Caracol (the Snail) - Large Classic Period Site

The site of Caracol (the snail) is a large Classic-period Maya site located on the Vaca Plateau of central Belize in the Cayo district. First occupied during the Late Formative period (300 BC), Caracol grew in importance over the centuries, reaching its heyday about AD 650, with a population of an estimated 115,000 over an area of about 177 square kilometers. Hieroglyphic texts give a king list beginning in AD 331.

Source: Arlen F. Chase and Diane Z. Chase. 2001. Caracol (Cayo District, Belize). In Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America, edited by Susan Toby Evans and David L. Webster. Garland: New York.

More information:

• Belize Culture History and Archaeology
• The Caracol Archaeological Project, from the archaeological excavations by Arlen and Diane Chase