Xuantunich - Ancient Mayan Ruin

Belize’s Ancient Mayan Ruin at Xunantunich

William A. Kennedy is the President and CEO of Kennedy Technical Consulting

Services, LLC. His consulting business is located in Arlington, VA. Bill Kennedy’s

company provides the full gamut of business development services to his clients.

These services include: marketing, opportunity identification and development,

capture, strategy, proposal management and technical writing, and orals

coaching. Bill Kennedy applies his over 30 years of experience with Federal

government contracting to successfully position, capture and win work for his

clients.

William Kennedy is also a avid traveler and over the years he has traveled to over

35 countries to include China, India, Tibet, and Russia to name a few. In early

2015, he had the opportunity to travel to Belize where he had the opportunity to

tour Xunantunich, an ancient Mayan ruin located in western Belize.*

* Photos by Bill Kennedy

XUNANTUNICH – MAYAN RUIN

• Xunantunich is an ancient Mayan

archaeological site in western Belize,

about 80 miles west of Belize City, in the

Cayo District.

• Xunantunich means "stone woman" in the

Mayan language and is its modern name.

Its ancient name is currently unknown.

• The first modern explorations of the site

were conducted by Thomas Gann from

Great Britain in the mid-1890s.


• The temple in the picture to the right is

known as the El Castillo and is the main

temple at this site.

• El Castillo is the second tallest structure

in Belize at some 130 feet tall.

• Climbing to the top of this temple is the

highlight of this tour.


• Xunantunich is located atop a ridge above

the Mopan River.

• Before entering the Xunantunich site you

first have to cross the river on this hand-

cranked ferry.


• Xunantunich is approximately 1 kilometer

(.62 mile) from the Guatemala border to

the west.

• The picture to the right was taken from

the top of the temple and looks west into

Guatemala.


• The Xunantunich site covers about one

square mile and consists of a series of six

plazas. There are more than 26 temples

and palaces surrounding these plazas.

• The picture to the right is looking to the

east from the top of the temple and

shows some of the other temples and

palaces on the site.


• The stucco or friezes in these pictures are on the north (left) and south (right) sides of the temple. Friezes depict many things. Each section of the frieze is broken up by framing bands of plaited cloth or twisted cords (which represent celestial phenomena).


• The picture to the left shows one of the

ball courts at Xunantunich.

• Formal ballgames were held as ritual

events, often featuring human sacrifice.

According to the tour guide, it was the

winning team/team members that were

sacrificed because the Mayans wanted to

send the best to the next life.

• The ball was made of solid rubber and

weighed up to 9 lbs. Players struck the

ball with their hips, although some

versions allowed the use of forearms,

rackets, bats, or handstones.

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Xuantunich - Ancient Mayan Ruin