Kinal

Kinal is a major pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in the Petén Department of the modern-day Petén Department of northern Guatemala. The major occupational phase for the site dates from the Late Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology (c.600–900 AD), with evidence for a substantial and expansionary building program dating from the first half of the 8th century AD. Kinal was discovered in the 1960s by archaeologist Ian Graham while he was carrying out an archaeological survey of the region, although no excavations were undertaken at the site at that time.

The name Kinal means "something that heats" in the Yucatec Maya language. In the K'iche' Maya language, kinal is used to refer a sacred fire. The first archaeological excavations were carried out in 1990 by the Proyecto Regional Ixcanrio ("Ixcanrio Regional Project"), directed by Richard Adams of the University of Texas. The site has suffered significant damage at the hands of looters but is now protected by custodians.

Kinal is located in the northeast of Guatemala's northern Petén department. The ruins are situated among tropical forest on a limestone plateau projecting above surrounding swamps (known as bajos) to the north and south, at an altitude of 140 metres (460 ft) above mean sea level. Kinal is located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of the ruins of Río Azul. The city was built in a defensive location and was heavily fortified. The approach to the site was protected by steep hillsides, augmented by a 9-metre (30 ft) high platform topped by sheer walls. The fortification of the city took place between AD 680 and 810, and may have been motivated by the military catastrophe that overtook nearby Río Azul at the end of the Early Classic period (c. AD 600). It is likely that Kinal superseded Río Azul as the primary centre in the region and adopted the administrative functions that were formerly the preserve of that city.

The city's main water source provides water all year round and has been used in modern times to supply a gum-gatherers' (known as chicleros in Spanish) camp at the site. A path has been opened through the forest from the camp to Fallabón, near Melchor de Mencos on the Guatemalan side of the border with Belize.

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