Maya Ruins

March 29, 2006 1:15 PM

Maya Ruins - Nice images of Maya ruins in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, indexed to site plans. See for instance Uxmal: the Grand Pyramid, the House of the Doves, the Nunnery Quadrangle, and the Pyramid of the Magician. See also: the Meso-American Photo Archives.
posted by carter (17 comments total)

Mel?
posted by iamck at 1:20 PM on March 29, 2006

It's interesting that she didn't go to Chichen Itza or Tulum.
posted by smackfu at 1:43 PM on March 29, 2006

It's interesting that she didn't go to Chichen Itza or Tulum.

Yup - those were the two that I was hoping to see. But it looks like a work in progress.
posted by carter at 1:45 PM on March 29, 2006

Thanks for the link - I like how her map interface indicates the photo location. I think it would be hard to take a bad picture of Palanque
posted by Staggering Jack at 1:52 PM on March 29, 2006

Strange coincidence -- I just finished reading David Byrne's journal entry about ancient Mayan cities and their fresh water cenotes. Thanks for more links!
posted by Dean King at 2:03 PM on March 29, 2006

Thanks for posting this. I've been to Copan, and I want to do a series of Mayan ruins on my next trip to Central America.
posted by Eekacat at 2:08 PM on March 29, 2006

I'm going there on vacation next week. I hope I get to see all of this in person. How unbelievable!
posted by schlaager at 2:33 PM on March 29, 2006

Awesome, I'll have to use this as a guide if I ever get down there again. Chichen Itza was amazing, recommend checking out any Mayan ruin if you get the chance. Fascinating architecture. I took a ton of photos there and at the Ik Kil Cenote which is nearby, it's a nice Eco-Archaeological Park worth checking out (if your tour bus goes there).
posted by Meaney at 2:45 PM on March 29, 2006

Tulum is impressive because of the massive amount of rock removed from the ocean-side cliff. They simultaneously created a harbor and their structures from the same material at the highest point on the Yucatan coast.

Chichen Itza is amazing in design and complexity, with all the typical mysterious, primitive-savant, astronomical/solar/lunar architectual alignments. There is an impressive "bottomless" sacrificial cenote, the ball field is ginormus, and scaling the temple is worth the vertigo. If you can brave the claustrophobia you'll be rewarded with a peek at the jade eyed puma sculpture found in a small chamber buried in the temple's center.

BTW: When a structure made by stone-age craftsman (without the use of modern construction materials and engineering) lasts thousands of years I don't call them ruins. I call them archaeological sites. : )
posted by HyperBlue at 5:11 PM on March 29, 2006

Thanks for the links. I love Mayan ruins.
posted by danb at 5:22 PM on March 29, 2006

scaling the temple is worth the vertigo.

Or the fear of climbing at a steep angle on hot stones which are less than half the length of your feet!

Though not as high, the climb at Xunantunich is more harrowing, IMHO.

Great post!
posted by edverb at 5:22 PM on March 29, 2006

Regrettably, you can't climb Chichen Itza at the moment. There was some kind of fatal accident in January so you can only look at it now. It may change but who knows. (The Mexican guides certainly don't.) Same deal at the Pyramid of the Magician in Uxmal.

The real tragedy is when someone who shouldn't be climbing falls and takes out some innocent people.
posted by smackfu at 5:28 PM on March 29, 2006

Tulum is impressive because of the massive amount of rock removed from the ocean-side cliff.

Perhaps, but as a site to visit it doesn't have very much going for it, other than its location by the sea. Small area, mostly rubble, largest building about two storeys high?

I guess I must subscribe to the "bigger is better" principle, but gimme Copan, Tikal, Uxmal, Palenque, Chichen Itza...
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:29 PM on March 29, 2006

If you want to see Tulum, I recommend seeing it early in your trip, because it doesn't really measure up to the other ruins. It's very landscaped and feels a bit like a Las Vegas version of Mayan. Plus it's flooded wth tourists from the all-inclusive resorts since Playa del Carmen and Cancun are rather close.

OTOH, it is pretty.
posted by smackfu at 5:40 PM on March 29, 2006

Before your trips there, be sure to check out Tedlock's Definitive Popol Vuh. I love Mayan culture and this is by far my favorite creation myth. Or is it a myth? Hmm.
posted by snsranch at 6:55 PM on March 29, 2006

Nice gem of a post for Mefi today, carter, thanks!
posted by madamjujujive at 9:36 PM on March 29, 2006

great images, thanks.
I've been to Tulum and the half-resort, half ruins Xel-Ha when I was little. they looked so enormous at my size, I can only imagine witnessing in person temples like Chichen Itza and Uxmal... I must experience the acoustic phenomena present at Chichen Itza before I die.

/added to list
posted by blastrid at 11:18 PM on March 29, 2006