 Cerro Quiac occupies the summit of a hill overlooking Cantel | |
| Alternative names | K'iaq K'iaqb'al |
|---|---|
| Geographical range | Guatemalan Highlands |
| Period | Maya |
| Type site | Archaeological |
Cerro Quiac (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsero kiˈak]) (K'iche': Kʼiaq [kʼiˈaq] and Kʼiaqbʼal [kʼiaqˈɓal]) is a small Maya archaeological site located at an altitude of 2,635 metres (8,645 ft), overlooking the Plains of Urbina in the Guatemalan Highlands. When investigated in 1970 it had five stone sculptures, by 1977 only four were left. The sculptures included figures and geometric decoration. The site is still used for contemporary Maya rituals.[1] Cerro Quiac is located in the northeast of the municipality of Cantel,[2] within the boundaries of the hamlet of Chirijquiac.[3]
Cerro Quiac contains two small groups of pre-Columbian architecture. An ethnohistoric document from the early Colonial period describes the site as a fortress founded by the Mam Maya, who were subsequently driven from the area by Kʼicheʼ expansion. Cerro Quiac has been dated to the Early Postclassic period of Mesoamerican chronology (approximately 900–1200 AD). Local Kʼicheʼ folklore holds that the archaeological site was a training ground for Kʼicheʼ warriors, and that the Kʼicheʼ hero Tecun Uman died upon the hill.