Cahal+Pech


 * **Cahal Pech ** ||  [|"Maya Caves of West-Central Belize"]

 June 2000  ||
 * Text by Jaime Awe

 Photographs by Amélie A. Walker || 

 Large palace-type structure facing the main public plaza of Cahal Pech Cahal Pech is located on the southern outskirts of San Ignacio Town in the upper Belize Valley region of the Cayo District, Belize (  [|see map] ). The site center sits on the crest of a steep hill on the west bank of the Macal River. The central acropolis, approximately 900 feet above sea level, provides a commanding view of the Maya Mountains to the south and the fertile valleys of the Belize River to the northeast.  [|July 7, 2000]  [|July 23, 2000]   || || Although the actual date that Cahal Pech was discovered is unknown, the first published record of the site dates to the late 1930s. It wasn't until the 1950s, however, that the first archaeological investigations of the site began. At this time Linton Satterthwaite from the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania conducted preliminary mapping and excavation. Except for two brief paragraphs in a 1951 publication, Satterthwaite never produced a detailed report of this work but a copy of his notes were subsequently retrieved from the University Museum and are presently stored in the library of the Belize Department of Archaeology. In his brief summary of this research Satterthwaite concluded: || Cahal Pech is a site with an unpropitious Maya name meaning "Place of the Ticks." This ceremonial center includes pyramid temples, palaces, and a ball court. Five stelae and an altar (plain) show presence of the stela cult. Some major buildings were roofed with the Maya vault, some apparently not. There was a gradual architectural growth, the occupation probably running through the entire Classic Period, and we have ceramic hints of a longer occupation. Though previously unknown to Archaeologists, it is only about a mile from the suspension bridge at El Cayo. Finally, it is on the lands of Mr. Henry Melhado of Belize, an extremely kind gentleman who permits us to dig it. 
 * || **Field Updates: **

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Late Classic elite residence <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Between 1953 and 1955, Gordon Willey of Harvard University visited Cahal Pech during his settlement survey of the middle Belize River Valley region. He subsequently wrote a brief description of Cahal Pech and incorporated the center in his discussion of settlement hierarchy in the Belize River Valley. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">During the 1960s, A.H. Anderson, Belize's first archaeological commissioner, made several visits to Cahal Pech. Because of its easy access and location, Anderson recommended to the government that the site be left unaffected by private lands, and that the center and its immediate periphery be developed as a National Park. Due to financial constraints Anderson's recommendations were, unfortunately, never implemented. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Late Preclassic temple in the main plaza <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Following Anderson's death in 1968, Peter Schmidt became Belize's second archaeological commissioner. A year later (in 1969) he visited Cahal Pech to appraise the damage caused by looters and to conduct small-scale salvage operations within the site core. Unfortunately, Schmidt, like Satterthwaite, never published a report of his investigations, but some of his notes and the artifacts recovered from the tomb are still available in the Belize Department of Archaeology. The grave goods which Schmidt recovered from the two burials indicate that both interments were deposited during the Late Classic period. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">During the 1970s the site was pillaged on numerous occasions by looters. In 1978, several of these vandals were caught and arrested by myself and members of the local police force. The looters were tried in court and subsequently convicted under the Belize antiquities legislation. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Except for brief visits by Joseph Ball and Jennifer Taschek in 1986-87, no scientific investigations were conducted at Cahal Pech in the first half of the 1980s. During this time looting continued unabated. The destruction by these vandals, and by the gradual encroachment of the site by an expanding San Ignacio Town, eventually prompted members of the Cayo Branch of the Belize Tourism Industry Association to seek assistance for the preservation of the site. After several requests for help from the latter group, I eventually organized the first major archaeological investigation of Cahal Pech in the summer of 1988. Since then I have worked at the site. Joseph Ball of San Diego State University has also tested and reconstructed several structures. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Excavations during the past 12 years suggest that during the Classic period Cahal Pech and its sustaining area may have encompassed a realm of approximately 10 square miles. The site core consists of some 34 large structures, including several tall non-domestic structures, a number of large range-type buildings, two ballcourts, and possibly a sweathouse. Our work suggests that Cahal Pech contains evidence of some of the earliest Maya settlements in Belize. Data recovered at the center indicates that the first settlers began to occupy the site sometime between 1200 to 1000 B.C. It is believed that these settlers either entered the Belize River Valley from the west in Highland Guatemala, or they may represent incipient cultivators whose ancestors lived in the area during the Archaic period. Between 1000 to 600 B.C., the Cahal Pech community acquired many exotics like jade and obsidian from sources to the east and north of Guatemala City, marine shell from the Caribbean Sea, and appropriated many of the early symbols of the Gulf coast Olmec Culture. Many figurines and carved designs on pottery suggest that these people shared similar ideologies with their counterparts in other areas of Mesoamerica. Indeed, Cahal Pech also contains one of the earliest carved stela (monuments) yet discovered in this region of the Maya lowlands. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Current excavation of a small residential unit adjacent to the public plaza.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> The cut stone being uncovered may have been part of a dwelling's rear wall. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Several caves just upriver from the center contain evidence which suggests that the occupants of the site conducted periodic rituals within these subterranean caverns. Preserved organic remains of corn, cacao, and anato seeds, and the skeletal remains of infants and adults suggest that the rituals conducted in these sites may have included human sacrifice and offerings to deities associated with rain and agriculture. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">During the Classic period (A.D. 300-800) the site continued to flourish and many of the large temples and palaces that can be seen at the site today were erected during this time. During the last centuries of the first millennia, however, many of the occupants of this once thriving site began to abandon the center. Often referred to as the Maya Collapse, we are still unsure of the reasons why the site was depopulated, particularly because other centers in the Belize Valley continued to thrive for several more centuries. Present research at the site is attempting to ascertain the cultural history of this crucial period and to assess the reasons for the site's early rise and subsequent decline. The use of the nearby caves by occupants of the site also represents an important research objective of the BVAR project. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> [|Intro] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> | <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> [|Trip to Xibalba]  <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> | <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> [|Interview]  <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> | <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> [|Field Notes]  <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> | <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> [|Student Journals]  <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> | <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> [|Remote Sensing]  <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> | <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> [|Q&A]  <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> | <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> [|Map] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> © 2000 by the Archaeological Institute of America

