January 27, 2011 (Exploring Maya Sites at Xunantunich and Cahal Pech)

One of the many splendid things about San Ignacio Town is that there are five ancient Maya sites to explore within a ten mile radius of the town. By Thursday (January 27) Kirby and I had met the incomparable "Manny"- who we called "the mayor of San Ignacio". Manny had worked for Firestone in Los Angeles for over 25 years but had moved back to Belize to serve as the country's self-proclaimed "good will ambassador". Manny quickly befriended Kirby and me and told us he would be happy to help out with any activities we were considering. For the next week Manny served as our personal activities director, and he really took care of us. The first thing we told him we wanted to do was explore the nearby archaeological sites at nearby Xunantunich and Cahal Pech.

Manny: The "Mayor of San Ignacio Town"

Early Thursday Thursday morning Manny set us up with a local taxi driver and we traveled the eight miles (about a 20 minute drive) to the site of the famous Maya site known as "Xunantunich". Its name means "Stone Woman" in the Maya language (it is a Mopan and Yucatec combination name). Like many names given to Maya archaeological sites, "Xunantunich" is a modern name. Unfortunately, the ancient name is currently unknown. The "Stone Woman" refers to the ghost of a woman claimed by several people to inhabit the site, beginning in 1892. The ghost was supposedly dressed completely in white, and has fire-red glowing eyes. She generally appears in front of El Castillo; ascends the stone stairs and disappears into a stone wall.
The entry fee for admission to the site was only 10 BZ (US$5.00) each. Although the site was reportedly explored in the late 1800s, it was not officially "discovered" until 1938. Xunantunich is located atop a ridge above the Mopan River. The nearby Guatemala border is within sight from the tops of the tallest structures in the park. Most of the structures date from the Maya Classic Era, about 200 to 900 BC. There is evidence that some of the structures were damaged by an earthquake while they were occupied. Some historians believe that this earthquake may have been a reason for the site's abandonment.

Xunantunich was a major ceremonial site, built on a natural limestone ridge during the Classic Period.The site is composed of six major plazas with more than twenty-five temples and palaces. "El Castillo" (the Castle), the largest pyramid at 130 feet above the plaza, has such carved friezes on the east and west sides. The frieze on the east has been preserved and covered with a fiberglass replica of the central mask representing the sun god flanked the moon, Venus, and different days. On a clear day you can also see across into nearby Guatemala, and over towards Caracol in the Mountain Pine Ridge Reserve.

Xunantunich lies eight miles west of San Ignacio Town, directly across from the village of San Jose Succotz. It is easily accessible by public transportation, up to the hand-cranked ferry over the river. Vehicles are ferried over one at a time for the one mile drive/hike to the parking lot. An impressive visitor center with refreshments and souvenirs for sale are located at the site. The core of Xunantunich occupies about one square mile (2.6 km²), consisting of a series of six plazas surrounded by more than 26 temples and palaces. One of its structures, the pyramid known as "El Castillo", is -- at 130 feet or thirteen stories in height -- the second tallest structure in Belize (second only to the colossal temple at Caracol).

El Castillo Rises Above Everything Else in Xunantunich 

Archeological excavations have revealed a number of fine stucco facades on some of the ancient temples of this site. Evidence of construction suggests the temple was built in three stages in the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries. The fine stucco or "frieze" are located on the final stage. The first modern explorations of the site were conducted by Thomas Gann in 1894 and 1895. Several projects of archeological excavations have been conducted at the site from the 1930s through the 1990s. The site at Xunantunich also exhibits a number of valuable "stelae" (large stone slabs created by the Maya for religious and commemorative purposes, usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased and/or the living, inscribed, carved in relief or painted onto the slabs). One of the best preserved ancient stelae is housed in a small weatherproofed building for conservation purposes. This artefact is a large stela dated within the period 200 BC to 150 AD which depicts a Maya figure facing left. The figure is striding and clothed only in armbands.

 It is estimated that - at its height of its activity-- as many as 10,000 people were believed to have lived within about a 2 mile radius of Xunantunich . Other nearby Maya archaeological sites include Chaa Creek and Cahal Pech-- which was next on our agenda that day. After once again using the hand-cranked ferry to cross back over the Mopan River after leaving Xunantunich, Kirby and I hailed a taxi and asked the driver to bring us to Cahal Pech on the way back to San Ignacio Town. The site is literally within walking distance of the town, but it is up a long, steep hill so we decided to conserve some energy for walking all around the site and taking everything in.

Although work at Cahal Pech is still preliminary, you can experience the full range of the archaeological investigations of an ancient Mayan city. The site lies within a beautiful jungle environment which supports a variety of tropical plants and birds. It is possible in only a few minutes to walk from the center of a major town in Belize to a world of ancient monuments and natural beauty. Over one thousand years ago, Cahal Pech was a major Mayan ceremonial center. The name derives from a combination of Yucatec and Mopan Maya and means "Place of Ticks". Before it was dedicated a national archaeological site the area was used as a cattle pasture, and cattle pastures in Belize are notorious as breeding grounds for ticks. The site center consists of 34 structures compacted into an area of only about two acres. The majority of these structures surround seven courtyards and include several temples, two widely separated ball courts, and what is thought to be a sweathouse. The largest structure is 77 feet high with steep steps running up its side.

Structures Found at Cahal Pech

The site is believed to have first been occupied as early as 1200 BC, but the structures visible today are believed to have been built much later-- probably between 600 AD and 800 AD (significantly later than the structures at nearby Xunantunich). At its height, the city was believed to be home to between 10,000 and 20,000 residents-- most of them farmers. Archaeologists have found a total of 10 mounds within six of the seven courtyard groups. Cahal Pech was abandoned by 800 A.D. Directly beneath several Middle Classic (500-700 A.D.) structures lie Late Preclassic (300 B.C. - 250 A.D.) temples, suggesting that these were the periods of greatest development.

The exact date of the discovery of the site is not known, but reports of the site go back as far as the early 1950's. The University Museum of Pennsylvania did some preliminary mapping in 1951, but never published the work. It wasn't until 1969 that the Archaeology Department of the Belizean government performed a salvage operation on the site after reports of looting.Their work concentrated on a royal tomb within the Central Plaza (Plaza B). The most significant finds included a number of ornate jade objects, obsidian blades, shell and bone ornaments and several pottery vessels. Of special importance was a jade and shell mosaic mask which probably formed the centerpeice of a ceremonial belt worn by the noble buried in the grave. These artifacts can be seen in the National Collection at the national capital in Belmopan. Between the years 1970 and 1985, Cahal Pech was looted on several occasions. The destruction of the site became a serious concern to the people of San Ignacio who recognized the site's cultural value. Eventually, in 1988, a formal large scale excavation took place and continues today.