Ceibal Archaeological Site
Sitio arqueológico de Ceibal
Ceibal Archaeological Site — the name Ceibal is due to the presence of large numbers
of Ceiba trees in the area. The ancient Mayan city of Ceibal, is located in the
municipality of Sayaxché, 413 km (or 8 hour-drive) north of Guatemala City.
In this archaeological site, you can see a variety of Mayan columns and two structures
that are already restored. One of them is a pyramidal temple, in which 5 columns
placed according to the Cardinal points are located. In Stela 10, south Side shows the
Lord of Ceibal taking possession in the presence of rulers of large Mayan cities, such as
Tikal, Calakmul and Ucanal.
The columns are one of the main attractions, as they are the finest and best preserved
of the late Classic period in the Department of Petén in the Mayan lowlands. Taking
into account the surprising collection of sculpted monuments and the decipherment of
their present texts and iconographic elements, it can be said that Ceibal constitutes a
“meeting point among the rulers”, given that in one of the columns, they are the
emblems of cities such as Tikal, Calakmul (Mexico), Ucanal and Ceibal itself are
present. In 1985, this site was declared by the Ministry of Culture and Sports as an
archaeological park, and in 1995 it was declared as a protected area.