1.
Maya civilization
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The Maya civilization developed in an area that encompasses southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador. The Archaic period, prior to 2000 BC, saw the first developments in agriculture, the first Maya cities developed around 750 BC, and by 500 BC these cities possessed monumental architecture, including large temples with elaborate stucco façades. Hieroglyphic writing was being used in the Maya region by the 3rd century BC, in the Late Preclassic a number of large cities developed in the Petén Basin, and Kaminaljuyu rose to prominence in the Guatemalan Highlands. Beginning around 250 AD, the Classic period is defined as when the Maya were raising sculpted monuments with Long Count dates. This period saw the Maya civilization develop a number of city-states linked by a complex trade network. In the Maya Lowlands two great rivals, Tikal and Calakmul, became powerful, the Classic period also saw the intrusive intervention of the central Mexican city of Teotihuacan in Maya dynastic politics. In the 9th century, there was a political collapse in the central Maya region, resulting in internecine warfare, the abandonment of cities. The Postclassic period saw the rise of Chichen Itza in the north, in the 16th century, the Spanish Empire colonized the Mesoamerican region, and a lengthy series of campaigns saw the fall of Nojpetén, the last Maya city in 1697. Classic period rule was centred on the concept of the divine king, kingship was patrilineal, and power would normally pass to the eldest son. A prospective king was expected to be a successful war leader. Maya politics was dominated by a system of patronage, although the exact political make-up of a kingdom varied from city-state to city-state. By the Late Classic, the aristocracy had greatly increased, resulting in the reduction in the exclusive power of the divine king. Maya cities tended to expand haphazardly, and the city centre would be occupied by ceremonial and administrative complexes, different parts of a city would often be linked by causeways. The principal architecture of the city consisted of palaces, pyramid-temples, ceremonial ballcourts, the Maya elite were literate, and developed a complex system of hieroglyphic writing that was the most advanced in the pre-Columbian Americas. The Maya recorded their history and ritual knowledge in screenfold books, there are also a great many examples of Maya text found on stelae and ceramics. The Maya developed a complex series of interlocking ritual calendars. As a part of their religion, the Maya practised human sacrifice, the Maya civilization developed within the Mesoamerican cultural area, which covers a region that spreads from northern Mexico southwards into Central America. Mesoamerica was one of six cradles of civilization worldwide, the Mesoamerican area gave rise to a series of cultural developments that included complex societies, agriculture, cities, monumental architecture, writing, and calendrical systems
2.
Mexico
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Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a federal republic in the southern half of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States, to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean, to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea, and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometers, Mexico is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total area, Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and a federal district that is also its capital and most populous city. Other metropolises include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana, pre-Columbian Mexico was home to many advanced Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya and Aztec before first contact with Europeans. In 1521, the Spanish Empire conquered and colonized the territory from its base in Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Three centuries later, this territory became Mexico following recognition in 1821 after the colonys Mexican War of Independence. The tumultuous post-independence period was characterized by instability and many political changes. The Mexican–American War led to the cession of the extensive northern borderlands, one-third of its territory. The Pastry War, the Franco-Mexican War, a civil war, the dictatorship was overthrown in the Mexican Revolution of 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the countrys current political system. Mexico has the fifteenth largest nominal GDP and the eleventh largest by purchasing power parity, the Mexican economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, especially the United States. Mexico was the first Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and it is classified as an upper-middle income country by the World Bank and a newly industrialized country by several analysts. By 2050, Mexico could become the fifth or seventh largest economy. The country is considered both a power and middle power, and is often identified as an emerging global power. Due to its culture and history, Mexico ranks first in the Americas. Mexico is a country, ranking fourth in the world by biodiversity. In 2015 it was the 9th most visited country in the world, Mexico is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G8+5, the G20, the Uniting for Consensus and the Pacific Alliance. Mēxihco is the Nahuatl term for the heartland of the Aztec Empire, namely, the Valley of Mexico, and its people, the Mexica and this became the future State of Mexico as a division of New Spain prior to independence. It is generally considered to be a toponym for the valley became the primary ethnonym for the Aztec Triple Alliance as a result. After New Spain won independence from Spain, representatives decided to name the new country after its capital and this was founded in 1524 on top of the ancient Mexica capital of Mexico-Tenochtitlan
3.
Puuc
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Puuc is the name of either a region in the Mexican state of Yucatán or a Maya architectural style prevalent in that region. The word puuc is derived from the Maya term for hill, since the Yucatán is relatively flat, this term was extended to encompass the large karstic range of hills in the southern portion of the state, hence, the terms Puuc region or Puuc hills. The Puuc hills extend into northern Campeche and western Quintana Roo, the term Puuc is also used to designate the architectural style of ancient Maya sites located within the Puuc hills, hence, the term Puuc architecture. This architectural style began at the end of the Late Classic period, in the florescence of Puuc architecture buildings were decorated with carefully cut veneer stones set into a concrete core. Long-nosed masks are found on many Puuc buildings, the concrete core-veneer masonry allowed for slightly larger and more stable interior rooms. Many corbelled vaults in the Puuc style remain standing, even when most of the stones have fallen away. The most famous of the Maya sites exhibiting the Puuc architectural style is Uxmal, other major Puuc-style sites in the region include Labna, Kabah, Sayil, the architectural style is also seen at Kiuic, Bolonchen, Chunhuhub, Xculoc, and many smaller ruins. The transition from earlier Classic Period architecture to Puuc style core-veneer masonry is well documented at the site of Oxkintok, to the south, the style can be found in Edzná, and to the east at Chichen Itza. As stated by the Maya explorer Teobert Maler, who explored this zone intensively, the recently completed Chunhuaymil project compiled data of the remaining Puuc architecture of 19 archaeological sites located in a 100 square kilometers area. Andrews, George F. Pyramids, Palaces, Monsters and Masks, carmean, Kelli, Nicholas Dunning and Jeff K. Kowalski. 2004 High times in the country, a perspective from the Terminal Classic Puuc region. In, The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands, Collapse, Transition, arthur A. Demarest, Prudence M. Rice, and Don S. Rice, eds. pp. 424–449. Dunning, Nicholas P.1992 Lords of the Hills, Ancient Maya Settlement in the Puuc Region, Yucatán, centre dEtudes Mexicaines et Centraméricaines, Mexico. Dunning, Nicholas P. and Jeff K. Kowalski,1994 Lord of the Hills, Classic Maya settlement patterns and political iconography in the Puuc Region, Mexico. Gendrop, Paul 1998 Rio Bec, Chenes, and Puuc Styles in Maya Architecture, merk, Stephan 2011 The Long Silence. Sabana Piletas and Its Neighbours, An Architectural Survey of Maya Ruins in Northeastern Campeche, markt Schwaben, Germany, Verlag Anton Saurwein. Mills, Lawrence,1979 The Puuc, New Perspectives, Papers Presented at the Puuc Symposium, Central College, pollock, Harry E. D.1980 Puuc, An Architectural Survey of the Hill Country of Yucatan and Northern Campeche, Mexico. Harvard University, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Prem, Hanns J.1994 Hidden Among the Hills, Maya Archaeology of the Northwest Yucatan Península
4.
Labna
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Labna is a Mesoamerican archaeological site and ceremonial center of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the Puuc Hills region of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is situated to the south of the large Maya site of Uxmal, in the southwest of the state of Yucatán. It was incorporated with Uxmal as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, the site is a comparatively small and compact one. Among its notable structures is a large palace, which is one of the longest contiguous structures in the Puuc region at approximately 120 m in length. From the palace, a ceremonial road extends to an elaborately decorated gateway arch and this structure is 3 m wide and 6 m high, with well-reserved bas-reliefs. The arch is not an entrance to the city, but rather is a passageway between public areas, next to this gateway stands El Mirador, a pyramid-like structure surmounted by a temple. Also on the site is the Temple of the Columns, the structural design and motifs of the sites buildings are in the Maya architecture regional style known as Puuc. This makes extensive use of stone forming patterns and depictions. The site was built in the Late and Terminal Classic era, a date corresponding to AD862 is inscribed in the palace. The first written report of Labna was by John Lloyd Stephens who visited it with artist Frederick Catherwood in 1842, the site is open to visitors. As the relations between India and Mexico are warming up, India has recently unveiled a replica of the Arch at Garden of Five Senses, New Delhi as a goodwill gesture. The Labná Arch in the Garden of the Five Senses in New Delhi was inaugurated on 16 September 2013 by the Mayoress of New Delhi, Madame Sheila Dikshit and the Mexican Ambassador Jaime Nualart. The replica constructed by INTACH, was made with stone from Rajasthan, similar to the found in the Puuc region of Yucatán. The project was initiated by Julio Faesler-Carlisle, Mexican Ambassador to India and entirely funded by private enterprises, the Arch will serve as a venue for cultural events. Labna-Kiuic Regional Archaeological Project Labná web site at Reed College, over 300 19th - 21st century photographs of Labná. Labná, The Mayan Kingdom A photographic web-book on the Maya. http, //www. jaguarstones. com, Travels in Mexico - A Photographic web-book
5.
