Calakmul

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Ancient Maya City of Calakmul, Campeche*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	Mexico
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii, iv
Reference	1061
Region**	Latin America and the Caribbean
Inscription history
Inscription	2002  (26th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

Replica of a stele from Calakmul located in Metro Bellas Artes in Mexico City. The accompanying plaque translates to "STELE OF CALAKMUL - Mayan Culture - Late Classic Period - Description: Stele that represents a Mayan governor wearing a headdress of long feathers that fall down his back and carries his characteristic manniquin sceptre."

Stele 51 from Calakmul on display at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.

Calakmul (also Kalakmul and other less frequent variants) is the name given to site of one of the largest ancient Maya cities ever uncovered. It is located in the 1,800,000 acre Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region, 30 km from the Guatemalan border.

[edit] Overview

First discovered from the air by biologist Cyrus L. Lundell of the Mexican Exploitation Chicle Company on December 29, 1931, the find was reported to Sylvanus G. Morley of the <a href="/wiki/Carnegie_Institute" title="Carnegie Institute"