Lubaantun

A site in the Maya Mountains southeastern periphery, which was a small Classic and Late Classic Maya center in southern Belize. It was built in the early 8th century and consists largely of ceremonial buildings. There was a sizable population and flourishing market system. Its proximity to one of the few areas where cacao grows suggests that control of this much sought-after commodity was its major economic base, and may be the reason why such a considerable investment of labor was made in building the site. It was fairly short-lived, abandoned some time between 850-900, probably as part of the general Maya collapse.

A Late Classic Maya centre, located on the Rio Grande in southern Belize [formerly British Honduras]. Built in the early 8th century on a ridge in the foothills of the Maya Mountains, a considerable amount of fill (3000 cubic metres) was required to alter the topography sufficiently to allow the site to be completed according to a fixed plan. Although the site consists largely of ceremonial buildings its handy placement, on a navigable river between the mountains and the coastal plain, suggests that it probably functioned as a regional market centre. Furthermore, its proximity to one of the few areas where cacao grows suggests that control of this much sought-after commodity was its major economic base, and may be the reason why such a considerable investment of labour was made to build the site. A fairly short-lived centre, Lubaantun was abandoned some time between 850 and 900, probably as part of the general Maya collapse.