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> www.archaeology.org/online/features/belize/cahalpech.html <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">3/23/2012 12:28:45 PM  **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Xunantunich ** || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">El Castillo, the tallest pyramid at Xunantunich, **

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> rises 130 ft. over the site. ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The recent history of Xunantunich began in the late 1800's, when it was explored by a British medical officer named Thomas Gann. The first known photograph of the site was taken in 1904 and displayed in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for many years. Nothing further was done until Gann returned in 1924, at which time he reportedly unearthed many Maya treasures. The recorded history of these items has been lost and, at present, no one knows of their whereabouts. It is possible that many museums and private collectors of Maya artifacts are displaying them, with no idea of their origin. || || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Over the last 70 years, many noted archaeologists have undertaken various excavations at Xunantunich, seeking to uncover her mysteries. Continuous excavation and restoration has been taking place since 1990 by the University of California (UCLA) under the direction of Dr. Richard Leventhal. Now, a wonderful new visitor's center has been built which displays a model of the site, photos, maps and graphical explanations of significant events in the development of the city. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Detail of the west frieze near the top of El Castillo ** || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">We highly recommend that you make the steep, but short, climb to the top of "El Castillo." This vantage point provides a breathtaking, 360 degree, panoramic view over the jungle canopy of the Macal, Mopan and Belize River valleys, as well as a vast area of the Guatemalan Peten District, which is only a few miles away. You will also get a close look at the restored portions of two unique stucco friezes, which appear on the east and west sides of the upper portion of the pyramid. || |||| <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Located in the Cayo District in western Belize, Xunantunich is easily accessible. Most of the lodging facilities in the area offer day trips to the site, which is very popular with all tourists in the region. Prices for the tours range from US$25 to $50, depending on the number of passengers. It is also simple to find if you are travelling on your own. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">On the way to Xunantunich; this hand-cranked ferry takes you across the Mopan River. ** || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">You can drive or take the bus west from San Ignacio about eight miles, to the village of San Jose Succotz. Here there is a small, hand-cranked cable ferry that will take you and your car across the Mopan River and, from there, it's less than a mile farther (up a steep road) to the site. The ferry service is free of charge, and it operates daily from 7:30 am to 4 pm, with a break for lunch. This excursion makes a nice half-day trip, and adds a lot of local color to your Belize adventure. The entrance fee is BZ$ 5 for Belizeans and $10 for visitors. || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">3/23/2012 12:30:18 PM
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The name, according to one interpretation, means "Maiden of the Rock" in the Yucatec dialect. It is pronounced "zshoo-NAN-too-NEECH." It was the first site in Belize to be opened to the public, when the road and a ferry were built in 1954. ** ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What you will see today is a Classic period (300-900 AD) ceremonial center, with large plazas ringed with pyramids. The tallest is the 130 foot "El Castillo," which is large by Mayan standards and is only exceeded by the Caana pyramid at Caracol. The site was occupied [[image:http://angedreah-da.wikispaces.com/site/embedthumbnail/placeholder?w=200&h=220 width="200" height="220" align="right" caption="http://www.belizereport.com/sites/images/xunanmap.gif"]]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> until around 900 A.D. and was likely abandoned after an earthquake, the evidence of which was discovered by archaeologists in the mid-1900's.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[[image:http://angedreah-da.wikispaces.com/site/embedthumbnail/placeholder?w=250&h=118 width="250" height="118" caption="http://www.belizereport.com/sites/images/xundet.jpg"]]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">It is helpful to visit the center when you first arrive, to give you an overview for the rest of your visit.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[[image:http://angedreah-da.wikispaces.com/site/embedthumbnail/placeholder?w=224&h=128 width="224" height="128" caption="http://www.belizereport.com/sites/images/xunfery.jpg"]]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[[image:http://angedreah-da.wikispaces.com/site/embedthumbnail/placeholder?w=224&h=128 width="224" height="128" caption="http://www.belizereport.com/sites/images/xunfery.jpg"]]