Kajyub

Kajyub occupies a mountain summit overlooking the central Rabinal valley in the Guatemalan highlands. Archaeologists regard it as the last capital of the Rabinaleb during the Late Postclassic period. Its elevated position combined religious prominence with defensive advantages, while its monumental architecture set it apart from smaller settlements in the basin.

The ceremonial centre contained plazas with paired temples, long buildings and council houses, together with rectangular structures and altars finished in fine stucco. One interpretation sees the three plazas of Group A as representing the three principal centres of Rabinal (Kajyub, Saqkijel and Chwitinamit), making the capital a symbolic image of the wider valley. Kajyub is also closely associated with the historical setting of the Rabinal Achí dance-drama. Its political importance is supported by architectural and ethnohistorical evidence, although limited excavation means that the detailed sequence of occupation and ceramic chronology cannot yet be described with the same confidence.

The later city of Salamá lies here.