Ixtonton

Ixtonton is a Maya archaeological site in the department of Petén in northern Guatemala. It is located in the northwestern portion of the Maya Mountains in the municipality of Dolores. The ruins are situated approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) east of the town of Dolores itself. Ixtonton was the capital city of one of the four Maya kingdoms in the upper Mopan Valley. The site was occupied from the Late Preclassic period (c. 400 BC – AD 200) through to the Terminal Classic (c. AD 800-900), with some evidence of continued activity into the Postclassic (c. 900–1521). For the majority of its history Ixtonton was the most important city in the upper Mopan Valley, with its only rivals emerging in the Late Classic (c. 600-900). The acropolis at Ixtonton is laid out around two plazas on top of an artificially modified karstic hill.

Ixtonton was first described by the Atlas Arqueológico de Guatemala project in 1985. The ruins have been set aside as a protected archaeological park by the Dirección General del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural ("Department of Cultural and Natural Heritage").

The site is bordered to the north and the east by the Mopan River, while to the south the terrain is characterised by savanna and pine forest (of the species Pinus caribaea). To the west are karstic limestone hills very similar in nature to those that the site itself occupies. Ixtonton is located close to a number of other Maya archaeological sites, the most important of which are Ixtutz, 8.7 kilometres (5.4 mi) distant, and Ixkun at a distance of 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi).

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