Sayil
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Sayil is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Yucatán, in the southwest of the state, south of Uxmal. It was incorporated together with Uxmal as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, Sayil flourished principally, albeit briefly, during the Terminal Classic period. A number of damaged monuments suggest that Sayil was governed by a local royal dynasty, with wealth among lineages based, at least in part. The site is located in the karst limestone hills of the Puuc region of the northern Yucatan Peninsula, Sayil is located 7 kilometres south of the contemporary Puuc archaeological site of Kabah,5 kilometres from Xlapak and 5 kilometres from Labna. It was built in a valley among low, steep hills. The Puuc region that includes the site of Sayil possesses well defined wet, Sayil first was settled circa AD800, in the Late Classic Period, possibly by small Chontal warrior groups. The city reached its greatest extent c,900, when it covered an area of approximately 5 km² and had a population of perhaps 10,000 in the city itself with an additional 5, 000–7,000 living in the surrounding area. Additional agricultural produce probably was supplied from nearby satellite sites, Sayil began to decline c.950 and the city was abandoned by c, AD1000, a pattern of rapid growth and decline that probably was typical of the Puuc region. Archaeologists have surveyed 2.4 km² of the site, revealing an average density of 220 structures/km². Population estimates have been produced based on a count of structures, giving a result of 8, population estimates based on a count of subterranean storage chambers known as chultuns produce a figure of 5, 000–10,000. Both estimates refer to the population in the Terminal Classic. Political, economic, social, and religious leadership at Sayil appears to have been distinct, smaller sites around Sayil, such as Sodzil, Xcavil de Yaxche, and Xkanabi, may have been tributary communities. Radiocarbon and obsidian hydration dating place Sayil relatively early in the Terminal Classic, although Sayils origins lie in the Late Classic, the Terminal Classic saw the period of most rapid expansion. The primary phase of occupation at the site appears to have been 800 to 950 AD with some kind of reoccupation after the abandonment of the city, the Mexican Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia carried out restoration work at Sayil in the first half of the twentieth century. Archaeologists have mapped 3.5 km² of the urban core. Nearly 30,000 ceramic fragments were recovered and 155 lithic artifacts, of which 90% were chert with the remainder being basalt, obsidian, the site is laid out along a sacbe, or causeway, running from north to south. The Great Palace stands at the end of the causeway. The Great Palace has an 85-meter-long facade and is built upon a two-terraced platform, various rooms are arranged around the four sides of each terrace
6.
Karst
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Karst topography is a landscape formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves and it has also been documented for more weathering-resistant rocks, such as quartzite, given the right conditions. Subterranean drainage may limit surface water, with few to no rivers or lakes, the English word karst was borrowed from German Karst in the late 19th century. The German word came into use before the 19th century, according to the prevalent interpretation, the term is derived from the German name for the Karst region, a limestone plateau above the city of Trieste in the northern Adriatic. Scholars disagree, however, on whether the German word was borrowed from Slovene, the Slovene common noun kras was first attested in the 18th century, and the adjective form kraški in the 16th century. The Slovene words arose through metathesis from the reconstructed form *korsъ, ultimately, the word is of Mediterranean origin, believed to derive from some Romanized Illyrian base. It has been suggested that the word may derive from the Proto-Indo-European root karra- rock, the name may also be connected to the oronym Karsádios oros cited by Ptolemy, and perhaps also to Latin Carusardius. The development of karst occurs whenever acidic water starts to break down the surface of bedrock near its cracks, as the bedrock continues to degrade, its cracks tend to get bigger. As time goes on, these fractures will become wider, if this underground drainage system does form, it will speed up the development of karst formations there because more water will be able to flow through the region, giving it more erosive power. The carbonic acid that causes karstic features is formed as rain passes through the atmosphere picking up carbon dioxide, once the rain reaches the ground, it may pass through soil that can provide much more CO2 to form a weak carbonic acid solution, which dissolves calcium carbonate. The oxidation of sulfides leading to the formation of acid can also be one of the corrosion factors in karst formation. As oxygen -rich surface waters seep into deep anoxic karst systems, they bring oxygen, sulfuric acid then reacts with calcium carbonate, causing increased erosion within the limestone formation. This chain of reactions is, This reaction chain forms gypsum, the karstification of a landscape may result in a variety of large- or small-scale features both on the surface and beneath. On exposed surfaces, small features may include solution flutes, runnels, limestone pavement, medium-sized surface features may include sinkholes or cenotes, vertical shafts, foibe, disappearing streams, and reappearing springs. Large-scale features may include limestone pavements, poljes, and karst valleys, mature karst landscapes, where more bedrock has been removed than remains, may result in karst towers, or haystack/eggbox landscapes. Beneath the surface, complex underground systems and extensive caves. Some of the most dramatic of these formations can be seen in Thailands Phangnga Bay, calcium carbonate dissolved into water may precipitate out where the water discharges some of its dissolved carbon dioxide. Rivers which emerge from springs may produce tufa terraces, consisting of layers of calcite deposited over extended periods of time, in caves, a variety of features collectively called speleothems are formed by deposition of calcium carbonate and other dissolved minerals
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Limestone
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Limestone is a sedimentary rock, composed mainly of skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, forams and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate, about 10% of sedimentary rocks are limestones. The solubility of limestone in water and weak acid solutions leads to karst landscapes, most cave systems are through limestone bedrock. The first geologist to distinguish limestone from dolomite was Belsazar Hacquet in 1778, like most other sedimentary rocks, most limestone is composed of grains. Most grains in limestone are skeletal fragments of organisms such as coral or foraminifera. Other carbonate grains comprising limestones are ooids, peloids, intraclasts and these organisms secrete shells made of aragonite or calcite, and leave these shells behind when they die. Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert or siliceous skeletal fragment, some limestones do not consist of grains at all, and are formed completely by the chemical precipitation of calcite or aragonite, i. e. travertine. Secondary calcite may be deposited by supersaturated meteoric waters and this produces speleothems, such as stalagmites and stalactites. Another form taken by calcite is oolitic limestone, which can be recognized by its granular appearance, the primary source of the calcite in limestone is most commonly marine organisms. Some of these organisms can construct mounds of rock known as reefs, below about 3,000 meters, water pressure and temperature conditions cause the dissolution of calcite to increase nonlinearly, so limestone typically does not form in deeper waters. Limestones may also form in lacustrine and evaporite depositional environments, calcite can be dissolved or precipitated by groundwater, depending on several factors, including the water temperature, pH, and dissolved ion concentrations. Calcite exhibits a characteristic called retrograde solubility, in which it becomes less soluble in water as the temperature increases. Impurities will cause limestones to exhibit different colors, especially with weathered surfaces, Limestone may be crystalline, clastic, granular, or massive, depending on the method of formation. Crystals of calcite, quartz, dolomite or barite may line small cavities in the rock, when conditions are right for precipitation, calcite forms mineral coatings that cement the existing rock grains together, or it can fill fractures. Travertine is a banded, compact variety of limestone formed along streams, particularly there are waterfalls. Calcium carbonate is deposited where evaporation of the leaves a solution supersaturated with the chemical constituents of calcite. Tufa, a porous or cellular variety of travertine, is found near waterfalls, coquina is a poorly consolidated limestone composed of pieces of coral or shells. During regional metamorphism that occurs during the building process, limestone recrystallizes into marble
8.
Topography
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Topography is the study of the shape and features of the surface of the Earth and other observable astronomical objects including planets, moons, and asteroids. The topography of an area could refer to the shapes and features themselves. This field of geoscience and planetary science is concerned with detail in general, including not only relief but also natural and artificial features. This meaning is common in the United States, where topographic maps with elevation contours have made topography synonymous with relief. The older sense of topography as the study of place still has currency in Europe, topography in a narrow sense involves the recording of relief or terrain, the three-dimensional quality of the surface, and the identification of specific landforms. This is also known as geomorphometry, in modern usage, this involves generation of elevation data in digital form. It is often considered to include the representation of the landform on a map by a variety of techniques, including contour lines, hypsometric tints. The term topography originated in ancient Greece and continued in ancient Rome, the word comes from the Greek τόπος and -γραφία. In classical literature this refers to writing about a place or places, in Britain and in Europe in general, the word topography is still sometimes used in its original sense. Detailed military surveys in Britain were called Ordnance Surveys, and this term was used into the 20th century as generic for topographic surveys, the earliest scientific surveys in France were called the Cassini maps after the family who produced them over four generations. The term topographic surveys appears to be American in origin, the earliest detailed surveys in the United States were made by the “Topographical Bureau of the Army, ” formed during the War of 1812, which became the Corps of Topographical Engineers in 1838. In the 20th century, the term started to be used to describe surface description in other fields where mapping in a broader sense is used. An objective of topography is to determine the position of any feature or more generally any point in terms of both a horizontal coordinate system such as latitude, longitude, and altitude, identifying features, and recognizing typical landform patterns are also part of the field. There are a variety of approaches to studying topography, which method to use depend on the scale and size of the area under study, its accessibility, and the quality of existing surveys. Work on one of the first topographic maps was begun in France by Giovanni Domenico Cassini, in areas where there has been an extensive direct survey and mapping program, the compiled data forms the basis of basic digital elevation datasets such as USGS DEM data. This data must often be cleaned to eliminate discrepancies between surveys, but it forms a valuable set of information for large-scale analysis. The original American topographic surveys involved not only recording of relief, remote sensing is a general term for geodata collection at a distance from the subject area. Besides their role in photogrammetry, aerial and satellite imagery can be used to identify and delineate terrain features, certainly they have become more and more a part of geovisualization, whether maps or GIS systems
9.
