I Saw The Crown Jewel Of Belize - The Jade Head of Altun Ha


On February 15th 2012, for the 10 year anniversary of the Museum of Belize, the crown jewel of Belize was unlocked from its vault and put on display for ONE DAY ONLY. I had to take a trip to Belize City.

The Mayan site of Altun Ha is located 31 miles north of Belize City and there, in 1968, an archaeologist from Canada made an amazing discovery. The Jade Head along with forty other objects, had been placed within a large tomb that was located below the stairs in one of the temples. The elderly adult male, probably an important ruler of the site during his lifetime, was buried with this jewel around 600 AD. And remained untouched for over 1300 years.

This one day exhibition and opening of the second floor of the museum was well worth travelling to Belize City for...

The museum is located in one of the colonial sections of the city in the old Belize City prison. School kids were out in droves to see the jade piece.

Entrance to the museum was free for the day for Belizeans and photography permitted as long as you had your flash off. We went up to the second floor (always closed on my previous trips since that is where the most valuable jade and pottery is kept - there is just not enough security).

THE JADE HEAD! Weighing almost 10lbs and about the size of a baby's noggin, the head of Altun Ha remains the single largest carved jade object ever discovered in the Mayan area.

One of my favorite parts was the display showing how the jade head was found in the tomb. The body was surrounded by tools, jewelry, art and the jade head tucked under his arm.

The head of Altun Ha wasn't the only amazing artifact on display, there were masks and jewels from as early as 300 BC. Things found all over Belize at the various sites.

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