Guayabo National Monument

Guayabo National Monument (Spanish: Monumento Nacional Guayabo), is an archaeological site near the city of Turrialba, within the Central Conservation Area in the Cartago Province, Costa Rica [1]. It is almost directly in the center of the country on the southern slope of the Turrialba Volcano [1]. Guayabo de Turrialba seems to have been a locus of social power in the wake of the integration period [1]. It was initially populated beginning in about 1000 BCE, and then abandoned in 1400 CE, a century before the Spanish arrived, for reasons that remain a mystery to researchers to this day [1]. It has been estimated that there were about 10,000 residents at Guayabo [1]. The magnitude of the known part of the site, presumed to be its central portion, consists of 43 stone foundations, three aqueducts, two major roadways, dozens of smaller paths, and stone tombs [1].