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There are at least 49 structures and walls within the exposed, presently mapped area of the site. The structures at the north end appear to be arranged into small plaza groupings, whereas elsewhere the building plan appears to be less formal. All of the structures at the site are relatively low platforms, actually building foundations rather than pyramids, that range in height from 30 centimeters to 4.2 meters. Pyramids such as are present at Altun Ha, Cerros, and Lamanai are not present at the Marco Gonzalez Site. Building foundations are composed mainly of blocks of Pleistocene limestone that probably was quarried from on or closely around Ambergris Caye. Accessory building materials include the queen conch Strombus gigas and other shells. All of these materials were probably brought to the site by canoe, and/or were hand-carried. The site is littered by enormous amounts of broken pottery as well as conch shells (one of the primary food sources of the Maya), chert tools, and locally, human bones (burials). The site had been extensively looted in the past, so there are many looting pits throughout the area. Crude plaster floors were found in some structures, and evidence suggests that many of the habitations were pole and thatch-roof construction. by Dr. S. J. Mazzullo, Department of Geology, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas |
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