Cahal Pech

Cahal Pech is located near San Ignacio in Belize. The site sits high above the banks of the Macal River and is strategically located to overlook the confluence of the Macal River with the Mopan River. The site consists of a cluster of 34 structures, the tallest temple being about 25 meters high, arranged around a central acropolis. Cahal Pech was inhabited for around 2000 years, from around 1200 BCE to around 850, including several centuries as the residence of a royal family.

The name comes from the modern Yucatecan Mayan language and means "place of the tick", the original name of the city is not known.

History of research

When exactly Cahal Pech was discovered in the scientific sense is unknown. In 1939, the site was first mentioned in Eric Thompson's "Index of Mayan Sites In British Honduras"; the site was first described in 1950 by Linton Satterthwaite, who carried out pioneering archaeological work in Cahal Pech during the 1950s and to whom the current name goes back. Satterthwaite mapped the area and undertook the first excavations in the center of the site, uncovering the ball court and unearthing several stelae.