page_title: San Juan Cotzal
section_title: Campaigns in the Cuchumatanes
hierarchical_section_title: San Juan Cotzal / History / Campaigns in the Cuchumatanes
caption_attribution_description: English: Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Español: Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, en Huehuetenango, Guatemala.
context_page_description: San Juan Cotzal is a town and municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché. San Juan Cotzal is part of the Ixil Community, along with Santa Maria Nebaj and San Gaspar Chajul.
context_section_description: In the 10 years after the fall of Zaculeu, commencing in 1525, various Spanish expeditions crossed into the Sierra de Los Cuchumatanes and engaged in the gradual and complex conquest of the Chuj and Q'anjob'al. The Spanish were attracted to the region in the hope of extracting gold, silver and other riches from the mountains but their remoteness, the difficult terrain, and relatively low population made their conquest and exploitation extremely difficult. The population of the Cuchumatanes is estimated to have been 260,000 before European contact. By the time the Spanish physically arrived in the region, this had collapsed to 150,000 due to Old World diseases that had run ahead of them.
caption: The complex terrain and remoteness of the Cuchumatanes made Spanish conquest difficult.
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