Post Classic
1200 C.E - 1525 C.E.
By the time of the Spanish conquest the Maya civilization was in total decline. The Maya did resist subjugation longer than the Aztec of central Mexico and the Inca of Peru. Returning to Guatemala where they established the city of Tayasal as a refuge. The Lacandon Maya resisted from the jungles and mountains along the Usumacinta River. Disease and social disruption brought by the Spanish innodated the Maya and the population dwindled during the 16 th century.
The overwhelming desire of ancient Mexicans to possess exotic merchandise is attested to by Mayan ruins on Isla Cerritos, an island only 650 feet in diameter, off the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula,
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Tayasal is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site that dates to the Postclassic period. The site is located in the southern Maya lowlands on a small island in Lake Peten Itza, now part of the Department of Peten in northern Guatemala.
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Guiengola is a Zapotec archeological site located 14 km north of Tehuantepec, and 243 km southeast of Oaxaca city on Federal Highway 190. The visible ruins are located between a hill and a river that each carry the name of Guiengola.
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Topoxte is located in what is now Department of Peten in northern Guatemala. As the capital of the Ko'woj Maya, it was the largest of the few Postclassic Mesoamerican sites in the area.
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Gumarcaj, sometimes rendered as Cumarcaj or Kumarcaaj is an archeological site in El Quiche department of Guatemala. Gumarcaj is also known as Utatlan, the Nahuatl language name for the city. The name comes from K'iche' Q'umarkah "Place of old reeds".
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Mixco Viejo is a Mayan site in the north east of the Chimaltenango department of Guatemala, some 50 km to the north of Guatemala City and 4km from the junction of the rivers Pixcaya and Montagua. It is a moderate sized city of the Post-Classic Era.
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Iximche is located a mile away from Tecpan which is about 21 miles from Chimaltenango. Iximche was the capital of the Cakchiquel Maya. The archaeological site sits atop a fortified hilltop surrounded by a moat
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In pre-Columbian times before the Conquerors' arrival, Zinacantan already had strong links with the Aztecs in the Central Zone of Mexico. Zinacantecans exchanged their products (salt, amber, etc.) with Aztec traders.
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