Chaa Creek

Chaa Creek is a tributary of the Macal River in the Cayo District of western Belize, with Maya ruins that remain largely unexcavated in its catchment basin. In 1997, a survey led by Anabel Ford of Harvard University employed ground-penetrating radar and surface surveys, identifying over 20 unexcavated structures in and near the Chaa Creek area. The site encompasses over 70 recorded archaeological features within a 500-acre area, including structural mounds indicative of residential areas and agricultural terraces adapted to the riverine landscape. Chaa Creek is posited to be a satellite settlement of Xunantunich, the major Maya ceremonial centre nearby that peaked around 600-900 AD with a population of some 10,000 people.