Ancient Maya city, northern Guatemala.
First occupied as a small village in a tropical rainforest ( 0441; 900300 BC), it grew into an important ceremonial centre. It flourished 0441; AD 600900, when its great plazas, pyramids, and palaces were built and when Maya art flowered in monumental sculpture. At its height it was the largest urban centre in the southern Maya lowlands; the core city had a population of perhaps 10,000 residents with an outlying population of about 50,000. Its main structures covered about 1 sq mi (2.5 sq km). It was abandoned by the 10th century. Major excavation began in 1956; it is now a central part of Tikal National Park, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.