Its place in the Ancient Mayan world, how the Island became a pirates' refuge, the founding of San Pedro out of the terror of civil war, life in a sleepy fishing village. In the early 1990s, after twenty years of tourism on the Island, a group of San Pedranos recognizing the need to preserve their island heritage, came up with the idea of the Ambergris Museum. The aim was to collect the history of Ambergris Caye, both ancient and recent, both material and oral, and then to present the story for residents and visitors. The Museum is proud to exhibit several fine examples of Mayan ceramics found on the Caye. These beautiful vessels from Belize's Archaeology Department are once more on the island where they were used centuries ago. The island held an important place in the network of Maya trading routes, and the exhibit includes flint tools, obsidian and pottery all of which originated on the Central American mainland. Skeletal remains have also been found, and the Museum displays fascinating examples of dental mutilation; a practice common amongst the Maya. Collections of early glass bottles, silver coins and shot represent the period in the 17th and 18th centuries when the island was a retreat for pirates and buccaneers.
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