By Martha López-Huan |
Mérida (Mexico) (EFE)
“We found an offering dedicated to Mrs. Chak Chel and the walker of the underworld, the deities embodied in stela 18 that was found last October in the same place,” José Huchim Herrera, director of the Uxmal archaeological zone and the Puuc Route of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
On one side of the stela is engraved the female deity with large eyes, with a bare chest, bracelets, a heel-length skirt, and in her left hand she holds a quetzal, the sacred bird of the Mayas.
On the other side is the god of abundance, who wears a wide-brimmed headdress with feathers, an owl’s head that symbolizes the underworld and holds a staff in his left hand and a bundle with bracelets in his right.
Behind the Palace of Ah Uitzil Chaac (lord of the hills), the last ruler of Uxmal, is the dovecote or structure 26, where researchers who are part of the Program for the Improvement of Archaeological Zones (Promeza) found a bowl and four vessels that correspond to the Late Classic and Terminal Classic, that is, from 700 to 1,200 AD
“It is an important discovery that occurred during the exploration and excavation process of the dovecote, just below the site where stela 18 was found, dedicated to the gods of abundance,” he said.
ongoing investigations
The researcher, with more than 30 years of experience in the restoration and rescue of archaeological zones such as Chichén Itzá, Uxmal and the Puuc Route, explained that the offering was part of a ritual when Stela 18 was placed.
Investigations are currently being carried out “of micro-vestiges to determine what the four vessels that were covered by a kind of plate contained.”
“The discovery and investigations are carried out thanks to the resources of the Promeza that are derived from the works of the Mayan Train in Section 3 that goes from Calkiní, Campeche, to Izamal, Yucatán,” he assured.
Works in other buildings in Uxmal
The archaeologist told EFE that restoration and research work is being carried out on other buildings in the pre-Hispanic city “to better understand the architecture, temporality of the buildings, and the political and economic events that occurred in Uxmal, which in the Mayan language means the three times built”
Huchim Herrera also spoke of the work carried out in Uxmal by a group of Mayan women from Santa Elena and other communities in southern Yucatan.
“We have more than 30 years integrating women in archaeological heritage conservation projects, mainly in specific activities of research work,” she asserted.
Mayan women, dressed in huipils or modern clothing, gather carved stones, clean them, mark the pieces and sweep up debris to expedite the work of archaeologists, restorers and researchers.
For the archaeologist, who dedicated part of his life to giving splendor to the archaeological zone of Chichén Itzá, the most important thing about women’s work is the recovery of their identity.
“When they participate in the archaeological heritage rescue projects, they strengthen their identity and rediscover themselves as Mayans, they begin to value the evidence of our ancestors,” he explained.