Use the links above to see more photos.

The Mayan site of Tak'alik Ab'aj just became a UNESCO World Heritage Site a few months before we visited.

Tak'alik Ab'aj records 1700 years of continuous occupation going back to about 1000 BC. This included the transition from Olmec to Mayan culture.

Tak'alik Ab'aj was one of the early cities that grew along Mayan trade networks that included the Pacific coastal plain, the Guatemalan highlands and even parts of Mexico and El Salvador.

Tak'alik Ab'aj is representative of the first blossoming of Mayan culture that occurred by about 400 BC. Mayans studied the sky, calculated time, developed all-important water management systems along with urban planning systems. They were also great artists and builders.

We visited the brand new museum at the site. Click HERE to see a few of the treasures inside.