Visitors to the lost jungle city of Caracol are often surprised to learn that the phenomenon of the "middle class" did not originate in the United States. By the close of the seventh century, the Lowland Maya settlement of Caracol had become one of the most populous cities in the pre-Columbian world. The 65-square-mile metropolis was home to more than 120,000 people and enjoyed a prosperity unparalleled in the Meso-American world.

More than a decade of excavation has revealed that Caracol was quite different from other Lowland Maya cities.