El Tintal

El Tintal is a Maya archaeological site in the northern Petén region of Guatemala, about 25 kilometres (16 mi) northeast of the modern-day settlement of Carmelita, with settlement dating to the Preclassic and Classic periods. It is close to the better known sites of El Mirador (20 kilometres (12 mi) to the north), to which it was linked by causeway, and Nakbé (20 kilometres (12 mi) to the northeast). El Tintal is a sizeable site that includes some very large structures and it is one of the four largest sites in the northern Petén; it is the second largest site in the Mirador Basin, after El Mirador itself. El Tintal features monumental architecture dating to the Middle Preclassic similar to that found at El Mirador, Nakbé and Wakna.Potsherds recovered from the site date to the Late Preclassic and Early Classic periods, and construction continued at the site in the Late Classic period.

The causeway system linking the sites of El Tintal, El Mirador and Nakbé involved a significant labour investment and an enormous quantity of construction materials, indicating an accomplished engineering programme in the Preclassic Period.

Although the site's existence was known to archaeologists for decades, due to its remote location no thorough investigation of the site took place until 2004, when the Mirador Basin Project carried out the first systematic excavations.

El Tintal is located in the north of the department of Petén, in a remote area still covered by dense virgin rainforest and only accessible by mule trails. The site occupies a hill, with four swampy areas within the site core. The swamps of the Mirador Basin appear to have been the primary attraction for the first inhabitants of the area as evidenced by the unusual cluster of large cities clustered around them.

Ceramic analysis has revealed that El Tintal was most heavily occupied during the Late Preclassic (300 BC – AD 150) and in the Late Classic. Preclassic ceramic finds are of a type found throughout the Mirador Basin, but Late Classic ceramics are of a type distinct from those found at other sites in the basin, suggesting cultural diversion as population levels fell after the Preclassic.

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