This is a collection of photographs from the mid 1990s that were imprisoned in an old computer of mine. I just paid a Computer Geek to grant it them clemency. I will post them for now just for fun. I need to get out my notes so that I can group them by site and write some captions. All of these are of poor quality for me. Overexposed and many out of focus.
Santa Rita is a Maya ruin located beneath the City of Corozol west of the mouth
of the Rio Nuevo. Santa Rita was an important Classic Period trade center. The
location of Santa Rita permitted easy control over coastal and inland trade
routes on the Rio Nuevo and Rio Hondo during the early Classic period. These
rivers were major routes to Lamanai and the entire Peten region. Archaeological
evidence documents trade routes far inland. Urban growth of the modern town of
Corozol has cause significant information lose from the Santa Rita site. Ruins
make very good and convenient road fill and the stones are excellent building
materials for modern house foundations. Because of the growth of Corozol the
exact boundaries of Santa Rita are not known.
Santa Rita
Occupation began prior to 2000 BC
and continued after the arrival of the Spanish. The visible structure is from
the Classic period. This building is a complex series of rooms and passages. The
central room appeared to be a ceremonial chamber. Two burial chambers were
uncovered here, one containing elaborate jewelry and pottery. The second burial
chamber contained a ceremonial flint and a stingray spine used in bloodletting
rituals. The Post Classic Period at Santa Rita is revealed through artifacts
rather than structures. Because very little remains of the structures of this
time period. The artifacts found at Santa Rita from the Post Classic Period
reveal that exotic rituals such as blood-letting, which was very important
during the Classic Period, continued to Post Classic times. The presence of
exotic goods in a Post Classic burial, such as turquoise and gold ear-flakes of
Aztec origin, demonstrate the importance of Santa Rita several hundred years
after the decline of the larger ceremonial centers of the interior. After a
short decline during the Late Classic Period, Santa Rita once again rose to
prominence. With the decline of Classic sites to the north, Santa Rita became
one of the 19 Mayan political entities recorded by the Spanish. At that time it
was called "Chactemal".
