Marco Gonzalez is a Maya archaeological site located near the southern tip of Ambergris Caye off the coast of Belize.
It is roughly 3.6 metres (12 ft) above sea level, slightly higher than the surrounding swamps due to accumulated anthrosol, soil composed primarily of artefacts (e.g., pottery, tools), conch and other shells, building remains and other debris resulting from millennia of human habitation.
The site is littered with enormous amounts of broken pottery, as well as conch shells, chert tools and human bones.
The excavations conducted by Graham and Pendergast in 1989 indicate that initial occupation of the site occurred about 2,100 years ago, during the late Preclassic period.
The Maya inhabitants are believed to have been predominantly fisherfolk and later, during the late Classic period (from about 800–500 CE), involved in intensive salt production.
The site's setting on the tip of the island may have given it a strategic position on maritime trade routes that existed at the time.
A representative cross-section of the site revealed evidence that, between roughly 2000 and 1000 years ago, the coastal geography changed from open, shallow sea to mangal swampland.