Cancuén, Archaeological site in Sayaxché, Guatemala.

Cancuén is a Maya archaeological site in Sayaxché, Petén, on the La Pasión River. Its palace, built by Tajal Chan Ahk around 770 AD, is a three-level structure of about 8.2 hectares with 170 rooms and 11 patios; walls reach 1.8 m thick. The site also has two ball courts, a marketplace and a river dock. Carved stone panels and ball-game markers were found there.

Cancuén was occupied from 300 to 950 AD and peaked in the second half of the 8th century. King K'iib' Ajaw took the throne in 656, invested at Calakmul by Yukno'm Ch'e'en II. Tajal Chan Ahk built the palace around 770, conquered Machaquilá on 15 January 783 and captured its king, and dedicated a panel on 7 April 799 recording a visit to the tomb of Chan Ahk Wi'. Around 800 the ruler Kan Maax and dozens of others in royal garments were executed and thrown into a cistern; the city was abandoned soon after. Teoberto Maler rediscovered it in 1905, and Harvard students uncovered the palace in 1967.

The site served as a major Maya trade center during the Classic Period, where merchants exchanged valuable materials like jade, pyrite, and obsidian. This role as a commercial hub shaped how people built and organized the palace structures to manage goods and visitors.

Cancuén lies south of Sayaxché in Petén, reached by road and then river; the site is managed by nearby communities, so arrangements are made locally. The palace walls reach 1.8 m thick and the grounds cover at least 3 square miles, so allow several hours and carry water.

Cancuén has few large temples and no reported burial sites; its inhabitants are thought to have worshipped and buried their dead in the mountains near the city. Excavations instead uncovered finely carved ball-game markers, jade workshops and elaborate ceramics. Since the palace's rediscovery, nearby communities have taken on administration and decisions about the sacred site.