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Tikal Tempel I
Tikal Tempel I is die benaming wat gegee word aan een van die belangrikste strukture in Tikal, een van die grootste stede en argeologiese terreine van die voor-Columbiaanse Maya-beskawing in Meso-Amerika. Dit is geleë in die Petén Basin -streek in die noorde van Guatemala. Dit staan ook bekend as die Tempel van die Groot Jaguar as gevolg van 'n boomstam wat 'n koning voorstel wat op 'n jaguartroon sit. [1] 'n Alternatiewe naam is die Tempel van Ah Cacao, nadat die heerser in die tempel begrawe is. [nb 1] Tempel I is 'n tipiese Petén-styl kalksteen getrapte piramide-struktuur wat uit ongeveer 732 nC gedateer is.
Die tempel, geleë in die hart van 'n wêrelderfenisgebied, word oorweldig deur 'n kenmerkende dakkam, 'n kenmerkende Maya -argitektoniese kenmerk. Die bou van Tempel I aan die oostekant van die Great Plaza was 'n beduidende afwyking van die gevestigde tradisie om begrafnis tempels net noord van die plein in die Noordelike Akropolis van Tikal te bou. [2] [3]
Inhoud
Die Maya -naam "Chichen Itza" beteken "By die monding van die put van die Itza." Dit kom van chi ', wat "mond" of "rand" beteken, en ch'en of chʼeʼen, wat "goed" beteken. Itzá is die naam van 'n etniese groep wat politieke en ekonomiese oorheersing van die noordelike skiereiland verkry het. Een moontlike vertaling vir Itza is "betowering (of betowering) van die water", [5] uit sy (itz), "towenaar" en ha, "water". [6]
Die naam word gespel Chichén Itzá in Spaans, en die aksente word soms in ander tale gehandhaaf om aan te toon dat beide dele van die naam op hul laaste lettergreep beklemtoon word. Ander verwysings verkies die Maya -ortografie, Chichʼen Itzaʼ (uitgespreek [tʃitʃʼen itsáʔ]). Hierdie vorm behou die fonemiese onderskeid tussen chʼ en hfst, aangesien die basiswoord chʼeʼen (wat egter nie beklemtoon word in Maya nie) begin met 'n postalveolêre ejektief affricate consonant. Die woord "Itzaʼ" het 'n hoë toon op die 'a' gevolg deur 'n glottale stop (aangedui deur die apostrof). [ aanhaling nodig ]
Bewyse in die Chilam Balam -boeke dui op 'n ander, vroeëre naam vir hierdie stad voor die aankoms van die Itza -hegemonie in die noorde van Yucatán. Terwyl die meeste bronne saamstem dat die eerste woord sewe beteken, is daar groot debat oor die korrekte vertaling van die res. Hierdie vroeëre naam is moeilik om te definieer vanweë die afwesigheid van 'n enkele standaard van ortografie, maar dit word op verskillende maniere voorgestel as Uuc Yabnal ("Seven Great House"), [7] Uuc Hab Nal ("Seven Bushy Places"), [8] Uucyabnal ("Sewe groot heersers") [2] of Uc Abnal ("Seven Lines of Abnal"). [nb 3] Hierdie naam, wat uit die laat klassieke tydperk dateer, word aangeteken in die boek Chilam Balam de Chumayel en in hiërogliewe tekste in die ruïnes. [9]
Chichen Itza is in die oostelike deel van die staat Yucatán in Mexiko geleë. [10] Die noordelike skiereiland Yucatán is karst, en die riviere in die binneland loop almal ondergronds. Daar is vier sigbare, natuurlike sinkgate, genaamd cenotes, wat die hele jaar deur baie water by Chichen kon voorsien het, wat dit aantreklik kon maak vir vestiging. Van hierdie cenote is die "Cenote Sagrado" of Sacred Cenote (ook bekend as die heilige put of opofferingsput) die bekendste. [11] In 2015 het wetenskaplikes vasgestel dat daar 'n verborge cenote onder Kukulkan is, wat nog nooit deur argeoloë gesien is nie. [12]
Volgens bronne na die verowering (Maya en Spaans) het pre-Columbiaanse Maya voorwerpe en mense in die cenote geoffer as 'n vorm van aanbidding aan die Maya-reengod Chaac. Edward Herbert Thompson het die Cenote Sagrado van 1904 tot 1910 gebud, en artefakte van goud, jade, erdewerk en wierook, sowel as menslike oorskot gevind. [11] 'n Studie van menslike oorskot wat uit die Cenote Sagrado geneem is, het bevind dat hulle wonde het wat ooreenstem met menslike offerande. [13]
Verskeie argeoloë aan die einde van die tagtigerjare het voorgestel dat Chichen Itza, anders as die vorige Maya -polities van die vroeë klassieke, moontlik nie deur 'n individuele heerser of 'n enkele dinastiese geslag beheer is nie. In plaas daarvan kon die politieke organisasie van die stad gestruktureer gewees het deur 'n "multepal"stelsel, wat gekenmerk word as heerskappy deur raad wat bestaan uit lede van elite -regerende geslagte. [14]
Hierdie teorie was gewild in die negentigerjare, maar die afgelope jare is die navorsing wat die konsep van die 'multepal' -stelsel ondersteun het, in twyfel getrek, indien dit nie in diskrediet gebring word nie. Die huidige geloofsneiging in Maya -beurs is in die rigting van die meer tradisionele model van die Maya -koninkryke van die klassieke tydperk in die suidelike laaglande in Mexiko. [15]
Chichen Itza was 'n belangrike ekonomiese mag in die noordelike Maya -laaglande tydens sy periode. [16] Deur deel te neem aan die watergedrewe handelsreisroete deur die hawestad Isla Cerritos aan die noordkus, [17] kon Chichen Itza plaaslik onbeskikbare hulpbronne verkry uit verre gebiede soos obsidiaan uit Sentraal-Mexiko en goud uit suidelike Sentraal -Amerika.
Tussen 900 en 1050 nC het Chichen Itza uitgebrei tot 'n kragtige streekhoofstad wat noord en sentraal Yucatán beheer. Dit het Isla Cerritos as 'n handelshawe gevestig. [18]
Die uitleg van die kern van die Chichen Itza -terrein is ontwikkel tydens sy vroeëre besettingsfase, tussen 750 en 900 nC. [19] Die uiteindelike uitleg daarvan is ontwikkel na 900 nC, en in die 10de eeu was die opkoms van die stad 'n streekshoofstad wat die gebied beheer van die sentrale Yucatán na die noordkus, met sy krag aan die oostelike en weskus van die skiereiland . [20] Die vroegste hiërogliewe datum wat by Chichen Itza ontdek is, is gelykstaande aan 832 nC, terwyl die laaste bekende datum in die Osario -tempel in 998 aangeteken is. [21]
Stigting
Die stad Late Classic was gesentreer op die gebied suidwes van die Xtoloc -cenote, met die hoofargitektuur wat verteenwoordig word deur die substrukture wat nou onderliggend is aan die Las Monjas en Observatorio en die basale platform waarop hulle gebou is. [22]
Opstyg
Chichen Itza het aan die einde van die vroeë klassieke tydperk (ongeveer 600 nC) tot regionale bekendheid gestyg. Dit was egter teen die einde van die Late Classic en in die vroeë deel van die Terminal Classic dat die terrein 'n belangrike streekshoofstad geword het, wat die politieke, sosio -kulturele, ekonomiese en ideologiese lewe in die noordelike Maya -laaglande sentraliseer en oorheers. Die hemelvaart van Chichen Itza korreleer ongeveer met die agteruitgang en fragmentasie van die belangrikste sentrums van die suidelike Maya -laaglande.
