Location
The ruins of the city are 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) to the west of the modern city of Santa Cruz del Quiché. Q'umarkaj completely occupies 120,000 square metres (1,300,000 sq ft) of an easily defended plateau surrounded by ravines over 100 metres (330 ft) deep. The ravines are part of a drainage system feeding the Negro River, which flows into the Chixoy River and eventually into the Usumacinta River and the Gulf of Mexico. A natural causeway to the southeast of the site links the plateau with a wide plain to the east.
Q'umarkaj is the largest in a group of five major sites tightly clustered in an area of 4 square kilometres (1.5 sq mi), with the area between the sites showing signs of also having been heavily occupied. Atalaya and Pakaman lie to the east, Pismachi' lies to the south and Chisalin is to the north.
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