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Located
20 miles away from Punta Gorda, Lubaantun is best-known for
its dry masonry. A late classic ceremonial center is also noted
for its lack of stelae that dominate most other sites in southern
Belize.
Only
occupied for one or two centuries, Lubaantun was the focal
center of that period. Around 700 AD there was a large movement of people into
the vicinity. It
was one of the last major sites before the collapse of the
Maya.
The
architecture of Lubaantun is distinctive to southern Belize. The pyramids and walls are built without the mortar that holds together most other Mayan buildings. These "pyramids" served as platforms for the more detailed
perishable buildings on top. The largest building is 11 meters high.
First
reported in the1800s it was not until 1903 that the site
was formally investigated. There were excavations in 1915, 1926, and 1970. During the first by R. E. Merwin there was a discovery
of three large stone markers in the ball court. These depicted two men playing the favorite Mayan sport. In 1970 Norman Hammond mapped the ceremonial center and
its surroundings. |