Guaytán

Guaytán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in the municipality of San Agustín Acasaguastlán, in the department of El Progreso, in Guatemala. It is the most important pre-Columbian archaeological site of the middle drainage of the Motagua River.

The site is located south of San Agustín Acasaguastlán, and to the north of the Motagua River, built on both banks of the Lato River. The site was inhabited from the Late Preclassic Period (c. 250 BC – 250 AD) to the Late Classic Period (c. 300 – 900 AD). The city controlled an important source of jadeite.

The site is distributed in a number of groups on both sides of the Lato River, but hasn't been completely mapped. The principal groups include the Acropolis, El Castillo, Carrillo, La Escuela, and La Estela.

Guaytán features an unusual Late to Terminal Classic ballcourt with an attached temple. Fragments of Classic period codices have been recovered from tombs at the site.

Guaytán features a number of large cists and extensive crypts containing multiple burials. Most were found under the remains of large structures that formed closed plazas. The crypts were built with large slabs of stone to form chambers that measured approximately 2 metres (6.6 ft) high. The largest slabs were set to form vaulted roofs to the chambers. A tomb under Structure 24 features small niches that contained vessels left as funerary offerings. Some of the crypts contained an antechamber used for additional burials.

Tomb 3 has a chamber that measures 1.7 metres (5.6 ft) wide by 2.4 metres (7.9 ft) long, accessed by a 1.3-metre (4.3 ft) long passage with a width of 0.9 metres (3.0 ft) and a height of 1.25 metres (4.1 ft).

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