , covering an area much larger than present-day Belize City, the largest metropo

Yaxchilan () is an ancient Maya city located on the bank of the Usumacinta River in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. In the Late Classic Period Yaxchilan was one of the most powerful Maya states along the course of the Usumacinta River, with Piedras Negras as its major rival. Architectural styles in subordinate sites in the Usumacinta region demonstrate clear differences that mark a clear boundary between the two kingdoms.

thumb|275px|City glyph thumb|275px Uaxactun (pronounced ) is an ancient sacred place of the Maya civilization, located in the Petén Basin region of the Maya lowlands, in the present-day department of Petén, Guatemala. The site lies some north of the major center of Tikal. The name is sometimes spelled as Waxaktun.

Tonina (or Toniná in Spanish orthography) is a pre-Columbian archaeological site and ruined city of the Maya civilization located in what is now the Mexican state of Chiapas, some 13 km (8.1 mi) east of the town of Ocosingo.

thumb|300 px|right|Bonampak Bonampak (known anciently as Ake or, in its immediate area as Usiij Witz, 'Vulture Hill') is an ancient Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Chiapas. The site is approximately south of the larger site of Yaxchilan, under which Bonampak was a dependency, and the border with Guatemala. While the site is not overly spatial or abundant in architectural size, it is well known for the murals located within the three-roomed Structure 1 (The Temple of the Murals). The construction of the site's structures dates to the Late Classic period (c. AD 580 to 800). The

oldest attested Mayan language family member

Tazumal () is a pre-Columbian archeological site in Chalchuapa, El Salvador. Tazumal is an architectural complex within the larger area of the ancient Mesoamerican city of Chalchuapa, in western El Salvador. The Tazumal group is located in the southern portion of the Chalchuapa archaeological zone. Archaeologist Stanley Boggs excavated and restored the Tazumal complex during the 1940s and 1950s.

non-repeating base-20 and base-18 calendar used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, including the Maya

Labna (or Labná in Spanish orthography) is a Mesoamerican archaeological site and ceremonial center of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the Puuc Hills region of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is situated to the south of the large Maya site of Uxmal, in the southwest of the present-day state of Yucatán, Mexico. Labna, Sayil and Kabah were incorporated with Uxmal as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

lake in Sayaxché, Petén Department, Guatemala

Dzibanche () (sometimes spelt '''Tz'ibanche), anciently called Kaanu'l''', is an extensive archaeological site of the ancient Maya civilization located in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico. The great Maya city of Dzibanche was the first capital of the Kaan kingdom (Snake kingdom) and the place of origin of the Kaanu'l dynasty, a powerful Maya lineage that conquered and dominated a large territory of the central Maya lowlands during the Mesoamerican Classic period.

Chicanná was a Maya city that was built during the Classic period (600 AD to 830 AD). The site was named after its most famous building, Structure II, which means "House of the Serpent Mouth" in Maya. In the Maya language chi means "mouth", can means "serpent" and ná means "house". The site is located two kilometers west of Becán in Calakmul Biosphere Reserve of the Mexican state of Campeche on the Yucatán Peninsula. It is one of 45 other ruin sites located within that area.

Pre-Columbian art

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thumb|Major sites of the Puuc style (black), Chenes style (green) and transitional styles (blue)right|thumb|Puuc building at Xculoc, Campeche, as drawn by [[Frederick Catherwood, 1841 ]] right|thumb|Ruins of the Palace of Sayil. thumb|Decoration of Codz Poop at Kabáh. thumb|Detail of building in the Nunnery Quadrangle in Uxmal. Puuc is the name of a region in the Mexican state of Yucatán and a Maya architectural style prevalent in that region. The word puuc is derived from the Maya term for "hill". Since the Yucatán is relatively flat, this term was extended to encompass the large karstic rang

monuments that were fashioned by the Maya civilization

decline of classic Maya civilization

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 Pilas. In the 8th century Tamarindito turned on its new overlord and defeated it. After the destruction of the Dos Pilas kingdom the region descended into chaos and suffered rapid population decline. The city was all but abandoned by the 9th century AD.

