Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History
Belize is the youngest nation in Central America, only gaining independence
from Britain in 1981, and its history has been markedly different from the
surrounding republics since at least the mid-seventeenth century. Although
the whole region was (to a greater or lesser degree) colonized by Spain in the
sixteenth century, it was the entanglement with Britain that gave Belize its
present cultural, social and political structures.
Delving far back into the past, prior to the advent of Maya civilization, scattered
archeological remains and a handful of written texts provide very little concrete
knowledge, and excavations could throw up new information at any time. It's generally
thought that the region's first human inhabitants were
Stone Age hunter-gatherers
who
crossed the Bering land bridge from Asia, beginning probably around 25,000 BC. They
spread rapidly southwards, developing the
Clovis
culture (named after stone projectile
points found in New Mexico) at least 11,000 years ago, and subsisted on hunting large
mammals like mammoths, mastodons, deer and horses. By 9000 years ago, scarcity of
game due to climatic change forced a different way of life, with more intensive use of
plants. This
Archaic
period saw the cultivation of peppers, squash, beans and,
importantly, maize, with more settled societies enabling an identifiable culture
- broadly known as
Proto-Maya
. Archeological evidence suggests Archaic sequences in
Belize until later than 2000 BC, and an early Proto-Maya language was also in use.
Belize is thought to have been an area of savannahs and broad-leaved woodland
throughout this time, with tropical forests not appearing until the Classic period. The
country was part of a vast region known to archeologists as
Mesoamerica
, stretching
from north-central Mexico to El Salvador and Honduras. The cultures that developed
throughout the region shared several characteristics, including a complex calendar,
hieroglyphic writing, a similar cosmology and religion and a highly organized, stratified
society - possibly having a common origin in the
Olmec
civilization of southern
Mexico. For Belize, the most important group were the
Maya
, whose culture emerged
here as early as 2500 BC and whose cities were at the height of their power between
250 and 900 AD.
The Maya in Belize
The development of the culture recognized as distinctly Maya began in what's known
as the
Preclassic
(or Formative) period, from 2000 BC to 250 AD. The phase is
subdivided into Early, Middle and Late periods, with boundaries not marked by exact
dates, but understood as cultural and technological milestones; for example, when
advances were made in architecture or administration. Current excavations appear to
be pushing back the date when the earliest breakthroughs were made.
he
Early Preclassic
(roughly 2000 BC-1000 BC) marks the beginning of agriculture,
notably the annual cutting and burning of forest in order to plant maize. Food needs
25,000 BC
10,000 BC
7500 BC
First waves of nomadic
Paleo-Indian hunters from
Siberia to the Americas
Stone tools indicative
of Clovis culture found
throughout North and
Central America
Archaic period: Beginnings of agricultural
communities throughout Mesoamerica;
maize and other crops cultivated
