Cancuén Regional Archaeological Project: Highland-Lowland Influence and Exchange along a Geographical Boundary

El Guaraní

The site of El Guaraní (Figure 9) is a small village located approximately 3.2 kilometers north of Cancuén near the modern village of El Zapote on the east bank of the Pasión River. It consists of eleven structures, one of which is a 400 m², 2-meter tall platform occupying the highest ground in the immediate vicinity. The remainder of the site consists of small, low mounds that likely served as houses and assorted outbuildings. Based on the distribution of mounds in a few groups east of the large platform with two scattered to the west, it is likely El Guaraní was home to only two or three families.

Excavations at El Guaraní tested eight of the eleven identified mounds. As at El Achiote, deposits are shallow and ceramics recovered are thus heavily weathered. Those that retain diagnostic features date to Tepeu 2 and are part of the Cancuén ceramic sphere (Bill, et al. 2002).

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