Oxkutzcab Municipality
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Oxkutzcab Municipality is a municipality, with a municipal seat of the same name in the Mexican state of Yucatán, southeast of Maní, Yucatán, located at 20°18′10″N 89°25′0″W. The name in the Yucatec Maya language means Place of ramon, tobacco, according to the 2005 census, Oxkutzcab had a population of 21,341 people in the city and 27,084 in the entire municipality, predominantly of Maya descent. Henequen, sugar, tobacco, maize, and fruit are grown commercially in the surrounding area, the municipality has an area of 512.23 km2 and includes a number of smaller towns, the largest of which are Yaxhachén, Xohuayán, Emiliano Zapata, and Xul. Loltun Cave is 5 km south of the city, Oxkutzcab was a town dating back to pre-Columbian times. With the fall of Mayapán in the 1440s, Oxkutzcab became a regional capital ruled by the Xiu family, after the Spanish conquest of Yucatán it was re-established as a Spanish colonial town in 1550, the Maya temples were demolished and a large Franciscan church built. Oxkutzcab was granted the status of a city in the early 19th century. In 1847 the city was sacked in the Caste War of Yucatán, in 1879 the city was linked to the capital of Mérida by railroad. Each year during the last days of November, the city hosts a Festival of Oranges, there are two markets of tropical fruits, the 20 de Noviembre market and Solidarity market, better known as La central. Ayuntamiento de Oxkutzcab Possible future official website Oxkutzcab on Yucatan Today Oxkutzcab. com Images and articles of Oxkutzcab including panoramic views
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Mesoamerican chronology
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Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods, the Paleo-Indian, the Archaic, the Preclassic or Formative, the Classic, and the Postclassic. However, this applies to other pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations as well. 3500-2000 BCE During the Archaic Era agriculture was developed in the region, Late in this era, use of pottery and loom weaving became common, and class divisions began to appear. Many of the technologies of Mesoamerica in terms of stone-grinding, drilling. 1800 BCE–200 CE During the Preclassic Era, or Formative Period, large-scale ceremonial architecture, writing, cities, the Olmec civilization developed and flourished at such sites as La Venta and San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán. 200–1000 CE The Classic Era was dominated by numerous independent city-states in the Maya region and also featured the beginnings of political unity in central Mexico, regional differences between cultures grew more manifest. The city-state of Monte Albán dominated the Valley of Oaxaca until the late Classic, highly sophisticated arts such as stuccowork, architecture, sculptural reliefs, mural painting, pottery, and lapidary developed and spread during the Classic era. In the Maya region, numerous city states such as Tikal, Calakmul, Copán, Palenque, Uxmal, Cobá, each of these polities was generally independent, although they often formed alliances and sometimes became vassal states of each other. The main conflict during this period was between Tikal and Calakmul, who fought a series of wars over the course of more than half a millennium, each of these states declined during the Terminal Classic and were eventually abandoned. This is sometimes seen as a period of increased chaos and warfare, the Postclassic is often viewed as a period of cultural decline. However, it was a time of technological advancement in architecture, engineering, metallurgy came into use for jewelry and some tools, with new alloys and techniques being developed in a few centuries. The Postclassic was a period of rapid movement and population growth — especially in Central Mexico post-1200 —, for instance, in Yucatán, dual rulership apparently replaced the more theocratic governments of Classic times, whilst oligarchic councils operated in much of Central Mexico. Likewise, it appears that the wealthy pochteca and military orders became more powerful than was apparently the case in Classic times and this afforded some Mesoamericans a degree of social mobility. The Toltec for a time dominated central Mexico in the 11th–13th century, the northern Maya were for a time united under Mayapan, and Oaxaca was briefly united by Mixtec rulers in the 11th–12th centuries. The Aztec Empire arose in the early 15th century and appeared to be on a path to asserting dominance over the Valley of Mexico region not seen since Teotihuacan. Spain was the first European power to contact Mesoamerica, however, and its conquistadores, by the 15th century, the Mayan revival in Yucatán and southern Guatemala and the flourishing of Aztec imperialism evidently enabled a renaissance of fine arts and science. Examples include the Pueblan-Mexica style in pottery, codex illumination, and goldwork, the flourishing of Nahua poetry, arguably, the Post-Classic continued until the conquest of the last independent native state of Mesoamerica, Tayasal, in 1697. Mesoamerican civilization was a network of different cultures
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Agriculture in Mesoamerica
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Agriculture in Mesoamerica dates to the Archaic period of Mesoamerican chronology. At the beginning of the Archaic period, the Early Hunters of the late Pleistocene era led nomadic lifestyles, the cultivation of plants could have been started purposefully, or by accident. The former could have been done by bringing a wild plant closer to a site, or to a frequented area, so it was easier access. The latter could have happened as certain plant seeds were eaten and not fully digested, as the Archaic period progressed, cultivation of plant foods became increasingly important to the people of Mesoamerica. The reliability of cultivated plants allowed hunting and gathering micro-bands to establish permanent settlements and these larger settlements required a greater quantity of food, consequently leading to an even greater reliance on domesticated crops. Eventually, the Mesoamerican people established a sedentary lifestyle based on plant domestication and cultivation and this sedentary lifestyle reliant on agriculture allowed permanent settlements to grow into villages and provided the opportunity for division of labor and social stratification. The most important plant in ancient Mesoamerica, is, unarguably, squash and beans are also important staples of the ancient Mesoamerican agricultural diet and along with maize, are often referred to as the Three Sisters. Richard S. MacNeish completed an archaeological survey of Mesoamerica, during which he found the maize cobs in caves in Tehuacan. It was originally suspected that these date back to circa 5000 BC. The earliest dated maize cob was discovered in Guilá Naquitz cave in Oaxaca, Maize arrived at this point through the catastrophic sexual transmutation of Teosinte, the ancestor of maize. It became the single most important crop in all of Mesoamerica, Maize is storable for long periods of time, it can be ground into flour, and it easily turns into surplus for future use. Maize became vital to the survival of the people of Mesoamerica, this is reflected in their myths, artwork. The Maize God is depicted throughout Mesoamerica in stone figurines, carvings on altars, another important crop in Mesoamerican agriculture is squash. Bruce D. Smith discovered evidence of domesticated squash, in Guilá Naquitz cave in Oaxaca and these finds date back to 8000 BC, the beginning of the Archaic period, and are related to todays pumpkin. Another important squash that was domesticated in the early Archaic period was the bottle gourd, the bottle gourd provided storage space for collecting seeds for grinding or planting as well as a means of carrying water. Squashes provided an excellent source of protein to the ancient Mesoamericans, another major food source in Mesoamerica are beans. Maize, beans, and squash form a triad of products, growing these three crops together helps to retain nutrients in the soil. Rubber trees and cotton plants were useful for making culturally significant products such as balls for Mesoamerican ball games and textiles
12.
Kabah (Maya site)
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Kabah is a Maya archaeological site in the Puuc region of western Yucatan, south of Mérida. Kabah is south of Uxmal, connected to that site by a grand 18 kilometres long raised pedestrian causeway 5 metres wide with monumental arches at each end, Kabah is the second largest ruin of the Puuc region after Uxmal. The name Kabah or Kabaah is usually taken to be archaic Maya language for strong hand and this is a pre-Columbian name for the site, mentioned in Maya chronicles. An alternative name is Kabahaucan or royal snake in the hand, the area was inhabited by the mid 3rd century BCE. Most of the now visible was built between the 7th century and 11th centuries CE. A sculpted date on a doorjamb of one of the buildings gives the date 879, another inscribed date is one of the latest carved in the Maya Classic style, in 987. Kabaah was abandoned or at least no new ceremonial architecture built for centuries before the Spanish conquest of Yucatán. This massive repetition of a set of elements is unusual in Maya art. Masks of the rain god abound on other structures throughout the site, copal incense has been discovered in some of the stone noses of the raingods. The emphasis placed on Chaac, the Protector of the Harvest, there are no cenotes in this dryer, northern part of the Yucatán, so the Maya here had to depend solely on rain. The site also has a number of palaces, low stone buildings. While most is in the Puuc Maya style, some show Chenes elements, the site had a number of sculpted panels, lintels, and doorjambs, most of which have been removed to museums elsewhere. The sculptures mostly depict the rulers and scenes of warfare. The first detailed account of the ruin was published by John Lloyd Stephens, the site is on Mexican highway 261, some 140 kilometres south from Mérida, Yucatán, towards Campeche, Campeche, and is a popular tourism destination. Ruins extend for a distance on both sides of the highway, many of the more distant structures are little visited. As of 2003, a program is ongoing to clear and restore more buildings, microbial biofilms have been found degrading stone buildings at Uxmal and Kabah. Phototrophs such as Xenococcus are found more often on interior walls, however stone degrading Gloeocapsa and Synechocystis were also present in large numbers. Kabah was declared a Yucatán state park in 1993, Kabah on MayaInfo. org with photos Kabáh on sci. mus. mn. us more photos Kabáh, The Mayan Kingdom A photographic web-book on the Maya Kabah web site at Reed College
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Uxmal
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Uxmal is an ancient Maya city of the classical period in present-day Mexico. It is considered one of the most important archaeological sites of Maya culture, along with Palenque, Chichén, and Calakmul in Mexico, Caracol and Xunantunich in Belize, and Tikal in Guatemala. It is located in the Puuc region and is considered one of the Maya cities most representative of the dominant architectural style. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its significance and it is located 62 km south of Mérida, capital of Yucatán state in Mexico. Its buildings are noted for their size and decoration and its buildings are typical of the Puuc style, with smooth low walls that open on ornate friezes based on representations of typical Maya huts. These are represented by columns and trapezoidal shapes, entwined snakes and, in many cases two-headed snakes are used for masks of the rain god, Chaac, its big noses represent the rays of the storms. Feathered serpents with open fangs are shown leaving from the human beings. Also seen in cities are the influences of the Nahua. These were integrated with the elements of the Puuc tradition. The present name seems to derive from Oxmal, meaning three times built and this seems to refer to the sites antiquity and the times it had to rebuild. The etymology is disputed, another possibility is Uchmal which means what is to come, by tradition, this was supposed to be an invisible city, built in one night by the magic of the dwarf king. While much work has been done at the popular tourist destination of Uxmal to consolidate and restore buildings, little in the way of serious archeological excavation, the citys dates of occupation are unknown and the estimated population is a rough guess. Most of the major construction took place while Uxmal was the capital of a Late Classic Maya state around 850-925 AD. After about 1000 AD, Toltec invaders took over, and most building ceased by 1100 AD, Maya chronicles say that Uxmal was founded about 500 A. D. by Hun Uitzil Chac Tutul Xiu. For generations Uxmal was ruled over by the Xiu family and it was the most powerful site in western Yucatán, and for a while, in alliance with Chichen Itza, dominated all of the northern Maya area. Sometime after about 1200, no new major construction seems to have made at Uxmal, possibly related to the fall of Uxmals ally Chichen Itza. The Xiu moved their capital to Maní, and the population of Uxmal declined, Uxmal was dominant from 875 to 900 CE. The site appears to have been the capital of a state in the Puuc region from 850-950 CE
14.
