North America

Exploring the Mayan World of the Yucatán Peninsula

Photography by Samantha Demangate

For over three millennia, the Maya have shaped the culture, politics, and environment in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and beyond. Their massive city-states formed a web of trade, intellectual exchanges, and war throughout their homeland and beyond. They developed an effective hieroglyphic writing system, advanced astronomical calendars and observation systems, expansive civil engineering projects, and architecture that rivals anything in the ancient world. Although their cities collapsed, possibly because of environmental and social stresses, their language, culture, and customs still permeate society in Mexico and much of Central America. 


Tulum

Not all Mayan sites are located in remote areas far off the tourist trail. A prime example is Tulum, a once sleepy coastal village and nearby ruin that gained the world’s attention as a storybook-like tropical paradise teeming with ancient secrets. For many years, tales of its remote beauty and friendly locals traveled widely and the sleepy town on Mexico’s Caribbean coast grew into a tourist’s paradise full of bohemian chic aesthetics and vast rows of gift shops. Influencers, backpackers, and domestic and foreign visitors have forever altered it into something unrecognizable. However, regardless of tourism’s effects, the locals have preserved their kindness, patience, and cultural identity.  

Just outside of town lies the main draw for many people, the stunning ruins of Tulum. Since the 16th century the grand temples have stood atop 40 foot cliffs of limestone, battered by the emerald Caribbean waves and hidden amongst the snarling vines and trees of the jungle. In its heyday, the Mayan city of Tulum was once a thriving port city for the coastal Maya of Quintana Roo. Many of the buildings were constructed from the 13th to the 15th centuries. The city was a hub for trade within the Mayan world and connected other settlements along the Caribbean coast. Items sourced from throughout far-reaching Mesoamerican civilizations like jade, copper, seashells, and obsidian were found here, demonstrating the vast wealth and far-reaching influence the city once had. Today, the area is a wonderfully preserved site worth visiting to learn about Mayan history. 


Uxmal 

Just a few hours south of the Yucatecan city of Merida is one of the most impressive archeological sites in the Mayan world. Not much is known about the site known as Uxmal, and an incredible amount of excavation still needs to be done. The archeological zone covers a large hillside, known as puuc, which gives its architectural style its name. Visitors are immediately captured by the grand Pyramid of the Magician standing at the entrance to the site. Circumnavigating the large buildings and courtyards known as the Nunnery Quadrangle you come across the preserved ball court where Mayan ball players would use their right hips, elbows, and knees to fling a rubber ball through a circular stone goal attached to each wall on the opposing side. Today, one of these goals is immaculately preserved inside the court. 

As you wander past the ball court, you get to the Great Pyramid and the sprawling structure known as the Governor’s Palace, which is one of the longest structures built in Mesoamerica. The purpose of these buildings and their abandonment is still a mystery, yet many clues lie in the building’s intricately carved facades. The superior stonework, carved murals, and precise masonry hint at a thriving civilization. Yet, although experts have clues, these grand buildings were all abandoned. Water, always a make or break resource for societies, wasn’t always a guarantee. To confront the unpredictability of rain, the Mayans at Uxmal created a series of large rainwater collection basins known as aguadas and other large stone storage containers. It is believed that not even these impressive devices could support a population of over 15,000- 20,000 people. As resources fell, so did the population and the city’s political power. 


Palenque 

Several hours South in the thick jungles of the state of Chiapas, lies another Mayan site known as Palenque. In terms of grandiosity and unimaginable beauty, Palenque holds the torch. The city at one time boasted a massive population that built complex agricultural terraces, vast roadways, and immense buildings and temples. Today, possibly more than 90% of the ruins remain unexplored, covered by jungle and soil. In recent years, LIDAR technology has allowed researchers a chance to map these cities. What they’re finding is a more complex, interconnected, and advanced society than previously imagined. 

Palenque’s architecture is stunning. Set in a backdrop of dense forest and steep hills, it’s almost impossible not to become entranced by its beauty and grandeur. What also sets the site apart are its hieroglyphic paintings, many of which are still preserved and visible from the bases of the buildings. These tell the tales of the city’s history, including the life of one of the most famous and romanticized rulers of Mesoamerica. 

The leader known as K’inich Janahb Pakal led Palenque during the height of the Classic Period in the mid-7th century. For over 65 years, his reign in Palenque bolstered political control over several neighboring Mayan cities. Many of Palenque’s most famous buildings such as the palace of Palenque were rebuilt into grandiose monuments. After his death, Pakal was immortalized by his sons, who built the Temple of the Inscriptions to house his remains. Inside, the leader was adorned in a jade mask and crown sealed inside a large stone sarcophagus. For decades the tomb escaped researchers until the Mexican archeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier made the discovery. 


The Maya of Today

When the Europeans began their invasions of the Yucatan, only a few city states remained. The once powerful cities had already risen to prominence and fallen due to possibly a variety of factors such as drought, overpopulation, and resource depletion. As research points to a much larger and advanced civilization than previously considered, it’s no wonder the geographically small Yucatan and its sensitive ecosystem couldn’t sustain such a large and resource hungry society. The Mayans that were left were still able to drive off the Spaniards for centuries, even as European diseases further decimated the population. 

Even after disease, Mexican conquest, and further revolutions, the population of people who identify as Maya rebounded to over seven million. Mayan languages are still spoken as first and second languages in much of Central America and the Yucatan. When traveling throughout the region, visitors like us are reminded that this is Mayan land and the culture that made these awe-inspiring cities is still very much alive and thriving. For centuries, the Spaniards tried to destroy this strong heritage, yet, in the end, they failed. Mayan clothing, food, music, dance, art, language, etc. all play a central role in life in the Yucatan. Even so, the Maya languages are threatened and as globalization continues, many people have to fight to preserve their cultural heritage for the generations to come.

For more photography by Samantha Demangate, please visit her website at samitographi.com

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