Ixlu

Archaeological investigations have uncovered potsherds dating as far back as the early Middle Preclassic (1000 BC–800 BC).Aguilar 2000, p.261. Sánchez Polo et al 1995, p.593. Castellanos Cabrera 2008, p.7. Postclassic potsherds are widely distributed in the upper levels of the site to a depth of {{convert|30|to|40|cm|abbr=on}}.Aguilar 2000, p.261. Evidence from the Temple of the Hidden Jars indicates a continuous occupation from the Preclassic right through the Classic (AD 200–900) to the Postclassic Period (AD 900–1525), with occupation continuing until approximately 1700, well after the Spanish Conquest of most of Guatemala, according to ethnohistoric sources. The Petén Lakes region finally fell to the Spanish Crown in 1697,Sharer & Traxler 2006, pp.776-778. at which time Ixlu was in disputed territory between the mutually hostile Itza and Kowoj kingdoms.Jones 2009, p.62.

Fifty structures have been mapped at Ixlu by the Central Peten Historical Ecology Project.Bey, Hanson & Ringle 1997, p.247. Nine of these are C-shaped bench superstructures and two are L-shaped.

Ixlu has two ballcourts and is one of only two Postclassic sites in the central Petén lakes region to have a recognisable ballcourt.Valdés & Fahsen 2005, pp.151-152. However, both ballcourts at Ixlu apparently date to the Late Classic. The site possesses a twin pyramid complex, a feature that is rare outside of Tikal and probably indicates the political influence of that great city.Martin & Grube 2000, p.51.

The architecture at Ixlu resembles that at the Late Classic site of Seibal on the Pasión River.chele & Freidel 1990, p.389.

The Temple of the Hidden Jars (Templo de las Vasijas Escondidas) has been labelled as Structure 2034. It is bordered by Structure 2041 on the south side, Structure 2036 to the west and Structure 2035 to the north, its eastern side faces onto Patio B. The temple measures {{convert|13.9|by|9.6|m|ft}} and consisted of a two-level platform, the first level was {{convert|1.15|m|ft}} high and the second level had a height of {{convert|1.2|m|ft}}.Aguilar 2000, pp.259-260. The temple has been dated to the Late Postclassic Period (AD 1200-1525).Aguilar 2000, p.260. A stairway ascended the west side of the temple and there was an altar on the summit that measured {{convert|1|m|ft}}. The temple is named from two hidden niches on the west side of the temple, one at the foot of the stairway and the second under an altar on the temple steps. Each contained a single red-brown ceramic vessel measuring approximately {{convert|16|cm|in}} in diameter and {{convert|14|cm|in}} high, each with its respective concave lid. The vessels have four handles spaced equidistantly around the circumference, with the lids also possessing a handle.Aguilar 2000, pp.261, 273. The jars contained only brown soil. This style of hidden niche is similar to niches associated with ceremonial structures in distant Mayapan in the north of the Yucatán Peninsula.

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| caption1 = Altar 1 from Ixlu, which contains a section of text comprising eight glyphs that are identical to a phrase on the Dos Pilas Stela 8.Schele & Freidel 1990, p.390.

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Four Classic Period sculpted monuments were recovered from the site, two stelae and two altars.Sánchez Polo et al 1995, p.593. Ixlu Stela 1 bears the date 879 AD, in the Late Classic Period, and depicts a ruler who used the Tikal Emblem Glyph and the K'ul Mutul Ahaw title ("holy lord of Tikal").Valdés & Fahsen 2005, pp.9, 151. Drew 1999, p.352. The stelae at Ixlu resemble traditional Classic Period stelae such as those at Tikal.Schele & Freidel 1990, p.389. Both Stelae 1 and 2 show bloodletting rituals and the materialisation of the Paddler Gods. Ixlu Stela 2 is now located in the main plaza of Flores.Kelly 1996, p.111.

The monuments of Ixlu bear some hieroglyphic texts that closely resemble texts from the site of Dos Pilas, suggesting that the lords of Ixlu may have been refugees from the collapse of that state in the Petexbatún region of the Petén Basin,Schele & Freidel 1990, pp.389-390, 505n20. a state that itself professed to have a legitimate claim to the rulership of Tikal.Webster 2002, p.275.