Namate Chichen Itza bekend geword het, het die stede Yaxuna (in die suide) en Coba (in die ooste) agteruitgegaan. Hierdie twee stede was wedersydse bondgenote, en Yaxuna was afhanklik van Coba. Op 'n stadium in die 10de eeu het Coba 'n aansienlike deel van sy gebied verloor, wat Yaxuna geïsoleer het, en Chichen Itza het moontlik direk bygedra tot die ineenstorting van beide stede. [23]
Weier
Volgens sommige koloniale Maya -bronne (byvoorbeeld die Boek van Chilam Balam van Chumayel) het Hunac Ceel, heerser van Mayapan, Chichen Itza in die 13de eeu verower. Hunac Ceel het kwansuis sy eie opkoms tot mag geprofeteer. Volgens die destydse gebruik, word geglo dat individue wat in die Cenote Sagrado gegooi is, die krag van profesie het as hulle sou oorleef. Tydens een so 'n seremonie, volgens die kronieke, was daar geen oorlewendes nie, sodat Hunac Ceel in die Cenote Sagrado spring, en as hy verwyder word, profeteer hy sy eie hemelvaart.
Alhoewel daar 'n paar argeologiese bewyse is wat daarop dui dat Chichén Itzá op 'n tyd geplunder en afgedank is, blyk dit dat daar groter bewyse is dat dit nie deur Mayapan kon wees nie, ten minste nie toe Chichén Itzá 'n aktiewe stedelike sentrum was nie. Argeologiese gegewens dui nou aan dat Chichen Itza met 1100 gedaal het as streeksentrum, voor die opkoms van Mayapan. Deurlopende navorsing op die terrein van Mayapan kan help om hierdie chronologiese probleem op te los.
Nadat die elite -aktiwiteite van Chichén Itzá gestaak is, is die stad moontlik nie verlaat nie. Toe die Spanjaarde daar aankom, het hulle 'n florerende plaaslike bevolking gevind, hoewel dit uit Spaanse bronne nie duidelik is of hierdie Maya's in die regte Chichen Itza woon of 'n nabygeleë nedersetting nie. Die relatief hoë bevolkingsdigtheid in die streek was 'n faktor in die besluit van die veroweraars om 'n hoofstad daar te vind. [25] Volgens bronne na die verowering, beide Spaans en Maya, het die Cenote Sagrado 'n pelgrimstog gebly. [26]
Spaanse verowering
In 1526 het die Spaanse veroweraar Francisco de Montejo ('n veteraan van die Grijalva- en Cortés -ekspedisies) die koning van Spanje suksesvol versoek om 'n handves om Yucatán te verower. Sy eerste veldtog in 1527, wat 'n groot deel van die Yucatán -skiereiland beslaan het, het sy magte tot niet gemaak, maar eindig met die oprigting van 'n klein fort by Xaman Haʼ, suid van die huidige Cancún. Montejo keer in 1531 terug na Yucatán met versterkings en vestig sy hoofbasis in Campeche aan die weskus. [27] Hy het sy seun, Francisco Montejo The Younger, laat in 1532 gestuur om die binneland van die Yucatán -skiereiland uit die noorde te verower. Die doel was van die begin af om na Chichén Itzá te gaan en 'n hoofstad te vestig. [28]
Montejo die jongere het uiteindelik by Chichen Itza aangekom, wat hy Ciudad Real herdoop het. Aanvanklik het hy geen weerstand teëgekom nie en het hy begin om die lande rondom die stad te verdeel en aan sy soldate toe te ken. Die Maya's het mettertyd vyandiger geword, en uiteindelik het hulle die Spanjaarde beleër, hul toevoerlyn na die kus afgesny en hulle gedwing om hulself tussen die ruïnes van die antieke stad te versper. Maande het verloop, maar geen versterkings het gekom nie. Montejo die Jongere het 'n alledaagse aanval op die Maya's probeer en 150 van sy oorblywende troepe verloor. Hy is gedwing om Chichén Itzá in 1534 onder die dekmantel van die duisternis te laat vaar. Teen 1535 is alle Spaans van die Yucatán -skiereiland verdryf. [29]
Montejo keer uiteindelik terug na Yucatán en bou deur Maya te werf uit Campeche en Champoton 'n groot Indies-Spaanse leër en verower die skiereiland. [30] Die Spaanse kroon het later 'n grondtoelaag uitgereik wat Chichen Itza insluit, en teen 1588 was dit 'n werkende veeboerdery. [31]
Moderne geskiedenis
Chichen Itza betree die gewilde verbeelding in 1843 met die boek Reisvoorvalle in Yucatan deur John Lloyd Stephens (met illustrasies deur Frederick Catherwood). Die boek vertel van Stephens se besoek aan Yucatán en sy toer deur Maya -stede, waaronder Chichén Itzá. Die boek het ander verkennings van die stad veroorsaak. In 1860 ondersoek Désiré Charnay Chichén Itzá en neem talle foto's waarin hy gepubliseer het Cités et ruines américaines (1863).
Besoekers aan Chichén Itzá gedurende die 1870's en 1880's het met fotografiese toerusting gekom en die toestand van verskeie geboue meer akkuraat aangeteken. [32] In 1875 besoek Augustus Le Plongeon en sy vrou Alice Dixon Le Plongeon Chichén en grawe 'n standbeeld van 'n figuur op sy rug, knieë opgetrek, bo -bolyf op sy elmboë met 'n bord op sy maag. Augustus Le Plongeon noem dit "Chaacmol" (later herdoop na "Chac Mool", wat die term was om alle tipes van hierdie beeldhouwerk wat in Meso -Amerika voorkom) te beskryf. Teobert Maler en Alfred Maudslay het Chichén in die 1880's verken en albei 'n paar weke op die terrein deurgebring en uitgebreide foto's geneem. Maudslay het die eerste langvormige beskrywing van Chichen Itza in sy boek gepubliseer, Biologia Centrali-Americana.
In 1894 koop die Amerikaanse konsul van Yucatán, Edward Herbert Thompson, die Hacienda Chichén, wat die ruïnes van Chichen Itza insluit. Vir 30 jaar het Thompson die antieke stad verken. Sy ontdekkings sluit in die vroegste gedateerde kerfwerk op 'n latei in die Temple of the Initial Series en die opgrawing van verskeie grafte in die Osario (Hoëpriester se tempel). Thompson is veral bekend vir die bagger van die Cenote Sagrado (Sacred Cenote) van 1904 tot 1910, waar hy artefakte van goud, koper en gesnyde jade teruggevind het, asook die eerste voorbeelde van wat vermoedelik voor-Columbiaanse Maya-doek en hout wapens. Thompson het die grootste deel van die artefakte na die Peabody Museum aan die Harvard Universiteit gestuur.
In 1913 het die Carnegie-instelling die voorstel van die argeoloog Sylvanus G. Morley aanvaar en hom daartoe verbind om argeologiese navorsing op lang termyn by Chichen Itza te doen. [33] Die Mexikaanse Revolusie en die volgende onstabiliteit van die regering, sowel as die Eerste Wêreldoorlog, het die projek met 'n dekade vertraag. [34]
In 1923 het die Mexikaanse regering die Carnegie-instelling 'n 10-jarige permit toegestaan (later nog tien jaar verleng) om Amerikaanse argeoloë in staat te stel om uitgebreide opgrawings en herstel van Chichen Itza te doen. [35] Carnegie -navorsers het die Tempel van Krygers en die Caracol onder andere groot geboue opgegrawe en herstel. Terselfdertyd het die Mexikaanse regering El Castillo (tempel van Kukulcán) en die Great Ball Court opgegrawe en herstel. [36]
In 1926 het die Mexikaanse regering Edward Thompson van diefstal aangekla en beweer dat hy die artefakte van die Cenote Sagrado gesteel en uit die land gesmokkel het. Die regering het beslag gelê op die Hacienda Chichén. Thompson, wat destyds in die Verenigde State was, het nooit na Yucatán teruggekeer nie. Hy het in 'n boek oor sy navorsing en ondersoeke na die Maya -kultuur geskryf Mense van die slang gepubliseer in 1932. Hy is oorlede in New Jersey in 1935. In 1944 het die Mexikaanse Hooggeregshof beslis dat Thompson geen wette oortree het nie en het Chichen Itza aan sy erfgename teruggegee. Die Thompsons het die hacienda aan die toerismepionier Fernando Barbachano Peon verkoop. [37]
Daar was twee latere ekspedisies om artefakte uit die Cenote Sagrado te herstel, in 1961 en 1967. Die eerste is geborg deur National Geographic, en die tweede deur private belange. Beide projekte is onder toesig van die Mexiko se National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). INAH het 'n deurlopende poging aangewend om ander monumente in die argeologiese gebied uit te grawe en te herstel, waaronder die Osario, Akab Dzib en verskeie geboue in Chichén Viejo (Old Chichen).