Chaac
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For the region on Io see Chaac-Camaxtli Region Chaac is the name of the Maya rain deity. With his lightning axe, Chaac strikes the clouds and produces thunder, Chaac corresponds to Tlaloc among the Aztecs. Like other Maya gods, Chaac is both one and manifold, four Chaacs are based in the cardinal directions and wear the directional colors. In 16th-century Yucatán, the directional Chaac of the east was called Chac Xib Chaac Red Man Chaac, contemporary Yucatec Maya farmers distinguish many more aspects of the rain and the clouds and personify them as different, hierarchically-ordered rain deities. The Chorti Maya have preserved important folklore regarding the process of rain-making, the rain deities had their human counterparts. According to a Late-Postclassic Yucatec tradition, Chac Xib Chaac was the title of a king of Chichen Itza, among the rituals for the rain deities, the Yucatec Cha-Chaac ceremony for asking for rain is a ceremonial banquet for the rain deities. It includes four boys acting and chanting as frogs, asking for rain and crops was also the purpose of 16th-century rituals at the karstic wells, or cenotes, of Yucatán. Young men and women were lowered into these wells and left to drown there, alternatively, they were thrown into the wells later to be drawn up again, and give oracles. The rain deity is a patron of agriculture, a well-known myth in which the Chaacs have an important role to play is about the opening of the mountain in which the maize was hidden. In Tzotzil mythology, the deity also figures as the father of nubile women representing maize. In some versions of the Qeqchi myth of Sun and Moon, later, Chocl commits adultery with his brothers wife and is duly punished, his tears of regret give origin to the rain. Versions of this show the rain deity Chac in his war-like fury, pursuing the fleeing Sun and Moon. Chaac is usually depicted with a body showing reptilian or amphibian scales, and with a non-human head evincing fangs. In the Classic style, a shell serves as his ear ornament and he often carries shield and lightning-axe, the axe being personified by a closely related deity, god K, called Bolon Dzacab in Yucatec. The Classic Chaac sometimes shows features of the Central Mexican precursor of Tlaloc, a large part of the most important Maya book, the Dresden Codex, is dedicated to the Chaacs, their locations, and activities. It illustrates the relationship existing between the Chaacs, the Bacabs, and the aged goddess, Ixchel. The main source on the 16th-century Yucatec Maya, Bishop Diego de Landa, combines the four Chaacs with the four Bacabs, the Bacabs were aged deities governing the subterranean sphere and its water supplies. In the Classic period, the king often impersonated the rain deity while the pictogram of the deity can accompany the kings other names
15.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
16.
OCLC
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The Online Computer Library Center is a US-based nonprofit cooperative organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the worlds information and reducing information costs. It was founded in 1967 as the Ohio College Library Center, OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the largest online public access catalog in the world. OCLC is funded mainly by the fees that libraries have to pay for its services, the group first met on July 5,1967 on the campus of the Ohio State University to sign the articles of incorporation for the nonprofit organization. The group hired Frederick G. Kilgour, a former Yale University medical school librarian, Kilgour wished to merge the latest information storage and retrieval system of the time, the computer, with the oldest, the library. The goal of network and database was to bring libraries together to cooperatively keep track of the worlds information in order to best serve researchers and scholars. The first library to do online cataloging through OCLC was the Alden Library at Ohio University on August 26,1971 and this was the first occurrence of online cataloging by any library worldwide. Membership in OCLC is based on use of services and contribution of data, between 1967 and 1977, OCLC membership was limited to institutions in Ohio, but in 1978, a new governance structure was established that allowed institutions from other states to join. In 2002, the structure was again modified to accommodate participation from outside the United States. As OCLC expanded services in the United States outside of Ohio, it relied on establishing strategic partnerships with networks, organizations that provided training, support, by 2008, there were 15 independent United States regional service providers. OCLC networks played a key role in OCLC governance, with networks electing delegates to serve on OCLC Members Council, in early 2009, OCLC negotiated new contracts with the former networks and opened a centralized support center. OCLC provides bibliographic, abstract and full-text information to anyone, OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat—the OCLC Online Union Catalog, the largest online public access catalog in the world. WorldCat has holding records from public and private libraries worldwide. org, in October 2005, the OCLC technical staff began a wiki project, WikiD, allowing readers to add commentary and structured-field information associated with any WorldCat record. The Online Computer Library Center acquired the trademark and copyrights associated with the Dewey Decimal Classification System when it bought Forest Press in 1988, a browser for books with their Dewey Decimal Classifications was available until July 2013, it was replaced by the Classify Service. S. The reference management service QuestionPoint provides libraries with tools to communicate with users and this around-the-clock reference service is provided by a cooperative of participating global libraries. OCLC has produced cards for members since 1971 with its shared online catalog. OCLC commercially sells software, e. g. CONTENTdm for managing digital collections, OCLC has been conducting research for the library community for more than 30 years. In accordance with its mission, OCLC makes its research outcomes known through various publications and these publications, including journal articles, reports, newsletters, and presentations, are available through the organizations website. The most recent publications are displayed first, and all archived resources, membership Reports – A number of significant reports on topics ranging from virtual reference in libraries to perceptions about library funding
17.
Portable Document Format
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The Portable Document Format is a file format used to present documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. Each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of a fixed-layout flat document, including the text, fonts, graphics, PDF was developed in the early 1990s as a way to share computer documents, including text formatting and inline images. It was among a number of competing formats such as DjVu, Envoy, Common Ground Digital Paper, Farallon Replica, in those early years before the rise of the World Wide Web and HTML documents, PDF was popular mainly in desktop publishing workflows. Adobe Systems made the PDF specification available free of charge in 1993 and these proprietary technologies are not standardized and their specification is published only on Adobe’s website. Many of them are not supported by popular third-party implementations of PDF. So when organizations publish PDFs which use proprietary technologies, they present accessibility issues for some users. In 2014, ISO TC171 voted to deprecate XFA for ISO 32000-2, on January 9,2017, the final draft for ISO 32000-2 was published, thus reaching the approval stage. The PDF combines three technologies, A subset of the PostScript page description programming language, for generating the layout, a font-embedding/replacement system to allow fonts to travel with the documents. A structured storage system to bundle these elements and any associated content into a single file, PostScript is a page description language run in an interpreter to generate an image, a process requiring many resources. It can handle graphics and standard features of programming such as if. PDF is largely based on PostScript but simplified to remove flow control features like these, often, the PostScript-like PDF code is generated from a source PostScript file. The graphics commands that are output by the PostScript code are collected and tokenized, any files, graphics, or fonts to which the document refers also are collected. Then, everything is compressed to a single file, therefore, the entire PostScript world remains intact. PDF supports graphic transparency, PostScript does not, PostScript is an interpreted programming language with an implicit global state, so instructions accompanying the description of one page can affect the appearance of any following page. Therefore, all preceding pages in a PostScript document must be processed to determine the appearance of a given page. A PDF file is a 7-bit ASCII file, except for elements that may have binary content. A PDF file starts with a header containing the magic number, the format is a subset of a COS format. A COS tree file consists primarily of objects, of which there are eight types, Boolean values, representing true or false Numbers Strings, enclosed within parentheses, objects may be either direct or indirect
18.
JSTOR
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JSTOR is a digital library founded in 1995. Originally containing digitized back issues of journals, it now also includes books and primary sources. It provides full-text searches of almost 2,000 journals, more than 8,000 institutions in more than 160 countries have access to JSTOR, most access is by subscription, but some older public domain content is freely available to anyone. William G. Bowen, president of Princeton University from 1972 to 1988, JSTOR originally was conceived as a solution to one of the problems faced by libraries, especially research and university libraries, due to the increasing number of academic journals in existence. Most libraries found it prohibitively expensive in terms of cost and space to maintain a collection of journals. By digitizing many journal titles, JSTOR allowed libraries to outsource the storage of journals with the confidence that they would remain available long-term, online access and full-text search ability improved access dramatically. Bowen initially considered using CD-ROMs for distribution, JSTOR was initiated in 1995 at seven different library sites, and originally encompassed ten economics and history journals. JSTOR access improved based on feedback from its sites. Special software was put in place to make pictures and graphs clear, with the success of this limited project, Bowen and Kevin Guthrie, then-president of JSTOR, wanted to expand the number of participating journals. They met with representatives of the Royal Society of London and an agreement was made to digitize the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society dating from its beginning in 1665, the work of adding these volumes to JSTOR was completed by December 2000. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation funded JSTOR initially, until January 2009 JSTOR operated as an independent, self-sustaining nonprofit organization with offices in New York City and in Ann Arbor, Michigan. JSTOR content is provided by more than 900 publishers, the database contains more than 1,900 journal titles, in more than 50 disciplines. Each object is identified by an integer value, starting at 1. In addition to the site, the JSTOR labs group operates an open service that allows access to the contents of the archives for the purposes of corpus analysis at its Data for Research service. This site offers a facility with graphical indication of the article coverage. Users may create focused sets of articles and then request a dataset containing word and n-gram frequencies and they are notified when the dataset is ready and may download it in either XML or CSV formats. The service does not offer full-text, although academics may request that from JSTOR, JSTOR Plant Science is available in addition to the main site. The materials on JSTOR Plant Science are contributed through the Global Plants Initiative and are only to JSTOR
19.
International Standard Serial Number
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An International Standard Serial Number is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title, ISSN are used in ordering, cataloging, interlibrary loans, and other practices in connection with serial literature. The ISSN system was first drafted as an International Organization for Standardization international standard in 1971, ISO subcommittee TC 46/SC9 is responsible for maintaining the standard. When a serial with the content is published in more than one media type. For example, many serials are published both in print and electronic media, the ISSN system refers to these types as print ISSN and electronic ISSN, respectively. The format of the ISSN is an eight digit code, divided by a hyphen into two four-digit numbers, as an integer number, it can be represented by the first seven digits. The last code digit, which may be 0-9 or an X, is a check digit. Formally, the form of the ISSN code can be expressed as follows, NNNN-NNNC where N is in the set, a digit character. The ISSN of the journal Hearing Research, for example, is 0378-5955, where the final 5 is the check digit, for calculations, an upper case X in the check digit position indicates a check digit of 10. To confirm the check digit, calculate the sum of all eight digits of the ISSN multiplied by its position in the number, the modulus 11 of the sum must be 0. There is an online ISSN checker that can validate an ISSN, ISSN codes are assigned by a network of ISSN National Centres, usually located at national libraries and coordinated by the ISSN International Centre based in Paris. The International Centre is an organization created in 1974 through an agreement between UNESCO and the French government. The International Centre maintains a database of all ISSNs assigned worldwide, at the end of 2016, the ISSN Register contained records for 1,943,572 items. ISSN and ISBN codes are similar in concept, where ISBNs are assigned to individual books, an ISBN might be assigned for particular issues of a serial, in addition to the ISSN code for the serial as a whole. An ISSN, unlike the ISBN code, is an identifier associated with a serial title. For this reason a new ISSN is assigned to a serial each time it undergoes a major title change, separate ISSNs are needed for serials in different media. Thus, the print and electronic versions of a serial need separate ISSNs. Also, a CD-ROM version and a web version of a serial require different ISSNs since two different media are involved, however, the same ISSN can be used for different file formats of the same online serial
20.
