Chaa Creek

Xunantunich was a Maya settlement or city in the Belize River valley in the Late and Terminal Classic periods (c. 700–900 AD).^[2] At that time, when it was at its peak, the region had a population of nearly 200,000.^[3]

There are Maya ruins of a community 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) east of Xunantunich's center in the Chaa Creek catchment basin that remain largely unexcavated.^{[4]: 297 [5]} Initial investigation and surveying of the site was done from 1992 to 1994 under the auspices of the Xunantunich Archaelogical Project.^[5]

Excavations were conducted in 1995 and 1997.^[5] Significant pottery finds and other artifacts have been recovered at the site, which is posited to be a satellite site of Xunantunich.^[6][7]

Sixty-two sites were identified within the 2-square-kilometre (0.77 sq mi) settlement zone, the three largest being Stela group, Plantain group and Tunchilen group.^[5] Each of these three had "stelae, immense plazas, and 5-m-high [16-ft-tall] temple mounds"^[5] and were each situated on its own ridge.^[7] The Stela group features an "immense platform", an entrance ramp at the eastern end, two temple-pyramids facing each other (the larger one on the east containing the burial crypts of two men), two collapsed stelae (apparently associated with ancestor veneration), and a stone monument at the top of the ramp.^{[4]: 302–303} The Tunchilen group, from the same era as the Stela group, consists of a "large, open plaza flanked by a massive, 50-metre (160 ft) long winged structure".^[4]: 303 The Plaintain group, dating to a different era, has a ramp to its platform facing toward Xunantunich, a building on the east side with a "corbel vaulted roof" and stucco molding, a small altar, and a crypt beneath the altar.^{[4]: 305–306}

The ruins are contained within the privately held Chaa Creek Nature Reserve.^[7]

The Chaa Creek Nature Reserve is also a noted area for birdwatching. Over 300 species of birds have been sighted there.^[8][9]