This article is part of the Maya ruins of Belize series
Altun Ha
Cahal Pech
Caracol
Cerros
El Pilar
Lamanai
Louisville
Lubaantun
Nim Li Punit
Santa Rita
Xunantunich

Lamanai (from Lama'an Ai, "submerged crocodile" in Yukatek Maya) is a Mesoamerican archaeological site, and was once a considerably sized city of the Maya civilization, located in the north of Belize, in Orange Walk District. The site's name is Pre-Columbian, recorded by early Spanish missionaries, and documented over a millennium earlier in Maya inscriptions as Lam'an'ain. The Maya civilization is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as its spectacular art, monumental architecture, and sophisticated mathematical and astronomical systems. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Belize. ... Altun Ha is the name given ruins of an ancient Maya city in Belize, located in the Belize District about 30 miles (50 km) north of Belize City and about 6 miles (10 km) west of the shore of the Caribbean Sea. ... Cahal Pech is a Maya site located near the Town of San Ignacio in the Cayo District of Belize. ... Caracol or El Caracol is the name given to a large ancient Maya site located in the Cayo District of the nation of Belize. ... Cerros is a Mayan temple dating from the late formative period (330BC-1AD), located on a peninsula overlooking Chetumal Bay in Belize. ... El Pilar is the name given to ruins of an ancient Maya city in Belize, located in the Cayo District straddling the Belize-Guatemala border, 12 miles (19 km) north-west of the town of San Ignacio. ... Louisville is a town in the Corozal District of the nation of Belize, located at 18° 19 N, 88° 30 W. According to the 2000 census, it had a population of 655 people. ... Lubaantun (sometimes spelled Lubaantún) is a Pre-Columbian ruined city of the Maya civilization in southern Belize, Central America. ... Nim Li Punit, sometimes also known as Big Hat or Top Hat (especially shortly after its discovery) is an ancient Maya site in the Toledo District of the nation of Belize, about 40 km north of the town of Punta Gorda, at 16° 19 N, 88° 47 60W. The name... Xunantunich (shoo-NAHN-too-nich) is a Maya archaeological site in western Belize, about 80 miles (130 km) west of Belize City, in the Cayo District. ... Yukatek Maya (in the revised orthography of the Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala, now preferred by scholars; also frequently Yucatec) is a Mayan language spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula, northern Belize and parts of Guatemala. ... The cultural areas of Mesoamerica The term Mesoamérica is used to refer to a geographical region that extends roughly from the Tropic of Cancer in central Mexico down through Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua to northwestern Costa Rica, and which is characterized by the particular cultural homogeneity... An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been investigated using the discipline of archaeology. ... The Maya civilization is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as its spectacular art, monumental architecture, and sophisticated mathematical and astronomical systems. ... Orange Walk District is a district in the northwest of the nation of Belize, with its district capital in Orange Walk Town. ... The term Pre-Columbian is used to refer to the cultures of the New World in the era before significant European influence. ... Maya glyphs in stucco at the Museo de sitio in Palenque, Mexico The Maya script, commonly known as Maya hieroglyphs, was the writing system of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica. ...

History

Lamanai was occupied as early as the 16th century BC. The site reached its greatest importance in the Pre-Classic Period, from the 4th century BC through the 1st century AD, but also has later structures and continued to be occupied up to the 17th century AD. During the Spanish conquest of Yucatán the Conquistadores established a Roman Catholic church here, but a native Maya revolt drove the Spanish away from this area. (17th century BC - 16th century BC - 15th century BC - other centuries) (1600s BC - 1590s BC - 1580s BC - 1570s BC - 1560s BC - 1550s BC - 1540s BC - 1530s BC - 1520s BC - 1510s BC - 1500s BC - other decades) (3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC) Events 1700 - 1500 BC -- Hurrian conquests... Mesoamerican chronology The chronology of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica is usually divided into the following eras: Paleo-Indian Period c. ... (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 4th century BC started on January 1, 400 BC and ended on December 31, 301 BC. // Overview Events Bust of Alexander the Great in the British Museum. ... The 1st century was that century which lasted from 1 to 100 according the Gregorian calendar. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... The Spanish Conquest of Yucatán was the campaign undertaken by the Spanish conquistadores against the Late Postclassic Maya states and polities, particularly in the northern and central Yucatán Peninsula but also involving the Maya polities of the Guatemalan highlands region. ... Conquistador (Spanish: []) (meaning Conqueror in the Spanish language) is the term used to refer to the soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas and Asia Pacific under Spanish colonial rule between the 15th and 17th centuries, starting with the 1492 settlement established in the modern-day Bahamas... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... This article is about the people of the former Maya civilization after the conquest by Spain. ...

Site description

The vast majority of the site remained unexcavated until the mid-1970s. Archaeological work has concentrated on the investigation and restoration of the larger structures, most notably the Mask Temple, Structure N10-9 ("Temple of the Jaguar Masks") and High Temple. The summit of this latter structure affords a view across the surrounding jungle to a nearby lagoon, part of New River. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... Temple at Lamanai Mayan ruins in Belize. ... Lamanai Structure N10-9 is the formal designation given to a stepped-pyramid structure at the Maya archaeological site of Lamanai, located in present-day Belize. ... The High Temple is an ancient temple at Lamanai Mayan ruins in Belize. ...

A significant portion of the Temple of the Jaguar Masks remains under grassy earth or is covered in dense jungle growth. Unexcavated, it would be significantly taller than the High Temple.

Archaeological investigations

The first detailed description of the ruins was made in 1917 by Thomas Gann. Archeological excavations at the site began in 1974 under David M. Pendergast of the Royal Ontario Museum, which continued through 1988. Further excavations and restoration work is being conducted as of 2004. The ruins are being excavated by a team from the nearby villages of Indian Church and San Carlos. 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Thomas William Francis Gann (1867-1938) was a medical doctor by profession, but is best remembered for his work as an amateur archeologist exploring ruins of the Maya civilization. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... The Royal Ontario Museum, commonly known as the ROM (rhyming with Tom), is a major museum for world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Indian Church is a town in the Orange Walk District of the nation of Belize. ... The village of San Carlos is located in the North of Belize, in Orange Walk District, surrounded by jungle. ...

Modern site and tourism

Lamanai is accessible to tourists by organised day boat trips from Orange Walk Town along New River. Tourists at Oahu island, Hawaii Tourism is the act of travel for predominantly recreational or leisure purposes, and also refers to the provision of services in support of this act. ... Orange Walk Town is the second largest town in the nation of Belize, with a population of about 14,000. ...

Gallery

Mask Temple - Lamanai Image File history File linksMetadata IMG_5780. ...	Detail of carving on right-hand (facing temple) wall of Mask Temple. A similarly-sized panel on the left-hand side is covered up for its protection. Image File history File linksMetadata IMG_5783. ...	5' 8" tall person in front of Mask Temple wall, for perspective. Image File history File linksMetadata IMG_5784. ...	High Temple, Lamanai Image File history File linksMetadata IMG_5790. ...
Detail from front wall (right side facing front) of the High Temple. Heavily eroded. Image File history File linksMetadata IMG_5792. ...	View from the top of the High Temple, to illustrate height. Image File history File linksMetadata IMG_5798. ...	Temple of the Jaguar Masks Image File history File linksMetadata IMG_5839. ...	Temple of the Jaguar Masks - detail of what is believed to be a jaguar head, left-hand side of temple (when facing its front). Image File history File linksMetadata IMG_5844. ...

External links

• Lamanai on mayaruins.com
• Lamanai Archaeological Project (LAP)

Coordinates: 17°45′9.24″N, 88°39′16.09″W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...