🇧🇿 Belize · Ancient city
El Pilar
Middle Preclassic – Terminal Classic (c.800 BCE–1000 CE) Lowland Maya · Maya (Lowland)
El Pilar straddles the Belize-Guatemala international boundary on a 340m-high escarpment 12 km north of San Ignacio, Belize.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Muyil
Late Preclassic – Postclassic (c.300 BCE–1519 CE) continuous; Early Classic–Late Classic peak · Maya (East Coast / Southern Lowland)
Muyil (Chunyaxché, Chan Muuch) is the long-lived lowland Maya city on the karst ridge at the Muyil lagoon inside the Sian Ka'an Biosphere, Quintana Roo (10 m).
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Yaxchilan
Late Classic (c.400–900 CE) Usumacinta kingdom · Maya (Usumacinta – Pacal's rival)
Yaxchilan (ancient Pa' Chan, cleft sky) crowns a horseshoe meander of the Usumacinta in Chiapas at 120 m, 35 km by river from Frontera Corozal.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Temple complex
San Gervasio Cozumel
Postclassic (c.1200–1521 CE) Late Postclassic Cozumel–Mayapan league · Maya (East Coast – Cozumel)
San Gervasio (Tantún Cuzamil) is Cozumel island's paramount Late Postclassic pilgrimage capital at 15 m interior, 7 km west of San Miguel, Quintana Roo.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient port
Xcaret
Postclassic (c.1200–1519 CE) East Coast – Mayapan league; Late Classic hamlet antecedents · Maya (East Coast Coastal)
Xcaret (ancient Polé) is the walled Postclassic port-temple town on a Caribbean caleta 5 km south of Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, at 8 m.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient village
El Cedral Cozumel
Late Preclassic – Postclassic (c.300 BCE–1518 CE) Cozumel Maya – Spanish contact · Maya (Coastal East Coast)
El Cedral is Cozumel island's oldest pueblo (Preclassic village Oycib) 17 km south of San Miguel, Quintana Roo, at 10 m.
🇭🇳 Honduras · Ancient city
Copán
Classic 426–822 CE (dynastic Copán, peak 695–820) · Maya (southeast Petén sphere, Copán kingdom, non-Maya frontier)
Premier Classic southeastern Maya capital and sculpture capital: Acropolis with 4,500 glyph Hierarchical Stairway (longest Classic Maya text – 72 steps, 2,200 glyphs recording 14 kings), Rosalila…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Rock art
El Resbalón
Classic (c.250–800 CE) Maya Petén – Río Bec fringe · Maya (Petén – Río Bec transitional)
El Resbalón ('the slide') is a hilltop Maya city and open-air epigraphic cliff 35 km SW of Xpujil in the Calakmul Biosphere south at 250 m.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Acanceh (Acancéh) Maya Palace City
Late Preclassic – Postclassic (300 BCE–1500 CE, mask palace 300–500 CE) · Maya (Northwestern Yucatán – Acanceh)
Maya town in central-north Yucatán occupied continuously 300–1500 CE with unique layered architecture: Early Classic steep step-pyramid buried under Palace of the Stuccos (1st c.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Chacchoben Maya City
Middle Preclassic–Postclassic Maya (700 BCE–1200 CE, flourished 300–900) · Maya (Sarteneja – southern Quintana Roo)
Middle Preclassic to Terminal Classic Maya town (700 BCE–1200 CE, major 300–900) in southern Quintana Roo jungles: 3 temple pyramids (Gran Basamento 7 m high 70 m long, Temple 24 with red-painted…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Tulum
Late Postclassic 1200–1550 CE (settlement from ~564 CE but walls/frescos 1200–1500) · Maya (Eastern coast, Postclassic International style, Chetumal polity, Mayapán confederacy)
Late Postclassic (1200–1550 CE) clifftop walled port with Caribbean panorama: 6 m limestone wall and pyramid Temple of the Frescoes with mural interiors, El Castillo (12 m pyramid with columns as…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Pol Box
Late Preclassic – Terminal Classic (c.300 BCE–950 CE) Río Bec – Chenes transition · Maya (Río Bec–Chenes–Peten fringe)
Pol Box is a jungle pyramid town on the karst plateau 48 km south-southwest of Xpujil in the Calakmul Biosphere fringe, Campeche, at 260 m.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Pyramid
Piedras Negras — Pyramid Complex K-5 and Acropolis (Usumacinta, Guatemala)
Early to Late Classic Maya (250–900 CE) · Maya (Usumacinta basin)
