ancient mayan pyramids tourist youtube

Tourist booed and mobbed after scaling ancient pyramid in Mexico

The blonde woman was filmed scaling up the 91 steps from a distance despite the public being prohibited from climbing the 79ft step-pyramid at the Chichen Itza archaeological site.

Tuesday 22 November 2022 19:35, UK

A tourist has gone viral after a TikTok video captured her trespassing up the ancient Mayan Temple of Kukulcan in Mexico and a crowd of locals booing her in the process.

The blonde woman was filmed scaling up the 91 steps from a distance despite the public being prohibited from climbing the 79ft structure at the Chichen Itza archaeological site.

She was seen posing and dancing on top of the pyramid, known as El Castillo, before she was ushered down by a security guard into the angry mob.

A closer clip showed her reaching the top where she appeared to go inside the monument before giving another wave and dance.

Furious locals were filmed pulling her hair, shoving her and drenching her with bottles of water as she made her way through the crowd.

Some were heard shouting "Out", "Lock her up" and "Jail!"

TikToker Angela Lopeze posted the footage with the caption: "This is why you don't disrespect historic Mayan Pyramids."

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Another person who filmed the incident said the act showed "a lack of respect."

El Castillo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the public has been banned from climbing it since 2008.

It was built by the pre-Columbian Maya civilisation sometime between the 8th and 12th centuries AD and served as a temple to the deity of Kukuclan.

Related Topics

Video: Tourist mobbed after climbing sacred Mayan pyramid in Mexico

Tourist mobbed after scaling world-famous mayan pyramid.

A tourist was booed and doused with water after climbing the protected Mayan monument known as El Castillo, or Pyramid of Kukulcan, at the archeological site of Chichen-Itza in Yucatan, Mexico, on November 20.

There's always that one person on vacation. 

A recent video has gone viral showing a tourist climbing a sacred and protected Mayan monument prompting an angry crowd to confront her with boos and water being thrown at her. 

The woman was recorded climbing the Pyramid of Kukulcan at the archeological site of Chichen-Itza in Yucatan, Mexico, on November 20. 

Thomas Calderon live - streamed video showing the tourist, in bright-red pants, climbing to the top of the ancient structure. She then makes her descent into an angry crowd. In the caption, he wrote [translated], "Woman climbs the pyramid in Chichen-Itza is booed, beaten, and detained by the authorities."

As the woman climbs up and down the pyramid, a crowd starts videotaping her actions as onlookers begin to boo her and throw insults her way. 

Another video captured by Calderon shows the woman pushing her way through a crowd of angry people some of them who appear to be grabbing at her.

Climbing the pyramid has been banned since 2008 amid preservation concerns, and the Congress of the United Mexican States established hefty fines for such acts in The Federal Law on Monuments and Archaeological, Artistic and Historical Areas.

Local news outlets reported the tourist was detained "and taken to the nearby town of Piste for questioning."

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Tourist mobbed by onlookers after climbing ancient Mayan pyramid in Mexico

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A tourist was mobbed by onlookers after she was accused of disrespecting Mayan culture by climbing El Castillo, a step-pyramid in Mexico.

In a recent video posted on TikTok by @angelalopeze, that has since circulated on social media, an unidentified woman could be seen climbing the steps of the historical monument, which is known as the Temple of Kukulcán. The pyramid lies in the centre of the Chichen Itza , an archaeological site in Yucatán.

Once the woman made it to the top of the pyramid, she took her hat off and started to dance, prompting a crowd of onlookers standing at the base of the monument to boo. After she’d descended the pyramid, the tourist was reportedly escorted away by security at the archaeological site, while the TikTok video showed onlookers continuing to yell and taunt the woman.

The clip then showed as the tourist attempted to make her way through the crowd of people, during which onlookers could be seen filming her exit and throwing liquids. The woman’s hat was also knocked off by one of the individuals in the crowd, while others could be heard chanting “lock her up” and “jail, jail,” in Spanish.

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In the caption of the video, @angelalopeze criticised the tourist, writing: “This is so disrespectful..don’t mess with my Mexican people.”

The viral video has now been reshared on multiple social media platforms , prompting viewers to condemn the tourist for disrespecting Mayan culture and disobeying the monument’s rules. The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) bans visitors from climbing into Chichen Itza’s chambers. As noted by the archaeological spot’s official website , the ban was put in place after an 80-year-old American woman climbed the 91 steps of El Castillo and fell to her death in January 2006.

“It’s about respect for: Old structure, the rules and order established by the people who try to preserve the place [and] culture,” one person wrote on Twitter.

“I visited here. They made it CLEAR that climbing is prohibited because, not only were people abusing the privilege to walk on them, but they would chip off pieces of the structure and take fragments home…or engrave marks in it,” another said. “People have no respect with or without the rule.”

A third added: “Imagine if someone climbed up on the altar in a cathedral and did a rude dance - this pyramid is sacred and that’s what she did.”

The Riviera Maya News reported that the woman was escorted through the mob of angry onlookers by two INAH personnel. The publication also said that she was “arrested by ​​Tinum Municipal Police and fined in accordance with Article 55 of the Federal Law on Archaeological, Artistic and Historical Monuments”.

According to MercoPress , the INAH banned climbing on the Mayan monument in 2008, which is when the security cord around it was first installed. Visitors who break the rule can face fines up to 50,000 Mexican pesos (approximately $2,558) to 100,000 Mexican pesos (approximately $5,115), depending on how much damage is caused to the structure.

In a statement shared with The Independent , and translated to English using Google Translate, the INAH said the tourist did not cause any damage to the El Castillo.

“The reasons why it is not allowed to climb the pyramidal structures were explained to the person and they were made available to the Secretariat of Public Security of the State of Yucatan, where it will comply with the corresponding administrative sanctions,” the statement reads.

“The Ministry of Culture and the INAH call on the general public to respect the provisions established for public visits to archaeological zones and historical sites, which are determined to guarantee an enjoyable and safe experience for attendees and staff, as well as and to guarantee the conservation of heritage sites,” the INAH concluded.

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Tourist booed, punched, hit with stick after climbing sacred Mexican pyramid

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Some lessons you have to learn the hard way.

Such was the case for a Polish tourist in Mexico, who was confronted by a group of angry people after he decided to take off his shoes and climb the sacred temple of Kukulkan last weekend.

The incident happened at the Chichén Itzá archaeological site on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula — a popular site for tourists — and was captured on video , which subsequently went viral on social media.

“Are you stupid?” an onlooker can be heard shouting at the tourist.

Daniel Fretwell, the man who recorded the video and posted it on Jan. 29, told Storyful that he began filming when he noticed the man running up to the pyramid .

“I could hear and see maybe 30 or 40 people shouting ‘no, no come down, don’t do it, no.’ People were whistling trying to draw the man’s attention that he was doing wrong ,” Fretwell told Storyful.

Security guards climbed up the pyramid’s ancient steps to retrieve the tourist, and as they brought him back to the ground, the man was surrounded by angry onlookers, one of whom whacked him on the head with a long stick and another who punched him.

Trespassers who try to climb the monuments at the UNESCO heritage site can face fines into the thousands, but a spokesperson from the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) told the Mexican Daily Post that this particular tourist was slapped with a fine of 5,000 pesos (CA$353).

“Tourists must respect the security measures of the INAH in the archeological zone to preserve the cultural heritage of Mexico, take care of other visitors and enjoy that Mayan legacy,” said INAH director José Arturo Chab Cárdenas.

It’s certainly not the first time tourists have disrespected the local law and climbed Kukulkan.

Last November, a woman was recorded climbing the pyramid and even went so far as to dance at the top. As she descended with security guards, an angry mob surrounded her, with one person throwing a water bottle in her direction.

@angelalopeze this is so disrespectful… don’t mess with my Mexican people 🇲🇽 #chichenitza #disrespectful #mayanpyramid #vacation #crazy #viral ♬ original sound – ang

Climbing the pyramid has been banned since 2008 amid preservation concerns, and the Congress of the United Mexican States established hefty fines for such acts in The Federal Law on Monuments and Archaeological, Artistic and Historical Areas.

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An angry mob in Mexico poured water on a clueless female tourist, hurled insults at her and demanded that she be locked up after she ascended the ancient Mayan pyramid and was filmed dancing on the stairs.

