The Ruta Puuc

The Ruta Puuc
The “walkable” Maya archaeological
trail!
What is the Ruta Puuc?
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A rough circuit of Maya sites in the Puuc
region of the Yucatan peninsula.
Puuc is the Mayan word for 'hills' and
there are a couple of minimal hills in the
area.
The most visited Puuc site is Uxmal,
followed by Kabah.
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Partially because of the sacbe that connected
it to Uxmal roughly 20 miles away.
Examples of Sacbe (Sak’bej)
Today we will attempt to cover:
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Mayapan: The “mini-Maya” site
Sayil: The “place of the leaf-cutter
ants”
Labna: where you can see the
easily-disturbed motmot bird
Importance of IOTY
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IOTY = “Incidents of Travel in Yucatan”
volumes I and II
Stephens an American “explorer”
Frederick Catherwood a British architect
First journeyed to Yucatan in 1839;
second expedition in 1841
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Some of the first drawings/maps ever of major
sites
Still a hugely popular book
Effects of writing IOTY
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Laid many of the foundations of
American archaeology
Brought homogeneity/continuity
issues into scholarly debate
Considered “ruins” as art
Provided proof that the structures
were Mesoamerican rather than
Egyptian or Phoenician, which many
in Europe believed
History of Mayapán
Mayapán “Banner of the Mayas” or “Standard
of the Maya people”. Mayapán was believed to
be founded in the beginning of the 11th century
by the Mythological Kukulcan (The Feathered
Serpent God). The ruling family of Mayapan
succeeded in controlling almost all the Yucatan
peninsula until the mid 1400’s. Around that
time a rebellion lead by a family from the
neighboring city of Uxmal (about 30 miles
away) almost destroyed the entire city. Most of
the buildings were burned and the people
slaughtered. The fall of Mayapan was an
estimated 100 years before the arrival of the
Spanish. It is believed that at its peak the city
held close to 12,000 people in more than 3,000
buildings stretched over 2.5 square miles.
This pyramid is very similar to El
Castillo at Chichen Itza. This temple
is thought to be a later, smaller copy
of the one at Chichen Itza.
A round replica of the calendar with
walls that are 5 feet thick. This small
structure in front of the observatory is
usually associated with war. Something
to think about: why would the Mayapan
people put a structure associated with
war in front of an observatory
representing Gods and Astrology?
What’s really interesting about this pyramid is you can see the
construction phases.
All the Sacrifices at Mayapan took place on the top of the Temple of Kukulcan. After
the sacrifice the head of the body is placed in the niche of this wall.
Sayil
Place of the Leaf Cutter Ants
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Sayil is located in the Pu’uc Region of the Yucatan
Peninsula. ”Pu’uc” is Maya for “hills” or “ridge”. Sayil,
which was initially called Zayi, is about and hour and a
half South of Merida, and only ten minutes from the
ruins at Kabah, Xlapak, and Labna.
Sayil flourished in the Late Classic period, from 800 to
1000 A.D. The area has very long dry seasons, and
there are no nearby cenotes, underground caves which
hold the fresh water supply. This may be the reason why
it was settled later than other Mesoamerican sites.
Instead, the Pu’uc were reliant upon chultunes,
manmade underground chambers which held water
which was funneled in from above during the rainy
season. The average chultun in this region could hold
enough water for several dozen people to survive the dry
season.
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Characteristic of Pu’uc architecture are carved masks
adorning the buildings, many representing Chac
(Chak), the God of rain, lightning, and fertility.
There are two major structures at Sayil. The main
structure is called The Palace. It has three levels and a
wide staircase leading up the middle. El Palacio
measures 270 x 130 feet and houses over 70 rooms.
True to the Pu’uc style, El Palacio has distinctive
columned doorways and numerous carvings Of Chac.
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Another notable building is The Lookout. El Mirador is
built high up on a hill, and there are extensive views of
the countryside and neighboring cities. The temple has
5 rooms and an archway, above which is a Chac carving,
and a mysterious, free standing, thirty foot high wall.
Some believe this temple was used to study the stars and
heavens.
Sayil was “dicovered” by Stephens and Catherwood
during their 1841 expedition along La Ruta Pu’uc. Both
were puzzled with the manner by which the structures
were built. The lowest level of The Palace had been
divided into numerous rooms, yet most were completely
filled with rubble, stone, and mortar. This is also true of
a portion of the second range, known as La Casa
Cerrada, or The Closed House. Many thought that
treasure must have been hidden within.
Professor Jeremy Sabloff, of the University of
Pittsburgh, headed an intensive mapping project at
Sayil. He estimated that 10,000 people once lived in an
urban core about 2 miles square, with an additional
7,000 in the zone directly adjacent to it.
Archeologists have tried for years to determined exactly
why some Maya ruins were abandoned after only a
couple hundred years. Although the soil in the Pu’uc
Region is fertile, a sophisticated cropping system would
have been necessary to replenish it and feed inhabitants.
El Palacio
El Mirador y El Chultun
Chultunes
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Ruta Puuc has little to no cenotes
Chultunes: angled funnels that
direct rainwater into underground
storage chambers (chultuno’ob)
Chultunes often contained “hidden”
art on the inside walls (you can go
inside some of them today).
History
Labna is located in the
Yucatan peninsula, 18
miles southeast of Uxmal.
It is sometimes known as
the city of old houses. The
city flourished from 600 AD
to about 900 AD with a
population of about 4500
people. Labna is
constructed in the Puuc
style which in Maya means
“hill”. Labna was one of the
smallest cities and it
contained 3 main
buildings, El Palacio (the
Palace), El Arco (the
Arch), and El Mirador. The
entire city is joined by
sacbe, which are raised
limestone roads connecting
each major monument,
and also connecting Labna
to other sites along the
Ruta Puuc.
El Palacio
El Palacio is located on a terrace and it’s a 2 level structure. It has 60 rooms
and on one corner it has a serpent’s head with its mouth wide open with a
human head sticking out of it. Most of the building structure has Chaac
representations and relief sculptures on it.
El Arco
The Arch is an intricate piece of work. The arch is the main entrance
to the site of Labna. It is about 42 feet wide and 20 feet high. On each
side of the arch is a room thought to be used by guards.
El Mirador
John Stephens discovered El
Mirador in 1840 when visiting the
Yucatan. Its an unusual structure
with sculptures of ball players. El
Mirador is the only building that
hasn’t deteriorated all the way
like the other monuments.
Stephens writes that the
structure (which is still not fully
excavated) once had a large,
seated figure at the front
(perhaps a ballgame referee?
Royalty crow’s nest?)