Preclassic to Postclassic in northern Belize

Northern Belize lies in the northeastern quadrant of the central rainforest zone of the area formerly occupied by Classic Maya civilization, adjacent to the ecological frontier with the northern zone, the arid karstic plain of northern Yucatan. It is bounded on the east by the Caribbean, and is traversed by two of the major rivers of the Maya lowlands, the Rio Hondo and Rio Nuevo, the upper tributaries of which drain the Maya heartland of south Campeche and northeastern Peten.