3000 Years of Maya Persistence at Chactemal
History of Chactemal
The ancient Maya city of Chactemal is located in and around the modern city of Corozal Town on the coast of Chetumal Bay in what is now Northern Belize. This ancient city was home to some of the earliest Maya peoples in the region (~800 BCE), grew to become an important Postclassic Maya Capital (900-1530 CE), and was the site where Spanish invaders first arrived in Belize (1531 CE). In defiance of Spanish occupation, the Maya people of Chactemal and other cities in the region fought back and drove the Spanish from what would become the nation of Belize. Beginning in the 18th and 19th centuries, the city of Corozal Town was founded atop and around the ancient city of Chactemal, and later became home to Maya freedom fighters and other Maya peoples who fled south from Mexico across the Rio Hondo following the Caste War of Yucatán.
Our Research Partners
We work closely with the board and members of the Maya-led NGO To’one Masehualoon (Yucatec Maya meaning “We Are Maya”), whose work is focused on preserving and revitalizing Maya culture in northern Belize. Learn more about To’one Masehualoon here. Our work is also supported by the Belizean Institute of Archaeology (IOA), a branch of the National Institute of Culture and History (NICH) in Belize.