In 2009, om die konstruksie wat voor El Castillo was, te ondersoek, het Yucatec -argeoloë begin met opgrawings langs El Castillo onder leiding van Rafael (Rach) Cobos.
Chichen Itza was een van die grootste Maya -stede, met die relatief dig gegroepeerde argitektuur van die terreinkern wat 'n oppervlakte van minstens 5 vierkante kilometer beslaan. [2] Residensiële argitektuur van kleiner skaal strek verder as 'n onbekende afstand. [2] Die stad is op gebroke terrein gebou, wat kunsmatig gelykgemaak is om die belangrikste argitektoniese groepe te bou, met die grootste moeite om die oppervlaktes van die Castillo -piramide gelyk te maak, en die Las Monjas, Osario en Suidwes -Main. groepe. [10]
Die webwerf bevat baie fyn klipgeboue in verskillende bewaringstoestande, en baie is herstel. Die geboue is verbind deur 'n digte netwerk van geplaveide paaie, genoem sakekind. [nb 4] Argeoloë het meer as 80 geïdentifiseer sakekind kruis die terrein, [10] en strek in alle rigtings van die stad af. [38] Baie van hierdie klipgeboue is oorspronklik in rooi, groen, blou en pers kleure geverf. Pigmente is gekies volgens die maklikste in die omgewing. Die webwerf moet as 'n kleurvolle een beskou word, nie soos dit vandag is nie. Net soos gotiese katedrale in Europa, bied kleure 'n groter gevoel van volledigheid en dra dit baie by tot die simboliese impak van die geboue. [39]
Die argitektuur bevat 'n aantal style, waaronder die Puuc- en Chenes -style van die noordelike Yucatán -skiereiland. [2] Die geboue van Chichen Itza is gegroepeer in 'n reeks argitektoniese stelle, en elke stel is op 'n keer van die ander geskei deur 'n reeks lae mure. Die drie bekendste van hierdie komplekse is die Great North -platform, wat die monumente van die Tempel van Kukulcán (El Castillo), Temple of Warriors en die Great Ball Court The Osario Group insluit, wat die piramide met dieselfde naam bevat, asook die Tempel van Xtoloc en die Sentrale Groep, wat die Caracol, Las Monjas en Akab Dzib insluit.
Suid van Las Monjas, in 'n gebied bekend as Chichén Viejo (Old Chichén) en slegs oop vir argeoloë, is verskeie ander komplekse, soos die Group of the Initial Series, Group of the Lintels en Group of the Old Castle.
Argitektoniese style
Die argitektuur in die Puuc-styl is gekonsentreer in die Old Chichen-omgewing, en ook die vorige strukture in die Nunnery Group (insluitend die Las Monjas-, Annex- en La Iglesia-geboue) word dit ook verteenwoordig in die Akab Dzib-struktuur. [40] Die gebou in die Puuc-styl het die gebruiklike mosaïekversierde boonste fasades wat kenmerkend is van die styl, maar verskil van die argitektuur van die Puuc-hartland in hul blokmure, in teenstelling met die fyn fineer van die Puuc-streek. [41]
Ten minste een struktuur in die Las Monjas-groep het 'n sierlike gevel en 'n gemaskerde deuropening wat tipiese voorbeelde is van argitektuur in die styl van Chenes, 'n styl wat gesentreer is in 'n gebied in die noorde van die staat Campeche, tussen die streke Puuc en Río Bec. [42] [43]
Die strukture met gevormde hiërogliewe skrif is gekonsentreer in sekere gebiede van die webwerf, met die belangrikste die Las Monjas -groep. [21]
Argitektoniese groepe
Great North -platform
Tempel van Kukulcán (El Castillo)
Oorheers die Noord -platform van Chichen Itza is die Tempel van Kukulcán ('n Maya -geveerde slanggod soortgelyk aan die Aztec Quetzalcoatl). Die tempel is geïdentifiseer deur die eerste Spanjaarde wat dit gesien het El Castillo ("die kasteel"), en dit word gereeld so genoem. [44] Hierdie trappiramide is ongeveer 30 meter hoog en bestaan uit 'n reeks van nege vierkante terrassen, elk ongeveer 2,57 meter hoog, met 'n tempel van 6 meter (20 voet) op die top. [45]
Die sye van die piramide is ongeveer 55,3 meter (181 voet) aan die voet en styg teen 'n hoek van 53 °, hoewel dit effens verskil vir elke kant. [45] Die vier vlakke van die piramide het uitstaande trappe wat teen 'n hoek van 45 ° opstaan. [45] Die talud mure van elke terras skuins teen 'n hoek van tussen 72 ° en 74 °. [45] Aan die voet van die balustrade van die noordoostelike trap is gesnyde koppe van 'n slang. [46]
Meso -Amerikaanse kulture het van tyd tot tyd groter strukture bo ouer gebou, [47] en die Tempel van Kukulcán is so 'n voorbeeld. [48] In die middel van die dertigerjare het die Mexikaanse regering 'n opgrawing van die tempel geborg. Na verskeie valse begin, ontdek hulle 'n trap onder die noordekant van die piramide. Deur van bo af te grawe, vind hulle 'n ander tempel begrawe onder die huidige. [49]
Binne die tempelkamer was 'n Chac Mool -standbeeld en 'n troon in die vorm van Jaguar, rooi geverf en met kolle van ingelegde jade. [49] Die Mexikaanse regering het 'n tonnel opgegrawe vanaf die voet van die noordelike trap, die trap van die vroeë piramide na die verborge tempel, en dit vir toeriste oopgemaak. In 2006 het INAH die troonkamer vir die publiek gesluit. [50]
Rondom die lente- en herfs -equinox, laatmiddag, gooi die noordwestelike hoek van die piramide 'n reeks driehoekige skaduwees teen die westelike balustrade aan die noordekant, wat die voorkoms van 'n slang wat deur die trap draai, veroorsaak, wat sommige geleerdes voorgestel het. 'n voorstelling van die geveerde slanggod, Kukulcán. [51] Dit is 'n algemene opvatting dat hierdie lig-en-skadu-effek doelbewus bereik is om die equinoxes op te teken, maar die idee is hoogs onwaarskynlik: daar is aangetoon dat die verskynsel gedurende 'n paar weke sonder groot veranderinge waargeneem kan word rondom die equinoxes, wat dit onmoontlik maak om 'n datum te bepaal deur slegs hierdie effek te waarneem. [52]
Groot balbaan
Argeoloë het dertien balbane geïdentifiseer vir die speel van die Meso-Amerikaanse bal in Chichen Itza, [53], maar die Great Ball Court ongeveer 150 meter noordwes van die Castillo is verreweg die indrukwekkendste. Dit is die grootste en bes bewaarde balbaan in die antieke Meso -Amerika. [44] Dit meet 168 by 70 meter (551 by 230 ft). [54]
Die parallelle platforms wat langs die hoofspeelgebied flanker, is elk 95 meter (312 voet) lank. [54] Die mure van hierdie platforms staan 8 meter hoog [54] hoog in die middel van elk van hierdie mure is ringe gesny met verweefde geveerde slange. [54] [nb 5]
Aan die voet van die hoë binnemure is skuins bankies met gevormde panele van spanne balspelers. [44] In een paneel is een van die spelers onthoof omdat die wond strome bloed in die vorm van slingerende slange uitstraal. [55]
Aan die een kant van die Great Ball Court is die Noordelike Tempel, ook bekend as die Tempel van die Baardman (Templo del Hombre Barbado). [56] Hierdie klein metselwerk het 'n gedetailleerde bas -reliëf op die binnemure, insluitend 'n middelste figuur met 'n snywerk onder sy ken wat lyk soos gesigshare. [57] Aan die suidekant is 'n ander, veel groter tempel, maar in puin.
