a Maya civic ceremonial centre of the Belize Valley region in the Late and Terminal Classic periods (c. 700-900 AD). At that time, when the region was at its peak, nearly 200,000 people lived in the Belize Valley.

Xunantunich's name means "Maiden of the Rock" in the Maya languages Mopan and Yucatec, combining "Xunaan" (noble lady) and "Tuunich" (stone for sculpture). The "Stone Woman" refers to the ghost of a woman claimed by several people to inhabit the site, beginning