The unidentified woman, who is said to be a Spanish national, sparked an outrage Monday when she ignored the rules barring visitors from climbing Mayan Temple of Kukulcán in Chichén Itzá, which was named in 2007 one of the New 7 Wonders of the World by UNESCO.

After reaching the top, she gyrated her hips and waved her arms in celebration, drawing loud jeers from a large group of tourists observing her wild antics from the ground. Some of them were heard calling the disrespectful visitor an “a–hole” and an “idiot” in Spanish.

Chants of “jail, jail, jail” and “lock her up” in Spanish could be heard in the background.

The blonde woman, sporting bright-red tights and a blue T-shirt, ducked into the temple room, before descending the pyramid’s 365 steps. She was met at the base by officials with the Mexican Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), along with a furious crowd.

In viral videos that have been circulating on TikTok and Twitter, irate onlookers are seen dousing the insolent tourist, who has been dubbed “Lady Chichén Itzá,” with water from plastic bottles, and calling her “stupid.”

As she is taken away by officials, some bystanders appear to knock the woman’s hat off her head and yank her hair.

The unnamed woman was arrested by the local police and slapped with an unspecified fine for climbing the world heritage site, which has been off-limits to visitors since 2008 to protect it from destruction, erosion and graffiti, Riviera Maya News reported .

Penalties established by Mexico’s Federal Law on Monuments and Archaeological, Artistic and Historical Areas range anywhere from $2,500 to more than $5,000, depending on the severity of the damage to a protected site.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History said Monday that the temple, also known as El Castillo, has not been harmed.

The step-pyramid was built by the Maya civilization sometime between the 8th and 12th centuries AD to serve as a temple to Kukulcán, the Feather Serpent god.

The incident comes nearly a year after a woman from Tijuana, Mexico, was fined for climbing the same pyramid while allegedly drunk.

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Tourist mobbed by onlookers after climbing ancient Mayan pyramid in Mexico

A tourist was mobbed by onlookers after she was accused of disrespecting Mayan culture by climbing El Castillo, a step-pyramid in Mexico.

In a recent video posted on TikTok by @angelalopeze, that has since circulated on social media, an unidentified woman could be seen climbing the steps of the historical monument, which is known as the Temple of Kukulcán. The pyramid lies in the centre of the Chichen Itza , an archaeological site in Yucatán.

Once the woman made it to the top of the pyramid, she took her hat off and started to dance, prompting a crowd of onlookers standing at the base of the monument to boo. After she’d descended the pyramid, the tourist was reportedly escorted away by security at the archaeological site, while the TikTok video showed onlookers continuing to yell and taunt the woman.

The clip then showed as the tourist attempted to make her way through the crowd of people, during which onlookers could be seen filming her exit and throwing liquids. The woman’s hat was also knocked off by one of the individuals in the crowd, while others could be heard chanting “lock her up” and “jail, jail,” in Spanish.

In the caption of the video, @angelalopeze criticised the tourist, writing: “This is so disrespectful..don’t mess with my Mexican people.”

The viral video has now been reshared on multiple social media platforms , prompting viewers to condemn the tourist for disrespecting Mayan culture and disobeying the monument’s rules. The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) bans visitors from climbing into Chichen Itza’s chambers. As noted by the archaeological spot’s official website , the ban was put in place after an 80-year-old American woman climbed the 91 steps of El Castillo and fell to her death in January 2006.

“It’s about respect for: Old structure, the rules and order established by the people who try to preserve the place [and] culture,” one person wrote on Twitter.

“I visited here. They made it CLEAR that climbing is prohibited because, not only were people abusing the privilege to walk on them, but they would chip off pieces of the structure and take fragments home…or engrave marks in it,” another said. “People have no respect with or without the rule.”

A third added: “Imagine if someone climbed up on the altar in a cathedral and did a rude dance - this pyramid is sacred and that’s what she did.”

@angelalopeze this is so disrespectful… don’t mess with my Mexican people 🇲🇽 #chichenitza #disrespectful #mayanpyramid #vacation #crazy #viral ♬ original sound - ang

The Riviera Maya News reported that the woman was escorted through the mob of angry onlookers by two INAH personnel. The publication also said that she was “arrested by ​​Tinum Municipal Police and fined in accordance with Article 55 of the Federal Law on Archaeological, Artistic and Historical Monuments”.

According to MercoPress , the INAH banned climbing on the Mayan monument in 2008, which is when the security cord around it was first installed. Visitors who break the rule can face fines up to 50,000 Mexican pesos (approximately $2,558) to 100,000 Mexican pesos (approximately $5,115), depending on how much damage is caused to the structure.

In a statement shared with The Independent , and translated to English using Google Translate, the INAH said the tourist did not cause any damage to the El Castillo.

“The reasons why it is not allowed to climb the pyramidal structures were explained to the person and they were made available to the Secretariat of Public Security of the State of Yucatan, where it will comply with the corresponding administrative sanctions,” the statement reads.

“The Ministry of Culture and the INAH call on the general public to respect the provisions established for public visits to archaeological zones and historical sites, which are determined to guarantee an enjoyable and safe experience for attendees and staff, as well as and to guarantee the conservation of heritage sites,” the INAH concluded.

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Albert Lin hunts for lost Maya cities in Mexico. Here’s how travelers can too

Jade-filled tombs. Ages-old ball courts. Bloodletting rituals. Visit Chiapas to experience the ruins and secrets of the ancients.

The ancient Maya thrived for some 3,000 years and created a monumental legacy that still inspires pop culture, from animated series to video games. Their stepped stone pyramids and glyph carved temple walls can be found in Guatemala , Belize , and Mexico , home to the well known sites of Tulum, Chichén Itzá , and the Uxmal pyramids.

But the lesser known, lesser trafficked Maya settlements and worship sites of Chiapas—Mexico’s southernmost state—are also worth discovering for their combination of archaeology and nature.

The most famous and largest of them, Palenque , is the focus of the first episode of Season 2 of “ Lost Cities Revealed with Albert Lin ,” which premieres on the National Geographic Channel and Disney+ November 23. In it, the scientist and National Geographic Explorer Albert Lin uses high tech methods to delve into the storied site.

“Palenque is where Maya archaeology began, from that first glimpse of glyphs and pyramids in the jungle,” says Lin, referring to the site’s rediscovery by 18th-century Spanish explorers.

Here’s how to dive into this influential history amid the mountains and jungles of Chiapas.

An ancient temple and trade route

Maya society thrived at Palenque between the 5th and 9th centuries A.D., powered by the site’s location on a commercial route between central Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula. Traders ferried in flint and obsidian from Guatemala and “artisans were able to model stucco in a very advanced stylistic manner,” says archaeologist Carlos Miguel Varela Sherrer, field chief of the site.

Today, most visitors reach the modern city of Palenque by air from Mexico City (1 hour 40 minutes) or Cancún before taking a 15-minute drive through ceiba tree-shaded foothills to the UNESCO World Heritage-recognized site . Hundreds of Maya buildings—many yet to be excavated—sprawl over 3,700 acres of tropical jungle.  

The site’s central area, which functioned as a residential, governmental, and religious center, is dominated by the impressive Temple of the Inscriptions, a 75-foot-tall, stepped limestone pyramid. This stone tribute to the region’s most famous ancient ruler, Pakal the Great (615-683 A.D.), was excavated between 1949 and 1954. His jade death mask is now displayed at Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology , but the Palenque Site Museum holds a replica of it and the burial chamber.

The tomb beneath the pyramid, closed to the public to prevent damage, has stone walls carved with stylized reliefs of Pakal, his family, and the underworld, as well as an enormous sarcophagus made from a single piece of stone.  

“The inside looks like a crystal cave because the limestone has leaked calcite into little stalactites,” says Lin, who entered the tomb and used lidar (light detection and ranging) to explore it on the show. “All along the walls you see inscriptions, the origin story of Palenque.”

( See the Maya underworld in Belize—if you dare .)

Palenque also holds more than 1,500 other Maya structures, including the Cross Group, a trio of temples built at different elevations, most likely meant to represent the sky, the Earth, and the underworld. Its “El Templo de la Calavera” (The Temple of the Skull) has a relief of a human skull carved at its base. The ruins of a central palace, thought to be Pakal’s, have a four-story stone tower as well as indoor plumbing and a steam bath.

“The region has a lot of stone, which allowed for unique architectural work,” says Varela.

