Kaminaljuyu Mound A — Miraflores Pyramid
Kaminaljuyu Mound A · Kaminal Juyú Mound A · Miraflores Mound
Late Preclassic Miraflores (400 BCE–100 CE) peak·Maya–Highland — Kaminaljuyu·🇬🇹 Guatemala Department, Guatemala City — Miraflores/Zone 7, Guatemala
About
About Kaminaljuyu Mound A — Miraflores Pyramid
Once greatest New World city (Michael Coe) with 200 mounds mapped by E. M. Shook (1930s–60s) across Guatemala Valley, Mound A is flagship Miraflores platform pyramid facing Lake Miraflores (now dry) with palace superstructure, canals and obsidian workshop. Excavation revealed Protoclassic tombs with Maya corpus and Izapan-style sculptures (Altar 10). Now island in urban sprawl — Miraflores Museum shelters stelae and Mound A walkways preserve last intact pyramid north of civic centre.
Why it mattersHighland Maya urbanism and hydraulic agriculture precedent for Teotihuacan contact.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Cause of Late Preclassic collapse and Teotihuacan takeover ~400 CE
Theories
- 01Mound A was water-temple controlling Miraflores lake canals for cacao irrigation
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 400–200 BCE
- Period
- Late Preclassic Miraflores (400 BCE–100 CE) peak
- Culture
- Maya–Highland — Kaminaljuyu
- Builders
- Maya–Highland
- Purpose
- Highland Maya mega-pyramid mound — 20 m high platform pyramid with palace and hydraulic canals at heart of 200-mound centre within modern Guatemala City
- Excavation
- Excavated
1935
E. M. Shook maps 200 mounds of Kaminaljuyu
2002
Miraflores Museum and mound park inaugurated
On the ground
Structures & features
14.6263° N · 90.5428° W · 1500 m · 2 mapped features
Mound A platform pyramid
pyramid20 m earthen platform pyramid with adobe palace remains and Miraflores canal head
14.6268° N · 90.5423° WLake Miraflores canal head
hydraulicCanal head controlling lake irrigation, now dry basin with museum
14.6258° N · 90.5433° W