Altun Ha 🇧🇿   BELIZE

 HISTORY

Altun Ha is a rich, major ceremonial center occupied during the Classic Mayan period.  The true name of the city is unknown.  The name “Altun Ha”, literally means “rockstone water” is a rough translation of the name of a nearby village.

It was an mayor link in the coastal trade routes, and had contact with  Teotihuacan at an early time in Maya history.

Mounds covered by trees and vines, the remains of what was once a great city, spread out over more than 25 square miles at Altun Ha.  Excavations have been concentrated in the central part of the city, with 275 structures in an area about of about one thousand yards square.

EARLY ALTUN HA

Altun Ha was  settled long before the Classic Mayan as many as 2,000 years ago.  For a Mayan City, the site is unusual.  The soil is thin which may indicate that it was a traiding center rather than anagricultural community

Thirteen structures surround two main plazas at the site.  The two tallest temples, Temple of the Sun God (the structure depicted on Belikin beer bottles) and Temple of the Masonry ALtars, rise 60 feet above the grassy plaza floor.  Altun Ha covers an area of about 5 square miles and includes an extensive swamp north of the plazas.  It’s believed that up to 10,000 people lived here during the Classic period of Maya civilizatin, as late as A.D. 1000.

Perhpas Altun Ha’s most famous  Pendergast’s discovery of a huge jade headed replica of Kinich Ahau, the Sun God, in 600 and was owned by an elderly priest.  At the time of its discovery, this priceless relic was the largest of its type ever recorded in the Maya world – almost 6 inches tall and weighing nearly 10 pounds.  On rare occasions this Kinich Ahau repllica is taken on exhibition tours.

LOCATION