Machaquila

150px|thumb|right| A Maya stelae|stela from Machaquila, in the [[Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología in Guatemala City]] Machaquila (or Machaquilá, using Spanish orthography) is a major ruined city of the Maya civilization in what is now the El Peten department of Guatemala.

==Location== The ruins of Machaquila fall within the municipality of Poptún, in the Petén department of Guatemala. It is approximately west of the town of Poptún, and southeast of Sayaxché. Machaquila is situated on the banks of the lower Machaquila River, which is a major tributary of the Pasión River. The site is in a relatively isolated region. During the Classic period, the city's location would have placed it upon a trade route running from the Maya Mountains in the east to the Pasión River in the west, and ultimately to the Usumacinta River. Machaquila is southeast of the contemporary Maya site of Seibal.