Santa Rita is a
Maya
Maya may refer to:
Civilizations
* Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America
** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples
** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples
* Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...
ruin
Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...
and an
archaeological reserve on the outskirts of
Corozal,
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
.
Historical evidence suggests that it was probably the ancient and important
Maya city
Maya cities were the centres of population of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica. They served the specialised roles of administration, commerce, manufacturing and religion that characterised ancient cities worldwide.Sharer & Trax ...
known as Chetumal.
Early history
Evidence excavated at Santa Rita exhibits a long history of inhabitance.
The discovery of a burial site containing very early
pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...
has dated the formation of the city between 2000 and 1200 BCE.
Its importance peaked during the
Postclassic era, and continued to be occupied even after the arrived of the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
.
Because of its location, the city at Santa Rita once controlled nearby
trade route
A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over bodies of water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a sing ...
s between the coast and the mouths of two major rivers, the
Río Hondo and
Río Nuevo
Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil.
Rio or Río may also refer to:
Geography Brazil
* Rio de Janeiro
* Rio do Sul, a ...
. These rivers served as major arteries of trade to centres in the interior such as
Lamanai
Lamanai (from ''Lama'anayin'', "submerged crocodile" in Yucatec Maya) is a Mesoamerican archaeological site, and was once a major city of the Maya civilization, located in the north of Belize, in Orange Walk District. The site's name is pre-Columbi ...
and those in
El Petén
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...
.
Because of this, it became the dominant settlement in the
Chetumal
Chetumal (, , ; yua, label=Yucatec Maya, Chactemàal , ) is a city on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. It is the capital of the state of Quintana Roo and the municipal seat of the Municipality of Othón P. Blanco. In 2020 i ...
region during the early
Classic period
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of prehispanic Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian (first human habitation until 3500 BCE); the Archaic (before 2600 BCE), the Preclassic or Formative (2500 BCE –  ...
.
After a short decline during the Late Classic period, Santa Rita once again rose to prominence. Following the decline of Classic sites to the north, ''Chactemal'' (also known as ''Chetumal'' in some sources) became the capital of the
Chetumal Province
{{use dmy dates, date=August 2021
{{Use British English, date=August 2021
{{Infobox former country
, native_name = ''u kuchkabal Chetumal'' (Yucatecan Mayan)
, conventional_long_name = Province of Chetumal
, common_name ...
, one of the 19 Mayan states later recorded by the invading Spanish.
Chetumal formed part of the confederation of states under the
Cocom
The Cocom or Cocomes were a Maya family or dynasty who controlled the Yucatán Peninsula in the late Postclassic period. Their capital was at Mayapan. The dynasty was founded by Hunac Ceel, and was overthrown sometime between 1440 and 1441 by Ah ...
dynasty of
Mayapán
Mayapan (Màayapáan in Modern Maya; in Spanish Mayapán) is a Pre-Columbian Maya site a couple of kilometers south of the town of Telchaquillo in Municipality of Tecoh, approximately 40 km south-east of Mérida and 100 km west o ...
. It remained under this alliance until 1441, when Mayapán supremacy was overthrown by an uprising.
Preclassic Period
The earliest indication of inhabitants at Santa Rita Corozal is dated to the Preclassic Period (1200-900 BCE). They lived upon a high bluff in the southwest area that overlooks Corozal Bay. Four burials were discovered with ceramics and shell jewelry dating from the Preclassic period. This early preclassic period had a small estimated population of 150. According to archaeological evidence, the middle preclassic period did not have an increase in population. The population appears to have grown in the Late Preclassic period. Twelve locations were identified as Late Preclassic sites. Thirty-four burials were found in these twelve locations. Included in the burials was Sierra Red pottery, which is found all over the Mayan Lowlands. The population was thought to be in the region of 1,000 people. The Protoclassic period, which is the temporal period between the Late Preclassic and Early Classic periods, is estimated by archaeologists to have increased in population again. Four burials have been dated to this time period.
[Chase, Diane Z. and Chase, Arlen F. (2004) "Santa Rita Corozal: Twenty Year Later" in ''Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology''. 1: 243-255.]
Classic Period
The Early Classic period had 1,500 residents who lived in a village that was much different than the earlier periods. Monuments were constructed and trades item were found, indicating that trade was increasing. Thirteen burials found from this time period indicate that an extensive social hierarchy was in place. Three of those thirteen burials were found in Structure 7, they had extravagant items not find in the other burials. Structure 7 is the tallest building at Santa Rita Corozal. One of these burials, which is dated to 450 A.D. contained what is thought to be a powerful ruler of Santa Rita Corozal. He was interred with items associated with the burial offerings of higher-ranked citizens. It is important to note that at this Early Classic time period, a distinct social structure had developed. The wealth found at the burials is thought to be due to trade along the rivers that border Santa Rita Corozal-the New River and the Rio Hondo. The Late Classic period is found throughout the site. It is estimated that by 750 A.D. nearly 2,500 residents were living at the site. Artifacts found throughout the site indicate that a large portion of the population had access to most items. The social hierarchy of the early Classic period had vanished.
