CERROS
"Maya Hill"

Cerros is located on a 53-acre archaeological reserve atop a hill overlooking the Chetumal bay. A somewhat important trading center in the pre-classic era, Cerros was not a particularly long-lived city. The ruins can be reached by a short boat ride from Corozal.

This city began its relatively short life in 400 B.C. Having the good fortune of being founded on the Chetumal Bay and being quite close to the New River, it became an important trading center. Jade and obsidian trickled through its markets and it became quite prosperous. Then around 100 A.D, trade routes that fed this thriving city stopped and went to other trading centers. The only option for the citizens of Cerros was to leave the city and seek their fortune elsewhere.

Cerros sits on top of a hill and is allowed a beautiful panoramic view of the surrounding areas. The tallest temple stands 21 feet over the rest of the city. The site is dominated by three acropolises. The pyramid-like structure holds court over several Plazas. Erosion is slowly eating away at two large structures and their collection of masks. Due to a lack of funding the masks have had to be covered up with plaster obscuring their visibility.

Peter Schmidt and Joseph Palacio first of all recorded Cerros as an archaeological site in 1969, though Thomas Gann was the first to notice it. A Dallas-based organization tried to develop this place as a major tourist site with an on-site museum, but it eventually went bankrupt and the potential of Cerros was never realized. Excavation began in 1973. The last excavation of the site was in 1983 when the canals and other related structures were tested for organic materials.