Salinas de los Nueve Cerros

Salinas de los Nueve Cerros has some of the oldest ceramics in the Maya world dating to the Early Middle Preclassic (1000-800 BC).[5] Multiple parts of the site were occupied, although during this time period the population most likely belonged to several distinct villages or towns. Excavations in the salt works have uncovered evidence of large-scale production in the Late Preclassic (250 BC - AD 250); since none of the pits reached sterile, it is impossible to say at present what the scale of production was in earlier time periods.[6]

By the Classic period, however, the towns had grown together to form one single area of contiguous occupation.[7] Salt production reached its peak by the Late Classic—based on experimentation done by Berkeley archaeologist Brian Dillon and his team in the 1970s,[8] residents of the site could have produced up to 24,000 tons per year through boiling and solar evaporation. Once it had dried, the salt was stored in giant vasijonas, bowls with diameters approaching 2 meters that were located throughout the salt works. In addition, there is evidence of production of other products for exportation, including obsidian, jade, and agricultural goods.[9][10]

While the site was not abandoned at the end of the Classic period (c. AD 850), only parts of the site have evidence of occupation during the Postclassic. Since the southern lowland market for salt and other goods was effectively wiped out due to the abandonment of all of the major cities, residents of Nueve Cerros appear to have strengthened economic and cultural ties to the northern highlands, which experienced a florescence at this time.[11]

None of the recovered materials date to the last few centuries before the Spanish conquest, although according to ethnohistorical sources, the Akalaha Maya from the Gulf coast of modern-day Tabasco, Mexico had taken over the region and were producing salt for export.[12][13]

Nueve Cerros and other sites in the southern lowlands were among the last to be conquered by the Spaniards. The region continued to be independent until the 1690s, although the Spaniards were interested in the salt source as early as 1620.[14] After the region was conquered, the salt source was converted into a finca that fell under the hands of the municipality of Cobán, Alta Verapaz in the 19th century. The municipality sold rights to salt production well into the 20th century, although once it was connected to the Caribbean and Pacific coasts through a road and railway, sea salt became cheaper and more popular.[15] Since the 1950s, the municipality has looked for new ways to make money from the finca, including sulfur production and petroleum.

Beginning in the 1980s, Q'eqchi' Maya from highland Alta Verapaz have moved into the region, using much of the local land for milpa. Over the past 5 years, local leaders have been pushing for the creation of locally managed ecotourism at the site, although the mayor of Coban has opposed all efforts to develop the industry.