Copyright by Micaela Nerio Obledo 2011 - The University of Texas ...

west. They are followed by the Sierra de Chuacus and Sierra de las Minas. These
ranges have been mined for mineral resources throughout the time of Maya
occupation in the area. Chief among the resources that lie within these formations
are jadeite and serpentine, which the ancient Maya mined and quarried. Significant
deposits of these materials are located in the southern areas of the Sierra de las
Minas in the central Motagua Valley of Guatemala.
Cenozoic limestone formations appear the further northward one travels.
This karstic environment is seen to have isolated hills surrounded by alluviated
plains as well as numerous underground caverns and mountainside springs. Soils in
the northern highlands are far less rich than in the southern highlands, though
pockets of richer alluvial soils exist in many of the valleys and basins in the area. The
Usumacinta river system is the principal drainage system of the northern highlands.
The Usumacinta and its tributaries trend northwest into the southern lowlands and
through to the Gulf of Mexico (Sharer and Traxler 2006).
LOWLANDS
The lowlands are a karstic landscape that extends from the northern
highlands through Guatemala and Belize as well as Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. This
geographic zone comprises the largest spatial area of the Maya region. Elevations
within this zone are below 800 meters, except for the peaks of the Maya Mountains
in southern Belize. The lowlands area is usually divided into a southern, central and
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