Uxbenka is a pre-Columbian

Pre-Columbian

The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...

 Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...

n archaeological site located in Belize

Belize

Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...

's southernmost district

Districts of Belize

Belize is divided into 6 districts. The districts are listed below, with the capital city and some statistics:-List:-Largest cities and towns by population:Based on 2005 estimate:#Belize City, BZ 70,800#Orange Walk, OW 17,300#San Ignacio, CY 16,800...

 of Toledo

Toledo District

Toledo District is the southernmost district in Belize, and Punta Gorda the District capital. Although the least developed region in the country, it features some of the most pristine rainforests, extensive cave networks, coastal lowland plains, and offshore cays...

. An urban settlement of the pre-Columbian Maya

Maya civilization

The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...

, it is the earliest-known Maya polity

Polity

Polity is a form of government Aristotle developed in his search for a government that could be most easily incorporated and used by the largest amount of people groups, or states...

 in the southern Belizean lowlands, with evidence of occupation dating to the Early Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology

Mesoamerican chronology

Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...

 (ca. 250–500 CE

Common Era

Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...

). It is one of five major Maya sites in this region, which archaeological sites also include Nim Li Punit

Nim Li Punit

Nim Li Punit, is a Maya Classic Period site in the Toledo District of the nation of Belize, located 40 kilometres north of the town of Punta Gorda, at 16° 19' N, 88° 47' 60W...

 and Lubaantun

Lubaantun

Lubaantun is a pre-Columbian ruined city of the Maya civilization in southern Belize, Central America...

. Settlement of Uxbenka has been suggested to have occurred originally by Peten

Petén

Petén or Peten may refer to:*Petén , a department of Guatemala*Petén Basin, the geographical / archaeological region of Mesoamerica and a center of the Maya civilization*Lake Petén Itzá, a lake in the Petén Basin region...

peoples.

External links

• "The Archaeological Wonders of Belize: A Visit to Uxbenka", article with photos on Uxbenka at BELIZEmagazine.com (July 2005)