Xunantunich in San Jose Succotz, Cayo is one of the most towering, iconic and often visited mayan sites in Belize. And while it has been upkept and refurbished over the years, the site still needs work. And today that came in the form of a fifty five thousand US dollar grant from the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation. It was awarded to the Institute of Archaeology to restore the Site. Director, Dr. John Morris discussed the details of the project.
Dr. John Morris, Director, Institute of Archaeology
"The Benque archaeological is a small to medium centre that is located within the confines of the town of Benque Veijo Del Carmen but it is actually a
suburb of the main side of Xunantunich. It was discovered back in the 1930's and since then the town has grew and has encroached upon the land that are
apart of the archaeological site. In fact what remains today are about a dozen mounts which we are going to excavate and expose. We are simply exposing
the architecture of the buildings that were once there. We will expose several of the structures in order to show the general public what was there
once. We are planning to build a fence around the site, also to put in signage so people can understand what was there in antiquity."
H.E. Carlos Moreno, US Ambassador
"The purpose of the grant is to recognise the countries in which the United States has an interest by way of embassy our council office. Interested in
helping those countries preserve it's rich cultural history. In this case the Dr. said it's more inline with preservation. As I understand it one of
the principle elements of the project is to build a retaining wall to prevent further deterioration of the site, I think that's the primary goal."
NICH and community members are assisting with the project.
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