Ceibal

The site was occupied from the Pre Classic Period through to the Late Classic, with a significant hiatus. The principal phase of occupation dates to the Late Pre Classic (400 BC – 200 AD), followed by a decline in the Early Classic (AD 200–600). Ceibal experienced a significant recovery in the Late Classic immediately prior to its complete abandonment, reaching its second peak from about 830 to 890, with a population estimated at 8,000 – 10,000 people. The dates on the steles at Ceibal are unusually late, with monuments that were built after the Classic Maya collapse had engulfed most of the Petén region. Many of Ceibal's late monuments show artistic influence from central Mexico and from the Gulf Coast of Mexico.

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The early history of the site is lost due to the catastrophic defeat of the city in 735 AD by the nearby Petexbatún Kingdom with its capital at Dos Pilas, resulting in the destruction of its earlier sculpted monuments. Ceibal was reduced to being a vassal state until the destruction of the Petexbatún Kingdom in the late VIII century AD. In 830 AD a new elite came to the site with the arrival of Wat'ul Chatel from Ucanal to the east. This new arrival reinvigorated Ceibal and allowed it to last to the dawn of the X century, well after the Classic Maya collapse had engulfed most of the region.

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