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<< Text Pages >> Caracol - Ancient Village or Settlement in Belize

Submitted by bat400 on Saturday, 01 September 2012  Page Views: 2083

Multi-periodSite Name: Caracol
Country: Belize
NOTE: This site is 0.312 km away from the location you searched for.

Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: San Ignacio
Latitude: 16.764000N  Longitude: 89.1176W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
1 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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External Links:

Ancient Settlement in Cayo District.
One of the most important regional political centers of the Maya Lowlands during the Classic Period. The central portion of the city-state was occupied between 650 BC and 1000 AD, although monuments indicate the city's founding in 333 AD.

Caracol is known for many inscribed monuments and altars. Large public buildings are found in the center of the city. but surveys show buildings and agricultural terraces extending over an area of at least 200 sq. km. Caana "sky palace" is the largest structure in the site, and remains one of the largest buildings in Belize.

Note: LIDAR archaeology shines a light on hidden sites. See comment.
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Nearby Images from Flickr
Belize_144_Caracol_19
Belize_145_Caracol_20
Belize_167_Caracol_42
Belize_176_Caracol_51
Belize_182_Caracol_57
Belize_187_Caracol_62

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 36.3km N 356° Xunantunich* Ancient Village or Settlement
 38.8km N 7° Chaa Creek* Ancient Village or Settlement
 40.2km NW 306° Holtun* Ancient Village or Settlement
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 42.7km N 6° Cahal Pech Ancient Village or Settlement
 43.9km NNW 339° Naranjo* Ancient Village or Settlement
 45.4km NW 319° Yaxha* Ancient Village or Settlement
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 56.2km SSE 163° Lubaantun* Ancient Village or Settlement
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 63.2km NNW 345° Holmul Ancient Village or Settlement
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 71.9km NNE 31° Saturday Creek Ancient Village or Settlement
 74.6km NW 313° Tikal* Ancient Village or Settlement
 77.3km NNE 20° Cara Blanca Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
 78.1km SE 135° Ka'k' Naab' saltworks Ancient Mine, Quarry or other Industry
 84.4km WNW 283° Nojpetén* Ancient Village or Settlement
 86.6km NNW 346° Xultun Ancient Village or Settlement
 89.0km NW 322° Uaxactun* Ancient Village or Settlement
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 92.4km NNW 341° San Bartolo* Ancient Village or Settlement
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LIDAR archaeology shines a light on hidden sites by bat400 on Saturday, 01 September 2012
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For the best part of 25 years, archaeologists Arlen and Diane Chase slogged through the thick undergrowth in the west of Belize in search of an ancient city whose details had been lost to the passage of time and the decay of the jungle.

The going was tough, often requiring a machete to clear a path through the dense vines and creepers that blocked their way. Over time, their perseverance paid off as their hand-drawn maps began to reveal long-forgotten parts of the massive Mayan city of Caracol.

But the more the pair found, the more they realized the extent of what remained uncovered. It would take several lifetimes, they figured, to reveal the true extent of Caracol.

Then, in 2008, they got talking to a biologist colleague at the University of Central Florida where they worked. For years, he had been using airborne laser sensors known as Lidar (Light Detection And Ranging) to map and study forests and other vegetation. He suggested they give it a go.

So, in 2009, the pair packed away their machetes and hiking boots and took to the air in a twin-engine plane equipped with the technology. For four days they skimmed backwards and forwards over the tree-tops firing pulses of laser light at the ground below. A few weeks later, back at their lab in Florida, the pair got their first look at the results.

“I was completely astounded,” says Arlen Chase. “We had not expected the clarity that we saw in the imagery.”

“I am pretty sure we uttered some expletives,” Diane adds politely.

In less than a week, the team collected more data than they had in a quarter of century of hacking their way through the jungle. Analysis revealed a host of previously undiscovered features, including several in areas that they had previously mapped on foot. It was a revelation.

Now, archaeologists around the world are beginning to embrace the same technique, flying aircraft over everything from Stonehenge to patches of scrub, in search of hidden treasures. The findings are already beginning to challenge conventional theories and change our view of the size and extent of ancient civilizations. But, while some say we are on the cusp of a new golden age of discovery, it is also beginning to throw up difficult questions about the disappearance of ancient civilizations.

For more, see http://www.bbc.com.
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