A Maya trail through Chiapas

Beyond Palenque, you can follow the Maya trade route through Chiapas. Eighty miles south, the city-state of Toniná was inhabited from the first to 16th centuries A.D. by Palenque’s ancestral enemies. They erected the tallest extant pyramid in the Americas in the 14th century A.D., the 1,049-foot-high “Acropolis.”  

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A three-hour drive west, the ruins of Yaxchilán skirt the banks of the Usumacinta River (the natural border between Mexico and Guatemala). You’ll probably encounter more howler monkeys than tourists amid the intricately carved stelae and temples where the “Jaguar” clan thrived from 500 to 700 A.D.

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Grace Kelley says the country star wants her to go to rehab but denies she was using drugs.

Judge shuts down request to toss hunter biden gun case, the defense argued that lead prosecutor david weiss was “unlawfully appointed” special counsel., pilot plummeted from homemade plane before fatal crash: ntsb, both the pilot and a passenger were killed in the 2022 crash., furious mob hurls water and abuse at tourist who climbed mayan pyramid.

TEMPLE OF DOOM

Dan Ladden-Hall

News Correspondent

LORENZO HERNANDEZ/Reuters

A visitor who apparently decided the rules didn’t apply to her and climbed an ancient Mayan temple in Mexico was met by a furious group of locals who threw water at her after she descended. The unidentified woman was filmed dancing at the top of El Castillo—an ancient step-pyramid in the Chichen Itza archeological site—where climbing has been prohibited since 2008. Viral clips of the incident on TikTok show people chanting “lock her up” and “jail, jail, jail” in Spanish and throwing water at the woman after she descends the steps of the pyramid. Other clips show the unidentified woman being led through the raging mob as people knock her hat off her head and grab at her arms. The Mexican Institute of Anthropology and History issued a statement saying the site—named in 2007 as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World—had not been damaged.

Secrets of El Castillo: A Mayan Pyramid's Hidden Treasures (Video)

• Read Later  

El Castillo , an impressive pyramid built by the Mayans over a thousand years ago, has always been a subject of fascination and mystery for archaeologists and historians. Recently, in the sacred chamber of the temple, experts made a significant discovery that sheds new light on the Mayan civilization . Among the discoveries were a beautifully crafted jaguar throne adorned with jade , which only royalty had access to, and a wall embedded with long human bones believed to be leg bones of important people or ancestors.

One of the team believes that the wall might be hiding the remains of an important person, potentially a king. The discovery not only adds to our understanding of the Mayans' elaborate beliefs about life, death, and the afterlife, but also hints at the possible political and social structure of the Mayan society. El Castillo continues to intrigue and inspire those seeking to unravel its secrets.

• 1,000-year-old Maya pyramid might collapse into sacred ancient sinkhole in Mexico
• Pumas, Cougars And Jaguars: Feline Deities Of Prehistoric South America

Top image: El Castillo Mayan pyramid. Source: Vectorup / Adobe Stock.

By Robbie Mitchell

I’m a graduate of History and Literature from The University of Manchester in England and a total history geek. Since a young age, I’ve been obsessed with history. The weirder the better. I spend my days working as a freelance... Read More

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El Mirador, the Lost City of the Maya

Now overgrown by jungle, the ancient site was once the thriving capital of the Maya civilization

Had we been traveling overland, it would have taken two or three days to get from the end of the road at Carmelita to El Mirador: long hours of punishing heat and drenching rain, of mud and mosquitoes, and the possibility that the jungle novice in our party (that would be me, not the biologists turned photographers Christian Ziegler and Claudio Contreras) might step on a lethal fer-de-lance or do some witless city thing to provoke a jaguar or arouse the ire of the army ants inhabiting the last great swath of subtropical rain forest in Mesoamerica.

Mercifully, Itzamna, the supreme creator god of the ancient Maya, had favored us with a pilot named Guillermo Lozano, who was now easing his maroon-striped Bell helicopter into the air. It was a Sunday morning in northern Guatemala, late October. Next to him up front was the archaeologist Richard Hansen, the director and principal investigator of the Mirador Basin Project. About a half-hour’s flying time due north was the Mirador basin itself—a 2,475-square-mile tract of jungle in northern Guatemala and Campeche, Mexico, filled with hidden ruins that Hansen and others refer to as “the cradle of Maya civilization.”

We zipped away from the town of Flores at 140 knots. Off to the east were the spectacular Maya pyramids and ruins of Tikal National Park, which is now linked to Flores by road and draws between 150,000 and 350,000 visitors a year. We crossed a jungle-covered limestone ridge about 600 feet high. Hansen’s voice crackled over the intercom.

“This is the southern tip of the Mirador basin,” he said. “It’s shaped like a heart. It’s a self-contained ecosystem surrounded by these ridges. There are five kinds of tropical forest down there. Tikal has only two. ”

Visible below were clearings in the forest, the smoke of fires, a scattering of cattle, buildings and the occasional road.

“All this has been deforested in the last five years or so,” Hansen said over the roar of the rotor. “Any use of this particular area of forest other than ecotourism would be, to me, the equivalent of using the Grand Canyon for a garbage dump.”

After a few minutes there were no more roads or cows or any other signs of human settlement, just a few swampy open patches called civales breaking the great green quilt formed by the canopies of the 150-foot-tall ramón (breadnut) and sapodilla trees, whose trunks are slashed by skilled laborers known as chicleros for the sap used to make chewing gum. Hansen pointed out some of the sites that he and his colleagues have mapped in the Mirador basin, including the large lost cities of Tintal and Nakbe, which is one of the oldest known Maya settlements, dating from around 1000 to 400 B.C.

“See that there,” he said, pointing to a slightly raised and darker line of trees. “That’s a causeway. There’s a plastered roadbed under there 2 to 6 meters high and 20 to 40 meters wide. A sacbe it’s called—white road. It runs for about 12 kilometers from Mirador to Nakbe. It’s part of the first freeway system in the world.”

Suddenly clouds closed in, and Lozano began to climb, anxiously looking for a break in the skies. A tropical storm (named Richard, appropriately enough) was bearing down on northern Guatemala.

“There!” Hansen said. Lozano banked down toward what looked from afar to be a huge stone knoll, half swallowed in vines and trees. The pilots who first flew over the Mirador basin in the 1930s, among them Charles Lindbergh, were startled to see what they thought were volcanoes rising out of the limestone lowlands. In fact, they were pyramids built more than two millennia ago, and what we were circling was the largest of them all, the crown of the La Danta complex. At 230 feet, it is not as tall as the great pyramid at Giza, but, according to Hansen, it is more massive, containing some 99 million cubic feet of rock and fill.

We were hovering now over the heart of the ancient city of El Mirador, once home to an estimated 200,000 people and the capital of a complex society of interconnected cities and settlements that may have supported upwards of a million people. The last thing you would ever guess from a casual aerial overview was that virtually every topographical contour in the primordial forest was created not by geological and environmental forces but by the vanished inhabitants of one of the world’s foundational civilizations.

“All this was abandoned nearly 2,000 years ago,” Hansen said. “The whole thing developed before Tikal existed. It’s like finding Pompeii.”

A clearing appeared below us and we fluttered down onto a grassy strip, scattering a delegation of butterflies.

It’s a dedicated archaeologist whose affection for a place increases even after he’s gone into personal debt to keep his research and conservation work going, weathered death threats from irate loggers, had close encounters with fer-de-lances and falling trees, survived a jungle plane crash that nearly killed him, his wife and the oldest of his seven children and incinerated the only copies of his master’s thesis. By the same token it’s a versatile scientist who can enthrall audiences at Hollywood fund-raisers and bargain in flawless Spanish with muleteers hauling sacks of specially formulated Preclassic Maya mortar.

“To do this you have to be a jack-of-all-trades or an absolute idiot,” said Hansen as we sat around that first evening on the long log-and-plank benches of the dining hall, an open-sided barnlike structure with a translucent plastic roof and special gutters that funnel rainwater into a 25,000- gallon cistern. Hansen was wearing a tan cap, a grungy off-white cotton shirt and stained off-white cotton pants—light-colored fabrics make it easier to see which exotic insects might be trying to attach themselves to flesh. (I was immediately regretting my choice of dark gray trousers.)

During the Mirador field-research season, which runs from May to September, there are as many as 350 people in the camp, including scientists from some 52 universities and institutions. The archaeological work could proceed year-round but Hansen spends the off-months raising money (with the goal of maintaining a minimum annual budget ofabout $2.5 million) and preparing publications (now up to 177). He also teaches at Idaho State University in Pocatello, where he is an assistant professor in the department of anthropology and the senior scientist at the university’s Institute for Mesoamerican Research.

