El Pilar
Encyclopedia
El Pilar is an ancient Maya city
Maya city
A Maya city was a centre of population of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica. It served the specialised roles of administration, commerce, manufacturing and religion that characterised ancient cities worldwide...

 center located on the 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...

-Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

 border. It can be accessed from the Cayo District
Cayo District
Cayo District is a district in the west of the nation of Belize. The District capital is the town of San Ignacio.- Geography :The Cayo District is the largest district in Belize. It is located on the western side of the country which borders Guatemala. The nation's capital, Belmopan, is...

 in Belize, 12 miles (19.3 km) north-west of the town of San Ignacio, or from the department of El Petén in Guatemala, 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) north of Melchor de Mencos
Melchor de Mencos
Melchor de Mencos is a municipality in the Petén department of Guatemala with population 23,813. It is situated on the western border with Belize,a and is the only major border crossing from Guatemala to Belize....

.

The El Pilar Archeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna, was declared a cultural monument both in Guatemala and Belize, and covers 5000 acres (2,023.4 ha), half of which lies in each country. It is jointly managed by the Belize Institute of Archeology (IoA) and Guatemala's Instituto de Antropología e Historia
Instituto de Antropología e Historia
The Instituto de Antropología e Historia is the national institute in Guatemala responsible for the protection and maintenance of Guatemala's historical and archaeological sites, monuments, artefacts, and other aspects of the nation's cultural heritage.IDAEH was established by governmental decree...

 (IDAEH). El Pilar is the largest site in the Belize River
Belize River
Belize River is a 180-mile river in Belize that drains more than one-quarter of the country as it winds along the northern edge of the Maya Mountains across the center of the country to the sea just north of Belize City . However, the Belize River/Mopan River Catchment contains over 45 percent of...

 area with over 25 plazas, hundreds of other buildings, covering about 50 hectares (123.6 acre).

Based on ceramic analyses, it is known that monumental constructions at El Pilar began in the Middle Preclassic
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...

 around 800 BCE. By 250 BCE there were major public works and extensive occupation in the El Pilar area. At its height, El Pilar housed more than 20,000 people. Monumental construction continued with the last major remodeling in the Terminal Classic (1000 CE), after which the monuments were neglected.
The name “El Pilar” is Spanish for “watering basin,” reflecting the abundance of water in the area, which is rare for the 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...

 world.

A major archeological excavation project has been carried out since 1993. However, for conservation purposes most monuments are not exposed. The objective is to selectively and partially expose strategic areas. Today one can see door jamb
Door jamb
A doorjamb is the vertical portion of the frame onto which a door is secured. The jamb bears the weight of the door through its hinges, and most types of door latches and deadbolts extend into a recess in the doorjamb when engaged, making the "true" and strength of the doorjambs vitally important...

s, walls, and rooms along the wooded trails. This is a style of presentation known as "Archaeology Under the Canopy
Archaeology Under the Canopy
Archaeology Under the Canopy is a concept that was developed for the presentation of pre-Columbian Maya monuments at the archeological site El Pilar, an ancient Maya center on the border of Belize and Guatemala...

" that leaves the monuments protected by forest foliage. The only fully exposed monument at the reserve is a house site called Tzunu’un, bringing attention to El Pilar’s unique focus on Maya houses and life ways. El Pilar also features a Maya forest garden to demonstrate traditional agricultural
Agriculture in Mesoamerica
Agriculture in Mesoamerica dates to the Archaic period of Mesoamerican chronology . During this period, many of the hunter gatherer micro-bands in the region began to cultivate wild plants...

 practices.

El Pilar has been under threat by looters and was placed on the World Monument Fund's 1996 list of 100 Most Endangered Sites in the World.

The reserve is open to the public and has a series of trails providing access throughout the site. There is an active initiative to make El Pilar of Belize and Guatemala the first archaeological peace park in the world.
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