Location: Orange Walk District Map
Cuello is an ancient Mayan archeological site located in the Orange Walk District of Belize. It was first settled around 2600 BC or Preclassic period. Cuello existed until the Late Classic period around 900- 1000AD. Archaeological digs indicate that the city waged a series of conflicts. Many of the victims of religious sacrifices indicate that these people were soldiers that were wounded in the battle. Scientists suggested that these men were captured in battles with neighbouring Mayan city- states and subsequently killed in pagan religious ceremonies. Eventually Cuello was captured and burned down.
Two Late Preclassic mass burial areas
have been uncovered at Cuello, one of which contained 26 or more
males who had been sacrificed. Healed fractures on the bones suggest
that they may have been captured warriors. Further evidence of local
warfare comes from evidence of burnt buildings at the site.
A
number of elite burials have been excavated at Cuello. The earliest
phases of the Middle Classic included both adults and children
accompanied by offerings of jade and shell ornaments, indicating
social differentiation. High-status burials tended to be associated
with specific locations throughout the history of the site.
Burial 160 is an elite burial that has been dated to 500–400 BC. It
consists of an individual interred in a cist, accompanied by two
ceramic vessels and ornaments that included tubes fashioned from
deer bones and engraved with a mat design that in later times became
associated with royalty. There was also the upper portion of a human
skull that had been fashioned into a plaque. Due to these
distinguishing features of the burial, the excavators concluded that
it was that of a Middle Classic ruler of the settlement. The site of
this burial remained important in later times, with the residential
patio being converted into a ceremonial platform upon which was
built a small pyramid temple.