Maya archaeological site

Dzibilnocac is an archaeological Maya site located in Campeche, Mexico near the community of Vicente Guerrero in the Hopelchén Municipality, in the central part of the Chenes region. The initial occupation of the site dates back to the Middle Preclassic period around 500 BC, but it was until the Late Classic period of the Maya civilization when it reached its greatest development becoming a large Maya city in the Chenes region and an important regional political center with its own emblem glyph and control over a large territory.

Ocomtún, whose original name could have been Maatz', is an ancient Late Classic Maya city located on the Yucatan Peninsula in the Mexican state of Campeche. Archaeologists from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History announced the discovery of the city in June 2023, after finding the ruins of several pyramid structures measuring approximately in height in a relatively unexplored area of the state. Analysis of pottery fragments found in the area indicate the area was inhabited by the Maya people between 600 CE and 800 CE, and that the city fell into ruin in around 1000 CE, coinc

Mayan city

Chactún (Maya: Red stone) is the name of an archaeological site of the Mesoamerican Maya civilization in the state of Campeche, Mexico, in the northern part of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. The site of approximately is located in the lowlands of the Yucatán Peninsula, between the regions of Rio Bec and Chenes. There are some significant differences that have yet to be explained completely, which distinguish it from some of the other nearby sites.

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alt=Structure II|thumb|Structure IIthumb|250x250px|Hochob Plan. Hochob is an archaeological site Maya culture located in the Mexican state of Campeche, about 10 minutes from the city of Dzibalchén, in the region called The Chenes. The first news about the existence of this archaeological site was due to the researcher and explorer Teobert Maler, who visited the place in 1887 and published some photographs in the Globus magazine in 1895.

Xkipche is an archaeological Maya site located in the Puuc region of Yucatán in Mexico. It developed during the early and late classic period of the Mayan civilization, the site includes a large number of Puuc architectural style buildings and its main structure is a large two-story palace with several rooms. It is located approximately 9 km south of the ancient Maya city of Uxmal.

centers of power for the Maya civilization

town in Hopelchén Municipality, State of Campeche, Mexico

Kiuic is a Maya archaeological site in the Puuc region of Yucatán, Mexico that was a large civic-ceremonial center at its peak during the Late Classic period. The occupation of Kiuic dates back to the middle Preclassic period between 800 BC which makes it one of the oldest sites within the Puuc region and had a It had continuous development until the late classical period. It was between the years 600 and 850 AD when it reached its peak of development and became a major center of power of the Puuc region.

Uxul is an ancient Maya settlement in the Campeche region of Mexico. Its construction dates back to the Preclassic period and was at the pinnacle of its existence in the classical period (circa 250 to 900 AD) a large Maya city with great political and military power. The archaeological site includes various architectural complexes with monumental structures, stelae and carved monuments with hieroglyphic inscriptions, a ball court, as well as numerous royal tombs containing skeletal remains and funeray burials. In Uxul, a large number of skeletan remains have been discovered, including skulls a

archaeological Maya site in Mexico‎

archaeological site in Quintana Roo, Mexico

Itzamkanac, also known as El Tigre, is an ancient Pre-Columbian city and archaeological Maya site located in the municipality of Candelaria in the state of Campeche, Mexico. Itzamkanac was the capital of the pre-Hispanic Acalan province ruled by the Chontal Maya or Putún Maya until the arrival and encounter with the Spanish conquistadors.

Ancient Maya limestone carving from Yaxchilan in modern Chiapas, Mexico

Tohcok (also known as Tacóh or Tacoc) is an archaeological Maya site in the Hopelchén municipality of the Mexican state of Campeche. Tohcok developed as a large ceremonial center during the late Classic and early Postclassic periods of Mesoamerica between the Puuc and Chenes region. This location in the transition zone of both regions makes Tohcok show a mix of both regional architectural styles in its buildings and structures.

mayan archaeological artifact

Ichkabal is a large ancient Maya city located in the jungle of Quintana Roo in Mexico dating from the Middle Preclassic period of the Maya civilization around 400 BC, it developed as a monumental city until the Postclassic period.