Quirigua

Quirigua (kee-ree-gwah) was occupied by 200 AD, with major construction on the Acropolis begining around 550. A surge in construction in the 700s has been tied to the military victory by the current king, Cauac Sky (K'ahk' Tilw Chan Yopaat) over king 18-Rabbit (Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil) from the neighboring village of Copán.

The major feature at Quirigua are the large carved stone pillars, called stelae, and sculpted boulders, called zoomorphs. The first published discovery was by Frederick Catherwood in 1840. The area was bought in 1910 by the United Fruit Company in Guatemala, as well as a significant amount of the surrounding land for banana production. They set 30 acres around the ruins aside as an achaeological site, so getting to the site required us to pass through the plantation.