Xibun is an alternate Mayan spelling of Sibun that appears on some Spanish colonial-period maps of the region, and is sometimes used to refer to: *the

Sibun River The Sibun River (Xibun River, formerly Sheboon River) is a river in Belize which drains a large central portion of the country. The Sibun ( Xibun) were ancient Maya people who inhabited the region. The headwaters of the Sibun River are located ...

located in central

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

*ancient or historic

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...

settlers in the Sibun River valley

Xibun Maya

Xibun may denote the ancient and historic

inhabitants of the

valley. The

meanders through a Karst topography containing countless

Maya cave sites Mayan cave sites are associated with the Mayan civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Beliefs and observances connected with these cave sites persist among some contemporary Mayan communities. Many of the Mayan caves served religious purposes. ...

. A significant contribution of archaeological research in the area has been the documentation of the ritual use of caves by the Xibun Maya. Of particular note, a pattern of

speleothem A speleothem (; ) is a geological formation by mineral deposits that accumulate over time in natural caves. Speleothems most commonly form in calcareous caves due to carbonate dissolution reactions. They can take a variety of forms, depending ...

(cave formation) breakage was documented in caves that was explained by their incorporation into public architecture at prehistoric settlements located across the river.Peterson, Polly A., Patricia A. McAnany, and Allan B. Cobb 2005 De-fanging the Earth Monster: Speleothem Transport to Surface Sites in the Sibun Valley. In ''Stone Houses and Earth Lords: Maya Religion in the Cave Context'', edited by Keith M. Prufer and James E. Brady, pp. 225–247. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.

References

External links

Xibun
Geography of Mesoamerica Maya civilization {{mesoamerica-stub