“If I had five minutes for every hour I’ve spent chasing dollars, I’d have another 50 publications,” he said with a sigh.

There was only a skeletal crew of workmen on hand now, along with guards Hansen had employed to ward off looters, and the camp cook, Dominga Soberanis, a short, powerfully built Maya woman who had fixed us all a supper of fried chicken and black beans on a steel sheet over a wood fire. Fresh tomatoes had come in on the helicopter, and there were pitchers of rice milk and tea brewed from the leaves of the allspice tree that grew in the ramón forest.

That afternoon, after Christian had amused himself at my expense by crying “Snake!” while fumbling in feigned horror with what looked like a fer-de-lance but proved to be a brown stick, Hansen had shown us around the camp. Tent sites, storage magazines, screening tables, a well-equipped research building adjacent to the dining hall and guest bungalows where we had stashed our gear were linked by a web of root-riddled trails. Hansen was billeted in a bungalow that also served as his office. By some modern shamanism, it had Internet access.

We wandered out to the old helicopter landing strip where campsites had been established for tourists. Some 2,000 to 3,000 visitors a year either make the trek in from Carmelita or fly in by helicopter from Flores. Rangers stationed in the area were feeding an orphaned baby spider monkey creamed corn; dozens of ocellated turkeys—beautiful iridescent birds found only on the Yucatán Peninsula—were pecking at the grass. Meleagris ocellata is among the most photogenic of the 184 bird species recorded to date in the basin, which is also a key stopover for many migratory birds that travel the flyways of the eastern United States. The turkeys scrambled for cover under the trees when a pair of brown jays cried out. Their jay-dar had spotted a raptor overhead—possibly an ornate hawk-eagle (Spizaetus ornatus) .

“The basin is a contained, enclosed, integrated cultural and natural system, unique in the world,” Hansen said. And a veritable ark of biodiversity with some 300 species of trees (many festooned with orchids) and upwards of 200 animal species (many endangered or threatened), from tapirs and crocodiles to five of the six cats indigenous to Guatemala. In the past few years, researchers have found two bird species—the hooded oriole and the Caribbean dove—for the first time in Guatemala, and discovered nine previously unknown moth species. Efforts to preserve the basin’s ancient ruins go hand in hand with conserving one of the world’s living treasures.

When Hansen came to the Mirador basin as a graduate student in 1979, scientists had been studying the better-known Maya sites in Mesoamerica—such as Palenque and Copán—for more than a century. El Mirador (“the look-out” in Spanish) was still largely unexplored. While some of the basin itself had been surveyed in 1885 by Claudio Urrutia, an engineer who noted the presence of ruinas grandes , the existence of El Mirador wasn’t officially reported until 1926. And it would be another 36 years before an archaeologist, Harvard University’s Ian Graham, would map and explore a portion of the area, partially revealing the extraordinary dimensions of the city.

What was most puzzling was the age of the site. Monumental architecture on the order of what had been found at El Mirador had always been associated with the Classic period of Maya history, from A.D. 250 to about A.D. 900; architecture of the Preclassic era, from 2000 B.C. to A.D. 150, was supposedly less sophisticated (as were, presumably, its political and economic systems). For nearly 40 years the only known Preclassic structure was a nearly nine-yard-high truncated pyramid excavated in the 1920s at Uaxactun, some 12 miles north of Tikal, by a Carnegie expedition. When the late William Coe of the University of Pennsylvania began excavating at Tikal in 1956, he was puzzled by the complexity of the earlier layers. In a 1963 article for the journal Expedition , he noted “things were not getting simpler” or more “formative.”

Writing up his own research in 1967, Graham, who went on to found the Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard, speculated that the poor condition of the ruins he examined at El Mirador might be attributed to an inferior brand of mortar rather than the sheer antiquity of the buildings. Examining pottery that Graham’s colleague Joyce Marcus had collected at El Mirador in 1970, Donald Forsyth (now a professor at Brigham Young University) noted that the bulk of the ceramics were in the Chicanel style—monochrome red, black or cream, with thick bodies and the rims turned outward—that clearly dated the surrounding ruins to the Late Preclassic period (300 B.C. to A.D. 150). But could such monumental public architecture really have been built 700 to 1,000 years before the zenith of the Classic period, when, scholars supposed, the Maya had achieved the organizational, artistic and technical expertise to pull off such feats?

The dig Hansen joined was headed by his thesis adviser, Ray Matheny, from Brigham Young University, and Bruce Dahlin of Catholic University. “[Hansen] was a real go-getter,” Matheny told me later. “I’m very proud of him.” Twenty-six years old at the time, Hansen had grown up in Idaho in a Mormon family, the oldest of three brothers. He got a bug for archaeology at age 6 hunting arrowheads on his father’s potato farm in Rupert. He planned to become a lawyer, but his undergraduate degree was delayed after he shattered his right leg in a ski accident. As all he needed for law school were good grades and test scores, he thought the fastest way to get them would be to major in Spanish, which he spoke, and archaeology, which he loved. Degrees in hand, he postponed law school for the chance to join an excavation north of Tel Aviv for two years, an experience that buried the lawyer and begot the archaeologist. It also turned up his wife, Jody, a scientific illustrator who first impressed him with her dogged work hauling buckets of sand. When they returned from Israel, Matheny invited Hansen to assist with a newly funded project at El Mirador.

So it was that Hansen found himself in March 1979 excavating a room on Structure 34, the Jaguar Paw Temple. The temple, one of the most intensively studied of all the ruins at El Mirador, is part of the Tigre complex in the western side of the city. Hansen had been given to understand it was most likely from the Classic period, but as he cleared the chamber, he came to the original plaster floor littered with pot fragments that had not been disturbed for centuries. “When the Maya walked away, they left everything in place,” he said. “We’ve found flakes of a stone tool right around the tool.” The potsherds had the colors and the waxy telltale feel of the Chicanel style, which dated the temple to two centuries before Christ. Hansen stared at them in disbelief.

“I realized at that moment the whole evolutionary model for the economic, cultural and social history of the Maya was wrong. The idea that the Maya slowly became more sophisticated was wrong. And I thought, ‘Man, I’m the only person in the world at this moment who knows this.’”

By morning Tropical Storm Richard had eased, but the sky was still overcast and Hansen was surprised to hear the helicopter arriving out of the clouds. “You made it! Welcome!” he cried as three Californians scurried clear of the rotor: Andre Lafleur, an officer for a land trust in Santa Cruz; a travel consultant named Randy Durband; and Joanna Miller, a board member of the Walt Disney Family Museum, established in San Francisco to commemorate her famous grandfather. They joined us at the dining hall for a breakfast of eggs, tortillas, beans and fried Spam. Dominga, the cook, tossed a few stale tortillas into the woods and called “Pancho! Pancho!” Duly summoned, a white-nosed coati appeared, wary and cute, striped tail high. He looked like a lanky raccoon.

Andre, Joanna and Randy had been invited by the Global Heritage Fund, a Palo Alto-based conservation group—and one of several foundations that financially support Hansen’s work in the basin, including the Foundation for Cultural and Natural Maya Heritage (PACUNAM) and Hansen’s own Foundation for Anthropological Research and Environmental Studies (FARES). The FARES board includes actor Mel Gibson, who has given several million dollars to the cause and who hired Hansen as a consultant for his 2006 Maya chase film Apocalypto .

We headed east on a dirt track in two Kawasaki all-terrain vehicles. At more than 14 square miles, greater El Mirador is three times the size of downtown Los Angeles; for many years Hansen would routinely hike 10 to 12 miles a day to check on various sites. The ATVs, donated by a family of prominent Central American brewers, were much appreciated by his now 58-year-old knees. We were bound for La Danta, the pyramid complex we had circled on the flight in.

The trail climbed over what was once possibly a 60-foot-high perimeter wall surrounding a portion of the western part of the city—it was built in the Late Preclassic, Hansen said— and followed one of the elevated causeways to La Danta just over a mile east. We parked and started our ascent.

