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Caracol is the largest Maya archaeological site in Belize, Central America. In AD 650, the urban area of Caracol had a radius of approximately 10 kilometers around the site’s epicenter. It covered an area much larger than present day Belize City (the largest metropolitan area in the country of Belize) and supported more than twice the modern city’s population. Urban Caracol maintained a population of over 140,000 people through the creation of an immense agricultural field system and through elaborate city planning. Caracol is noted not only for its size during the Maya Classic era (A.D. 250-950), but also for its prowess in war; this includes an AD 562 defeat of Tikal (Guatemala) and a subsequent conquest of Naranjo (Guatemala) in AD 631 (see timeline).
Caracol Archaeological Site
The largest known Maya site in Belize:
Caracol, a Classic Period complex, covers 30 square miles of dense jungle, high-canopy, and includes five plazas, an astronomic observatory and over 35,000 buildings that have been identified.
The highest among them, a massive pyramid (Caan), which is capped at three temples and rises over 140 feet above the forest floor.
Caracol’s central core today, as seen by visitors, consists of three sets of square surrounding a central acropolis and two ball games, along with a series of smaller structures.
exhibition visitors, the Centre a series of photographs and diagrams of the site, along with artifacts, including a ceremonial altar recovered.
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Caracol History
Discovered in 1938 by the loggers, the excavations did not begin until 1950, with most studies that have taken place since 1985. Caracol truth can be described with superlatives: largest archaeological site in Belize – One of the largest in the Maya world – tallest structure made by man in Belize (Caan) – Most structures, largest area, largest population most of the hieroglyphs, etc …
Many have found hieroglyphic texts on stelae, alters, ball-game scores, slabs and wall facades. The discovery of a carved ball-court marker back to the end of the first classical period has been interpreted as Caracol claim a military victory over Tikal, located more than 60 miles away in Guatemala.
Caracol joined by more than 20 kilometers of roads that radiated outward from its epicenter like the spokes of a wheel and an estimated 200,000 or more Maya lived in the area when this important city-state reached its peak around 700 AD
Evidence of post-classical occupation missing, which presents a situation similar to that found in other Classic sites in the region.
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