In die oostelike muur ingebou is die Tempels van die Jaguar. Die Boonste tempel van die Jaguar kyk uit oor die balbaan en het 'n ingang bewaak deur twee, groot kolomme in die bekende geveerde slangmotief. Binne is 'n groot muurskildery, baie verwoes, wat 'n gevegstoneel uitbeeld.
In die ingang van die Laer Tempel van die Jaguar, wat agter die balbaan oopmaak, is nog 'n Jaguar -troon, soortgelyk aan die in die binneste tempel van El Castillo, behalwe dat dit goed verslet en verf of ander versiering ontbreek. Die buitenste kolomme en die mure binne-in die tempel is bedek met uitgebreide bas-reliëfsnywerk.
Bykomende strukture
Die Tzompantli, of Skedel platform (Plataforma de los Cráneos), toon die duidelike kulturele invloed van die sentrale Mexikaanse plato. Anders as die tzompantli van die hooglande is die skedels egter vertikaal eerder as horisontaal getrek soos by Tenochtitlan. [44]
Die Platform van die Arende en die Jaguars (Plataforma de Águilas en Jaguares) is onmiddellik oos van die Great Ballcourt. [56] Dit is gebou in 'n kombinasie van Maya- en Toltec -style, met 'n trap wat elk van sy vier kante styg. [44] Die sye is versier met panele wat arende en jaguars uitbeeld wat menslike harte verteer. [44]
Hierdie Platform van Venus is opgedra aan die planeet Venus. [44] In sy binnekant het argeoloë 'n versameling groot keëls ontdek wat uit klip gekap is, [44] waarvan die doel onbekend is. Hierdie platform is noord van El Castillo, tussen dit en die Cenote Sagrado, geleë. [56]
Die Tempel van die tafels is die noordelikste van 'n reeks geboue oos van El Castillo. Die naam kom van 'n reeks altare bo -aan die struktuur wat ondersteun word deur klein gesnede figure van mans met opgetrekte arms, genaamd "atlantes".
Die Stoombad is 'n unieke gebou met drie dele: 'n waggalery, 'n waterbad en 'n stoomkamer wat deur verhitte klippe bedryf word.
Saak nommer een is 'n weg wat lei na die Cenote Sagrado, die grootste en mees uitgebreide by Chichen Itza. Hierdie "wit pad" is 270 meter (890 voet) lank met 'n gemiddelde breedte van 9 meter (30 voet). Dit begin by 'n lae muur 'n paar meter van die platform van Venus af. Volgens argeoloë was daar eens 'n uitgebreide gebou met kolomme aan die begin van die pad.
Heilige Cenote
Die Yucatán -skiereiland is 'n kalksteenvlakte, sonder riviere of strome. Die gebied is vol natuurlike sinkgate, genaamd cenotes, wat die watertafel aan die oppervlak blootstel. Een van die indrukwekkendste hiervan is die Cenote Sagrado, wat 60 meter in deursnee [58] is en omring word deur blote kranse wat ongeveer 27 meter onder die watertafel val.
Die Cenote Sagrado was 'n pelgrimstog vir eertydse Maya -mense wat volgens etnohistoriese bronne opofferings gedurende tye van droogte sou bring. [58] Argeologiese ondersoeke ondersteun dit omdat duisende voorwerpe van die onderkant van die cenote verwyder is, insluitend materiaal soos goud, gesnyde jade, kopaal, erdewerk, vuursteen, obsidiaan, dop, hout, rubber, lap, sowel as geraamtes van kinders en mans. [58] [59]
Tempel van die krygers
Die Temple of the Warriors -kompleks bestaan uit 'n groot piramide met 'n trap en voorkant en flankeer deur rye gesnyde kolomme wat krygers uitbeeld. Hierdie kompleks is analoog aan Tempel B in die Tolteke hoofstad Tula, en dui op 'n vorm van kulturele kontak tussen die twee streke. Die een by Chichen Itza is egter op groter skaal gebou. Bo -op die trap op die top van die piramide (en lei na die ingang van die piramide se tempel) is 'n Chac Mool.
Hierdie tempel omhul of begrawe 'n voormalige struktuur genaamd The Temple of the Chac Mool. Die argeologiese ekspedisie en herstel van hierdie gebou is deur die Carnegie Institution van Washington van 1925 tot 1928 gedoen. Tempel van die krygers. Waterverf is gemaak van muurskilderye in die Tempel van die Krygers wat vinnig agteruitgegaan het na blootstelling aan die elemente nadat hulle eeue lank in die beskermde omhulsels ontdek is. Baie beeld gevegstonele uit en sommige het selfs aanloklike beelde wat spekulasie en debat deur prominente Maya -geleerdes, soos Michael D. Coe en Mary Miller, moontlik maak oor moontlike kontak met Viking -matrose. [60]
Groep van duisend kolomme
Langs die suidelike muur van die Temple of Warriors is 'n reeks kolomme wat vandag blootgestel is, maar as die stad bewoon is, sou dit 'n uitgebreide dakstelsel ondersteun het. Die kolomme is in drie verskillende afdelings: 'n Westelike groep wat die lyne van die voorkant van die Tempel van Krygers strek. 'N Noordelike groep loop langs die suidwand van die Temple of Warriors en bevat pilare met gravures van soldate in bas-reliëf
'N Noordoostelike groep wat blykbaar 'n klein tempel op die suidoostelike hoek van die Tempel van Krygers gevorm het, bevat 'n reghoek wat versier is met kerfwerk van mense of gode, asook diere en slange. Die tempel in die noordooste van die kolom beslaan ook 'n klein wonderwerk, 'n kanaal wat al die reënwater van die kompleks af ongeveer 40 meter (130 voet) na 'n rejollada, 'n voormalige cenote, lei.
Ten suide van die groep van 'n duisend kolomme is 'n groep van drie, kleiner, onderling verbonde geboue. Die Tempel van die gesnede kolomme is 'n klein, elegante gebou wat bestaan uit 'n voorste galery met 'n binne gang wat na 'n altaar lei met 'n Chac Mool. Daar is ook talle kolomme met 'n ryk, bas-reliëfgrafiek van ongeveer 40 personasies.
'N Gedeelte van die boonste fasade met 'n motief van x's en o's word voor die struktuur vertoon. Die Tempel van die klein tafels wat 'n ongerestoureerde heuwel is. En die Thompson se tempel (in sommige bronne verwys as Paleis van Ahau Balam Kauil ), 'n klein gebou met twee verdiepings met frise wat Jaguars uitbeeld (balam in Maya) sowel as glyfe van die Maya -god Kahuil.
El Mercado
Hierdie vierkantige struktuur veranker die suidelike punt van die Temple of Warriors -kompleks. Dit is so vernoem na die kliprak rondom 'n groot galery en patio wat vroeë ontdekkingsreisigers teoretiseer gebruik het om ware soos op 'n mark te vertoon. Vandag glo argeoloë dat die doel daarvan meer seremonieel as kommersieel was.
Osario Groep
Suid van die Noord -groep is 'n kleiner platform met baie belangrike strukture, waarvan verskeie blyk te wees gerig op die tweede grootste cenote in Chichen Itza, Xtoloc.
Die Osario self, net soos die tempel van Kukulkan, is 'n trap-piramide-tempel wat sy platform oorheers, slegs op kleiner skaal. Soos sy groter buurman, het dit vier kante met trappe aan elke kant. Daar is 'n tempel bo -op, maar anders as Kukulkan, is daar in die middel 'n opening in die piramide wat lei na 'n natuurlike grot 12 meter (39 voet) onder. Edward H. Thompson het hierdie grot aan die einde van die 19de eeu opgegrawe, en omdat hy verskeie geraamtes en artefakte soos jade -krale gevind het, het hy die struktuur vernoem Die tempel van die hoëpriesters. Argeoloë glo vandag nie dat die struktuur 'n graf was nie, en dat die persone wat daarin begrawe is, priesters was.
Die Tempel van Xtoloc is 'n onlangs gerestoureerde tempel buite die Osario -platform. Dit kyk uit oor die ander groot cenote by Chichen Itza, vernoem na die Maya -woord vir leguaan, "Xtoloc." Die tempel bevat 'n reeks pilasters wat met beelde van mense gesny is, asook voorstellings van plante, voëls en mitologiese tonele.
