Cancuén facts for kids
Cancuén is an ancient site where people have found amazing things from the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It's located in a part of Guatemala called El Petén, near the Pasión River. This old city is super famous because it has one of the biggest palaces ever built by the Maya people!
Discovering Ancient Cancuén
Cancuén was a very important city during the time known as the Classic Period of the Maya, which was a long time ago. It was most powerful around the 700s A.D.. The city was a huge hub for trade. People traded valuable items like jade, shiny pyrite, and sharp obsidian there.
Its location right on the Pasión River helped it control all the trade in that area. A very strong ruler named Tajal Chan Ahk built the city's amazing palace in 770 A.D. This palace was enormous! It covered about 23,000 square meters and had 200 rooms. That made it the largest palace in the entire Maya region.
The city also had two ball courts where people played a special ancient game. There was also a big marketplace and a dock on the Pasión River for boats. Interestingly, Cancuén doesn't have many large temples or burial sites within the city itself. It's thought that the people of Cancuén might have worshipped and buried their dead in the mountains nearby.
Around 800 A.D., which was a difficult time when the Maya civilization began to decline, something sad happened in Cancuén. Many people, including the city's ruler at that time, Kan Maax, were killed. Their bodies, dressed in special clothes, were found near the main pyramid.
