| During pre-construction of Brooks Tropicals’ new Caribbean Red and Caribbean Sunrise Papaya facilities in Belize, the foundations of three early Classic-period Mayan structures were uncovered. One is believed to be an upper middle-class residence. Buried - as was the style for Mayans in this period - in crypts beneath the house were a male and female believed to be more than 1,500 to 1,800 years old. Outside the residence, another male, not believed to be related to the others, was also buried.
The house is approximately 26 x 65 feet, which is relatively large for this period. Not yet fully excavated, four rooms have been uncovered so far. The size of the house and the ornate pottery found in the house indicate that the family that resided within was probably not royalty, but certainly lived and worked within royal circles. The residents lived in comfort.
Burials
Archeologists found two of the skeletal remains buried beneath the house’s 1.5 inch-thick limestone rock floor. Mayans were able to compress the rock so that it was almost as impenetrable as cement, a building material not available in the Americas at this time.
The crypts were in a back room that had been cut into the earth and lined by stones approximately 12 x 12 inches in size. The stones were precisely cut and plastered, again indicating the wealth of the residents. Each side of the crypts was six stones high, and the tops were six stones wide. The crypts were filled with fine soil.
Buried with apparent care, the male and female were placed near each other with heads slightly inclined facing the east, with their bodies aligned roughly north to south. These Mayans are thought to be of average height, which was 4' 8" for that period.
As was Mayan tradition in this region, a vessel was placed with the remains, possibly to aide the dead through the underworld. In this excavation, the female had a bowl placed over her head, and the male had a large - possibly family heirloom - plate over his. Mayans usually placed the vessels under the head, these burials are unusual in this aspect . A small jade button was also found. The other skeleton was buried with much less ceremony outside the house.
Mayans were often buried under their homes, usually by the front door. Twelve or more Mayans can usually be found buried beneath the houses of this period. This residence is unusual for both the location of the skeletal remains and the small number of remains found so far.
Mayan culture
Ancient Mayans lived in southern Mexico, Belize, Honduras and Guatemala. This Mayan home is part of what was a large city called Aventura. At its height during the Classic Mayan period (A.D. 100 to 900), the city-state had seven to 10 thousand inhabitants and covered two to three square miles.
It’s during this period that the Mayan culture was making the transition from a roaming tribal society to a king-ruled city-state. During the Mayan Classic period, writing was introduced and more ornate figures of birds, flowers and animals were found in carvings and on ceramics.
The house is 25 yards from a Mayan temple in the core city area of Aventura. Two other structures were excavated - one 200 feet south of the residence and the other almost 1,000 feet north of the residence. The dimensions of these structures have not been ascertained. One of the structures had a platform constructed of two courses of rock. At this time, archeologists don’t know what the platform was used for.
Also on the site was a substantial number of double-mouthed jars — vases with two same-size openings, used to carry water. It’s believed that at some point these water vessels were mass-produced on the site, but at a much later time in the Mayan Classic period.
Building for the future
The residence is 150 yards from the future site of the offices of Brooks Tropicals’ subsidiary Fruta Bomba. The offices will sit in the middle of what was a plaza in the Mayan city-state. Archeologists believe that Aventura, like other city-states, had five to six central plazas.
This central plaza had six to eight buildings or structures on it. The structures on the Brooks Tropicals property are being excavated by the Belize National Institute of Archeology, with funding from Brooks Tropicals, LLC.
Although the more important findings will be housed in the national museum, the institute is allowing Brooks Tropicals to erect a display area in their recreation center for employees and the community to view the findings and get an understanding of the ancient Aventura city-state that they live in the midst of.
What becomes of the upper middle-class house? Brooks Tropicals will incorporate the excavated house into plans for a community park that will allow the local community to get a look at how their neighbors lived back in A.D. 300 to 500.
Brooks Tropicals is a Florida based grower, packer and shipper of premier tropical fruits and vegetables. This includes Caribbean Red and Caribbean Sunrise papayas grown in Belize by the company’s subsidiary Fruta Bomba and then packed and shipped by Brooks’ other subsidiary Belize Fruit Packers.
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