Ixtonton is a Maya archaeological site in the department of Petén in northern Guatemala.[1] It is located in the northwestern portion of the Maya Mountains[2] in the municipality of Dolores.[1] The ruins are situated approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) east of the town of Dolores itself.[3] Ixtonton was the capital city of one of the four Maya kingdoms in the upper Mopan Valley.[4] The site was occupied from the Late Preclassic period (c. 400 BC – AD 200) through to the Terminal Classic (c. AD 800-900), with some evidence of continued activity into the Postclassic (c. 900–1521).[2] For the majority of its history Ixtonton was the most important city in the upper Mopan Valley, with its only rivals emerging in the Late Classic (c. 600-900).[5] The acropolis at Ixtonton is laid out around two plazas on top of an artificially modified karstic hill.[5]
Ixtonton was first described by the Atlas Arqueológico de Guatemala project in 1985.[6] The ruins have been set aside as a protected archaeological park by the Dirección General del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural ("Department of Cultural and Natural Heritage").[7]