Sacbe (raised Maya causeways)
Sacbé (calzadas elevadas mayas)
- Date
- c. 300 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- El Mirador, Petén, Guatemala
- Credited to
- Maya of the Preclassic
- Field
- Movement
What it is
Straight raised causeways plastered with lime that linked cities across the jungle and seasonal wetlands; the network of the Mirador basin exceeds 150 km. They are the oldest planned roads in the Americas.
Many are known thanks to lidar (Hansen et al., 2023).
What it led to
- the political integration of the Mirador basin
- Classic-period causeways such as the Cobá-Yaxuná road (100 km)