Ancient City of Uxmal

Uxmal

Mexico · Yucatán

Ancient cityIntermittent excavationUNESCO · 1996
Approximate period700 CE — 1,000 CELate Classic; period of the main monumental structures See on the map ↓

In brief

Uxmal is one of the important Maya cities of the Puuc region. Its main structures include the Pyramid of the Magician and palace buildings with elaborate stone decoration; archaeological research has also revealed advanced rainwater storage systems.

What was found?

  • 1Stele with reliefs on both faces

    Both faces of the stone monument found in its original position in Patio Hundido in 2022 are carved. According to researchers, a female divine being is depicted on the north face and a male divine being on the south face.

  • 2Architectural sculptures depicting Chaac

    Sculptures on ceremonial buildings depict the rain god Chaac. They show the prominent place of religious symbols associated with rain in the city's architecture.

  • 3Chultun cisterns

    These underground storage facilities were excavated to collect and store rainwater. They document a technical response to water management in an environment with limited surface water.

  • 4Pyramid of the Magician

    A large pyramidal structure dominating the ceremonial center. Together with the decorated buildings around it, it illustrates Uxmal's monumental architectural layout.

What does it point to?

At Uxmal, depictions of the rain god and water-storage structures reveal the importance of water in both belief and everyday life. The placement of buildings indicates astronomical knowledge, while the stele found in its original position allows religious imagery to be studied in its spatial context.

What did it teach us?

  1. Documented the collection and storage of rainwater in underground reservoirs in Maya urban life.
  2. Showed that astronomical knowledge was used in the placement of monumental buildings.
  3. According to researchers, the stele found in 2022 documented female and male divine imagery on the two faces of the same monument in its original position.

Images

Panoramica Uxmal
Adrian Hernandez · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Latest news / selected archive

In 2022, work at Patio Hundido uncovered a stele in its original position, with female and male divine figures on opposite sides.

Record

Culture
Maya
Team / historical
José Huchim Herrera; National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH)
Coordinates
20.3593°, -89.7704°

Sources

  1. whc.unesco.org
  2. inah.gob.mx
  3. unesco.org
  4. INAH — İki yüzü kabartmalı stel, 2022 tarihli bülten
  5. INAH — Uxmal’ın belgelenmesi ve chultunlar, 2024 tarihli bülten

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