Mérida’s best-known Maya sites sit outside the city — Chichén Itzá, the pyramids of Izamal, Aké, Xcambó, Dzibilchaltún. Fewer people stop to consider that the capital itself was built directly on top of an ancient Maya city, T’Hó. That history hasn’t disappeared. Scattered through Mérida’s neighborhoods and subdivisions, prehispanic structures still stand inside public parks…
Since the site first opened in 1997, the only section open to visitors was its main staircase. That is, until roughly a month ago.
The new Museo del Pueblo Maya de Dzibilchaltún opened its doors this week after the closure of the original museum in 2020. The museum features modern architecture, but lacks the paths lined with stelae that made its previous incarnation so charming. That said, Dzibilchaltún’s new museum is no slouch and is home to the site’s…
Chichén Itzá, Mexico’s most visited archaeological site, reopened June 1 after an unprecedented 13‑day closure caused by a bitter dispute over the relocation of hundreds of vendors and artisans.
Pakal II, also known as Palak the Great, is one of the most recognizable figures in Mesoamerican history, but this has little to do with his military prowess. Pakal II is, without a doubt, the most famous member of the K’inich dynasty, which is itself one of the most storied lineages in Maya history. But…
The recent presentation of a book published by INAH, authored by archaeologists Eduardo Huchim and Alexander Voss, has sent shockwaves through the scientific community. The publication titled Lluvia y Tierra, La Estela 18 de Uxmal, details how Stele 18 was discovered in 2022 and provides a detailed account of its interpretation. The discovery came after…
The name Anahuacalli translates from the Nahua languages as “Home of the Anáhuac,” a term that itself means “surrounded by water.” The Anahuacalli Museum, located in the far south of Mexico City, stands as a singular monument to Mexican art and culture. Conceived by the muralist Diego Rivera, the Anahuacalli is a contemporary structure that…
In many ways, Yaxunah is a prototypical Maya regional capital; however, several aspects make it unique, for example the Popol Nah.
The Museo de Arqueología Maya del Camino Real de Hecelchakán is home to an impressive number of Maya artifacts.
Acanmul is one of the most splendid off-the-radar archaeological sites on the Yucatán Peninsula. Though it is not exactly remote, being just twenty-five kilometers northeast of the modern city of San Francisco de Campeche, it is by no means easy to get to, but more on that later. Unlike the extensively restored ruins of Uxmal…
The archaeological site of Oxmul is known to very few, but within its necropolis and temples lie keys to a better understanding of the past of what is today Mérida.
The Dresden Codex is a Mayan book believed to be the oldest surviving book written in the Americas, dating to the 11th or 12th century.
Hochob was founded in the 3rd century CE, but it is likely that the area had already been settled by Maya farmers centuries before.
Does Mesoamerican really exist? The answer: it’s complicated.
Itzamkanac, also known as El Tigre, was once the great capital of the Maya Acalán-Tixchel region. Today, four of Itzamkanac’s main plazas have been restored and are open to the public, but are seldom visited by tourists. The history of Itzamkanac dates back to the 6th Century B.C.E. and extends all the way to the…
Before angry emails flood in, let’s clarify. The sacred mountain interpretation isn’t wrong; it’s overly stretched. The evidence for mountain symbolism at certain sites, especially among the Mexica at Tenochtitlan and at Postclassic Tlaloc shrines, is strong. However, calling every stepped pyramid or large structure a “sacred mountain” without specifying which mountain, which deity, which…
Nojpetén holds a special place in Mesoamerican history as one of the last Maya polities to remain independent
The Museo de los Antiguos Mexicanos, which opened in San Pedro Garza García, on the outskirts of Nuevo León, less than a year ago, is the first museum in Nuevo León dedicated entirely to pre-Hispanic archaeology. This in itself is odd, especially when we consider that Nuevo León is one of the wealthiest states in…
In the religious and cosmological systems of ancient Mesoamerica, the serpent was a central and complex symbol. Serpents were not simply animals or singular gods. They represented a spectrum of forces, including creation, destruction, rain, fire, and the sky. One of the most recognized deities in Mesoamerica is the Feathered Serpent. The Maya knew this…
Trade routes, goods, and the merchants were bound up with politics, cosmology, and everyday ritual — and still echo today.
The era of construction at what today is the archaeological site of Kohunlich spanned well over a millennium, kicking off during the 3rd century B.C., and wrapping up sometime during the early post-classic period in the 10th century C.E. The ancient city and its ceremonial center remained active until the 12th century C.E., after which…
The Maya of antiquity are well known for their profound interest in the night sky. This longing for the stars was not merely a scientific pursuit; it was fundamental to make sense of their own existence, the creation and refinement of multiple calendar systems, as well as their religious beliefs and overall cosmology. The Dresden…
More than 8,400 people packed the ancient Maya city of Chichén Itzá on Friday for the spring equinox, watching one of the world’s most remarkable astronomical spectacles play out just as it has for centuries. The star of the show: a shadow that resembles a serpent. Between 4:30 and 5:10 p.m., the setting sun cast…
A ritual deposit discovered in Yaxché de Peón, in the municipality of Ucú, Yucatán, offers new perspectives on the lives of the Maya during the Preclassic period (1000 BCE- 250 BCE).
That’s all for now
That’s all for now