The Maya city El Ceibal in Guatemala had a major period of development in the late Preclassic period (400 BC - AD 200). The so-called Preclassic collapse led to decline between AD 200 and 600. In the late Classic period, El Ceibal relapsed and flourished again, however the final abandonment of the city took place in the 10th century.
Out of the hundreds of identified buildings, only two have been restored at El Ceibal. One of them is a low pyramid A-3 with stairs on each of the four sides. There is stela standing at the bottom of each stairs. The pyramid had a square temple at the top. The temple had a door at each of all four stairways. More than 50 stelae have also been identified in El Ciebal. They depict rulers and important people and describe the most important events. From the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the stelae, scholars can write up the unknown history of the Maya civilization.
