Dzibilchaltún – Archeological site and Cenote

So on our second Saturday here our class went to a place called Dzibilchaltún, which is an ancient Mayan archeological site that is found about 10 miles north of our city, Merida.  The “park” or site was founded in 1994, but dates back to much earlier than that.  Researchers estimate that Dzibilchaltún was built around 300 B.C. and it still stands today, which is very impressive.  This is one of the Mayan cities that has been continuously populated throughout the past couple thousand years and has changed size from a city to a small town numerous times throughout history.  Before entering the site we went into a museum that contained both Mayan and Spanish artifacts, and we also got a little synopsis about the Mayan culture from our tour guide.  One of the really interesting points that he made and also really caught my attention was the part about the Mayan’s sacrificing people to the gods.  In a cenote, I cannot recall the name, there were about 90 bodies found.  Originally this cenote was thought to contain 100’s of bodies that were thrown in there after they were sacrificed; however, this small number along with the bodies being predominantly male (known from the dental features), suggests that these bodies were thrown in their after they had died and leaves room for question about the sacrificing part of the culture.  Just to make a quick rant, while we were in the museum of anthropology, our teacher Adrian was telling us that many people in Mexico were unhappy with the way that Mel Gibson portrayed the Mayan civilization in Apocolypto, but was very certain, as was the museum, that sacrificing did actually occur.  I just think it is interesting how one little piece of evidence can really change the way people look at what happened in history.   

This entire museum was very interesting but a few things caught my eye when I was walking around.  The first of these happen to be a statue on the outside of the museum, it stood probably about 7 feet high and was of a ball player in the game that I previously mentioned in a blog.

                      I really like this statue because it shows what the players would have actually worn during the game and also the way the player is depicted it shows that these men were not usually small and very fit.  You can’t really see it in the picture but the statue definitely had some definition to it especially in the legs.

After going into the building and walking around for a couple minutes I noticed that it was not just Mayan artifacts on display but Spanish as well.  It was very interesting to me to see Spanish chain mail, and armor, and cannons here right alongside the Mayan weapons and artifacts.  Seeing them in comparison was a really reality check.  It is really unbelievable that the Mayans were able to fight against the Spanish despite their superior weapons, armor, and horses.

            You were also able to see the Spanish influence in the religion of the Mayans as well.  In the museum there was an alter arranged with angels and decorations.  The sign/description of this artifact said that the alter was usually the most important part of the city and was given the most care, as well the most attention.  Also with the alter, or right next to it, were 3 crosses.  The crosses were probably easy for the Mayans to relate to because they had already been using crosses in their religion for thousands of years.  The cross that they used was similar to the Christian cross but it was supposed to depict the Ceiba tree.  The two crosses stood right next to each other and the only difference was that the Spanish cross (on the right) had a drawing of Jesus being crucified whereas the Ceiba cross had only color.

            Alright so after the museum we went to see the ruins.  I have never been at an archeological site before so I was really excited to be able to see something like this, and yeah it definitely lived up to my expectations!  One of the buildings that we saw was the The Temple of the Seven Dolls.  The reasons that is was named this is because when the building was discovered in contained 7 effigies.  During the Spring Equinox the sun will shine directly into one window and out the other that is on the opposite wall without touching anything in the middle.  This temple is just one part of the city and is connected to the rest of the city by a road called a sacbé. 

Yep we walked the whole thing!

The last building that we looked at was a Spanish Church.  The reason that we know it is Spanish is because of the alter, the place for the sacrament, and also by the arch of the building.  This type of arch was not used by the Mayans and is used to distinguish the makers of the buildings.

            Then, finally the cenote!  This cenote was not as cool as the last ones because it was above ground but it was still very clear and nice to swim in.  There were lily pads and a lot more fish than in the last ones.  I really enjoyed this cenote because I remembered to bring my mask and was able to dive to the bottom and get shells as well as rocks that we green and blue.