Ucanal is an archaeological site of the ancient

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writin ...

. It is located near the source of the Belize River in the Petén department of present-day northern

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Location

Ucanal is located inside a bend of the Mopan River. It is accessed via the highway from Flores to Melchor de Mencos, and is near the village of Tikalito. It is south of

Tikal Tikal (; ''Tik'al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the Pre-Col ...

History

Ucanal was located in a strategic location near the source of the Belize River. The ancient name of the Ucanal polity was ''K'anwitznal,'' and one of its first rulers was

Ajaw Ajaw or Ahau ('Lord') is a pre-Columbian Maya civilization, Maya political title attested from epigraphy, epigraphic inscriptions. It is also the name of the 20th day of the ''tzolkʼin'', the Maya divinatory calendar, on which a ruler's ''kʼatu ...

K'uk' or Lord Quetzal. The city had strong ties with

and, in the 7th century AD, with Caracol. Ucanal was attacked by the ''Kalomte'' queen-regent, Wac' Chanil Ahau or Lady Six Sky of Naranjo (Saal) in September and December of 693; and on 1 February 695 Ucanal's lord Kinich Cab ("Shield-Jaguar") was captured by the ruler of Naranjo. Kinich Cab was held at Naranjo until 22 June 712; Ucanal was reduced to the status of vassal of that city.Linda Schele, ''Forest of Kings'' (1991), 189 In 800 CE, lord Hok K'awil of Caracol captured the lord of Ucanal. Over the next decades, a Maya-speaking, Nahuat/Maya

mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...

people from the Putun filled the power vacuum in Ucanal. These people did not worship the Feathered Serpent Kukulcan. In 830 CE, lord Chan Ek' Hopet installed Wat'ul Chatel as his vassal over Seibal, and commemorated it upon Stele 11 there., p.523. One of the rulers of Ucanal was Itzamnaaj Bahlam of Ucanal.

Site

The site has archeological evidence of two artificial irrigation channels: one is long and the other is long, both channels are wide. There are 114 structures in the main area and at least 150 residential groups. The protected area covers but does not include all the minor groups. There are several temples and palaces, and two ballcourts. Many of the stelae were destroyed by invaders from Naranjo (Saal). There are 22 stelae and 16 altars.

References

Proyecto Arqueologico Ucanal {{Coord, 16, 19, N, 90, 06, W, display=title, region:GT_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Maya sites in Petén Department Archaeological sites in Guatemala Former populated places in Guatemala