El Cayo (Maya site)
Yax Akul Ha’ Yax Nil | |
El Cayo lintel 1 | |
| Location | Mexico |
|---|---|
| Region | Usumacinta River |
| Type | Ancient Maya site |
| History | |
| Periods | Late Preclassic - Classic |
| Cultures | Maya civilization |
| Site notes | |
| Discovered | 1897 |
El Cayo, anciently known as Yax Niil or more extendedly Yax Akul Ha’ Yax Nil, is an archaeological Maya site located in the bank of the Usumacinta River in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. El Cayo was a major Maya city from the Usumacinta region subordinated for a period to Piedras Negras. Numerous stelae and monuments with glyphic inscriptions have been found in the site, the monuments narrate the complex context and political organization that the site lived during the Classic period in the region of the Usumacinta River Basin, most of the site remains unexplored and hidden in the jungle.