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• {{cite journal |author=Aguilar, Boris A. |year=2001 |title=Las excavaciones en el Templo de las Vasijas Escondidas en Ixlu, Flores, Petén |trans-title=Excavations in the Temple of the Hidden Jars in Ixlu, Flores, Peten |journal=XIV Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2000 (edited by J.P. Laporte, A.C. Suasnávar and B. Arroyo) |pages=259–274 |publisher=Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología |location=Guatemala |url=http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/20.00.pdf |format=versión digital |access-date=2009-06-19 |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707181440/http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/20.00.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-07 |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite journal |author=Bey, George J. III |author2=Craig A. Hanson |author3=William M. Ringle | date=September 1997 |volume=8 |issue=3| title=Classic to Postclassic at Ek Balam, Yucatan: Architectural and Ceramic Evidence for Defining the Transition |journal=Latin American Antiquity |pages=237–254 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Society for American Archaeology |doi=10.2307/971654 |jstor=971654}}
• {{cite web |author=Castellanos Cabrera, Jeanette |year=2008 |title=Buenavista-Nuevo San José, Petén, Guatemala: Another village from the Middle Preclassic (800-400 BC) |url=http://www.famsi.org/reports/05039/05039Castellanos1.pdf |format=PDF |publisher=Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI) |access-date=2009-06-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202133055/http://www.famsi.org/reports/05039/05039Castellanos1.pdf |archive-date=2008-12-02 }}
• {{cite book |author=Drew, David |author-link=David Drew (archaeologist) |year=1999 |title=The Lost Chronicles of the Maya Kings |location=London |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |isbn=0-297-81699-3 |oclc=43401096 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/lostchroniclesof0000drew_j2y5 }}
• {{cite book |author=Jones, Grant D. |year=2009 |chapter=The Kowoj in Ethnohistorical Perspective |editor=Pridence M. Rice |editor2=Don S. Rice|title=The Kowoj: identity, migration, and geopolitics in late postclassic Petén, Guatemala |location=Boulder, Colorado |publisher=University Press of Colorado |pages=55–69|isbn=978-0-87081-930-8 |oclc=225875268}}
• {{cite book |author=Kelly, Joyce |year=1996 |title=An Archaeological Guide to Northern Central America: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador |location=Norman |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=0-8061-2858-5 |oclc=34658843}}
• {{cite book |author=Martin, Simon |author-link=Simon Martin (Mayanist) |author2=Nikolai Grube |author2-link=Nikolai Grube |year=2000 |title=Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya |location=London and New York |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=0-500-05103-8 |oclc=47358325 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/chronicleofmayak00mart }}
• {{cite journal |author=Sánchez Polo, Rómulo |author2=Don S. Rice |author3=Prudence M. Rice |author4=Anna McNair |author5=Timothy Pugh |author6=Grant D. Jones |year=1995 |title=La investigación de la geografía política del siglo XVII en Petén central: La primera temporada |trans-title=Investigation of the 17th century political geography of central Peten: First season |journal=VIII Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 1994 |editor=J.P. Laporte |editor2=H. Escobedo |pages=589–602 |publisher=Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología |location=Guatemala |url=http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/46.94_-_Romulo_et_al..pdf |format=versión digital |access-date=2009-06-20 |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707181526/http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/46.94_-_Romulo_et_al..pdf |archive-date=2011-07-07 }}
• {{cite book |author=Schele, Linda |author-link=Linda Schele |author2=David Freidel |year=1990 |title=A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya |url=https://archive.org/details/forestofkingsunt0034sche |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=William Morrow and Company |isbn=0-688-11204-8 |oclc=24501607}}
• {{cite book |author=Sharer, Robert J. |author-link=Robert Sharer |author2=Loa P. Traxler |year=2006 |title=The Ancient Maya |edition=6th (fully revised) |location=Stanford, CA |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0-8047-4817-9 |oclc=57577446 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientmaya0006shar }}
• {{cite book |author=Valdés, Juan Antonio |author2=Fahsen, Federico |year=2005 |chapter=Disaster in Sight: The Terminal Classic at Tikal and Uaxactun |editor=Arthur A. Demarest |editor2=Prudence M. Rice |editor3=Don S. Rice|title=The Terminal Classic in the Maya lowlands: Collapse, transition, and transformation |url=https://archive.org/details/terminalclassici00arth |url-access=registration |location=Boulder |publisher=University Press of Colorado |pages=[https://archive.org/details/terminalclassici00arth/page/162 162–194]|isbn=0-87081-822-8 |oclc=61719499}}
• {{cite book |author=Webster, David L. |year=2002 |title=The Fall of the Ancient Maya: Solving the Mystery of the Maya Collapse |location=London |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=0-500-05113-5 |oclc=48753878 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/fallofancientmay0000webs }}

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• {{cite journal |title=Bioarchaeological Analysis of Sacrificial Victims from a Postclassic Maya Temple from Ixlu, El Peten, Guatemala |author1=Duncan, William N. |journal=Latin American Antiquity |volume=22 |issue=4 |date=December 2011 |pages=549–572 |publisher=Society for American Archaeology|jstor=23072574}}

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