Caracol

Caracol was a large ancient Maya city and political center located in what is now the Cayo District of Belize, on the Vaca Plateau roughly 40 kilometers south of Xunantunich, occupied as early as 1200 BC though its urban core was not established until around 650 BC. Once considered a minor site, Caracol is now known to have been one of the most important regional political centers of the Maya Lowlands during the Classic period, covering approximately 200 square kilometers with a population density of about 267 structures per square kilometer, higher than that of Tikal; its royal dynasty was formally founded by the ruler Te' K'ab Chaak in 331 AD. Caracol defeated Tikal in a war in 562 AD that began Tikal's own decline for more than a century, and the city reached a golden age of building and population growth under the ruler K'an II from 618 to 658 AD before a gradual abandonment beginning around 900 AD left the site uninhabited by about 950 AD.