Punta de Chimino
 Location within Guatemala
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| Location | Sayaxché |
|---|---|
| Region | Petén Department, Guatemala |
| Coordinates | 16°25′56″N 90°11′32″W / 16.43222°N 90.19222°W |
| History | |
| Abandoned | 10th century AD |
| Periods | Middle Preclassic – Postclassic |
| Cultures | Maya |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1990–1991, 1994, 1996–1997 |
| Archaeologists |
Claudia Wolley, Arthur Demarest Petexbatun Regional Archaeological Project |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural styles | Classic Maya |
Claudia Wolley, Arthur Demarest
Punta de Chimino is a Maya archaeological site in the Petexbatún region of the department of Petén in Guatemala. Occupation at the site dates to the Preclassic and Classic periods of Mesoamerican chronology. Punta de Chimino experienced a population surge in the Late Preclassic, followed by a reduction in occupation levels in the Early Classic and another increase in the Terminal Classic when the city became one of the few population centres to survive the political disintegration of the Petexbatún region after the collapse of the kingdom based at Dos Pilas. The neighbouring city of Seibal on the Pasión River appears to have intervened at Punta de Chimino at this time and to have politically dominated the smaller site.
The site is located on a peninsula on the western side of Lake Petexbatún. In the Late Classic a series of defensive ditches were excavated across the base of this peninsula in order to fortify the site. The peninsula possessed deep fertile soils overlying limestone bedrock and gave easy access to the rich aquatic resources of the lake. Punta de Chimino is one of the better investigated sites along the Pasión River and its tributaries. The site is located south of the modern town of Sayaxché.
Punta de Chimino was first settled in the Middle Preclassic period. By the Early Preclassic the city had a sizeable population.
In the Early Classic population levels at Punta de Chimino decreased from their earlier Preclassic levels, this may represent a shift in population towards nucleated settlements at the nearby Petexbatún cities of Tamarindito and Arroyo de Piedra.
Terminal Classic economic activity at Punta de Chimino appears to be a reduced continuation of the earlier Classic Period economic activity and shows no sign of any foreign influence that might have caused the Classic Maya collapse. The site is one of very few locations in the Pasión drainage to have erected major architecture during the Terminal Classic, including a corbel-vaulted temple, large palace platforms and a very large ballcourt. The inhabitants maintained areas of intensive agriculture protected by the defensive moats and the site became the last centre of elite activity to survive in the Petexbatún, at a time when other cities in the region had been reduced to tiny hamlets among the Classic period ruins. The clay used in two styles of Terminal Classic ceramics from Punta de Chimino was from the same source as that used for Seibal ceramics, and had very similar styles of decoration. The stylistic similarities between the two sites indicate that Seibal may well have taken advantage of the political fragmentation of the Petexbatún region in order to take control of Punta de Chimino and exact tribute payment.
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