Caracol Maya ruins Belize

ABOUT CARACOL - in the words of www.caracol.org:

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

ON SITE MUSEUM: At the end of the 1998 field season, a new on-site museum was completed. The museum contains some of the artifacts, history, and information on some of the personalities that have been affiliated with the site over the years. In addition, the museum also gives a brief description about the Maya, their occupations, and their relationships with other neighboring polities. The pages of the virtual museum are simply an electronic version of the actual panels found in the museum. We hope that the images and information contained in the following pages will not only answer some of your questions about the Maya and Caracol, but also inspire you to visit this unique Maya city in the jungles of Belize.