Ninth-Century Stelae of Machaquilá and Seibal

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Machaquilá

The site of Machaquilá is located on the river of the same name, just to the east of the Pasión River in southeastern Petén, Guatemala (Figure 1, shown above). The region remains today rather inaccessible, due to the rough terrain of karst hills and sinkholes and to a lack of natural resources that attracted development of other regions of Petén. ²   Its secluded location harbored Machaquilá from much of the endemic warfare that decimated the neighboring Petexbatún region in the late eighth century. Machaquilá continued to produce stelae for almost forty years after the sites of the Usumacinta and Pasión drainages fell into artistic/hieroglyphic silence and many of the great Late Classic cities of the region were abandoned. ³ 

Endnotes

2. Graham 1967:51; Lisi 1968.

3. Although Seibal could be considered an exception to this generalization, Machaquilá's sculptural florescence occurred during an apparent hiatus in sculptural production at that site.

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