Mayan Ruins, Altun Ha, Belize

I spent the money on a guided tour, and as tourist season is not in full swing here, had the guide all to myself.
The road to the site was okay, but heavy rainfall for the past day had made for frequent puddles and the occasional bit of water flowing over the road.
The guide, Raymond Brakeman, was well informed and eager to talk on a broad range of topics, from agriculture, employment, economics, flora, fauna and the regional history to name a few.
The original Mayan name for this place has been lost to history, and it got named Altun Ha as a variation on the name of the closest village.  It translates as Rockstone Water.

The small hills or mounds you can see behind the sign are building remains.  Most of the smaller ones have not been excavated or thoroughly explored, mostly due to a lack of funds.  the government of Belize does not want to expose the ruins until they have enough funds in place to do the job correctly, rather than allow a low budget undertaking to turn a national heritage into a mess.
The entire area was built up by the Mayans, it is an artificial hill built from material hauled by hand.  The closest source of limestone is south of Belompan over forty miles away.

The ruins that have been unearthed were deteriorating due to exposure to the elements.  In various places new cement, stone and mortar have been used to stop further deterioration.  The above picture shows a large plaza or square, with a multi-layered building on the far side.  the building itself was made in slow stages with 50 years or more passing between completion and adding on the next higher level.  This whole area is elevated from the surrounding country, and there could well be additional layers hidden underneath the current level.

The partial excavation of this mound, shows the limestone blocks that made up the base.  Most of the blocks exposed are about 18 inches long and 4 thick.  I think most of the other blocks I saw at the site were rectangular in shape, 18x12 and 4" thick.

The tree on the left hand side of the mound is Allspice.

The Mayan people were fairly short, and these narrow passages were actually used as sleeping quarters.

The top picture shows the masonry depiction of what has been labelled as the 'Jester God'.  The multi coloured stone that shows on the right side of the frame of the lower picture as well as the white cement have been added to stablize the entire structure.  Additional re-inforcements have been added in other areas as well, resulting in enough protection to allow people to once again climb to the top of the building without damaging it.

The altar on the very top of the building had traces of soot and char when first uncovered, and thus we know it had been used for burnt offerings.  The view from the top is quite nice, and further research online says the actual extent of the ruins is quite  bit larger than even these pictures show.  The ruins encompass an area of about 5 square miles, with this temple complex comprising a small portion of that area.