Belize
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Belize, formerly British Honduras, is an independent country on the eastern coast of Central America. Belize is bordered on the north by Mexico, on the south and west by Guatemala and its mainland is about 290 km long and 110 km wide. Belize has an area of 22,800 square kilometres and a population of 368,310 and it has the lowest population density in Central America. The countrys population growth rate of 1. 87% per year is the second highest in the region, Belizes abundance of terrestrial and marine species and its diversity of ecosystems gives it a key place in the globally significant Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. Belize has a society, composed of many cultures and languages that reflect its rich history. English is the language of Belize, with Belizean Kriol being the unofficial language. Over half the population is multilingual, with Spanish being the second most common spoken language, Belize is considered a Central American and Caribbean nation with strong ties to both the Latin American and Caribbean regions. Belize is a Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch, Belize is known for its September Celebrations, its extensive coral reefs, and punta music. The origin of the name Belize remains unclear, the earliest known record of the name appears in the journal of the Dominican priest Fray José Delgado, dating to 1677. Delgado recorded the names of three rivers that he crossed while travelling north along the Caribbean coast, Rio Soyte, Rio Xibum. The names of these waterways, which correspond to the Sittee River, Sibun River and it is likely that Delgados Balis was actually the Mayan word belix, meaning muddy-watered. Others have suggested that the name derives from a Spanish pronunciation of the name of the Scottish buccaneer Peter Wallace, there is no proof that Wallace settled in this area and some scholars have characterized this claim as a myth. Writers and historians have suggested other possible etymologies, including postulated French. Many aspects of this culture persist in the area despite nearly 500 years of European domination, prior to about 2500 BC, some hunting and foraging bands settled in small farming villages, they later domesticated crops such as corn, beans, squash, and chili peppers. A profusion of languages and subcultures developed within the Maya core culture, between about 2500 BC and 250 AD, the basic institutions of Maya civilisation emerged. The peak of this occurred during the classic period, which began about 250 AD. The Maya civilisation spread across what is now Belize around 1500 BC, the recorded history of the middle and southern regions is dominated by Caracol, an urban political centre that may have supported over 140,000 people. North of the Maya Mountains, the most important political centre was Lamanai, in the late Classic Era of Maya civilisation, as many as 1 million people may have lived in the area that is now Belize
21.
Actun Tunichil Muknal
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Actun Tunichil Muknal, also known locally as ATM, is a cave in Belize, near San Ignacio, Cayo District, notable as a Maya archaeological site that includes skeletons, ceramics, and stoneware. There are several areas with remains in the main chamber. The best known is The Crystal Maiden, the skeleton of an adolescent, possibly a victim, whose bones have been calcified to a sparkling. The ceramics at the site are significant partly because they are marked with kill holes, many of the Maya artifacts and remains are completely calcified to the cave floor. One artifact, named the Monkey Pot, is one of just four of its type found in Central America. The Maya also modified cave formations here, in some instances to create altars for the offerings, in others to create silhouettes of faces, the cave is extensively decorated with cave formations in the upper passages. Animal life in the cave includes a population of bats, large freshwater crabs, crayfish, catfish. Large invertebrates like Amblypygi and various predatory spiders also inhabit the cave, agouti and otters may also use the cave. These and many species are quite common in river caves of this size in Belize. Other Maya archaeological sites in the vicinity are Cahal Pech, Chaa Creek, El Pilar, Actun Tunichil Muknal should not be confused with Actun Tun Kul in the Chiquibul Cave System. The cave is located in the Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve, the main cave system is about 3 mi long and consists of a long river passage for approximately 2 mi, which ends at an upstream sump. A series of upper prehistoric passages continues another mile past the sump through massive breakdown boulders, the cave can be exited through a tight squeeze ending in a giant sink hole collapse in the jungle. The caves upper passage is located about 1/3 of the way in from the lower entrance, here 14 skeletal remains have been found, and numerous examples of ancient Maya pottery remain. The cave periodically closes when rainfall causes the water level to rise. In late May 2012, a tourist accidentally dropped a camera, as a result, all cameras without a permit are banned from the cave. All visitors are told to remove their shoes and wear socks when reaching the upper dry chamber to help minimize foot traffic impact, ghost Hunters International season 3 episode 9 The Crystal Maiden, Belize and France evaluated the ghost stories behind the mysterious maiden. National Geographic listed it as #1 on their list of Top 10 Sacred Caves, Maya cave sites Marachov, Nick and Williams, Nick Below Belize ca. Miller, Tom Tunichil Muknal The Canadian Caver vol 21 no 2,1989, Williams, Nick An Introduction to Cave Exploration in Belize
22.
Baking Pot
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Researchers like Aimers favor a gradual abandonment of the site at a much later time period than other sites in the region. In the late Preclassic, Baking Pot had a population with little public architecture. In the Early Classic, the experienced a construction boom. Two architectural groups were built, with Group A to the north and this north-south orientation is similar to nearby Xunantunich. Earlier excavators like Ricketson, Gordon Willey, and Bullard and Bullard describe these groups as Group 1 and these major complexes make up the center of Baking Pot and are connected by a causeway. In the Late Classic, the population increased to approximately 3000 people, toward the end of the Classic period the local elite left and the palace complexes in the city center were abandoned. In the early Postclassic, people were living on a portion of the site but rarely used the ceremonial center. Much of the living at Baking Pot were farmers, being close to the Belize River the site has fertile soil in an alluvial valley and is primarily associated with agricultural production. In the 1920s, A. H. Anderson first conducted research at Baking Pot after some materials from the site were used in the construction of the western highway. Later excavations by Oliver Ricketson, Gordon Willey in the 1950s and William Bullard, wiley is best known for his excavations and settlement research at Barton Ramie and for his focus on Maya households during a time when most people were only focused on elite. Jaime Awe, including Jim Conlon, Jim Aimers, Josalyn Ferguson, Jennifer Piehl, Carolyn Audet, Christophe Helmke, Baking Pot is named after large pots were found by archaeologists that were once used to boil chicle. These vessels were cacao drinking vessels and were thought to contain a placename, Four Water Place, there are no carved monuments at Baking Pot, although several uncarved stelae and uncarved altars have been found. A causeway extends south and to the west of Group B, here hundreds of broken vessels were found in front of the stairway, possibly from a termination ritual. Mound 190 had deposits with finger bones, an altar, and this mound also contains evidence of ritual activity and is believed to be used for ritual/ceremonial purposes. The discovery of bones is similar to the finger bowl caches associated with Caracol. Vessel 2 at Baking Pot describes its owner in a structure that is found at Caracol as well. Naranjo pottery has also found here at Baking Pot. Belize Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc
23.
Barton Creek Cave
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Barton Creek Cave is a natural cave in Belize, known as both an archaeological site and as a tourist destination. It is located in the Barton Creek area near San Ignacio in the Cayo District, Barton Creek Cave is a primarily single-passage resurging stream cave. By 2005 the Xibalba Mapping and Exploration Team had extended the survey to 8 km, extensive looting of artifacts occurred soon after the cave was first reported, but it remains an important site for archaeologists. Evidence of cave use by the Maya exists on ten ledges within the first kilometer of cave passage, pottery shards indicate use between the Early Classic to the Late Classic periods. The remains of at least 28 humans have found within the cave. Multiyear Project to Map Caves for the Belize Department of Archaeology,2002 NSS Convention Larson et al
24.
Cahal Pech
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Cahal Pech is a Maya site located near the town of San Ignacio in the Cayo District of Belize. The site rests high above the banks of the Macal River and is located to overlook the confluence of the Macal River. The site is a collection of 34 structures, with the tallest temple being about 25 meters in height, the site was abandoned in the 9th century CE for unknown reasons. The earliest pottery in western Belize is found here, emerging information from western Belize suggests that ceramic-using populations may have been in place as early as ca.1200 B. C. at Cahal Pech and perhaps elsewhere. It is now a reserve, and houses a small museum with artifacts from various ongoing excavations. The primary excavation of the began in 1988. Restoration was completed in 2000 under the leadership of Dr. Jaime Awe, Director of the National Institute of Archaeology, other nearby Mayan sites include Chaa Creek, Xunantunich, Baking Pot, and Lower Dover
25.
Caracol
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For the Québécoise singer see Carole Facal. Caracol is the given to a large ancient Maya archaeological site. It is situated approximately 40 kilometres south of Xunantunich and the town of San Ignacio Cayo and it rests on the Vaca Plateau at an elevation of 500 meters above sea-level, in the foothills of the Maya Mountains. Long thought to be a center, it is now known that the site was one of the most important regional political centers of the Maya Lowlands during the Classic Period. Caracol covered approximately 200 square kilometers, covering a much larger than present-day Belize City. Caracol is a name from Spanish, caracol snail, shell. Local tour guides say that the nickname Caracol originates from the population of snails present on the site. Researchers would say to go to one place with all the snails. When visiting the site you will see that snails are quite literally everywhere and its ancient name has been reconstructed from the Emblem Glyph popular among its early rulers - Ux Witz Ajaw, or “Three Hills Lord”. The full name of Caracol would be Three-Hills Water, read Oxwitza, Uxwitza’ or, Hispanicised and this place name may also reference the Three Stone Place of creation. The site was first reported by a native logger named Rosa Mai, Mai reported the site to the archaeological commission for British Honduras, today Belize. In 1938 the archaeological commissioner, A. H. Anderson visited the site for two weeks along with a colleague H. B and it was Anderson who gave the site its modern name. They conducted preliminary surveys, noted 9 carved monuments, took notes on the structures of the A Group Plaza, a. H. Anderson and Linton Satterthwaite later discovered 40 stone monuments. The site was first noted and documented archaeologically in 1937 by A. H. Anderson, more extensive explorations and documentation of the site was undertaken by Linton Satterthwaite of the University Museum at the University of Pennsylvania from 1950 to 1953. During this time Satterthwaite primarily focused on finding and documenting monuments, later removing several stelae, the Caracol Archaeological Project is directed by Drs. Arlen and Diane Chase of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, United States. The 1988-1989 field seasons researched the southeast section of the site, the only road Caracol may be accessed by is paved for the last ten miles and leads to the Western Highway between San Ignacio and Belmopan and to Santa Elena. Caana is the largest building at Caracol and it remains one of the largest man-made structures in Belize. Construction on Caana demonstrated to be post-AD8001990 Structures A2, A7,1991 Exploration and mapping of causeways
26.