Hansen has excavated, mapped and explored 51 ancient cities in the Mirador basin. “What you had here was the first state-level society in the Western Hemisphere, a thousand years before anyone suspected,” he said. It was not just the monumental architecture of La Danta and structures at sister cities like Nakbe and Tintal that were sophisticated. The achievements of the Preclassic Maya were reflected in the way they made the leap from clans and chiefdoms to complex societies with class hierarchies and a cohesive ideology; in the technical sophistication that enabled them to quarry huge limestone blocks without metal tools and move them to building sites without the wheel; how they collected rainwater off building roofs and stored it in reservoirs and cisterns; how they projected time in their calendars and preserved the records of their civilization in their still-enigmatic histories on stelae in images and glyphs that scholars have yet to decipher (unlike glyphs from the Classic period that have been decoded); how they constructed their homes with posts, stone and stucco; decorated their teeth with jade and brownish-red hematite inlays; imported exotic items such as obsidian, basalt and granite; wrapped the craniums of their infants to modify the shape of their skulls; and adorned themselves with shells from the Caribbean and Pacific Coast—as if civilization were keyed as much to aesthetic refinement as to written language, the specialization of labor or regimens of religious and social control.

To feed their burgeoning population, they terraced fields and carried mud up from swampy marshes to grow maize, beans, squash, cocoa, gourds and other crops. “What brought them here were the swamps,” Hansen said. And in his view it was the destruction of the swamps with their nutrient-rich mud that caused the wholesale collapse of the society sometime between A.D. 100 and 200. What killed the swamps and crippled the farms, he believes, was the runoff of clay into the marshes after the massive deforestation of the surrounding area—deforestation caused by a demand for firewood the Maya needed to make lime plaster. They plastered everything, from major temples like La Danta to their plazas and house floors, which over time got thicker and thicker, an extravagance Hansen attributed to the temptations of “conspicuous consumption.”

Hansen believes that El Mirador’s inhabitants may have initially gone to the Caribbean coast and then migrated back inland, where they finally ended up in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula at Calakmul, which emerged as a powerful city-state and rival to Tikal in the sixth and seventh centuries. “Mirador was known in the Preclassic as the Kan Kingdom—Kan meaning ‘snake’—and the kings of Calakmul referred to themselves as the Lords of Kan, not as the Lords of Chiik Naab, which is the original name of Calakmul,” Hansen said.

We came to the first tier of La Danta pyramid, a high forested platform of cut stone and rock fill that was some 980 feet wide and 2,000 feet long and covered nearly 45 acres.

“We calculate that as many as 15 million man-days of labor were expended on La Danta,” Hansen said. “It took 12 men to carry each block—each one weighs about a thousand pounds....We’ve excavated nine quarries where the stones were cut, some 600 to 700 meters away.”

Before long we mounted another platform. It was about 33 feet high also and covered about four acres. The trail led to a set of steps that climbed to a third, 86-foot-high platform that served as the base for a triad of an impressive central pyramid flanked by two smaller pyramids—a formidable sight with its vertiginous staircase bisecting the west face.

“You don’t find the triadic pattern before about 300 B.C.” Hansen said of the three pyramids. Based upon conversations with present-day Maya spiritual leaders, researchers believe the three-point configuration represents a celestial hearth containing the fire of creation. The Maya thought three stars in the constellation Orion (Alnitak, Saiph and Rigel) were the hearth stones surrounding the fire—a nebula called M42, which is visible just below Orion’s belt.

Archaeology at El Mirador is often less about bringing the past to light than keeping it from collapsing: Hansen spent three years just stabilizing the walls of La Danta. He had experimented to find the optimal mortar mix of finely sifted clay, organic compounds, lime, crushed limestone and a form of gritty, decomposed limestone called “sascab.” And the archaeologists decided against clearing the trees entirely off the temples as had been done at Tikal because they had learned it was better to leave some shade to minimize the debilitating effects of the sun. Hansen and an engineer from Boeing had designed a vented polycarbonate shed roof that filtered ultraviolet light and protected some of the most delicate stucco carvings on the Jaguar Paw Temple from rain.

We hiked around the base of the upper platform and climbed a cantilevered wooden staircase that zigzagged up the near-vertical east face of La Danta, which plunged more than 230 feet to the jungle floor.

“Wow!” said Joanna.

The summit was the size of a decent home office. There was a surveyor’s bench mark embedded in the limestone, a fence to keep you from tumbling off the east precipice and a big leafy tree that from afar stood out like a tasseled toothpick pinned to a club sandwich. After concentrating so long on the ground, verifying that roots weren’t snakes, it was a great pleasure to lift my eyes to infinity. It was boggling to think we were standing on the labor of thousands of people from antiquity, and to imagine their vanished metropolis, the business of the city such as it might have been on a day like this; the spiritual and ideological imperatives that lifted these stones; the rituals that might have occurred at this sacred spot—everything from coronations to ceremonies in which priests and kings would draw blood from their genitals to spill onto paper and burn as a sacrifice to the gods.

To the west loomed the forested silhouettes of the Tigre Complex, where high on the pyramid Hansen and his team have found skeletons with obsidian arrow points in their ribs, possibly casualties of an Early Classic period battle that wiped out remnant inhabitants of the abandoned capital. Also visible were the outlines of the Monos and Leon pyramids, which along with Tigre and La Danta and the administrative complex known as the Central Acropolis, made up some of the oldest and largest concentrations of public architecture in all of Maya civilization.

I asked Hansen, if he could have anything, what would it be?

“Fifteen minutes,” he answered immediately. “Fifteen minutes here when the city was in its glory. Just to walk around and see what it was like. I’d give anything for that.”

In Maya cosmology the underworld is ruled by the Lords of Xibalba (shee-bal-BA). In April 1983, his fifth season at El Mirador, Hansen nearly met them. He boarded Professor Matheny’s single-engine Helio Courier H395 with his wife, Jody, and their daughter Micalena; he was carrying the only two copies of his master’s thesis, which he’d been working on at the camp, and cash for the camp workers’ payroll.

When the plane cleared the trees it was suddenly running with the wind, not into it as a windsock had indicated, and struggling for lift. About two miles from the airstrip, the tail hit a tree, the nose pitched down, the wings sheared off, the propeller chewed through the canopy until it snapped and the plane cartwheeled across the floor of the jungle. The H395 crashed to a stop in a tree five feet off the ground, fuel leaking everywhere. Hansen sat in his seat thinking he was dead.“Get out! Get out!” Jody yelled. As they scrambled clear, they heard a tremendous whoosh and were hurled to the ground as a fireball exploded behind them, cresting high above the trees. Everyone on board had survived.

“People say, ‘Is your life like Indiana Jones?’” Hansen recalled as he showed us around the crash site. “I say my life isn’t as boring. He always jumps out of the airplane before it crashes.”

Hansen took us to see what is probably the most beautiful and significant artwork found so far at El Mirador: the Central Acropolis frieze. In 2009, an Idaho State student archaeologist named J. Craig Argyle unearthed two 26-foot carved stucco panels showing the hero twins of Maya cosmology, Hunahpu and his brother Xbalanque. They are the main protagonists in the Popol Vuh, a sacred book of myths, history, traditions and the Maya story of how the world was created. The Popol Vuh recounts the adventures of the supernaturally gifted twins, who resurrected their father Hun-Hunahpu (who had lost his head in a ball game against the evil lords of the underworld). The stucco frieze depicts Hunahpu in a jaguar headdress swimming with the head of his father.

“To find this story in the Preclassic period is beyond belief,” Hansen said, pulling back a blue tarp that covered the frieze. “For many years it was thought that the Popol Vuh creation story had been contaminated by the Spanish priests who translated it—that the Indians had been influenced by Christianity. This frieze shows that the Maya account of creation was vibrantly established for thousands of years before the Spanish got here. It’s like finding the original copy of the Constitution. I was stunned.”

El Mirador today is part of the Mirador-Río Azul National Park, which itself is part of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, an 8,100-square-mile tract of rain forest in northern Guatemala. The reserve, established in 1990, has lost nearly half of its forests in just the past ten years. The protection afforded by the national park, which was set up at the same time, is marginal at best—it covers only a narrow swath of the northern basin along the Mexico border and includes only 3 or 4 of the 51 ancient Maya cities currently mapped. “The boundaries don’t respect the hydrological, geological, geographic, botanical or cultural borders of the basin,” Hansen said. “The park only saves a small area. We’re trying to save the whole system.”

Hansen and conservationists from Guatemala and around the world are hoping the government will declare the whole basin a roadless wilderness. Hansen hopes its ancient cities will attract ecotourism and provide livelihoods for local Guatemalans, who might otherwise turn to looting, poaching or the unsustainable promise of logging; despite short-term economic benefits, the industry undermines the long-term integrity of the ecosystem, as it leads to roads, cattle pastures and the destruction of habitat.

