in the Preclassic or Classic period, although there is evidence of additional building activity in the early Postclassic. Archaeology The first published reference to Nohmul occurs in Thomas Gann's 1897 paper "On the Contents of Some Ancient Mounds in Central America". Gann performed several excavations at the site between 1908 and 1936. Several of the artifacts collected by Gann are now housed at the British Museum in London. Prehistoric features at the site were first mapped in 1973 by Norman Hammond. Hammond returned with a small team in the 1980s to do a series of excavations known as The Nohmul Project. 2013 damage On May 13, 2013, the largest structure at Nohmul was almost completely destroyed. Contractors used excavators and bulldozers to remove large portions of the central pyramid for its limestone content to fill roads in nearby Douglas Village with gravel. Prior to the destruction, the pyramid had a footprint of approximately 50 by 52 meters and was approximately 17 meters tall. More than 70% of the structure was destroyed. The heavy equipment belonged to De-Mar's Stone Company, a company owned by UDP politician Denny Grijalva. Although the structure was on privately owned land, by law, all pre-Columbian sites are under national government protection in Belize. John Morris of the Belizean Institute of Archaeology said that the workers would have known that they were bulldozing Maya ruins as the tall structure was unmistakable. Jaime Awe, head of the Belize Institute of Archaeology, noted that the pyramid mound could not have been mistaken for a natural hill as the landscape is otherwise flat and the ruins were well-known. After a lengthy investigation, charges were levied on June 27, 2013 against four individuals: foreman Javier Nunez, excavator driver Emil Cruz, and the managing directors of De-Mar's Stone Company, Denny and Emelda Grijalva. In April 2016, Javier Nunez, Denny Grijalva, and Emelda Grijalva were found guilty on two charges: removing earth from an ancient monument without permission and willfully damaging an ancient monument. Each of them was fined BZ$6000, and the De-Mar's Stone Company was also fined BZ$6000. Denny Grijalva apologized for the destruction and said that his company would work with the government to ensure that it would not happen again. Similar destruction occurred at the nearby San Estevan site in 2005, as well as at many other ancient sites throughout Belize. Professor Norman Hammond of Boston University, who worked on