Cerros
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Cerros is an Eastern Lowland Maya archaeological site in northern Belize that functioned from the Late Preclassic to the Postclassic period. The site reached its apogee during the Mesoamerican Late Preclassic and at its peak, the site is strategically located on a peninsula at the mouth of the New River where it empties into Chetumal Bay on the Caribbean coast. As such, the site had access to and served as a link between the coastal trade route that circumnavigated the Yucatán Peninsula and inland communities. The inhabitants of Cerros constructed a canal system and utilized raised-field agriculture. The core of the site immediately abuts the bay and consists of relatively large structures and stepped pyramids, an acropolis complex. Bounding the southern side of the site is a canal network that encloses the central portion of the site. Residential structures continue outside of the canal, generally radiating southwest and southeast, from the time of its inception in the Late Preclassic Era, around 400BC, the site of Cerros was a small village of farmers, fishermen and traders. They made use of its soils and easy access to the sea. The first of the new constructions was the Structure 5C-2nd, which has become the most famous piece of architecture at the site, as kings died, others came along and new temples were constructed in their honor. The last of the constructions at the site occurred around AD100. During the Protoclassic, Cerros ceased to function as a locus of elitist activity, from then on, any new construction was probably limited to the outer residential area, as the population began to decline severely. Apart from an occupation at the end of the Late Classic period as a village community. This once glorious site was left for ruin and remained unnoticed until Thomas Gann made reference to lookout mounds along the coast in 1900. Archaeological work began at Cerros around 1973 when the site was purchased by the Metroplex Corporation of Dallas, fortunately, these plans failed and the site was given to the government of Belize. In 1974, archaeologist David Freidel and his team uncovered evidence that suggested that the site was of the Late Preclassic period, in 1975, when a dedicatory offering cache was uncovered at Structure 6, further evidence was provided that Cerros was indeed a Late Preclassic site. Throughout the 1970s, research was allowed to continue when the National Science Foundation funded further excavations, the original team completed their excavations in 1981. In the 1990s, Debra Walker and a team of archaeologists began a series of new excavations to investigate the sites demise at the end of the Late Preclassic Era. In addition to the research done at the site, Walkers team also had radiocarbon dates run on newly found artifacts and they also recalibrated several dates from the original research in order to establish a tighter chronological sequence
27.
Chaa Creek
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Chaa Creek is a tributary of the Macal River in the Cayo District in western Belize. One of the official gauging stations of the Macal is located near the confluence with Chaa Creek, there are Maya ruins that remain largely unexcavated in the Chaa Creek catchment basin, certain early research was conducted on the archaeology at Chaa Creek in 1997 by Harvard University. Significant pottery finds and other artifacts have been recovered at the Chaa Creek site, the Chaa Creek Nature Reserve is a noted area for birdwatching. Over 300 species of birds have been sighted there, the underlying geology of this watershed can be characterised as limestone associations of foothills of the Maya Mountains. Cahal Pech - another Maya site in the vicinity The Lodge at Chaa Creek - an eco-resort and 365 acre private nature reserve located in the Cayo District of Belize, Central America
28.
Colha, Belize
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Colha, Belize is a Maya archaeological site located in northern portion of the country, about 52 km. north of Belize City, near the city of Orange Walk. The site is one of the earliest in the Maya region and these peaks in population are directly related to the presence of stone tool workshops at the site. During the Late Preclassic and Late Classic periods, Colha served as a supplier of worked stone tools for the region. It has been estimated that the 36 workshops at Colha produced nearly 4 million chert and obsidian tools and this made it an important player in the trade of essential good throughout the area. The first archaeological excavations at Colha were in 1973 and it was decided that Thomas R. Hester and Harry J. Shafer should be in charge of this project due to their experience with lithics. The result was a 14-year project by Hester, Shafer, gibson, Thomas R. Hester, Harry B. Iceland, John S. Jacob, John G. Jones, kelly, Eleanor M. King, Jon C. Lohse, Virginia K. Massey, Marilyn A. Masson, Roberta McGregor, Richard Meadows, Frances Meskill, George H. Michaels, Shirley B. Mock, Daniel R. Potter, Ketherine V. Reese, Erwin Roemer, Robert F. Scott IV, Harry J. Shafer, shaw, Janet Stock, Lauren A. Sullivan, A. J. Taylor, Fred Valdez Jr. Richard r, the Colha Project is a long running dig at and around Colha. The project began in 1979 with an investigation of the lithic production sites noted by Hammond and his associates, under the direction of Thomas Hester, Harry Shafer. The 1980 season confirmed that Colha was an important center for the production of lithics for the area, the CRS program was important in the locating of several preceramic sites in Northern Belize including, Ladyville, Lowe Ranch, and Sand Hill. The latter being the subject again in 1984, in 1987, while research continued on the 1986 studies, a new emphasis was developed on the Preceramic Period. Operation 4046 located off mound at the edge of an aguada recovered lithic tools, investigations at 4046 continued during brief investigations in 1988 and recovered additional lithic material below the Maya ceramic zone. 1989 saw the first inclusion of a school from the University of Texas at Austin under the direction of Fred Valdez Jr. The research centered around preclassic deposits at Operation 2031, while John Jacobs important soil coring project started in the adjacent Cobweb Swamp, Jacobs work was the main focus in 1990, but in 1991 attention turned back to the preceramic and operation 4046 through Valdezs secong Colha field school. In Belize, there is evidence for occupation during the Archaic period before 3400 B. C. This date has been used in conjunction with the Colha chronology, introduced by Iceland, Colha falls in an area of one particularly important natural resource, chert, and is very near to Cobweb Swamp
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Cuello
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Cuello is a Maya archaeological site in northern Belize. The site is that of a village with a long occupational history. It was originally dated to 2000 BC, but these dates have now been corrected and updated to around 1200 BC and its inhabitants lived in pole-and-thatch houses that were built on top of low plaster-coated platforms. The site contains residential groups clustered around central patios and it also features the remains of a steam bath dating to approximately 900 BC, making it the oldest steam bath found to date in the Maya lowlands. Human burials have been associated with the structures, the oldest have no surviving burial relics. According to some sources, ceramics from the earliest phase of the settlement at Cuello already belonged to an established lowland Maya pottery tradition. Other scholars disagree, and consider that the earliest Cuello pottery was of the Swasey type, starting at 1200 BC, Cuello is located two miles Yo Creek Road in the Orange Walk District. It sits on the land of the Cuello Family but permissions are granted to visit the site. Uncorrected radiocarbon dates from the lowest stratigraphic levels of the site returned dates as far back as 2600 BC, the site was investigated in the 1970s and 1980s by archaeologist Norman Hammond. Structure 326 was excavated in 1980 and measures 8 by 4 metres, the walls of the building were made of thin poles tied together with vines. This was then coated in a layer of clay and finished with a white lime wash. Archaeological investigation has revealed that the diet of the Preclassic occupants of Cuello consisted of less than 30% maize, compared with up to 75% for the modern Maya. White-tailed deer made up half the meat in their diet, followed by freshwater turtles and domestic dogs. Two Late Preclassic mass burial areas have been uncovered at Cuello, healed fractures on the bones suggest that they may have been captured warriors. Further evidence of local warfare comes from evidence of burnt buildings at the site, a number of elite burials have been excavated at Cuello. The earliest phases of the Middle Classic included both adults and children accompanied by offerings of jade and shell ornaments, indicating social differentiation, high-status burials tended to be associated with specific locations throughout the history of the site. Burial 160 is a burial that has been dated to 500–400 BC. There was also the portion of a human skull that had been fashioned into a plaque
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El Pilar
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For the church in Zaragoza Spain see Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar El Pilar is an ancient Maya city center located on the Belize-Guatemala border. The site is located 12 kilometres north of San Ignacio, Belize and can be accessed through the San Ignacio, the name El Pilar is Spanish for watering basin, reflecting the abundance of streams around the site and below its escarpment, which is rare in the Maya area. El Pilar is the largest Maya site in the Belize River area with over 25 plazas and hundreds of major buildings. Archaeologist Anabel Ford first mapped El Pilar in 1983 in the course of her Belize River Archaeological Settlement Survey or BRASS project, Settlement patterns in the region suggest a hierarchy of community size and composition that was directly related to farmland. Since 1993, an archaeological field survey excavation project marked the initial examination of El Pilar. Under the direction of Anabel Ford, the map was executed with engineering survey instruments and excavations focused on access ways, stairs. When the monuments were mapped, the team verified the causeway system that linked from the east to the west uniting one ancient Maya center in two nations, Belize and Guatemala. Later excavations tunneled into major temple revealing a 2000 years construction history, Ford and her team are currently working with Lidar in order to map the area more extensively. The city grew from Middle Preclassic period, with the first small temples, the civic area was expanded, reaching its greatest extent before 1000 AD. At its height in the Late Classic, the population of El Pilar is estimated to have exceeded 180,000. Ford and her team have excavated many of the plazas, temples and palaces of the monumental civic area, surrounding the monuments is the residence that made up the ancient Maya community. Tzunu’un, a residential unit discovered, mapped and tested in 1984, became the focus of an investigation that excavated, exposed. This is the only house that the public has access to today. Working with Master Maya forest gardeners, the team has developed a forest garden around the house site, the forest gardens of El Pilar are now maintained by the Maya farmers as part of the El Pilar Forest Garden Network. The El Pilar Archeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna is open to the public and has a series of trails providing access throughout the site, tourists can take a taxi from Bullet Tree Falls directly into the Maya site. Intrepid visitors can experience both ancient and contemporary aspects of Maya life promoting Maya culture in the area, there is an active initiative to make El Pilar of Belize and Guatemala the first archaeological peace park in the world. Ford’s conservation strategy, called Archaeology Under the Canopy, promotes the conservation of ancient Maya monuments in the context of their natural environmental context, sheltered under the forest canopy after 1000 years of neglect, El Pilar and all the Maya monuments are best maintained in the shade. This preserves Maya cultural heritage along with the forest gardens the Maya created, the El Pilar Forest Garden Network
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K'axob
