Important Mayan archaeological sites near a beautiful highland lake
El Peten, Guatemala
Located 60km south of Flores, Petexbatun is a small lake formed by the river of the same name that splits from La Pasion river in Sayaxche. This impressive lake is fringed with dense forest and contains plentiful supplies of snook, bass, alligator and freshwater turtle. Its shores are full of wildlife and a huge number of Maya remains, three of which are Aguateca, Dos Pilas and Ceibal.
Background
The group of cities located around the Petexbatun lake area, during the Classic period of the Maya Civilization, were called the Petexbatun State and they included Ceibal, Itzán, Dos Pilas, Aguateca, Cancuen, Tamarindito, Punta de Chimino, Nacimiento, amongst others.
This state was the first to be abandoned in the Late Classic, during the collapse of the Classic Maya civilization and archaeological findings here have given a lot of information about why this collapse took place.