Ruta Maya – Part Eight
This is Part Eight of a series are articles about the Aztec and Mayan pyramids and ruins in Central America. This part covers the area from Edzna to Chetumal in the Yucatan Peninsula. Updated Sep 2022.
Edzna
The ruins of Edzna were not discovered until 1907. Excavation began in 1958 and is still ongoing. After seeing Chichen Itza and Uxmal, Edzna is disappointing. There is only one structure of note. Most Mayan cities have a building called a palace for royalty and government. They also have a pyramid with a temple on top for religious purposes. In Edzna, the two are combined into a single structure.
The pyramid is filled with rooms for royalty and government. Typically, the pyramid is a solid block and does not have many rooms. However, in Edzna, there may be two or three for the priest and other religious purposes or a tunnel leading to a room in the centre.
Other than the palace-pyramid combo, most of the structures in Edzna are not of too much interest. A large stairway facing the town square once led to a viewing area for public events. There is a ball court, but it is the smallest one I have seen in all the Mayan and Aztec cities that I have toured, and both the goal rings are missing.
Faces
There is one other thing worth seeing, and that is the carved faces on one of the small buildings. Most of these carvings were made in plaster; very few have withstood the ages. I could easily spend the whole day at most Mayan sites, even the small ones. But one hour at Edzna is sufficient.
Campeche
However, the nearby walled city of Campeche and its forts are well worth a visit, and here you can get a bus to our next stop on the Ruta Maya in Chetumal.
Chetumal
There are no archaeological ruins in Chetumal, but it is the home of the Mayan museum. Many of the artefacts that were found in the ruins are here. If you have been following my series on the Ruta Maya, you will recall that our first stop was at a museum in Mexico City. That museum is dedicated to the Aztec culture. The Aztecs lived further north, around central Mexico. The Mayas are found in southern Mexico, Guatemala and Belize.
Mayan Museum
The Mayan museum is not as good as the Aztec museum in Mexico City. There are many Mayan stone carvings, but they are all reproductions. The photo above is a carving of Chac Mool. Chac Mool has a bowl on his stomach. In this bowl were placed objects as offerings to the gods. The offerings could include food, tobacco or human parts such as hearts. Carvings of Chac Mool have been found in both Aztec and Mayan ruins from Mexico City to Honduras.
The museum also has many plastic models of ruins, such as Uxmal. There were only about 12 or so actual Mayan artefacts, such as masks and pottery. There were a couple of nice masks. Most of the Mayan masks were made of stucco and have not survived the ages. The ones in the museum are grey, but there were originally painted. The paint has long since faded away.
The signs were in Spanish and English, which was nice for me, but the light was so dim that it was difficult to read some of them. Also, it was challenging to get photos with the dim light and the reflection of things behind glass. Although the displays were not the greatest, there was a lot of interesting information about the Maya. For example, information on how they distorted babies’ heads with boards to change their shape. They liked the skull to be slanted backwards from the forehead. They also liked to mark up their bodies with extensive tattoos.
The Mayan Calendar
There was also information on the Mayan calendar, which I found interesting. The Mayan year was divided into 18 months of 20 days each, plus a five-day period called the Uayeb, considered an unlucky time.
Mayan Mummy
I also found out that some pyramids contained tunnels leading to a burial chamber. A mummy in the museum was found in one of these chambers.
Mayan Dresses
There is a display of Mayan dresses. Many Mayan women still wear this style of clothing today. I have seen many of them in the streets. (you can see photos of Mayan women wearing this type of dress in Part Five of the Ruta Maya series).
Paintings
The Mayan ruins were all brightly painted when they were new. Today, only tiny traces of paint remain. In the museum is a recreation of some of the paintings from the wall of a building as it might have looked when it was new. Today we see only grey ruins, but the Mayan cities must have been beautiful in their day.
Bus to Belize
Another reason to come to Chetumal is that here you can get a bus to Belize. Take a taxi to the old market. (There are two markets, the old one and the new one. Be sure to ask for the old market). The buses that go to Belize are ancient school buses, but they will get you there and are very cheap (about $2.50 payable in the United States or Belize dollars. One Belize dollar = 50 cents U.S. They do not accept Mexican pesos). Although Edzna is not the best stop on the Ruta Maya, there are wonderful sites yet to explore on our tour of archaeological ruins. On to Belize, Guatemala and Honduras.
Click here for a list of all the sites on the Ruta Maya.