THE TOMB OF TE’ KAB CHAAK AT CARACOL, BELIZE: CONTEXT, CONTENTS, DATING, AND IMPLICATIONS

During the 2025 field season of the Caracol Archaeological Project, an important tomb was located in the Northeast Acropolis, an elite residential unit located immediately east of Caracol’s central architectural complex, Caana. During construction, the tomb was placed within the fill beneath the front stair of an Early Classic version of Caracol Structure B34. It contained the remains of a single individual accompanied by eleven ceramic vessels and three sets of jadeite earflares; a mosaic death mask comprised of jadeite and shell plaques also accompanied the interment. The contents of the chamber were coated with red cinnabar. Based on its siting, its contents, and relationships to other deposits in the Northeast Acropolis, the tomb can be dated to the timeframe of Caracol’s earliest epigraphically recorded ruler. The dating and items in the chamber indicate that it housed Te’ Kab Chaak, the founder of Caracol’s dynasty. In conjunction with data previously recovered in the Northeast Acropolis that post-dates this burial, this deposit also sheds light on Caracol’s relationship with Teotihuacan, Mexico, in the early fourth century.