The southeast Maya area has been delineated in various ways by scholars using different criteria and focusing on different time periods. Generally, however, there would be agreement that Copan and Quirigua were major population centers that, during the Late Classic period (AD 650-850), manifested the hallmarks of the Maya culture. Taking those two centers as the focal points, I broadly define the southeastern Maya area as that shown in Figure 1 for the period with which I will deal. Also shown in that figure are adjacent areas beyond the Maya zone.