Description : Machaquila (or Machaquilá, using Spanish orthography) is a major ruined city of the Maya civilization in what is now the El Peten department of Guatemala. Machaquila flourished in the Late to Terminal Classic periods, reaching the height of its power in approximately the ninth century. The rise in activity at Machaquila appears to have been a side effect of the collapse of the power of Dos Pilas over the Petexbatún kingdom. In 2004, archaeologists announced that they had uncovered a hieroglyphic panel at Cancuen that depicts Tajal Chan Ahk, the 8th-century king of that city. The high relief sculpture shows him installing subordinate rulers at Machaquila.
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