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The earliest inhabitants of the cayes were Maya
peoples or their ancestors. By the Classic period (300-900 AD) the
Maya had developed an extensive trade network stretching from the
Yucatán to Honduras, with evidence of settlements and trading
centers on several of the islands.
Probably the most infamous residents of the cayes
were the
buccaneers , usually British, who lived here in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries, taking refuge in the shallow waters after
plundering Spanish treasure ships. In time the pirates, now calling
themselves Baymen , settled more or less permanently on some
of the northern and central cayes, establishing their first capital
on St George's Caye. In 1779 a Spanish force sacked the Caye and
imprisoned 140 of the Baymen and 250 of their slaves. The Baymen
returned in 1783 and took revenge on the Spanish fleet in 1798,
during the celebrated Battle of St George's Caye.
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Caribbean
guide
Fishermen and turtlers continued to use the
cayes as a base for their operations, and refugees fleeing
the Caste Wars in the Yucatán towards the end of the
nineteenth century also settled on the islands in small
numbers. During the twentieth century the island population
increased steadily, and the establishment of the
fishing cooperatives in |
the 1960s brought improved traps, ice plants, and
access to the export market - though there's now the possibility that the
lobster-fishing industry will destroy itself by over fishing. At around the same
time came another boom, as the cayes of Belize, particularly Caye Caulker, became a hangout on the
hippy trail, and then began to attract more lucrative custom. The
islanders generally welcomed these visitors and a new-found
prosperity began to transform life on the cayes.
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