Kowoj

Kowoj refers to a historical Maya people who inhabited the western Petén Basin in present-day Guatemala during the Postclassic period. They were one of the principal Maya polities in the region, living in city-states along rivers and lakes and maintaining interactions with neighboring groups such as the Itza.

The Kowoj spoke a Mayan language distinct from some neighbors, part of the broader Mayan language family. Archaeological remains show typical Postclassic ceramic styles and architectural practices, including ceremonial platforms and small palace compounds. Kowoj religious life followed Maya cosmology with a pantheon of deities and ancestor veneration; ritual calendars and offerings played central roles in governance and public life.

Leadership combined royal and priestly authority, with elites overseeing ritual and administrative functions. The Kowoj participated in regional trade networks that connected the Petén lowlands with highland regions, exchanging goods such as ceramics, ritual objects, salt, and jade. Settlement patterns favored lakeshore and riverine sites that supported agriculture, fishing, and trade.

In the face of Spanish contact in the 16th–17th centuries, Kowoj communities experienced disruption and gradual displacement, eventually becoming absorbed into larger colonial-era populations. Today, Kowoj history is studied primarily through archaeology and ethnohistory, contributing to reconstructions of Petén's late Maya history. Descendant communities maintain cultural memory through crafts, toponyms, and ritual practices informed by the broader Maya heritage of the region.