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K’axob is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in Belize. It was occupied from about 800 B. C. to A. D.900, the site is located in northern Belize in the wetlands of Pulltrouser Swamp in proximity to the Sibun River Valley in central Belize. Research has shown that K’axob was occupied from the Late Preclassic Period to the Early Postclassic Period and this period in time and the site is characterized by specific ceramic types as well as agriculture and an increase in social stratification. K’axob is a village site centered on two pyramid plazas and later grew in size during the Early Classic Period to the Late Classic Period, the site includes a number of household, mounds and plazas. K’axob is mostly based on residential and household living but also has some ritualistic aspects, many of the structures at the site show evidence of household dwellings as well as ritual purposes. There are many burials at the site that illustrate the ritualistic aspects, many of the individuals, some more than others, were interned with beads made of shell as well as ceramic vessels, demonstrating this potential social stratification. The pottery vessels recovered from the site demonstrates regularity in the production of pottery, the most prominent type of ceramic vessels recovered from the site were ‘serving bowls, ’ with a tripodal base, and were present during the Early Classic Period. There is also evidence of specialized areas for pottery production, there is also some evidence of stone tool production at the site. The most common stone tool recovered from the site is a chert oval biface and is associated with agriculture, K’axob was first excavated in 1979 and 1981 by B. L. Turner and Peter D. Harrison. The excavations were taken over by Patricia A. McAnany in 1981. The bulk of the research at the site was conducted from 1990-1998 and focused on social stratification, household structures, research at the site is ongoing through Boston University and is funded by The National Science Foundation. Patricia A. McAnany continues to the investigator, with aid from graduate and undergraduate students and in collaboration with other universities. Analysis is conducted both at the lab at the site in Belize as well as at central lab at Boston University. Household and pyramidal architecture at Kaxob went through multiple phases in response to increasing population, most household complexes at Kaxob were constructed on top of raised mounds or platforms, over 100 of these residential platforms exist at the site. Larger corporate households were occupied by 20-30 people, while smaller households held around 8 people Differentiation between house sizes are an indication of a complex, stratified society. Structures were typically thatched with vegetation and made out of a substance, using sascab as a fill for structural support. The main residential settlements, known as northern plaza A and southern plaza B, were situated around two central pyramid complexes, standing at 13 meters tall, this pyramid has since been heavily eroded and overgrown by vegetation. The largest pyramid in this complex, the Classic Period construction known as Structure 18, several more “satellite” platforms, accommodating single and multiple dwellings, surround the outer region of the two main plazas
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La Milpa
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La Milpa is an archaeological site and an ancient Maya city within the Three River region of Northwest Belize bordering Mexico and Guatemala. La Milpa is located between the sites of Rio Azul and Lamanai, currently, La Milpa lies within the nature preserve owned by the Programme for Belize, a non-profit organization. Following Caracol and Lamanai, La Milpa is the third largest site in Belize with the Main Plaza alone covering 18,000 square meters and this site was first discovered in March 1938 by Sir J. Eric S. Thompson. Thompson’s work at La Milpa entailed mapping and excavating the Main Center, Thompson noted that there was a line of stelae along the Great Plaza, however they were badly weathered. These stelae were made of a limestone that came from the bedrock within the PfB area. According to Nikolai Grube, the composition of this material accounted for why the stelae were so eroded, nonetheless, Thompson was able read a date on Stela 7 of 9.17.10.0.0. Thompson’s work was short lived at La Milpa however, due a bout of dysentery that cut his season short, after Thompson, La Milpa was not explored again until the 1970s, when David M. Pendergast and Stanley Loten conducted a field project at the site. Their work largely centered on adding to the map of the main plaza. After Pendergast and Loten, two archaeologists in 1979 from the Department of Archaeology in Belmopan went to La Milpa to confirm reports of looting and their surveys confirmed that the site had been heavily looted. In 1985, the Department of Archaeology revisited La Milpa again because of reports of looting, on this expedition, they confirmed both reports, noting that all the main structures within the site center had large trenches revealing older constructions and/or tombs. Archaeological research continued at La Milpa in 1988 when two different groups each with different objectives started investigations, the first group, The Rio Bravo Project, went to sketch the site center. The second group, the PfB, went to research the site for the ability to contribute to the archaeological record. The mapping done during these investigations showed the Main Plaza, the outlying courtyards, thomas Guderjan, who was part of the original exploration by the Rio Bravo Project, returned in February 1990 to continue mapping the site and the outlying areas. Within this field season, Guderjan produced maps of four plazas,20 residential courtyards, while all these occur within a 1 km by.5 km area, Guderjan inferred that site could have had as many as 24 to 30 different courtyards. Guderjan also renumbered the stelae, however LaMAP and other scholars have since utilized Thompson’s original numbering, in February 1992, Boston University and the La Milpa Archaeological Project started extensive excavations and mapping of the site. The LaMAP project only holds a permit to excavate within a 6 km radius from the site center, research within the first years was conducted at four main areas. Additional research has been conducted by the Ancient Maya Land and Water Use Project. The site is situated on a ridge roughly 1 km across, there are no natural water sources within the site, however there are two large aguadas that would have held water through the dry season
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Lamanai
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Lamanai is a Mesoamerican archaeological site, and was once a major city of the Maya civilization, located in the north of Belize, in Orange Walk District. The sites name is pre-Columbian, recorded by early Spanish missionaries, unlike most Classic-period sites in the southern Maya lowlands, Lamanai was not abandoned at the end of the 10th century AD. Lamanai was occupied as early as the 16th century BC, the site became a prominent centre in the Pre-Classic Period, from the 4th century BC through the 1st century CE. In 625 CE, Stele 9 was erected there in the Yucatec language of the Maya, Lamanai continued to be occupied up to the 17th century AD. During the Spanish conquest of Yucatán Spanish friars established two Roman Catholic churches here, but a Maya revolt drove the Spanish out, the site was subsequently incorporated by the British in British Honduras, passing with that colonys independence to Belize. Also the British has settled in Lamanai and made a sugar mill, the vast majority of the site remained unexcavated until the mid-1970s. Archaeological work has concentrated on the investigation and restoration of the structures, most notably the Mask Temple, Jaguar Temple. The summit of this latter structure affords a view across the jungle to a nearby lagoon. A significant portion of the Temple of the Jaguar Masks remains under grassy earth or is covered in jungle growth. Fully excavated, it would be taller than the High Temple. In the jaguar temple there is a legend that you can find an ancient spear called the heart of the jaguar, the Maya ruins of Lamanai once belonged to a sizable Mayan city in the Orange Walk District of Belize. Lamanai comes from the Maya term for submerged crocodile, a nod to the toothy reptiles who live along the banks of the New River, Lamanai Belize jungle brims with exotic birds and hydrophilic iguanas. It lies between Lamanai and Altun Ha, another further to the east. It is positioned on Western Lagoon near its outlet into Spanish Creek, Chau Hiix is 15 km east of Lamanai, and is accessible by waterways travel. Altun Ha lies another 25 km further to the east, the material culture of Chau Hiix shows close ties with both Lamanai and Altun Ha, as well as evidence of interaction with centers in Petén Basin. There are considerable ancient irrigation works at Chau Hiix, so it was probably an agricultural community supplying food for Lamanai, the archaeological contexts of copper objects recovered at Lamanai beginning, with the appearance of metal at the site by around A. D.1150. D. Objects are classified and examined in the contexts, forms, styles, uses, and sources of copper objects dating from the Buk ceramic phase, there were copper objects recovered at Lamanai beginning, with the appearance of metal at the site by around A. D.1150. Masson notes that metal was probably the most highvalued luxury good in this region of the Postclassic Maya world, trade was an essential component of Mesoamerican life in the Postclassic period and the Maya were active participants in a vast macro regional trade network
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Louisville, Belize
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Louisville is a village in the Corozal District of the nation of Belize, located at 18°19′N 88°30′W. According to the 2000 census, it had a population of 655 people mainly from Maya Mestizo ancestry, some substantial artificial mounds at Louisville are the remains of an ancient city of the Maya civilization. The site seems to have been occupied from about 400 BC to about 950 AD, excavations, made here by Dr. Thomas Gann in the mid-1930s, uncovered polychrome stucco portrait heads. Much of the ancient remains were demolished to reuse stone and make fill for roads, further investigations and excavations of Louisville were made in 2000. Recontectualizing Louisville concerning the archeological discoveries
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Lubaantun
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Lubaantun is a pre-Columbian ruined city of the Maya civilization in southern Belize, Central America. The city dates from the Maya Classic era, flourishing from the AD 730s to the 890s, the architecture is somewhat unusual from typical Classical central lowlands Maya sites. Lubaantuns structures are built of large stone blocks laid with no mortar. Several structures have distinctive in-and-out masonry, each tier is built with a batter, corners of the step-pyramids are usually rounded, and lack stone structures atop the pyramids, presumably some had structures of perishable materials in ancient times. The centre of the site is on an artificially raised platform between two small rivers, it has often been noted that the situation is well-suited to military defence. The ancient name of the site is unknown, Lubaantun is a modern Maya name meaning place of fallen stones. At the start of the 20th century inhabitants of various Kekchi, dr. Thomas Gann came to investigate the site in 1903, and published two reports about the ruins in 1905. Of note Merwin discovered one of the three courts for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame, which had stone markers with hieroglyphic texts and depictions of the ballgame. In 1924 Gann revisited the ruins, and then led adventurer F. A. Mitchell-Hedges to the site, in his typically sensationalistic fashion, Mitchell-Hedges published an article in the Illustrated London News claiming to have discovered the site. Gann made a new map of the site, the following year Mitchell-Hedges returned to Lubaantun as a reporter for the Illustrated London News, accompanied by his companion Lady Richmond Brown. According to Nickell, there is a plethora of mystery surrounding the crystal skull found at Lubaantun. New Age believers assert that there are thirteen crystal skulls that when brought together will unite humanity, there is little evidence to suggest that the skulls have any mystical or psychic properties other than anecdotal evidence presented by Anna Mitchell-Hodges. She claims that the skull is the secret to her longevity, moreover, some scholars believe that the skulls may be Aztec but assert that they certainly are not Pre-Columbian or the 3,000 years old as postulated by F. A. Mitchell Hodges. Additionally, many archaeologists postulate that most, if not all, the skull had previously belonged to the collector Sydney Burney, and photographs of it had been published in the journal Man as early as 1936. Geoffrey Laws, along with T. A. Joyce and Mitchell-Hodges surveyed the site of Lubaantun. He noted that the site lies upon the line dividing these two units, situated near the village of San Pedro Colombia, at the head of canoe navigation on the Colombia River. The ruins are located in the area formed by the convergence of two tributaries of this river. His reports, along with scholars, are consistent in their prostrations that the Lubaantun Maya rigorously utilized water transport