Tussen die Xtoloc -tempel en die Osario is verskeie belynde strukture: die Platform van Venus, wat in ontwerp soortgelyk is aan die struktuur met dieselfde naam langs Kukulkan (El Castillo), die Platform van die grafte, en 'n klein, ronde struktuur wat naamloos is. Hierdie drie strukture is in 'n ry gebou wat strek vanaf die Osario. Buite hulle eindig die Osario -platform in 'n muur met 'n opening na 'n sak wat 'n paar honderd voet na die Xtoloc -tempel loop.
Suid van die Osario, op die grens van die platform, is daar twee klein geboue wat volgens argeoloë koshuise was vir belangrike persone. Hierdie is vernoem as die Huis van die Metate en die Huis van die Mestizas.
Casa Colorada Groep
Suid van die Osario -groep is nog 'n klein platform met verskeie strukture wat een van die oudstes in die archeologiese gebied van Chichen Itza is.
Die Casa Colorada (Spaans vir "Rooi Huis") is een van die bes bewaarde geboue in Chichen Itza. Sy Maya -naam is Chichanchob, wat volgens INAH 'klein gaatjies' kan beteken. In een kamer is daar uitgebreide gesnyde hiërogliewe wat heersers van Chichen Itza en moontlik van die nabygeleë stad Ek Balam noem, en 'n Maya -datum bevat wat ooreenstem met 869 nC, een van die oudste sulke datums wat in Chichen Itza gevind is.
In 2009 het INAH 'n klein balbaan herstel wat aangrensend was aan die agtermuur van die Casa Colorada. [61]
Terwyl die Casa Colorada in 'n goeie toestand is, is ander geboue in die groep, met een uitsondering, afvallige heuwels. Een gebou staan half, met die naam La Casa del Venado (Huis van die hert). Die naam van hierdie gebou word lankal deur die plaaslike Maya gebruik, en sommige skrywers noem dat dit vernoem is na 'n hertskildery oor pleisterwerk wat nie meer bestaan nie. [62]
Sentrale Groep
Las Monjas is een van die meer opvallende strukture by Chichen Itza. Dit is 'n kompleks van Terminal Classic -geboue wat in die Puuc -argitektoniese styl gebou is. Die Spanjaarde noem hierdie kompleks Las Monjas ("The Nuns" of "The Nunnery"), maar dit was 'n regeringspaleis. Net in die ooste is 'n klein tempel (bekend as die La Iglesia, "Die Kerk") versier met uitgebreide maskers. [44] [63]
Die Las Monjas -groep word gekenmerk deur die konsentrasie hiërogliewe tekste wat dateer uit die Late to Terminal Classic. Hierdie tekste noem gereeld 'n liniaal met die naam Kʼakʼupakal. [21] [64]
El Caracol ("Die slak") is noord van Las Monjas. Dit is 'n ronde gebou op 'n groot vierkantige platform. Dit kry sy naam van die klip wenteltrap binne. Die struktuur, met sy ongewone plasing op die platform en sy ronde vorm (die ander is reghoekig, in ooreenstemming met die Maya-praktyk), is teoreties 'n protosobservatorium met deure en vensters wat in lyn was met astronomiese gebeure, spesifiek rondom die pad van Venus beweeg deur die hemel. [65]
Akab Dzib is oos van die Caracol geleë. The name means, in Yucatec Mayan, "Dark Writing" "dark" in the sense of "mysterious". An earlier name of the building, according to a translation of glyphs in the Casa Colorada, is Wa(k)wak Puh Ak Na, "the flat house with the excessive number of chambers", and it was the home of the administrator of Chichén Itzá, kokom Yahawal Choʼ Kʼakʼ. [66]
INAH completed a restoration of the building in 2007. It is relatively short, only 6 meters (20 ft) high, and is 50 meters (160 ft) in length and 15 meters (49 ft) wide. The long, western-facing façade has seven doorways. The eastern façade has only four doorways, broken by a large staircase that leads to the roof. This apparently was the front of the structure, and looks out over what is today a steep, dry, cenote.
The southern end of the building has one entrance. The door opens into a small chamber and on the opposite wall is another doorway, above which on the lintel are intricately carved glyphs—the "mysterious" or "obscure" writing that gives the building its name today. Under the lintel in the doorjamb is another carved panel of a seated figure surrounded by more glyphs. Inside one of the chambers, near the ceiling, is a painted hand print.
Old Chichen
Old Chichen (of Chichén Viejo in Spanish) is the name given to a group of structures to the south of the central site, where most of the Puuc-style architecture of the city is concentrated. [2] It includes the Initial Series Group, the Phallic Temple, the Platform of the Great Turtle, the Temple of the Owls, and the Temple of the Monkeys.
Ander strukture
Chichen Itza also has a variety of other structures densely packed in the ceremonial center of about 5 square kilometers (1.9 sq mi) and several outlying subsidiary sites.
Caves of Balankanche
Approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) south east of the Chichen Itza archeological zone are a network of sacred caves known as Balankanche (Spanish: Gruta de Balankanche), Balamkaʼancheʼ in Yucatec Maya). In the caves, a large selection of ancient pottery and idols may be seen still in the positions where they were left in pre-Columbian times.
The location of the cave has been well known in modern times. Edward Thompson and Alfred Tozzer visited it in 1905. A.S. Pearse and a team of biologists explored the cave in 1932 and 1936. E. Wyllys Andrews IV also explored the cave in the 1930s. Edwin Shook and R.E. Smith explored the cave on behalf of the Carnegie Institution in 1954, and dug several trenches to recover potsherds and other artifacts. Shook determined that the cave had been inhabited over a long period, at least from the Preclassic to the post-conquest era. [67]
On 15 September 1959, José Humberto Gómez, a local guide, discovered a false wall in the cave. Behind it he found an extended network of caves with significant quantities of undisturbed archeological remains, including pottery and stone-carved censers, stone implements and jewelry. INAH converted the cave into an underground museum, and the objects after being catalogued were returned to their original place so visitors can see them in situ. [68]
Chichen Itza is one of the most visited archeological sites in Mexico in 2017 it was estimated to have received 2.1 million visitors. [69]
Tourism has been a factor at Chichen Itza for more than a century. John Lloyd Stephens, who popularized the Maya Yucatán in the public's imagination with his book Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, inspired many to make a pilgrimage to Chichén Itzá. Even before the book was published, Benjamin Norman and Baron Emanuel von Friedrichsthal traveled to Chichen after meeting Stephens, and both published the results of what they found. Friedrichsthal was the first to photograph Chichen Itza, using the recently invented daguerreotype. [70]
After Edward Thompson in 1894 purchased the Hacienda Chichén, which included Chichen Itza, he received a constant stream of visitors. In 1910 he announced his intention to construct a hotel on his property, but abandoned those plans, probably because of the Mexican Revolution.
In the early 1920s, a group of Yucatecans, led by writer/photographer Francisco Gomez Rul, began working toward expanding tourism to Yucatán. They urged Governor Felipe Carrillo Puerto to build roads to the more famous monuments, including Chichen Itza. In 1923, Governor Carrillo Puerto officially opened the highway to Chichen Itza. Gomez Rul published one of the first guidebooks to Yucatán and the ruins.
Gomez Rul's son-in-law, Fernando Barbachano Peon (a grandnephew of former Yucatán Governor Miguel Barbachano), started Yucatán's first official tourism business in the early 1920s. He began by meeting passengers who arrived by steamship at Progreso, the port north of Mérida, and persuading them to spend a week in Yucatán, after which they would catch the next steamship to their next destination. In his first year Barbachano Peon reportedly was only able to convince seven passengers to leave the ship and join him on a tour. In the mid-1920s Barbachano Peon persuaded Edward Thompson to sell 5 acres (20,000 m 2 ) next to Chichen for a hotel. In 1930, the Mayaland Hotel opened, just north of the Hacienda Chichén, which had been taken over by the Carnegie Institution. [71]
In 1944, Barbachano Peon purchased all of the Hacienda Chichén, including Chichen Itza, from the heirs of Edward Thompson. [37] Around that same time the Carnegie Institution completed its work at Chichen Itza and abandoned the Hacienda Chichén, which Barbachano turned into another seasonal hotel.
