A moderately sized Classic Maya site, located 10 km inland from the coast of Belize [formerly British Honduras], It is best known for its numerous caches of obsidian and jade and other rich exotic material including the largest piece of worked jade in Mesoamerica — a 4.5 kg head of the Maya sun god. Surrounding agricultural land is of very poor quality, and excavations by David Prendergast have revealed an extensive exploitation of marine resources. It is thought that control of these resources, which include salt, shells and stingray spines (see perforation) accounts for the extraordinary wealth of such a small centre.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied