 Ruins of Cerros | |
  Location of the site  Cerros (Belize) | |
| Location | Corozal District, Belize |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 18°21′30″N 88°21′07″W / 18.35833°N 88.35194°W |
| History | |
| Periods | Late Preclassic to Postclassic |
| Cultures | Maya civilization |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | In ruins |
Cerros is an Eastern Lowland Maya archaeological site in northern Belize that functioned from the Late Preclassic to the Postclassic period. The site reached its apogee during the Mesoamerican Late Preclassic and at its peak, it held a population of approximately 1,089 people.[1] The site is strategically located on a peninsula at the mouth of the New River where it empties into Chetumal Bay on the Caribbean coast. As such, the site had access to and served as an intermediary link between the coastal trade route that circumnavigated the Yucatán Peninsula and inland communities. The inhabitants of Cerros constructed an extensive canal system and utilized raised-field agriculture.
- ^ Scarborough 1991:176