In 1972, Mexico enacted the Ley Federal Sobre Monumentos y Zonas Arqueológicas, Artísticas e Históricas (Federal Law over Monuments and Archeological, Artistic and Historic Sites) that put all the nation's pre-Columbian monuments, including those at Chichen Itza, under federal ownership. [72] There were now hundreds, if not thousands, of visitors every year to Chichen Itza, and more were expected with the development of the Cancún resort area to the east.
In the 1980s, Chichen Itza began to receive an influx of visitors on the day of the spring equinox. Today several thousand show up to see the light-and-shadow effect on the Temple of Kukulcán during which the feathered serpent appears to crawl down the side of the pyramid. [nb 6] Tour guides will also demonstrate a unique the acoustical effect at Chichen Itza: a handclap before the in front of the staircase the El Castillo pyramid will produce by an echo that resembles the chirp of a bird, similar to that of the quetzal as investigated by Declercq. [73]
Chichen Itza, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the second-most visited of Mexico's archeological sites. [74] The archeological site draws many visitors from the popular tourist resort of Cancún, who make a day trip on tour buses.
In 2007, Chichen Itza's Temple of Kukulcán (El Castillo) was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World after a worldwide vote. Despite the fact that the vote was sponsored by a commercial enterprise, and that its methodology was criticized, the vote was embraced by government and tourism officials in Mexico who projected that as a result of the publicity the number of tourists to Chichen would double by 2012. [nb 7] [75] The ensuing publicity re-ignited debate in Mexico over the ownership of the site, which culminated on 29 March 2010 when the state of Yucatán purchased the land upon which the most recognized monuments rest from owner Hans Juergen Thies Barbachano. [76]
INAH, which manages the site, has closed a number of monuments to public access. While visitors can walk around them, they can no longer climb them or go inside their chambers. Climbing access to El Castillo was closed after a San Diego, California, woman fell to her death in 2006. [50]
A Short History Of The Maya
Agricultural people by nature, the Mayan civilization harvested crops such as maize and beans, clearing jungles for farming as they developed more sophisticated techniques to expand their production.
Spiritually, the Maya worship more than 150 Gods who they believe their Kings are related to with one God ruling over every subject associated with their lives, for example, the God of Rain, die God of Agriculture, en die God of Death.
Though it may seem complicated to us, this extensive list of deities actually resulted in huge advances in math and astronomy plus the development of the famous Mayan Calendar.
Although the original Maya Empire was destroyed many centuries ago (due to drought, warfare, and/or overpopulation), the Maya people still exist today.
The modern-day Maya hide in plain sight, so to speak, living in Mexico while keeping much of their own traditions and culture from the past.
BESONDERHEDE
Experience Mayan history and a jungle retreat with an open bar & buffet lunch. Your tour begins when your bilingual guide meets you at the end of the pier and escorts you to your air conditioned transfer vehicle waiting on site. Listen to your guide and learn about the interesting local area and culture from onboard commentary as you pass through the fishing village. Continue this tour inland to visit “The Place of the Red Corn”, Chacchoben, learn about the fascinating Mayan culture during the journey from our knowledgeable guides.
Enjoy a guided tour of this unique archaeological site set in beautiful surroundings still partially covered by the rain forest. Climb to the top of the “Gran Basamento” taking you above the tree line and visit two sacred temples. Before leaving, you will have the opportunity to buy souvenirs from shops on site. Your journey continues to a buffet lunch waiting for you at our Blue Lagoon Restaurant, the most beautiful lagoon with fresh water, located 20 minutes away from Chacchoben Mayan ruins. After your meal, sunbathe on a sun lounger, take a swim and enjoy all complimentary drinks including your favorite cocktails. Feeling fully relaxed, well fed and in good spirits your transfer awaits to return you to the ship.
Need to Know:
Let wel: Guests must be at least 21 years old to consume alcohol. Alcohol will be distributed under a watchful tolerance to everyone. An adult must accompany children under 18 years old.
Medical restrictions apply to guests wishing to swim at the lagoon. Guests with sight or hearing conditions must be accompanied by an interpreter/friend or family member and they will not be permitted to swim. There is a $5.00 USD (approx). Government imposed fee for the use of video cameras on the Archeological site. Guest may purchase additional soft drinks, chips & cookies at the archeological site. This excursion features a fair amount of walking over uneven surfaces and climbing. Guests will have between 10 to 15 minutes for purchases at the local market inside the Archeological site. Wheelchair guests – please note that the area is uneven and bumpy. Guests must be able to be transferred to a seat on the bus and climb steps.
BESONDERHEDE
You’ll journey to the ancient place of Mayan pilgrimage known today as Chacchoben, also known as "The Place of Red Corn". At the pier, you’ll be greeted by a bilingual guide who will direct you to an air-conditioned bus. Onboard the bus your guide will brief you on the interesting history and unique attributes of this sacred Mayan site. Upon arrival at Chacchoben you’ll be surrounded by jungle. Your guide will escort you through the ruins, giving you a complete explanation of the sacred temples and other structures seen there.
Inhoud
The ruins of Coba lie 43 km (approx. 27 mi) northwest of Tulum, in the State of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The geographical coordinates of Coba Group (main entrance for tourist area of the archaeological site) are North 19° 29.6’ and West 87° 43.7’. The archaeological zone is reached by a two-kilometer branch from the asphalt road connecting Tulum with Nuevo Xcán (a community of Lázaro Cárdenas, another municipality of Quintana Roo) on the Valladolid to Cancún highway. [3]
Coba is located around two lagoons, Lake Coba and Lake Macanxoc. A series of elevated stone and plaster roads radiate from the central site to various smaller sites near and far. These are known by the Maya term sacbe (meervoud sacbeob) or white road. Some of these causeways go east, and the longest runs over 100 kilometres (62 mi) westward to the site of Yaxuna. The site contains a group of large temple pyramids known as the Nohoch Mul, the tallest of which, Ixmoja, is some 42 metres (138 ft) in height. [4] Ixmoja is among the tallest pyramids on the Yucatán peninsula, exceeded by Calakmul at 45 metres (148 ft). [5]
Coba was estimated to have had some 50,000 inhabitants (and possibly significantly more) at its peak of civilization, and the built up area extends over some 80 km 2 . The site was occupied by a sizable agricultural population by the first century. The bulk of Coba's major construction seems to have been made in the middle and late Classic period, about 500 to 900 AD, with most of the dated hieroglyphic inscriptions from the 7th century (see Mesoamerican Long Count calendar). However, Coba remained an important site in the Post-Classic era and new temples were built and old ones kept in repair until at least the 14th century, possibly as late as the arrival of the Spanish.
The Mayan site of Coba was set up with multiple residential areas that consisted of around 15 houses in clusters. All clusters were connected by sacbeobs, or elevated walkways.
Six major linear features were found at the Coba site. The first feature that was often found at Coba was the platforms that were connecting the clusters to the sacbeobs. These were found at almost every single cluster of houses. Single or doubled faced features that were found around the majority of the household clusters. These were often linked to the platforms that led to the sacbeobs. A lot of features found tended to connect to something or lead to something but the other end was left open-ended. Coba has many features that are platforms or on platforms. The last major linear feature that was constantly found was sacbeob-like paths that were someway associated with natural resources of the area.
Cobá lies in the tropics, subject to alternating wet and dry seasons which, on average, differ somewhat from those in the rest of the northern peninsula, where the rainy season generally runs from June through October and the dry season from November through May. At Cobá, rain can occur in almost any time of the year, but there is a short dry period in February and March, and a concentration of rain from September through November. [6]
Sacbeob (Mayan plural of sacbe), or sacbes, were very common at the Coba site. They are raised pathways, usually stone paths at this site, that connected the clusters of residential areas to the main center of the site and the water sources. These paths were the connecting points to most areas of the Coba site and the major features discovered and preserved. Sacbeobs were the main reason why maps of Coba could be created. The sacbeobs were one of the ways anthropologists figured out how to excavate the site and transect the area. The sacbes also were used by the anthropologists to help determine the size of Coba. Although Mayans used wheels in artifacts such as toys, anthropologists note that without indigenous animals suitable for draft, [7] they did not implement the wheel for transportation of goods or people.
