Tipu

Tipu is a Maya archaeological site along the Macal River in western Belize near the Guatemala border, occupied from 300 BC to AD 1707. It served as a major Maya political center and trading post, described as the western capital of the Maya. During Spanish colonization, a cathedral was constructed at the site using forced labor. The 1638 Maya rebellion centered at Tipu led to the defeat of Spanish forces by 1642, marking the end of Spanish influence in Belize. Archaeological excavations beginning in 1980 uncovered a church, cemetery with hundreds of burials, and evidence of both indigenous and European metallurgical practices.