“We’re trying to give the poor campesinos [peasants] more than they have now,” Hansen said. “Every country needs wood and wood products. But the issue here is the potential for far greater economic benefits than can be generated [by logging]. There is a model that will work, and is far more lucrative economically, and has far better conservation results than anything in place now. It will need to be done right. If the area is declared a roadless wilderness, then tourists will be obligated to travel to the local communities rather than fly or drive directly to the sites. They will buy local artisan products, sandwiches, soft drinks and beers, and sleep in local microhotels, and hire local guides, cooks, mules, and rent local mountain bikes. The economic pie would get spread among the communities.”

He supports those uses of the El Mirador forest that are sustainable, such as the harvesting of renewable plant products: allspice; xate, the Chamaedorea palm leaves used in floral arrangements; bayal, for wicker baskets; and chicle, for chewing gum.

And, of course, he supports archaeology, which has already pumped millions of dollars into the local communities of the Petén, as the region is called. Some of the guards Hansen has hired are former looters. Most of the workers hired to help excavate the ancient cities participate in literacy classes run by the Mirador Basin Project, which has also provided local schools with computers and computer training, helped install water-purification filters in villages and trained local residents to be guides. The future of the basin ultimately depends on the local people and communities.

My last evening in El Mirador I stopped in the forest not far from the Jaguar Paw Temple, where Hansen had his potsherd epiphany. It was unsettling to think how thoroughly the Preclassic capital of the Maya and hundreds of thousands of people had been silenced by time and rampant nature. The sun was hurrying away, darkness rising. Ocellated turkeys were ascending to the trees for the night, their wings laboring against the plush air. Red-eyed tree frogs were beginning to sing. Curassow birds fussed in the canopies. You could hear the cool interjections of a spectacled owl; cicadas droning; the croak of toucans; lineated woodpeckers running their jackhammers; the grunts of spider monkeys and the fantastic aspirated roar of howler monkeys, which seemed to cross the basso profundo of an African lion with the sound of metal grinding on a lathe. It always amazes me how unsentimental nature is, resoundingly here now, unbound by the past apart from what is secretly conserved in genes. It’s left to us to listen for voices that can’t be heard, to imagine the dead in that note between the notes, as in those moments when the jungle cacophony dies away and the almost-audible strains of the underworld echo in the stillness and silence of the night, until the clamor of the living starts up again.

Chip Brown is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and the author of two nonfiction books. Photojournalist Christian Ziegler specializes in science and nature subjects.

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Angry mob ‘calls for tourist to be sacrificed' after she climbs ancient Mayan pyramid

She danced on top of the pyramid, despite the booing crowd.

Emma Guinness

It's an unspoken rule that tourists should be respectful when visiting sites of historical and cultural importance.

However, people can and often do overstep the mark, and one woman learned this hard way that this can have serious consequences when she climbed a Mayan pyramid :

In now viral footage posted on TikTok, the woman could be seen climbing the ancient structure - known as the Castillo de Kukulcán, one of the new seven wonders of the modern world - despite being booed by onlookers.

While this should have been a sign to stop what she was doing immediately, she did not and brazenly continued to pose at the top of the pyramid located in Chichén Itzá, southeastern Mexico , and even stopped to dance.

By the time she reached the bottom, an angry mob was waiting for her and were calling for her 'sacrifice' as a punishment.

As reported by the Merco Press, the crowd was chanting 'jail, jail, jail', 'lock her up' and 'sacrifice, sacrifice', 'because this woman does not respect the rules'.

This wasn't just any mob, either, and the video briefly takes the sheer size of it into account. To put it into context, there have been popular rock concerts with fewer people in attendance.

The woman is then sprayed with water as she tries to leave the historic site as the boos continue.

Climbing of the pyramid has been banned since 2008 by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

In a bid to deter people from doing so, there is also a fine that ranges from $2,558 to $5,115 USD, which is calculated based on the amount of damage caused to the pyramid.

While the woman's ethnicity is not known, the crowd added in their chants 'if she is from abroad, she should leave Mexico'.

Needless to say, social media commentators had a lot to say about the woman's actions, with one writing: "Please tell me she is not an American."

"Imagine someone from Mexico doing anything anywhere near this disrespectful to an American monument," speculated a second. "Every media outlet would be running the video continuously for weeks. But when Americans do it to a Mexican monument, it's not news."

"The crowd yelling 'jail, jail, jail!' makes me feel better about society seeing these acts as egregious rather than applaudable," added a third.

A fourth, meanwhile, said that the woman got off lightly compared to what the Myan people allegedly used to do to their enemies.

"The Mayans used to cut the heads of their enemies and roll them down those same pyramids," they wrote. "I'd say they're being nice."

In case it wasn't already obvious, tourists are banned from climbing these structures so that they can be preserved for future generations to enjoy.

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Discover The Best Mexico Historical Sites And Mayan Ruins

By Melissa Alvarado Sierra | Published on March 21, 2022

Contrary to popular belief, the Maya still exist in Mexico and other parts of Central America. Close to seven million people belong to a Mayan community, practicing some of the traditions from the ancient world and speaking some of the many Mayan languages. Their ancestors built majestic cities, many of which can be visited and explored today. Some are well preserved and some contain only remnants of their great past, but no matter which one you visit, you'll learn the mystical stories of the people who built a revered civilization.

1. Chichen Itza

The sacred and  pre-hispanic city of Chichen Itza  is one of the most famous Mayan ruins in the Yucatán peninsula and perhaps all of Mexico, with a history spanning almost a thousand years. The structures are an example of fusion Mayan architecture and show how the Maya and Toltec people blended traditional Maya construction styles with highland and Puuc styles.

But Chichen Itza is more than just a famous ruin. It's also an ancient observatory and a place where the Maya could indulge in their sky-watching obsession. Proof of this love for astronomy can be found in the carvings that adorn the pyramids, where hieroglyphs depict the celestial cycles. El Castillo and El Caracol pyramids are perhaps the most astronomy-focused structures — both were built the way they were so their features would align with the moon, the rise of the planets, the solstices and the equinoxes.

Besides its beauty and history, Chichen Itza also holds many secrets. One of the most celebrated is the dormant giant snake that reveals itself across El Castillo at certain moments during the year. This deity is known as Kukulkan and appears to be climbing the pyramid's 365 steps during the spring and autumn equinoxes. Each step represents one day of the year.

Another Chichen Itza sacred secret is Cenote Sagrado, which is a hidden sinkhole beneath the site. It is believed that the cenote was used during Maya ceremonies, including during human sacrifices to the god of rain. Bones and jewelry have been found inside the sinkhole.

2. Palenque

UNESCO describes Palenque in Chiapas as a prime example of a Mayan sanctuary. The craftsmanship here is famous for its elegance, demonstrated in the sculpted reliefs, which portray typical Mayan themes. The interior spaces are wide with many openings. The space also includes galleries which are decorated with sculptures and stucco, something rarely seen in other ruins.

This is the place to visit to experience the Maya's mysticism and Mexico's beautiful jungles. The sounds of Saraguato monkeys and parrots add to the magic of the temples of Palenque, and the road to the site is lined with beautiful and refreshing waterfalls. On the south side, you'll find the archaeological zone of Toniná, and in the east, across the Lacandona jungle, the ancient cities of Bonampak and Yaxchilán.

One of the most interesting things about Palenque is that the hieroglyphs here show the way the Maya communicated. Their words are carved all over the walls. Scholars have found this incredibly useful when researching the Mayan ancient logosyllabic writing system and finding a way to decode it. They found that the Maya living here wrote about trade, alliances and even war.

3. Calakmul

Many buildings from the original site survived in Calakmul. The ruins are found in the center of the Reserva de la Biosfera Calakmul and are located near a lush jungle filled with parrots, toucans and turkeys. Hundreds of bird species call this magical place home along with Saraguato monkeys and howler monkeys. You might even spot a jaguar.

Because Calakmul is very remote and because the dense forest almost completely conceals it, the site remained untouched for hundreds of years until American botanist Cyrus Lundell found it in 1931. The ancient city holds thousands of structures, and only a small percentage of them are currently excavated, restored and open to visitors.

In its glory days, Calakmul was home to about 65,000 people. The area included canals and reservoirs and the residents survived by using an intricate farming system. The Maya who lived here also depicted images of their daily life on murals, and some of these were only recently discovered. They should be open to the public soon.

