Mirador Basin

The Mirador Basin is a geological depression found in the remote rainforest of the northern department of Petén, Guatemala. Mirador Basin consists of two true basins, consisting of shallowly sloping terrain dominated by low-lying swamps called bajos; one draining into the San Pedro River and the other into the Candelaria River. The basin is surrounded by rugged karstic limestone hills on the east and south, forming a triangular geographical "trough" covering more than 2,169 square kilometres (837 sq mi).

During the past two decades, the region has been the object of archaeological investigations at the large Middle and Late Preclassic sites of El Mirador, Nakbe, El Tintal, Wakna, the recently discovered sites of Xulnal and El Pesquero, and numerous smaller settlements, dating mostly to the Classic period, such as La Florida, Maaxte, Zacatal, Chan Kan, Tsab Kan, Pedernal, Isla, La Muerta, and La Muralla. Dozens of additional sites are dispersed within the Basin, including several extremely large ones such as Naachtun in the northeast corner which is currently under investigation by a team from the University of Calgary in Canada (Director: Kathryn Reese-Taylor). The primary settlement of the major sites in the basin dates to the Middle Preclassic (ca. 1000 BCE - 350 BCE) and Late Preclassic periods (ca. 350 BCE - CE 150), with relatively little overburden from the large scale constructions and extensive settlements that characterized the Classic periods (CE 250-900) of Lowland Maya civilization.

Illegal logging and forest fires resulting from slash and burn agricultural practices threaten Mirador Basin's rich biodiversity. Looting is also a major threat to the many Mayan archaeological sites that reside in the Basin. While many sites are known, others remain undiscovered and, according to Richard Hansen, "by the time scholars get there, looters may already have plundered them."

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Wikipedia