Zacpeten

Zacpeten is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in the northern Petén Department of Guatemala. It is notable as one of the few Maya communities that maintained their independence through the early phases of Spanish control over Mesoamerica.

The site of Zacpeten occupies a peninsula on Lake Salpeten in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala. The site was sporadically inhabited by the Maya since its initial settlement during the Middle Preclassic (1000 – 300 BC). After abandonment during Late Preclassic and Early Classic, the site was resettled from the Late to Terminal Classic (AD 600 – 950). Abandoned again, it was reoccupied in the Late Postclassic by the Maya peoples who survived the Classic Maya collapse and migrated from Mayapan in Yucatán (now in Mexico) after the collapse of the city in the fifteenth century. These people, the Kowoj Maya, brought their distinctive pottery and constructed typical Mayapan temple assemblages with a raised shrine lying at a right angle to a western facing temple rather than facing it,a very different pattern to ceremonial architecture outside central Peten. This civilisation flourished and remained independent of Spanish domination until late into the 17th century, usually recorded as 1697.

Several archaeological investigations have emphasised the similarity to the site of Mayapan. The site has been designated into 6 alphabetical areas. Groups A,B and C were important ceremonial complexes. Groups D,E and F are residential groups.The main Zacpeten settlement has a defensive wall with 2 parapets and a moat located at the northern end of the peninsula where it meets the mainland. Groups A to E are located on the peninsula but Group F is located on the mainland.

Group A occupies a central hill upon the peninsula. The ceremonial centre has been dated to the Postclassic period but overlies earlier occupation levels dating to the Middle Preclassic and Late Classic periods. The group contains two open halls and a short causeway that bisects the plaza.

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