Powerful Classic Maya kingdom capital Yo’k’ib on Usumacinta north bank (450–810 CE) with 8 km² centre.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Palenque
Late Classic 226 BCE–800 CE (apogee 615–800 CE Early–Late Classic) · Maya (B'aakal / Palenque dynasty; Western Maya lowlands)
Maya Classic capital of B'aakal on Chiapas foothills with low jungle: Temple of Inscriptions (22 m pyramid with 69-step Hieroglyphic Stair recording dynastic history and Pakal's vault; Pakal the…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Chinkultic (Lagunas de Montebello) Maya City
Early to Late Classic Maya (300–1200 CE) · Maya (Tojolabal – Comitán sphere)
Highland Maya city (300–1200 CE) perched above Cenote Agua Azul at Montebello Lakes, Comitán plateau: 127 mounds grouped in 4 architectural clusters (Groups A–D) over 50 ha, including 25-m-high…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Dzibilchaltún
500 BCE–1542 CE (Preclassic through Postclassic to Contact; apogee CIassical 600–950) · Maya (northwestern Yucatán, Dzibilchaltún polity)
Northern Maya lowland megasite spanning 17 km² (largest in Yucatán by area, 8,400 structures, 1,300 vaulted buildings) occupied extraordinarily from Middle Preclassic 500 BCE to Conquest ~1542 CE…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
El Rey (Cancún) Maya Port Town
Late Postclassic East Coast (1200–1520 CE, occupied to contact) · Maya (East Coast – Ecab / Cuchbalam)
Postclassic coastal town (1200–1520 CE) directly in Cancún Hotel Zone at km 18 on barrier island between Nichupté Lagoon and Caribbean: ~40 platforms, colonnaded halls and Pyramid Structure 2 (9 m…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Bonampak
Late Classic 580–800 CE (mural phase 790–800 CE) · Maya (Usumacinta Basin, dependent of Yaxchilán under Shield Jaguar III)
Small Usumacinta tributary Maya center (~1.5 km²) world-famous for Temple of the Murals (Structure 1): three vaulted rooms with 110 m² of brilliantly preserved frescoes (c.790 CE ‘1000-year pigments’…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Becán
Late Classic to Terminal/Postclassic 550–1200 CE (Río Bec apogee 730–830) · Maya (Río Bec–Chenés, between Calakmul and Chenés region)
Major Río Bec–Chenés fortified Maya capital surrounded by unique 2 km-long, 16 m-wide, 5 m-deep continuous ditch-moat (English ‘Be’ecs ditch’) enclosing 25 ha core – only fully ditched major Maya…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Tenam Puente Maya City
Classic to Early Postclassic (300–1200 CE, walls 900–1200) · Maya (Tojolabal / highland Chiapas)
Fortified Late Classic–Postclassic Maya capital (300–1200 CE, fortification 900–1200) crowning limestone hilltop 250 m above Comitán valley: 60+ structures, walled core (60 ha) with 4.5-m-thick…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Oxkintok Archaeological Zone
Early Preclassic–Postclassic Puuc (300 BCE–1500 CE, zenith 475–750) · Maya (Early Puuc – northwestern border)
Strategic Puuc border capital (300 BCE–1500 CE, florescent 475–750 Classic Early Puuc) northwest tip of Puuc, controlling Mérida–Uxmal–Calakmul corridor: 3 major groups (Ah Canul, May, Dzib) over 50…
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Ancient city
Piedras Negras
Late Classic 400–830 CE (peak 608–808 CE, Dynasty of Piedras Negras 7 lords) · Maya (Yo’k’ib / Piedras Negras kingdom, western Petén)
Largest Classic Maya city on Guatemala's Usumacinta north bank (1,000+ structures, pyramid temples 20 m high) famous for epigraphy: Tatiana Proskouriakoff here invented phonetic Maya glyph…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Kulubá Archaeological Zone
Late Classic–Early Postclassic (600–1200 CE) · Maya (Eastern Yucatán – Cupul province)
Late Classic–Postclassic eastern Yucatán dense town (600–1200 CE) 35 km SE of Tizimín, 6 sq km with 3 core groups (Group A palace 70×50 m, Group B temple pyramid 8 m, Group C ballcourt) of…
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Ancient city
Ixtonton Maya City
Late Classic Maya (550–900 CE) · Maya (Dolores valley – Petén southeastern)
Late Classic Maya kingdom capital (600–900 CE) in southeastern Petén mountains: 120 structures organized in 2 plazas, main Acropolis pyramid 18 m high, Group 2 palace, Structure 104 vaulted causeway…