The clifftop twin capital (with Dos Pilas) of the Petexbatún Maya kingdom's ruling dynasty; when Dos Pilas fell in AD 761 the royal court relocated to this naturally defensible limestone bluff behind more than 3 miles of new defensive walls, before the city itself was stormed and rapidly abandoned around AD 800.
Attacked and ransacked around AD 800; residents fled so quickly that household assemblages were left scattered on the floors of elite residences, giving archaeologists a rare Pompeii-style snapshot of the final Petexbatún collapse.
Site report by the lead excavator of Aguateca, on its defensive walls, palace, and rapid final abandonment.