Cotzumalhuapa

Cotzumalhuapa archaeological culture is from the piedmont area of the Escuintla Department, Guatemala. The Cotzumalhuapa archaeological zone is near the town of Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa (the city is spelled with a g — Cotzumalguapa — and the culture tends to be spelled with an h — Cotzumalhuapa).^[1]

The Cotzumalhuapa archaeological zone is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological zone dating mainly to the Late Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology, although it was occupied since the Middle Preclassic period and there is evidence of a major development during the Late Preclassic period.

The famous Stela 1 from El Baúl has one of the earliest inscriptions in Mesoamerica, with the earliest legible hieroglyphic Long Count date in Guatemala equaling 37 CE.