Maya Sites and Monuments in SE Campeche, Mexico

Abstract

Four seasons of archaeological surveys in the SE part of the Mexican federal state of Campeche are summarized. The area is located in the archaeologically little-known central part of the Yucatan peninsula. More than 60 unreported Maya sites were recorded, including major urban centers with large architectural complexes, sculpted monuments with hieroglyphic inscriptions, and caves with vestiges of ritual activities. Settlements are regularly located on elevated ground and major centers are on the edges of low wetlands. While most sites are from the Classic period (ca. A.D. 250–900), earlier complexes of monumental architecture indicate that a large population density and social and political complexity were attained as early as the Late Preclassic (ca. 300 B.C.–A.D.250), paralleling the developments documented in northern Guatemala. The existence of formerly unknown regional seats of power is revealed by large urban centers with functionally diverse types of monumental architecture, and particularly by hieroglyphic inscriptions on stelae and other stone monuments, which shed light on the Classic-period political organization in the area. A stela found at Los Alacranes, for example, mentions a 6th-century lord enthroned under the auspices of the king of Calakmul, while an altar from Altar de los Reyes contains references to a number of Late Classic Lowland Maya polities.