The Great Pyramid is perhaps the most-visited and famous structure here. It has a base of about five acres and it's 175 feet high, making it the tallest in the Yucatán peninsula.

Tulum's Playa Ruinas, which are located in the Riviera Maya, is probably one of the most-photographed beaches in Mexico, likely because it's an idyllic backdrop for social media photos. Beach-seekers and yoga enthusiasts come here from around the globe and visit the famed ruins that are near a turquoise sea and bright white sand.

El Castillo is Tulum's most popular ruin and it's located on a clifftop, because its original purpose was to serve as a watchtower. El Castillo is almost as popular with tourists as Chichén Itza and Teotihuacan, and several of its temples and castles date back to pre-Columbian times.

These ruins may be on a smaller scale than others in Mexico, but Tulum more than makes up for this with its  paradisiacal Mexican landscape . Tulum, also known as "the walled city," served as a trading port and some of its structures also date back to the Post-Classic period. When the Spanish arrived, Tulum was still a bustling city.

Don't miss the Temple of Frescoes, El Castillo and of course, the beach at Playa del Carmen, Akumal or any of the other popular ocean spots.

5. Monte Alban

Monte Alban was built on a hilltop and has panoramic views of the ruins of this once-dominant empire. It was inhabited for more than 1,500 years by Zapotecs, Olmecs and Mixtecs, all of whom predated and influenced the Maya. These groups built dams, canals, pyramids and mounds in Monte Alban, creating a fascinating topography. According to scholars, the buildings were built to withstand earthquake activity.

This UNESCO World Heritage Site has two distinct areas: the historic center known as Oaxaca de Juarez and Monte Alban, where the ruins are located. The archeological section was founded around 500 B.C. and was the home of more than 30,000 people. It still has a ballgame court, observatory, religious temple, pyramids, tombs and drawings carved on hundreds of stones.

One unmissable area here is Plaza de los Danzantes, a square where petroglyphs of muscular men dancing can be seen. Scholars say the images depict men performing a ritual dance as a captured enemy is tortured. Other hieroglyphs show a calendar, including one that's aligned with the polar star that points to the north.

6. Teotihuacan

This ancient Mesoamerican site, which is located north of Mexico City, was settled around 400 B.C. and was one of the most powerful cities in the region. The city was lived in, then abandoned, by different groups for hundreds of years until it was discovered by the Aztecs in the 1400s. Its past is unknown, as is exactly who built the monumental site. However, its architecture, carvings and other aspects of the site resemble those settled by the Maya.

Teotihuacan contains many plazas, temples, pyramids and apartment compounds, and the most famous structures are the Pyramid of the Moon, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Temple of Quetzacoatl.

The religion of the people who inhabited Teotihuacan is difficult to discern because of the mystery surrounding the area, but its architecture demonstrates that this was a polytheistic society. The main deity was the Great Goddess of Teotihuacan, who is depicted as a spider.

The complex inspires all who visit because of its technological and architectural marvels. Many call Teotihuacan Mesoamerica's greatest city. It is also the least understood.

7. Ek Balam

The famous city of Ek Balam is a fascinating site, with a jungle still covering most of its structures. When you first see the area, it will probably remind you of movies you've seen. There's a ball court and arches surrounded by dense vegetation as well as the famous giant Acropolis, which is a restored gallery made up of different chambers.

Inside the Acropolis, paintings accompany the writing on the walls. One painting in particular, the Mural of the 96 Glyphs, is often called a masterwork of calligraphy. Other paintings depict mythological scenes, the moment of death and various deities.

Something to keep an eye out for is the sacbe arch, which is an ancient road that connected Ek Balam to other Maya kingdoms like Chichen Itza. These roads were common in many Maya cities. If you go to the very top of the main temple, you'll be able to see Coba, another ancient city that was connected to Ek Balam by a sacbe.

The main pyramid in Ek Balam is a massive structure measuring 32 meters high. Its entrance was built to look like a huge jaguar mouth, and there are stucco sculptures surrounding the mouth that resemble skulls, Maya angels and shamans.

This set of ruins is one of the  most famous sites in Mexico . Uxmal means "built three times" in Mayan, and this refers to the intricate construction of the Pyramid of the Magician, which was built on top of other pyramids. It was the home of more than 25,000 people and catapulted to notoriety around 700-900 A.D. The Maya who built it were well-versed in astronomy, and the main pyramid was the pyramid of the Soothsayer. It served as the ceremonial center.

Many buildings were decorated with motifs and sculptures of Chaac, the god of rain. This god was particularly honored because Uxmal lacked natural water supplies. Unlike other ancient cities, this one was not built near a cenote. The inhabitants of Uxmal were desperate for water and revered Chaac in the hope of getting enough rain to support their city.

Scholars consider Uxmal to be one of the high points of Mayan architecture along with neighboring Ladbna, Sayil and Kabah. The most appealing parts of Uxmal are the ceremonial structures because they represent the pinnacle of Mayan achievement in design and art.

This ancient site is located in Quintana Roo, which is about 25 miles from Tulum. Coba means "water stirred by wind" and the city was first settled around 100 B.C. It's a beautiful, picturesque town surrounded by a bright green jungle. The ruins are spread out across the jungle but are easy to find. Originally, Coba was home to about 50,000 people and was famous for having a system of roadways, or sacbes, as well as many monuments. The ruins house two big lagoons and most of it remains unexcavated because of how recently it was rediscovered. In addition, excavation efforts were stalled by the Caste War and a lack of money to fund an excavation.

The main attraction in Coba is the ancient pyramid, which has 130 steps that visitors can hike up to reach the very top of the pyramid. For views of Yucatan, visit the Nohoch Mul Pyramid, where you can see the two lagoons as well as restricted areas like Macanxoc. Head to the Coba Group area to see the church or to Conjunto de Pinturas for a peek at the Pyramid of the Painted lintel, which has a variety of artwork.

Coba Stelae is where the monuments are located. These monuments depict the clothes, rituals and roles of the people who lived in Coba. The hieroglyphs also depict the social rituals and political structures of the inhabitants, including the dates of and stories about major events in the town.

If you're looking for an adventure that includes architecture, culture, mythology and mystery, Maya ruins are a fantastic choice for  your next vacation , no matter which cities you choose to explore.

Written By MELISSA ALVARADO SIERRA

Melissa Alvarado Sierra is a journalist, author and sailor. She's been exploring coastal destinations around the world for more than a decade, always searching for authentic experiences to share with her adventurous readers. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in  The New York Times, Lonely Planet, Orion Magazine, AFAR, USA Today  and others.

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15 Facts About Chichen Itza, One Of The 7 Wonders Of The World

• Chichen Itza is a top cruise attraction, with many tourists visiting from nearby ports on organized tours.
• Local vendors sell goods near Chichen Itza, although tourists should be prepared for potential persistence.
• Chichen Itza was discovered twice and was used as an observatory by the Mayans. It is being restored and may have been used for sacrifices.

Chichen Itza is one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World and is a historic site situated in Yucatán, Mexico. While most people realize that Chichen Itza was built by the Mayans thousands of years ago, there are many things tourists don't realize about this marvelous attraction. There are many interesting facts about Chichen Itza that everyone should know before visiting.

Chichen Itza refers to an archeological site, not the pyramid within it, which is the site's most popular tourist attraction. The pyramid itself was built to serve as a temple and a castle and is known as El Castillo - there are a lot more facts about Chichen Itza that you may want to know about both the site and the pyramid before you visit.

UPDATE: 2023/10/26 16:37 EST BY NOAH STAATS

There Is Much More To Understand When Coming To See Chichen Itza

This article has been updated with new information regarding Chichen Itza, as well as two lesser-known facts about this world-famous monument. Whether someone is coming from their cruise, shopping with locals, or wanting to learn more about this iconic structure, Mexico is filled to the brim with history and Mayan culture!

Chichen Itza Is One Of The Most Visited Cruise Attractions

• Cruise passengers account for much of the tourism at Chichen Itza.

Something to know about Chichen Itza in Mexico is that it brings most of its tourists from cruise ships porting in nearby areas. Cozumel is a landing point for many cruisers, with them hopping on a bus to witness the ancient Mayan structure in real-time. For this reason, people will almost always have the option of booking a tour of the site via their cruise company, as it's continuously one of the most in-demand choices among people coming to the country. From water to Chichen Itza!

