The site's name is pre-Columbian, recorded by early Spanish missionaries, and documented over a millennium earlier in Maya inscriptions as Lam'an'ain.

[1] Unlike most Classic-period sites in the southern Maya lowlands, Lamanai was not abandoned at the end of the 10th century AD.

A significant portion of the Temple of the Jaguar Masks remains under grassy earth or is covered in dense jungle growth.

"Lamanai" comes from the Maya term for "submerged crocodile", a nod to the toothy reptiles who live along the banks of the New River.

The material culture of Chau Hiix shows close ties with both Lamanai and Altun Ha, as well as evidence of interaction with centers in Petén Basin.

There are considerable ancient irrigation works at Chau Hiix, so it was probably an agricultural community supplying food for Lamanai.

Earliest cultural activity at Chau Hiix has been traced to the early Middle Preclassic Swasey phase (ca 1000-500 BC).

[6] Among the many important aspects of Postclassic and early Spanish colonial period Maya life at Lamanai is shown by the presence of significant numbers of copper artifacts.

Copper indicates broader trade relations in the southern Maya lowlands, and as a reflection of technological change, the history of metal artifact use at Lamanai is an invaluable element in the reconstruction of Postclassic and early historical dynamics.

[9] The number and variety of copper objects recovered at Lamanai indicate that, as a new commodity with remarkably unique aural and visual properties, metal artifacts played an important role for at least some members of Postclassic and later contact period society.

The inclusion of copper bells, elaborate rings, and button like ornaments in Early and Middle Postclassic elite burials shows that at least some residents of the site displayed such items in certain social and ritual settings.

The movement of commodities as well as information and ideas into interior areas of the peninsula was facilitated by canoe travel along the coast and the extensive river systems in Belize.

To date, a total of 187 copper artifacts have been excavated, including bells, rings, tweezers, various clothing ornaments, pins, axes, chisels, needles, and fish hooks.

Evidence for onsite copper metallurgy at Lamanai consists of ingots, pigs, blanks, sheet pieces, mis-cast objects, and casting debris.

A lidded bowl contained 100 g of crystalline hematite, 19 g of cinnabar in a miniature vessel, and other objects such as jade, shell, and pearl, all atop of a pool of mercury.

Lamanai is accessible to tourists by organized day boat trips from Orange Walk Town along the New River, or by dirt and gravel road through the Mennonite area of Shipyard.