Cahal Pech

Cahal Pech is a

The site rests high above the banks of the Macal River and is strategically located to overlook the confluence of the Macal River and the Mopan River. The site is a collection of 34 structures, with the tallest temple being about 25 meters in height, situated around a central acropolis. The site was abandoned in the 9th century CE for unknown reasons.^{[citation needed]}

Archaeology

The earliest pottery in western Belize is found here.

"Emerging information from western Belize suggests that ceramic-using populations may have been in place as early as ca. 1200 B.C. at Cahal Pech and perhaps elsewhere (Awe 1992; Clark and Cheetham 2002; Garber et al. 2004; Healy and Awe 1995). While these complexes, termed "Cunil" at Cahal Pech and "Kanocha" at Blackman Eddy, remain to be broadly documented across the Belize River Valley, they are the earliest established ceramic technologies recorded in western Belize."^[3]

The name Cahal Pech, meaning "Place of the Ticks" in the

The primary excavation of the site began in 1988. Restoration was completed in 2000 under the leadership of Dr. Jaime Awe, Director of the National Institute of Archaeology (NICH), Belize.^[5]

Other nearby Maya sites include Chaa Creek, Xunantunich, Baking Pot, and Lower Dover.

Gallery

• 
  Aerial of Cahal Pech
• 
  Main courtyard
• 
  Main courtyard
• 
  Main courtyard
• 
  Remains of a ball court
• 
  Another building

See also

• Cuello
• Colha, Belize

Notes

References