Archaeological investigations at Quim Chi Hilan were carried out as part of the Vanderbilt Petexbatun Regional Archaeological Project. Research conducted at this small site was aimed at assessing the extent of the Maya collapse at the beginning of the ninth century A.D Quim Chi Hilan is located in the Petexbatun region, in the southwestern portion of the department of El Peten, Guatemala. The site lies 1.5 kilometers north of Aguateca. Quim Chi Hilan was built on top of a one-hundred-meter high escarpment, and consisted of twenty-nine structures and a wall. This wall separated the site into two components. It also had a complex baffled gate These remains and their surroundings were mapped and excavated from 1991 to 1993. The investigations into the structures revealed a dichotomy in the use pattern of the structures on either side of the wall. Material evidence and soil phosphate fractionation data suggest an intensive occupation of those structures located outside the wall, and a less intensive human presence inside the walled area Evidence of agricultural terraces inside the wall, and the presence of a palisade on top of the wall suggests that this area may have served as a fortified agricultural center as well as a refuge for the local population in times of danger. There are no visible signs of warfare at the site, but ceramic data suggests the site ceased to exist around the beginning of the ninth century, a time when Aguateca was also abandoned This research sheds light on the large-scale impact of warfare during the Late Classic period and supports the idea that armed conflict was one of the main factors contributing to the collapse of Maya society in this part of the Maya Lowlands
