Just outside San Ignacio is a third major Mayan ruin, the unfortunately named ("place of the ticks"). It was occupied from around 900 BC to AD 1100. At its peak, in AD 600, Cahal Pech was a medium-size settlement with some three dozen structures huddled around seven plazas. It's thought that it functioned as a guard post, watching over the nearby confluence of the Mopan and Macal rivers. It may be somewhat less compelling than the area's other ruins, but it's no less mysterious, given that these structures mark the presence of a civilization we know so little about. Look for answers at the small visitor center.
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