Nohmul
Template:Infobox Pre-Columbian site Nohmul (or Noh Mul) is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site located on the eastern Yucatán Peninsula, in what is today northern Belize. The name Nohmul may be translated as "great mound" in (Yucatec) Maya.[1] It is the most important Maya site in northern Belize.[2] The site included a large pyramid, about 8 meters (26 ft) tall, built around 250 BC. Most of the pyramid was destroyed in May 2013 by contractors tearing it apart for rocks and gravel to use to fill roads, leaving only the core of the pyramid behind.
History
Nohmul was occupied initially during the Preclassic era of Mesoamerican chronology (c. 350 BC to 250 AD). By the 5th century, monumental construction at the site had effectively ceased and the site seems to have been largely abandoned save for some scattered rural-domestic activities. After a hiatus in construction activities of several centuries, Nohmul was reoccupied and large-scale building resumed, with maximal activity seen during the Late Classic era (c. 7th–10th centuries). The site was densely developed and occupied into the 1100s.[1][3]
The site is noted for its unusual layout, with the urban or ceremonial precinct spanning the crest of a ridge overlooking the Río Hondo, a permanent river that forms the local modern border between Mexico and Belize.
It consists of two separated clusters of structures, an East Group and West Group, linked by a Maya raised causeway, or sacbe.[3][4] The East Group is the larger and has been more extensively excavated.[3]
The site is 7 miles (11 km) north of Orange Walk Town in northern Belize. The site occupies about 12 square miles (31 km2) of land. The two groups of buildings have a total of ten plazas. Combined, these complexes include more than 80 separate structures. Most of them were constructed either in the Preclassic or Classic period, although there is evidence of additional building activity in the early Postclassic.[4] The site has had professional excavations by government-authorized archeological teams, including four field seasons in the 1980s by an American team.[3]
Built above the Río Hondo to control the region's trade routes, the site was occupied for centuries. Later pre-Columbia residents built structures of the northern Yucatán type over those erected in the Classic era. Some of these more recent constructions covered the front of older stairways. These newer constructions include one that resembles the Caracol in Chichén Itzá. These later constructions are evidence supporting the theory that outsiders from the Yucatán settled in Nohmul.[4]
2013 damage
On 13 May 2013, the largest temple structure at Nohmul was almost completely destroyed.[2] Contractors used excavators and bulldozers to remove large portions of the central pyramid for its gravel and limestone content to fill roads in nearby Douglas Village. Prior to the destruction, the pyramid had a footprint of approximately 50 by 52 meters and was 8 meters tall.[1] More than 70% of the structure was destroyed, leaving only a small core from the center.[5] The heavy equipment was labeled "D-Mar Construction", a company owned by UDP politician Denny Grijalva.[6] Although the structure was on privately owned land, by law, all pre-Columbian sites are under national government protection in Belize.
John Morris of the Belizean Institute of Archaeology said that the workers would have known that they were bulldozing Maya ruins as the tall structure was unmistakable.[7] Jaime Awe, head of the Belize Institute of Archaeology, noted that the pyramid mound could not have been mistaken for a natural hill as the landscape is flat and the ruins were well-known.[8]
The Belizean police said that criminal charges may be levied, pending their investigation. Similar destruction occurred at the nearby San Estevan site in 2005, as well as at many other ancient sites throughout Belize.[2] Professor Norman Hammond of Boston University, who worked on Belizean archaeological sites extensively during the 1980s, told the Associated Press that "bulldozing Maya mounds for road fill is an endemic problem in Belize".[8]
References
- ^ a b c "Nohmul". National Institute of Culture and History. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ a b c Jones, Patrick E.; Mark Stevenson (13 May 2013). "Mayan Nohmul Pyramid In Belize Destroyed By Bulldozer". Huffington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ a b c d Hammond et al. 1988, pp. 1–2.
- ^ a b c Kelly, Joyce (October 1996). Archaeological Guide to Northern Central America: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0806128610. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ^ "Did Douglas Chairman Contribute To The Destruction Of Noh Mul?". CTV3 News. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- ^ Vasquez, Jules (10 May 2013). "No More Noh Mul? Contractor Bulldozes Mayan Temple". 7 News Belize. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ^ "Mayan pyramid bulldozed by Belize construction crew". BBC News. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ^ a b "Belizean government vows probe after road crew destroys Mayan pyramid". Fox News. Associated Press. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
External links
- Hammond, Norman; Pyburn, K. Anne; Rose, John; Staneko, J.C.; Muyskens, Deborah (1988). "Excavation and Survey at Nohmul, Belize, 1986". Journal of Field Archaeology. 15 (1). Boston, MA: Boston University – Association for Field Archaeology: 1–15. doi:10.2307/530126. ISSN 0093-4690. JSTOR 530126. OCLC 8560818.
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