Nohmul

Nohmul is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site located on the eastern Yucatán Peninsula, in what is today northern Belize. Nohmul was occupied initially during the Preclassic era of Mesoamerican chronology (c. 350BCE to 250 CE). By the 5th century monumental construction at the site had effectively ceased, and the site seems to have been largely abandoned save for some scattered rural-domestic activities. After a hiatus in construction activities of several centuries, Nohmul was reoccupied and large-scale building resumed, with maximal activity seen during the Late Classic (c. 7th–10th centuries).^[1]

Nohmul excavation at Structure 8, 1985

The site is noted for its unusual layout, with the urban or ceremonial precinct spanning the crest of a ridge and consisting of two separated clusters of structures linked by Maya raised causeway, or sacbe, running between the two groups.

The name Nohmul may be glossed as meaning "great mound" in (Yucatec) Maya.

Nohmul is spread out among privately owned sugar cane fields 7 miles (11 km) north of Orange Walk Town in northern Belize. The site occupies about 12 square miles (31 km²) of land. The ceremonial center is located on a limestone ridge overlooking the Río Hondo, a permanent river that forms the modern border between Mexico and Belize at this point.

The main site also consists of two groups of buildings with ten plazas. Combined, these complexes house more than 81 separate buildings. Most of them were constructed either in the preclassic or Classic period, although there is evidence of additional building activity in the early Postclassic.

Built at a vantage point on the Hondo River to control the region's trade routes, the site had a long life. Structures of the northern Yucatán type were built over those erected in the Classic. Some of these new constructions covered the front of older stairways. These newer constructions include one that resembles the Caracol in Chichén Itzá. These later constructions support the theory that outsiders from the Yucatán settled in Nohmul.

Notes

1. ^ Hammond et al. 1988, pp.1–2

References

Hammond, Norman; K. Anne Pyburn, John Rose, J.C. Staneko and Deborah Muyskens (Spring 1988). "Excavation and Survey at Nohmul, Belize, 1986". Journal of Field Archaeology (Boston, MA: Boston University - Association for Field Archaeology) 15 (1): pp.1–15. doi:10.2307/530126. ISSN 0093-4690. JSTOR 530126. OCLC 8560818.