CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS—According to a statement released by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, researchers are investigating the site of a nearly 2,000-year-old ancestral Maya village in central Belize. Remain of dwellings at the site include walls, plaster floors, and pottery vessels for cooking, serving, and storing food. Agricultural tools made of chert and manos and metates for grinding flour were also uncovered. Animal bones at the site suggest that the villagers hunted forest animals. A collection of finely made artifacts made of imported chert was found in a building constructed with uniform stones and white limestone plaster that may have been used for community events or ceremonies. Set apart from the other structures, the excavators also uncovered a platform mound topped with four structures situated around a plaza. This complex is thought to have housed an elite family. To read about a Maya city that straddles modern-day Belize and Guatemala, go to "Off the Grid: El Pilar, Belize."
