Discovered in 1938 native logger Rosa Mai, excavations did not begin until 1950, with most of the work having taken place since 1985. At the peak of its existence, Caracol covered some sixty-five square miles and was home to more than 100,000 people. It covered an area much larger than present day Belize City and may even have exceeded that of Tikal. More than 35,000 buildings which have been identified at the site.
The ruins of Caracol are situated on the Vaca Plateau, within in the Chiquibul Forest Reserve in the Cayo District of Belize. The name Caracol is Spanish for "snail shell" and was given because of the inordinate numbers of snail shells found there.
Following a now familiar pattern, many of the site's pyramids were constructed in the Early Classic, and later surmounted by ever more impressive structures. The site's special features include the buildings surrounding the A court, which functioned during the Early Classic period as an astronomical observatory.
Caracol’s largest and most impressive structure is a hillside temple known as Caana, which is Maya for “Sky Place.” Rising 143 feet above the jungle, Caana is the tallest Maya building in Belize and still one of the tallest buildings in the country.