Postclassic period
The excavations that lead to the discovery of Preclassic and Classic materials and burials were originally looking for information on Postclassic material. Thomas Gann's discovery of Postclassic murals, and excavations at Santa Rita Corozal would eventually lead researchers to Santa Rita Corozal in search of the Postclassic Maya. In 1979, a research project was developed to bring better understanding of the Postclassical Maya. It sought to identify the archaeological history of Santa Rita Corozal, to understand the origins and ending of the Postclassical period, and to comprehend the ritual, social and politics of the Late Postclassic period. At the time of its origin the Postclassic Maya were seen as a declining society that had abandoned its rituals, cities and were a shadow of their former splendor. Santa Rita Corozal did not decline into obscurity, quite the opposite occurred. Large buildings were not erected, but low lying buildings were constructed. By the Late Postclassic period Santa Rita Corozal had its highest number of inhabitants. The population at 1300-1539 CE was estimated to be at 6,900 residents.
Excavations were undertaken in 1985, in the south central area of Santa Rita Corozal. Nine buildings were found that were constructed in the Postclassic period. Most of them were built over earlier buildings. The artifacts found in two structures, Structures 183 and 213, both contained figure artifacts. Structure 213 contained 25 figures that were placed in the ground prior to its construction. Nine of the figures were put into a ceramic urn with the remaining sixteen figurines surrounding it. Structure 183 contained 28 figurines that were placed into a ceramic urn in front of an altar.
[Chase, Diane Z. Chase, Arlen F. (1986) "Offerings to the Gods: Maya Archaeology at Santa Rita Corozal", University of Central Florida, Orlando.]
Excavation
The modern town of
Corozal was founded in 1848 by refugees from the
Caste War
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
in neighbouring
Yucatán
Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the political divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. I ...
, and expanded steadily making it the major ethnicity in the country at the time. The ruins of Santa Rita became a target for building resources; the mounds of the site made convenient road fill and the stones were used for structure foundations. Because of this, the exact borders of the ancient Mayan city may never be known.
In the early 1900s, amateur archaeologist
Thomas Gann
Thomas William Francis Gann (13 May 1867 – 24 February 1938) was a medical doctor by profession, but is best remembered for his work as an amateur archaeologist exploring ruins of the Maya civilization.
Personal history
Thomas Gann was bo ...
visited the site and discovered a
Mixtec
The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Culture wa ...
-influenced
mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
; these do not survive, but copies made by Gann do.
No substantial research followed this until the Corozal Postclassic Project, led by
Arlen F. Chase
Arlen F. Chase (born 1953) is a Mesoamerican archaeologist and a faculty member in the anthropology department at Pomona College, Claremont CA. Previously, he was a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and served a variety of adminis ...
and
Diane Zaino Chase
Diane Zaino Chase (born 1953) is an American anthropologist and archaeologist who specializes in the study of the Ancient Maya.
Career
Chase attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a BA in anthropology in 1975. She completed her ...
, carried out a series of excavations between 1979 and 1985.
Little structural evidence remains from the Postclassic era. The only existing structure at the ruins dates from the Classic era.
The centre of this building has been described as a ceremonial chamber, with a complex series of interconnected passages leading to other rooms, including two
burial chamber
A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could a ...
s. One contained the remains an elderly woman surrounded with jewellery and pottery; the other was that of a
warlord
A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...
, evident from the artefacts found buried with him — a ceremonial flint representing leadership and a stingray spine most used in
blood-letting rituals.
Both burials date from around 500 CE.
According to a Belize government guide at the site in December 2016, Thomas Gann was there primarily looking for gold. He used explosives to blow the top off of the pyramid, leaving the stunted version visible today.
Artifacts found dating from the Postclassic era reveal that
religious
Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...
rituals like blood-letting, which were very important during the Classic era, continued to play an important role.
The presence of items of
Aztec
The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...
origin, also dating from the Postclassic period, attest to the continuing trade importance of Santa Rita several hundred years after the decline of the major ceremonial centres of the interior.
References
Further reading
*Demarest, Arthur (2004). "Ancient Maya". Cambridge University Press.
*Sharer, Robert J.; Traxler, Loa P. (2006) "The Ancient Maya". Stanford:Stanford University Press.
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Maya sites in Belize
Former populated places in Belize
Maya sites that survived the end of the Classic Period