Editing Quiriguá (section)

==Population==
Although the Quiriguá elite were clearly Maya in ethnicity,<ref>Looper 1999, p.264.</ref> the site lies on the southern periphery of the [[Mesoamerica]]n area and the population was at least bi-ethnic,<ref name="Sheets442">Sheets 2000, p.442.</ref> with [[Maya people|ethnic Maya]] in a minority.<ref name="Loop1"/> The majority of the population belonged ethnically to the less complex [[Intermediate Area]] lying beyond the eastern border of Mesoamerica.<ref name="Sheets442"/> The [[population density]] of the site has been estimated at 400 to 500 per square kilometer (1040 to 1300 per square mile) in the centre of the city during the [[Mesoamerican chronology|Late Classic]]<ref>Drew 1999, p.344.</ref> with an estimated peak population of 1200&ndash;1600;<ref>Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.688.</ref> surveys have revealed an average of 130 structures per square kilometer (338 per square mile) at the site, compared with 1449 structures/km<sup>2</sup> (3767 per square mile) in central Copán.<ref>Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.686.</ref> The low population density indicates that Quiriguá served as the focus for a dispersed rural population.<ref name="Loop1">Looper 2003, p.1.</ref>

The population levels of the Quiriguá valley increased rapidly after the successful rebellion against Copán in 738, although it was never a heavily populated site.<ref>Martin & Grube 2000, p.219.</ref> In the 9th&nbsp;century there was a severe decline in population, culminating in the abandonment of the city.<ref name="MG225"/>