Yaxchilan

Yaxchilan lies on the south bank of the river at the apex of a horseshoe-shaped meander, which defends the site on all sides except for a narrow land approach from the south. It is in Ocosingo Municipality, on the Mexican side of the border with Guatemala. The site is 40 kilometres (25 mi) upriver from Piedras Negras, 21 kilometres (13 mi) from Bonampak, and 80 kilometres (50 mi) downriver from Altar de Sacrificios.

Yaxchilan has its origins in the Preclassic Period and was important throughout the Classic era, dominating smaller sites such as Bonampak. It warred with Palenque in 654. The known history of the city starts with the enthronement of Yopaat B'alam I, most likely on 23 July 359, the founder of a long dynasty. K'inich Tatb'u Skull II was enthroned on 11 February 526 and commissioned a series of carved lintels, including a dynastic list.

The city reached its greatest power under Itzamnaaj B'alam II, who was enthroned in October 681, reigned for more than sixty years and died in 742, and his son Bird Jaguar IV. Itzamnaaj B'alam II oversaw a monumental building programme of richly carved lintels, hieroglyphic stairways and stelae. The dynasty lasted into the early 9th century. Some retrospective inscriptions appear to have been used to rewrite the city's dynastic history to suit Bird Jaguar IV.