Buenavista del Cayo Site

[2] Distinct platforms found in the plazas along with the differentiation of goods by material type support the theory that the site was used as a central marketplace in the Maya lowlands.

[2] From 1984 to 1989 the Mopan-Macal Triangle Project (MMT) at San Diego State University conducted six seasons of archaeological fieldwork to investigate the sociobehavioral organization of the Maya lowlands during the Classic Period.

Bernadette Cap's dissertation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests the theory that Buenavista del Cayo was used as a central marketplace for the surrounding lowlands.

[1] Fieldwork conducted in 2007 by the Mopan Valley Archaeological Project sought to answer this question through mapping the spatial distribution of different artifacts and comparing them to platform locations.

[2] Buenavista del Cayo is thought to have been a central marketplace where people from surrounding settlements came to buy and sell goods from the Middle Preclassic though the Terminal Classic periods (300-900AD).