Yaxuná stands just 20 kilometers south of Chichén Itzá in the heart of the Yucatan. It is a very old city, dating to the Middle Preclassic era and contains many large monumental buildings. The longest known sacbé (Maya road), runs straight as an arrow from the
center of imperial Cobá and ends among the pyramid platforms at the ceremonial center of Yaxuná. It is over 100 kilometers long. This sacbé has posed some very interesting questions about the politics of ancient Yucatan.
Among the building sites at Yaxuná is The North Acropolis. This large platform holds a triad of pyramidal structures. The foundations
of these buildings date to the Late Preclassic. The Yaxuná ballcourt lies 100 meters to the south of the acropolis platform directly on the centerline of both the acropolis triad and the entire ceremonial precinct. Another interesting find at Yaxuná is the site of Xcan Ha which is located just 2 kilometers north of the site center.
It is a rock citadel or outpost and is in a direct line with Chichen Itzá. Since it is believed that the citizens of Yaxuná were aligned with the rulers of Cobá it is possible that the Xcan Ha site was a defensive early warning fort to warn the city of impending danger from Chichén Itzá. The old, Preclassic center of Yaxuná lies in the southern groups of triad pyramids. Here, a pyramid stood in Preclassic times as the highest building north of the imperial Peten city, El Mirador.
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