Archaeological evidence indicates that Cobá was first settled between 50 BC and 100 AD. At that time, there was a town with buildings of wood and palm fronds and flat platforms. The only archaeological evidence of the time are fragments of pottery. After 100 AD, the area around Coba evidenced strong population growth, and with it an increase in its social and political status among Maya city states which would ultimately make Coba one of the biggest and most powerful city states in the northern Yucatán area. Between 201 and 601 AD, Coba must have dominated a vast area, including the north of the state of Quintana Roo and areas in the east of the state of Yucatán. This power resided in its control of large swaths of farmland, control over trading routes, and — critically for a Mayan city — control over ample water resources. Among the trading routes, Coba probably controlled ports like Xel Há.
Coba must have maintained close contacts with the large city states of Guatemala and the south of Campeche like Tikal, Dzibanche, or Calakmul. To maintain its influence, Coba must have established military alliances and arranged marriages among their elites. It is quite noteworthy that Coba shows traces of Teotihuacan architecture, like a platform in the Paintings group that was explored in 1999, which would attest of the existence of contacts with the central Mexican cultures and its powerful city of the early Classic epoch. Stelae uncovered at Coba are believed to document that Coba had many women as rulers, Ajaw.
After 600 AD, the emergence of powerful city states of the Puuc culture and the emergence of Chichén Itzá altered the political spectrum in the Yucatán peninsula and began eroding the dominance of Coba. Beginning around 900 or 1000 AD, Coba must have begun a lengthy power struggle with Chichén Itzá, with the latter dominating at the end as it gained control of key cities such as Yaxuná. After 1000 AD, Coba lost much of its political weight among city states, although it maintained some symbolic and religious importance. This allowed it to maintain or recover some status, which is evidenced by the new buildings dating to the time 1200-1500 AD, now built in the typical Eastern coastal style. However, power centers and trading routes had moved to the coast, forcing cities like Coba into a secondary status, although somewhat more successful than its more ephemeral enemy Chichén Itzá. Coba was abandoned at the time the Spanish conquered the peninsula around 1550.
The names of fourteen leaders, including a woman named Yopaat, who ruled Cobá between AD 500 and 780, were ascertained in 2020. [8]
The first mention of Coba in print is due to John Lloyd Stephens where he mentioned hearing reports of the site in 1842 from the cura (priest or vicar in Spanish) of Chemax, but it was so distant from any known modern road or village that he decided the difficulty in trying to get there was too daunting and returned to his principal target of exploring Tulum instead. [9] For much of the rest of the 19th century the area could not be visited by outsiders due to the Caste War of Yucatán, the notable exception was Juan Peón Contreras (also used the nom de plume Contreras Elizalde) who was then director of the Museum of Yucatán. He made the arduous journey in September 1882, and is now remembered for the four naive pen-and-ink sketches that he made at the ruins (prints made from them exist in the Peabody Museum and in the collection of Raúl Pavón Abreu in Campeche). Teoberto Maler paid Coba a short visit in 1893 and took at least one photograph, but did not publish at the time and the site remained unknown to the archeological community. [10]
Amateur explorer (and successful writer of popular books wherein he described his adventures and discoveries among Maya ruins) Dr. Thomas Gann was brought to the site by some local Maya hunters in February 1926. Gann published the first first-hand description of the ruins later the same year. [11] Dr. Gann gave a short description to the archeologists of the Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW) project at Chichen Itza, he spoke of the large mounds he had sighted, but not visited for lack of time, lying to the northeast of the main group. It was to examine these that Alfred Kidder and J. Eric S. Thompson went for a two-day inspection of the site in March. Two months later Thompson was again at Coba, forming with Jean Charlot the third CIW expedition. On this trip their guide, Carmen Chai, showed them the "Macanxoc Group", a discovery that led to the departure of a fourth expedition, since Sylvanus Morley wanted Thompson to show him the new stelae. [12] Eric Thompson made a number of return visits to the site through 1932, the same year he published a detailed description. [13]
In 1932 H. B. Roberts opened a number of trenches in Group B to collect sherds [14]
In 1948 two graduate students in archaeology, William and Michael Coe, visited Coba, intent on seeking the terminus of Sacbe 15. They were unaware that E. Wyllys Andrews IV already reported it ten years prior. In an editor's note following their report [15] Thompson blames himself as editor for failing to detect the repetition of prior work in their contribution, while excusing the young authors for ignorance of a paper published in a foreign journal. But the Coes reported the previously unknown Sacbes 18 and 19 and mapped the large mound at the terminus of Sacbe 17, which they named Pech Mul (they were unlucky again in failing to complete their circuit of its platform, or they might have discovered the sacbe leading out of it, no. 21). [16]
The site remained little visited due to its remoteness until the first modern road was opened up to Coba in the early 1970s. As a major resort was planned for Cancún, it was realized that clearing and restoring some of the large site could make it an important tourist attraction. The Mexican National Institute of Anthropology & History (INAH) began some archeological excavations in 1972 directed by Carlos Navarrete, and consolidated a couple of buildings. Expectations of new discoveries were borne out when El Cono (Structure D-6) and Grupo Las Pinturas came to light, among other features. In the same year, much of Grupo Coba was cleared on the instructions of Raúl Pavón Abreu not even its tall ramón trees were spared.
In 1975 a branch road from the asphalted highway being built from Tulum to Nuevo X-Can reached Coba (the road engineers heeded objections by archaeologists and abandoned their original plan of incorporating Sacbe 3 in the roadbed). A project camp was built in 1973, and in 1974 the Project Coba proper, under the auspices of the Regional Center of the Southeast of INAH was able to begin its operations. During the three-year existence of the project, portions of the site were cleared and structures excavated and consolidated, (the Castillo and the Pinturas Group by Peniche the Iglesia by Benavides and Jaime Garduño El Cono by Benavides and Fernando Robles) the sacbes were investigated by Folan and by Benavides, who added 26 to the list of 19 previously known the ceramics from test pits and trenches were studied by Robles [17] and Jaime Garduño [18] surveyed two transects of the site, one of 10 km north–south and another of 5 km east–west.
At the start of the 1980s another road to Coba was opened up and paved, and a regular bus service begun. Coba became a tourist destination shortly thereafter, with many visitors flocking to the site on day trips from Cancún and the Riviera Maya. Only a small portion of the site has been cleared from the jungle and restored by archaeologists.
As of 2005 [update] the resident population of Coba pueblo was 1,167. [19] It grew to 1,278 by the 2010 census.
In the past, the people of Coba had traded extensively with other Mayan communities, particularly the ones further south along the Caribbean coast in what is now Belize and Honduras. It utilized the ports of Xcaret, Xel-Há, Tankah, Muyil, and Tulum as well as the many sacbeob that sprout from this cultural center. Typical items of trade of the Mayans of this area were: salt, fish, squash, yams, corn, honey, beans, turkey, vegetables, chocolate drinks and raw materials such as limestone, marble, and jade. [20] There was specialization in different areas on the site which were because of who was living and working where and what their trade was. Almost all of the commerce was controlled by wealthy merchants. These merchants used cacao beans for currency, and the beans had a fixed market price. [21] Today's economy is based on the rising popularity of tourism to the archaeological site. [22]
What to Buy in Felipe Carrillo Puerto
Honey at Melitza’ak
A honey store run by a local Mayan women’s collective group. Honey is a local product here and turned into various healthy and beauty products.
Calle 67 2 blocks from Central Plaza
Craft at Maya Ka’ab
A craft store supporting the local Maya communities, it’s a great place to find souvenirs.
A Cookbook at Na’atik Language and Culture Institute
A portion of the proceeds to run the Spanish Immersion Program goes to a school teaching local children (and some adults) English. American born Sonja wrote the cookbook/memoir “The Painted Fish” for which the proceeds go to the school.
