Editing Altun Ha (section)

===Early Classic===

One of the most important finds in the Early Classic comes from structure F8, specifically tomb F8/1. The tomb was placed here about fifty years after the construction of the structure. It contained the remains of an adult male who was interred with a jade and shell necklace, a pair of jade earflares, two shell disks, a pair of pearls, five pottery vessels, and fifty-nine valves of ''[[Spondylus]]'' shells. Bib head beads in the necklace are associated with southern Mesoamerica. The ceramics for the most part reflect the pattern that was being established at other burials in Altun Ha. Above the burial, however, the roof showed association to the large Mexican site [[Teotihuacan]]. The burial was capped with over 8,000 pieces of chert debitage and 163 formal chert tools. The ritual offering, or cache, also contained jade beads, ''Spondylus'' valves, puma and dog teeth, slate laminae, and a large variety of shell artifacts. The clear association to Teotihuacan however, comes from the 248 Pachuca green obsidian objects and the 23 ceramic jars, bowls and dishes.<ref name= "1971 teotihuacan">Pendergast, David M.
1971 Evidence of Early Teotihuacan-Lowland Maya Contact at Altun Ha. American Antiquity 36(4):pp. 455-460.</ref>  The obsidian is of the Miccaotli or Early Tlamimilolpa phase, suggesting that this symbolism was still important and dominant at Teotihuacan. This offering may be of importance to Teotihuacan because of the associations that the ruler in the burial had with central Mexico or the association that the entire Altun Ha community had with Teotihuacan.<ref name= "Difference">Pendergast, David M. 2003 Teotihuacan at Altun Ha: Did It Make a Difference? in The Maya and Teotihuacan : reinterpreting early classic interaction, edited by Geoffrey E. Braswell, 1st ed. pp 235-247 University of Texas Press, Austin.</ref>

There is also evidence of contact and trading with the other side of Mesoamerica in the [[intermediate area]]. An offering in the central ceremonial precinct contained an undecorated lidded limestone vessel with jadeite objects, two pearls, laminae of crystalline hematite, ''Spondylus'' shell beads, and a [[tumbaga]] gold-copper alloy bead representing a jaguar claw. This deposit has been dated to about 500. Traditionally, it was not believed that the Maya had gold during the Classic period; gold was restricted to the Postclassic. This is in part because many believed that gold was not naturally occurring in the Maya area, but recent investigations have shown that placer gold can be found in the streams of the upland zone of western Belize. The Maya most likely did not use metallurgy because of a lack of techniques, which may have been due to the fact that yellow in Maya ideology represent dying plant life and crop failure. This artifact is also identical with other artifacts of the [[Gran Coclé|Cocle]] in central Panama. The Cocle had a sufficient amount of metalworking by 500, and surely played a role in trade relationships beyond Panama. This discovery also shows that important trade networks were set up much earlier than previously thought.<ref name= "Tumbaga">Pendergast, D. M.
1970 Tumbaga Object from the Early Classic Period, Found at Altun Ha, British Honduras (Belize). Science 168(3927):pp. 116-118.</ref>