Location: 1 km from San Estevan, Orange Walk District Map
San Estevan is an ancient Mayan pre- Columbian archaeological site situated in Orange Walk District in Belize. San Estevan can be referred to this particular Mayan ancient cite and also a modern day town of San Estevan some 1 km away from previous location. Native tribes settled San Estevan during Formative period between 800BC and 300AD. Mayans were drawn to this location due to its proximity to New River as well as other ancient Mayan cities. City population went into decline in the late Classic period around 900AD, but a small village survived here until arrival of the Spanish.
During the late 1990s, much of the monumental architecture in San Estevan's core was bulldozed and a large crater excavated for the underlying limestone marl in order to construct modern roads. Mound XV, at 15 m, is the highest structure remaining at the site and dates to the Late Formative period. This mound was only saved from the bulldozers due to the intervention of the Belize Department of Archaeology in the late 1990s. The damage to San Estevan is unfortunate, but provides remarkable access to the earliest occupation at the site's center. Taking advantage of the easy access to the earliest occupation levels, Robert Rosenswig of the University at Albany – SUNY began work on the earliest occupation levels at the site in 2002.