5. Calakmul Mayan Ruins
The Mayan ruins of Calakmul house two very large pyramids and an extensive system of reservoirs that once provided water to 50,000 Mayans.
Located far away from most tourist attractions in the heart of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, a massive protected jungle near the border of Guatemala with wildlife like howler monkeys and jaguars.
Visitors can still climb to the top of these structures and take in the surrounding tropical forests, the expanse of the central plaza and the multiple palaces that lie around it.
Of all the Mayan sites in Mexico, this one is my personal favorite. You can get lost for a full day exploring the site, and due to its remote location, there aren’t many visitors.
Shore Excursions Uncover the Mystical Mayan Civilization on Mexico Cruises
When it comes to ancient ruins, there’s more to explore than just Europe and South America. Mexico boasts some of the most incredible and significant ruins in the world. The Mayan civilization spanned more than 2500 years, and hundreds of ruins in Mexico have been documented. In fact, there are so many sites that it’s believed that more than 4,000 undocumented sites exist.
On western Caribbean cruises that call at Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico, guests have the opportunity to take a shore excursion that steps back in time and walks the footsteps of those who lived in the Mayan era. If you’re taking a western Caribbean cruise that visits Mexico, the shore excursions can be pre-booked so you get the tour of your choice.
Some of the most famous ruins can be visited from Cozumel. Probably the most well-known, guests can explore one of the new Seven Wonders of the World — the Mayan ruins of Chichen-Itza. Chichen-Itza is one of the most important and exciting archeological sites on the American continent — the home of one of the great Mayan empires — and it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. These awe-inspiring monuments were left as a reminder of the incredible Mayan culture. The guide will escort guests through this legendary city, which extends over six square miles and contains hundreds of structures throughout the area. You will visit the Pyramid of Kulkulcan, the largest and best preserved Mayan ball court, the mystical Cenote where human sacrifices were performed, the Temple of the Warriors and the Observatory, where Mayan priests accurately calculated celestial events from over a million year span. This is the premier site for Mayan culture and certainly is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Admittedly this is very long excursion but it is well worth it. Everything was very well organized overall and I would highly recommend this trip … Once we arrived we were each given a bottle of ice water as well as a choice of which guide to go with. We went with Carlos for a slower paced tour of the site. He was superb and I feel I learned so much more from him than we did on our first trip there. After he was finished we were left to wander about Chicen Itza for an hour. This site is very large and you may not have time to see it all but you can always take another cruise to see what you have missed! — Guest Nancy1006
Chichen-Itza is a must-see for guests looking to explore Mayan ruins.
From Cozumel, guests also can visit the Coba Mayan Ruins. Coba is one of the Yucatan Peninsula’s most picturesque and popular archeological ruins. The site is around 30 square miles in size and is swathed in jungle. A tender ride to Playa del Carmen is followed by a motor coach ride to the ruins. The guide will share the secrets of this mystical place and you’ll explore newly restored structures that have only recently been opened to the public. Make your way on foot along a pathway flanked by jungle to the first excavated ruins, which consist of a large pyramid, Grupo Coba and a ball court. See the second-tallest temple in the Mayan world, Nohoc Mul, which is around 136 feet tall with 120 steps to the top. Stop along the way to admire La Iglesia — the small but lovely ruin of church that resembles a beehive.
Coba is one of the Yucatan Peninsula’s most picturesque and archeological ruins.
The city of Tulum is a popular site to visit from Cozumel. The walled city of Tulum is the only Mayan city built right on the coast, overlooking the Caribbean Sea. The adventure begins with a 45-minute ferry transfer to Playa del Carmen. The guide will lead you on a scenic and informative one-hour drive to Tulum. Once there, your guide will escort you through the ruins, offering a complete narration along the way. See more than 60 restored temples and some of the mysterious hieroglyphic writings still visible today. Visit the Temple of the Frescos, famous for the detailed carved figures and original paints. And perched on the edge of the Caribbean and rising high above all of the other ruins is El Castillo, with its breathtaking view of the aqua-colored water below.
Well run tour, professional driver and tour guide. Chance to view/buy local artifacts is possible. Tulum is a post card perfect site for pictures of Mayan ruins, the Caribbean surf & beach, and a good historical review of Mayan culture and the Tulum site. — Guest FlyOverCountry
Tulum is the only Mayan city built right on the coast.
For a shore excursion that combines history, nature discovery and beachside relaxation, the San Gervasio Archaeological Site & Beach tour is ideal. Head into Cozumel’s jungle interior where you’ll explore the site of an ancient Mayan settlement. Immerse yourself in the mystical feeling that pervades the San Gervasio archaeological site as you walk limestone roads through the vestiges of Mayan construction with native trees and plants all around you. Keep your eyes open for butterflies, birds, iguanas, and other local residents. Once the island’s center of culture and religion, this is the only protected Mayan site on Cozumel and the natural setting offers a real sense of the Mayan life. Your guide will share fascinating stories about the incredible civilization that thrived here 1200 years ago, when Cozumel was a trade stop and center of worship for the goddess of fertility. Next, travel to a beautiful beach club where you’ll have free time to relax on the white-sand beach, swim in the sea, and enjoy the tropical surroundings.
The tour at San Gervasio combines sunshine and history.
We did this tour on our recent Nieuw Amsterdam cruise. We really enjoyed it. The tour is very well organized and our tour guide, Mimi, did an extraordinary job explaining the background and details of the Mayan ruins. After the stop at the ruins, the goes to a nice little beach with a restaurant – where you can get a full meal or you can simply relax and have a cold Mexican beer. — Guest Richard1s
Our guide Daniel (a full-blooded Mayan he proudly told us so) was superb. Unlike some guides, he gave interesting information on the way back to port — not just going to and on the tour. We viewed numerous fascinating ruins and gained an understanding of the marvelously accurate Mayan calendar — more accurate than the one we use routinely! — Guest ew2103
Guests at Costa Maya also can visit the Kohunlich Mayan Ruins. Situated in a secluded jungle setting near the border of Belize, guests view detailed Mayan temples combined with the lush green manicured gardens. See the Temple of the Large Masks, the Plaza of the Acropolis, the Plaza of the Estelas, Plaza Hundida and Plaza Merwin. Kohunlich may have been one of the most important sites in the lower Peten region. In today’s world, Kohunlich’s broad range of architecture, natural beauty and expansive, uncrowded seclusion sets it apart from the more widely visited sites.
This day-long excursion to a Mayan archeological site was enhanced by our wonderful tour guide Manuel. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that he was a retired history teacher with a wealth of knowledge on Meso American history. As we strolled along the site his colorful detail made the tour come alive for us. We returned by bus to a wonderful local restaurant where the entire group enjoyed fajitas and cool beverages on an inland lake. A very beautiful setting indeed. We would highly recommend this excursion to any interested in ancient Mayan culture. — Guest ddhodnik
The Kohunlich ruins are nestled in the jungle.
To write a review on a shore excursion, visit the shore excursion page on the Holland America Line website and click on the “review” tab. To read more reviews, visit the individual tours to see what your fellow travelers think about the experience.
Other Important Mayan Sites
While much of the historic Maya empire was based in present-day Mexico, you can still find many ancient Mayan cities in countries like Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize too.
If you plan to continue your travels to these parts of Central America, I also recommend you stop by sites like:
Tikal – Guatemala
Tikal is one of the largest Mayan settlements in the Americas, located in Guatemala’s Peten basin and Tikal National Park. It was probably called Yax Mutal when it was a thriving city.
The Great Plaza is particularly impressive, flanked on the east and west sides by two great temple-pyramids.
Caracol – Belize
The Mayan site of Caracol in Belize was built around 330 AD, becoming one of the most important political centers of the Maya lowlands through 600-800 AD.
Copan – Honduras
The Copan Ruins feature large open plazas, as well as many altars and monoliths. It is also home to the world’s biggest archeological cut, revealing many layers of the floor beneath the Great Plaza.
It’s also home to the Hieroglyphic Stairway Plaza, with the longest known Mayan inscription (made up from over 1800 glyphs).