Guachimontones is another prehistoric site in Mexico worth checking out for anyone with time to spare on the mainland.

Related: The Longest Bike Trail In The World Spans All The Way From Canada To Mexico

There Are Locals Selling Goods Near The Famous Monument

• Local vendors line the streets entering Chichen Itza.

Although this sometimes doesn't sit well with tourists, there are hoards of vendors selling goods just hundreds of feet from Chichen Itza. Most people are fairly calm about selling to tourists, although it has been reported vendors bombarding buses filled with guests in the area, as well as flagging them down at the monument. It's best to say no thanks and move on from the area if this persists. Or, if you want a handcrafted gift, then supporting vendors is a great idea: whatever makes everyone feel most comfortable.

It Was Discovered Twice

• Chichen Itza underwent two major discoveries, one in 514 AD and another in 1841.

One thing most people do not know about Chichen Itza is that it was discovered twice. In 514 AD, a priest by the name of Lakin Chan discovered the site that is known as Chichen Itza. It is believed that Chan was also referred to as Itzamna. Chichen Itza translates as “at the mouth of the well of the Itza.” Over the years following its abandonment, Chichen Itza was lost, and Mexico fell into turmoil and was ravaged by a series of wars. In 1841, American Explorer John Lloyd Stephens stumbled upon this site once again and turned it over to Mexico.

Related: Mayapan: Visit One Of The Yucatan's Most Stunning But Rarely Visited Mayan Sites

It Was Used As An Observatory

• At one point, Chichen Itza was used as an observatory.

The Chichen Itza is a marvelous site due to its rich architecture and historical value, but it also houses evidence that the Mayans were definitely ahead of their time. For starters, the Chichen Itza housed craftspeople, artisans, and scholars and was by no means a civilization of simple people. The Mayans were people of science and math and especially excelled in the field of astronomy. For this reason, tourists can visit the Mayan observatory known as El Caracol, which once was used by the Mayans to gaze into the heavens and study the motions of Venus.

It's Built With Diverse Materials

• The pyramids of Chichen Itza have been made with local materials, such as mica.

The pyramids of Chichen Itza have been a popular attraction for ages, but now they are being questioned, or rather, the method in which they were built. Historians have analyzed the buildings and structures located within this site and have found a variety of diverse materials that do not originate locally in Yucatan, Mexico . One of these materials is mica, which was used by the Mayans during construction to insulate their buildings, but there is one problem. Mica is found 2,000 miles away from the pyramids in Brazil, and scientists are baffled as to how it was transported without vehicles.

It Was Built Near Sinkholes

• This structure was built near sinkholes, often believed to be used for human sacrifice.

Another thing most people do not know about Chichen Itza is that it was built near sinkholes. While your first reaction to reading that might be confusion or worry, there was a very good reason for the Mayans establishing their community near two sinkholes. The area is generally spotted with numerous sinkholes in the limestone earth and is stable. They actually provided the only source of freshwater to the people of the area as there are no rivers or lakes nearby. Therefore, Chichen Itza was built near two massive sinkholes to ensure water availability year-round. These sinkholes are called cenotes and have clean water in them ( cenotes are also one of the top tourist attractions of the Yucatán Peninsula ).

It Is Being Restored

• Many restoration projects have kept Chichen Itza looking beautiful after all these years.

One thing most people find surprising about the buildings in Chichen Itza, particularly El Castillo, is the incredible condition it is in after all these centuries. This is due to the restoration projects headed by the Mexican government and some universities to ensure these structures stand the test of time.

Restoration efforts began in 1923 when Sylvanus Morley, an archaeologist, headed an expedition to the pyramid and realized it had suffered a great deal of decay. After gaining entrance to the pyramid, restoration efforts were started and continue to this day; due to this, El Castillo is stronger than ever.

It May Have Been Used For Sacrifices

• Many believe that sinkholes surrounding Chichen Itza were used for sacrifices during times of heartache.

Next up on this list is a morbid fact about Chichen Itza, which is not entirely butterflies and rainbows. The Mayans were peaceful and smart people but also believed in curses and sacrifice to the gods they worshiped. The sinkholes mentioned above were frequently used for sacrifices during times of adversity, such as a drought or famine. The Mayans would choose a person to be sacrificed to the gods in hopes that this would bring them luck. In addition to sacrifices, the Mayans were also big fans of death penalties, which were gruesome and publicized to maintain order and spread fear.

It Isn't Entirely Mayan

• The Chichen Itza was built in two stages: the pre-Classic and the latter period.

Next up is a fact that startles most people when they hear it, and it truly is shocking. Historians suggest that this famous Mayan community may not have been entirely Mayan, and that is true. The Chechen Itza was built in two stages, the pre-Classic and the latter period. The pre-Classic period was greatly influenced by the Mayans, but following an invasion of Toltecs in the 10th century, this all changed. As a matter of fact, the most iconic buildings of Chichen Itza, such as the Temple Pyramid El Castillo, may have been built by the Toltecs and not the Mayans.

There Are Smaller Pyramids Within

• There is a smaller pyramid cluster hiding below the El Castillo.

Another fact to know about Chichen Itza is that while the huge pyramid of El Castillo looms at a whopping 98 feet , it is, in fact, hiding something beneath it. Within the pyramid are two smaller pyramids that stand at 65.5 feet and 33 feet. The smallest of the three pyramids is believed to have been built by the Mayans, as it features a unique Colombian-style architecture style. In contrast, the other pyramids have Mexican influences in them. Scientists are studying the smaller pyramid to learn more about the ways of the Mayans, as the ways of the Toltecs are shown on El Castillo with its carvings and sculptures.

Related: This Forgotten City Has The Tallest Mayan Pyramid (& Its Not Chichen Itza)

There Was A Death At The Itza

• Tourists in modern times are not permitted to climb or even touch Chichen Itza.

Tourists at the Chichen Itza are frequently disappointed to know that they cannot climb to the top of the pyramid, and here is why. Until 2006 , tourists were allowed to climb to the top of El Castillo to gaze upon the sculptures at the top. That was until an American tourist stumbled on her way down and fell to her death. These accidents are increasingly common, and for this reason, the steps of El Castillo are restricted. In addition to providing an added layer of safety to tourists, this ensures the structure will not be damaged by the feet of hundreds of thousands of tourists climbing the steps.

That said, this Mayan pyramid in Mexico DOES allow climbing , so that's something to think about.

Chichen Itza's Glory Declined Mysteriously

• The Mayans are said to have vanished sometime around the 14th century.

This once great empire met its sudden doom when the Mayans who once inhabited this land mysteriously left in the 14th century and never returned to it once again. The Chichen Itza was a symbol of perseverance and power to the Mayans, who had moved around, ravaged by warfare until settling in the Itza. Their civilization was one of the most advanced of its time. Still, it met its sudden end due to a series of issues, such as drought and famine. After the fall of Chichen Itza, the Mayans persevered in the North till the 16th century.

Chichen Itza Has The Largest Mayan Ballcourt

• Chichen Itza is home to the largest Ballcourt known in Mesoamerica.

Much is not known about the Mayan Ballgame, but it would seem that for the Mayans, the game was more ritual in nature. The game was associated with human sacrifice, and the exact rules remain unknown (except it would seem players could only use their hips and thighs. Chichen Itza is home to the largest Ballcourt known in Mesoamerica .

Chichen Itza Has A Sacrificial Cenote

• There is a sacred cenote at Chichen Itza, where sacrifices occur.

At Chichen Itza, visitors can find the Sacred Cenote . It is an ancient sinkhole that the Mayans believed was sacred. Numerous artifacts have been discovered at the bottom of this cenote, including things associated with sacrifice, like gold, jade, incense, and human bones. The human skeletons include warriors, children, and maidens. Also, at Chichen Itza, visitors can see the Mayan baths where sacrificial victims were ritually cleaned before their sacrifice.

Chichen Itza Is One Of The Most Touristic Mayan Sites

• Chichen Itza remains one of the most popular Mayan sites in the world.

Chichen Itza is not only one of the most popular archeological sites in Mexico, but it is also likely the most popular Mayan archeological site in all of the ancient Mayan world. It is far from the only ancient Mayan city to have impressive ruins. Still, it is one of the most accessible and best known, and it benefits from being in Mexico (Tikal is remote in the jungle in Guatemala). Chichen Itza attracts around 2 million tourists every year.