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Marco Gonzalez
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Marco Gonzalez is a Maya archaeological site located near the southern tip of Ambergris Caye off the coast of Belize. It was first recorded in 1984 by Drs. Elizabeth Graham and David Pendergast, and was named by them after their local guide. The existence of the site, which is located approximately 8 kilometres south of San Pedro, had known to towns inhabitants for many years. The site was excavated by Drs. Graham and Pendergast between 1984 and 1994, the ruins are about 185 by 355 metres in size, and are easily visible from the air flying into San Pedro town. The low-lying area around the site is predominated by red and black mangroves, the site itself is covered by white mangrove, gumbo-limbo, white poisonwood, silver palmettos, cabbage palms and a variety of shrubbery. The presence of artefacts beneath the mangal swamps indicates that the site was once larger than what is now exposed, surrounded by thick jungle, access to the site is difficult, especially during and immediately after the rainy season. The trails leading there have become overgrown and visitors are rare. There are at least 49 distinct structures and walls within the area of the site. The structures at the northern end appear to be arranged around plazas, all of the structures are relatively low platforms, ranging in height from 30 centimetres to 4.2 metres. There are none of the typical of other Mayan sites in this region. Building foundations are composed mainly of blocks of Pleistocene limestone that was most likely quarried from local sources, other building materials include the queen conch Strombus gigas as well as other shells. Crude plaster floors were found in structures, and evidence suggests that many of the habitations were of pole-and-thatch-roof design. The site is littered with enormous amounts of pottery, as well as conch shells, chert tools. There is considerable evidence of excessive looting, the excavations conducted by Graham and Pendergast in 1989 indicate that initial occupation of the site occurred about 2,100 years ago, during the late Preclassic period. From then, the site appears to have continuously inhabited until roughly 1500 CE. The peak period of occupation at the site was during the Postclassic period, the Maya inhabitants are believed to have been predominantly fisherfolk and later, during the late Classic period, involved in intensive salt production. Evidence suggests that, during this period, the inhabitants of Marco Gonzalez traded extensively with other Maya sites, the sites setting on the tip of the island may have given it a strategic position on maritime trade routes that existed at the time. In 1993, a history of southern Ambergris Caye and the Marco Gonzalez area was published by R. K
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Nim Li Punit
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Nim Li Punit is a Maya Classic Period site in the Toledo District of the nation of Belize, located 40 kilometres north of the town of Punta Gorda, at 16°19 N, 88°47 60W. Nim Li Punit is a site from the Maya Classic Period. It consists of structures around three plazas, including several step-pyramids, the tallest being 12.2 meters high, the site has a number of carved stelae illustrating the ancient citys rulers. Several stelae are in a state, suggesting a sudden halt to work. The site is near Belizes Southern Highway and is open to visitors subject to an admission charge, Nim Li Punit is situated in the foothills of the Maya Mountains with proximity to clear mountain streams. The Maya Mountains form a nearly impenetrable backdrop forest to the north and east, low-lying swampland between the Sarstoon and Temash Rivers is situated to the south. The site is two kilometres of Belizes Southern Highway, accessed by an unpaved road. Area soils are fertile for tropical standards, and explain the regions ability to support sizeable prehistoric settlements such as Nim Li Punit. Local sandstones are found in stream and river beds. The sky world is exhibited characteristically in the north by shrines, the location of the ballcourt is intermediary, illustrating the position of this activity to represent perpetual conflict between the forces of life and death. The ballcourt is so well preserved, it appears ready to host a game and it is thought that within the Plaza of the Stela in the South Group that there is an E Group geometry that would have been used for astronomical observations. For example, several monuments present before a terrace known as Structure One. The peak population of Nim Li Punit is estimated to have been in the range of 5000 to 7000 people during the peak occupation Late Classic period, early occupiers of this site probably migrated from Guatemala, similar to the history of nearby Lubaantun. The peoples of Nim Li Punit are thought to have spoken a dialect of the Cholan language, evidence from carved stelae document the site was active in the period 721 to 790 AD, based upon actual Mayan calendar dates inscribed on at least six different stones. The Nim Li Punit population is thought to have aligned with Mayan settlements such as Tikal in the Petén Basin region of Guatemala. The visitors center indicates that this site had political and social connections with Copan in Honduras, Nim Li Punit is situated in a locale rich in forest, soil, rock and other natural resources. These assets, coupled with proximity to ample flowing mountain streams, mammals found in the area include two primates, Yucatán black howler monkey, Alouatta pigra and Central American spider monkey, Ateles geoffroya. Numerous rodents are found including the common paca, Agouti paca
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Nohmul
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Nohmul is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site located on the eastern Yucatán Peninsula, in what is today northern Belize. The name Nohmul may be translated as great mound in Yucatec Maya and it is the most important Maya site in northern Belize. The site included a large pyramid, about 17 meters tall, most of the pyramid was destroyed in May 2013 by contractors tearing it apart for rocks and gravel to use to fill roads, leaving only the core of the pyramid behind. Nohmul was occupied initially during the Preclassic era of Mesoamerican chronology, by the 5th century, monumental construction at the site had effectively ceased and the site seems to have been largely abandoned save for some scattered rural-domestic activities. After a hiatus in construction activities of several centuries, Nohmul was reoccupied and large-scale building resumed, the site was densely developed and occupied into the 12th century. Built above the Hondo River to control the trade routes. At its height, it was the seat of government for an area spanning approximately 8 square miles, later pre-Columbian residents built structures of the northern Yucatán type over those erected in the Classic era. Some of these more recent constructions covered the front of older stairways and these newer constructions include one that resembles El Caracol, Chichen Itza in Chichén Itzá. These later constructions are evidence supporting the theory that outsiders from the Yucatán settled in Nohmul, Nohmul is 10 kilometres north of Orange Walk Town and occupies about 35 square kilometres making it the largest Maya site in northern Belize. The site includes about 700 visible mounds ranging from 10 to 30 meters in diameter, the two groups of buildings have a total of ten plazas. Combined, these include more than 80 separate structures. Most of them were constructed either in the Preclassic or Classic period, the first published reference to Nohmul occurs in Thomas Ganns 1897 paper On the Contents of Some Ancient Mounds in Central America. Gann performed several excavations at the site between 1908 and 1936, several of the artifacts collected by Gann are now housed at the British Museum in London. Prehistoric features at the site were first mapped in 1973 by Norman Hammond, Hammond returned with a small team in the 1980s to do a series of excavations known as The Nohmul Project. On May 13,2013, the largest structure at Nohmul was almost completely destroyed, contractors used excavators and bulldozers to remove large portions of the central pyramid for its limestone content to fill roads in nearby Douglas Village with gravel. Prior to the destruction, the pyramid had a footprint of approximately 50 by 52 meters and was approximately 17 meters tall, more than 70% of the structure was destroyed. The heavy equipment belonged to De-Mars Stone Company, a company owned by UDP politician Denny Grijalva, although the structure was on privately owned land, by law, all pre-Columbian sites are under national government protection in Belize. John Morris of the Belizean Institute of Archaeology said that the workers would have known that they were bulldozing Maya ruins as the structure was unmistakable
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Pusilha
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Pusilhá is an archaeological site in Belize. The location of this Late Classic Maya urban complex along the east and west flow of trade afford archaeologist a historical view of a secondary Maya site, continuing excavation has changed the overall picture of Maya social and political relationships between larger and smaller cities. The research conducted at Pusilhá began at the beginning of the 20th century, the site of Pusilhá is located in the Toledo district of Belize in the town of San Benito Poité. Situated between the Poite and Pusilha rivers that run east and west may have had an impact of why the Maya urban complex was built there, the site is also located favorably between the Caribbean to the south and the Maya Mountains to the east. Pusilhá was also situated in the region for the flow of goods and ideas from the central lowlands, the survey led to the removal of the best preserved stelae from Pusilhá to the British Museum in London. The survey yielded dates and calendrical glyphs that were included in Sylvanus G. Morley’s discussion work The Inscriptions of Petén, thomas Joyce also conducted an extensive ceramics evaluation in 1929. In the intervening 70 years very little research has been done at Pusilhá and this state of affairs has changed with research and excavations carried out by Geoffrey Braswell and the Pusilha Archaeological Project beginning in 2001. The excavation that has continued to present has exposed three major areas at the center of Pusilhá to archaeological interpretation, Pusilhá has a series of confirmed occupation date. It is known through ceramic analysis that this site is dateable to the late classic, a stelae found on site indicates a late classic occupation. Transitions in ceramics, burials and construction coupled with the cessation of inscriptions on stelae indicate continued occupation at Pusilhá through to the post classic. The last official date, which is a calendar date, occurs at 9.18.7.10.3. The initial excavation and surveys seem to show that politically Pusilhá was a second tier polity, the ceramics evidence showed that there were ties to Copan and Quirigua. It also seems likely there were connections between Tikal and Caracol as those polities rose to prominence in the Petén. But the current archaeological evidence indicates that Pusilhá maintained its independence, the archaeological evidence indicates that Pusilhá was a traditional Maya elite led urban complex. There are known to be eight rulers that are associated with the Pusilhá emblem glyph from the late Classic period with a two additional from the Terminal Classic. All total there are 39 named individuals that have discovered by the epigraphers in the hieroglyphic record. Of note is an individual who at first was linked as a ruler of Copan based on the record of that polity. K’ak’ u ti’ chan is the name of Ruler B of Pusilhá as well as Ruler 11 at Copan and was first ascribed to be the same individual, further research has shown that they were contemporaries to each other that had different known parentage
