Uaxactún is a smaller city located a few kilometers/miles north of Tikal (see map). Its organization and architecture are similar to Tikal with the particularity that we find there one of the most ancient Maya pyramids (Temple E-VII-Sub) dated to the Preclassic period. On the platform of this pyramid are post holes suggesting that the first temples were made in perishable materials like the huts. Judging from its location in the site, this pyramid was probably an observatory to see astronomical events related to the calendar.

Uaxactún was conquered in A.D. 378 when Tikal became the dominant city of the Petén. The ruler Great Jaguar Paw from Tikal conquered the city by establishing a new warfare tradition among the Maya: territorial conquest. From that time on, warfare was not only to get sacrificial victims but also to control other kingdoms.