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Lubaantun Mayan Ruins, Belize Vacations and Luxury Travel Packages

The name Lubaantun means "place of fallen stones". This is an apt name for this site because of the dry masonry style of architecture found only in Southern Belize. The pyramids at Lubaantun are man-made stone platforms on top of which stood perishable buildings.

The large pyramids and temples are constructed of dressed stone without any mortar.

Decorations and carvings are lacking at Lubaantun.

Most of these would have been done on the wooden structures on the temple's summit. Moreover, in marked contrast to Nim Li Punit, there is an absence of carved stelae at Lubaantun.

The ceremonial center of this site has 11 major structures grouped around five main plazas. Archaeologists have determined that Lubaantun was constructed based on a plan of zones. The inner zone consisted of religious buildings. Outside of the inner zone lay a zone of ceremonial structures which included ball courts. The outside zone consisted of residential buildings.

The center of the site lies along a ridge top twenty miles from the sea. In contrast to other sites, the Maya of Lubaantun took to shaping the ridges and slopes of the hilltop rather then levelling it off. In effect, the summit of the ridge was widened and flattened into platforms.

"Place of Fallen Stones"

The largest structure at Lubaantun rises 36 feet above the plaza floor. From the summit of this structure there is a beautiful view of the foothills of the Maya Mountains and the Toledo coastal plains.

Lubaantun was first reported in 1903. Expeditions in 1915, 1926, and 1970 followed. Most important was the work done by Norman Hammond. He mapped the region and determined its period of occupation as 730 A.D. to 890 A.D. This site then was a Late Classic site, one of the last major sites in Belize prior to the collapse of the Maya. Hammond also attempted to explain and describe the linkages of the different sites in the region and the possible trade routes.

Hammond constructed a model of these linkages using Lubaantun as the focus of what he called a realm. The Lubaantun realm was estimated to cover 625 square miles. The realm was divided into environmental zones ranging from high plateaus to offshore islands.
Each of these zones had advantages and disadvantages to living there. Each zone could provide certain resources while requiring trade to obtain others. Lubaantun was a focus point for this trade among zones. Goods would be brought to the center and then redistributed.

For example, from the mountains would come volcanic stone for axes and metates; corn and beans would come from the foothills of the Maya Mountains; from the coastal plain would come seafood, wildfowl and a variety of medicinal plants. The Rio Grande River would be a major artery of trade, connecting the sea to Lubaantun. In fact, large quantities of shells were found at Lubaantun.
Hammond's Settlement Theory Diagram.

Many archaeologists feel that Hammond's theories of how separate Mayan sites related to each other through trade - based on excavation, ecological analysis and artifacts - is a huge step toward understanding the heritage of Belize and of the Mayan Civilization in general.

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