A Classic Maya city-state on the Usumacinta River in what is now Chiapas, Mexico. Its known royal dynasty begins with the enthronement of Yopaat B'alam I, most likely on 23 July AD 359, when Yaxchilan was still a minor site; over the following centuries it grew into the dominant power of the Usumacinta valley, ruling over subordinate centers like Bonampak and locked in a long rivalry with Piedras Negras and, at times, Palenque and Tikal.
The dynasty continued into the early 9th century; its last known monument, Lintel 10, is dated to AD 808, commemorating a capture from Piedras Negras. The city was abandoned in the Terminal Classic collapse along with the wider southern Maya lowlands.
The atlas holds 5 border frames for Yaxchilan — the shape you scrub through changes in 359 · 550 · 629 · 751 · 762.
The standard English-language monograph on Yaxchilan's art, architecture, and dynastic history.
Broad survey covering Yaxchilan's Early Classic founding and its Late Classic apogee and rivalries.