Muyil . Mayan archaeological site located in the state of Quintana Roo.
Summary
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- 1 Origins
- 2 Location
- 3 Importance
- 4 Description of the city
- 5 Architecture
- 1 Main buildings
- 6 Related Links
- 7 Sources
origins
It is the name by which one of the lagoons adjacent to the site has been known since colonial times and with that name it was initially registered. In the middle of the 20th century, it was again designated as Chunyaxché , after another of the nearby lagoons.
Location
Access to the area can be done by land or sea. The most common and simple is through federal highway 370, which goes north to the city of Cancun (150 kilometers ) and south to Chetumal (220 kilometers). The fluvial route includes 12 kilometers of navigation, from the Caribbean Sea to the Muyil lagoon, on the shore of which the pre-Hispanic settlement is located .
Muyil is located on the eastern coast of Yucatán , central region of the state of Quintana Roo belonging to the municipality of Felipe Carrillo Puerto . It is within the scope of the natural area of Reserve Biosphere of Sian Ka’an , enacted as such in 1986 .
Importance
Muyil began to be inhabited in the late Preclassic period ( 300 BC – 250 AD); no architectural evidence remains of this early occupation, so it must be assumed that the constructions were not made of masonry, but of wood and palm, abundant materials in the region. At that time, its inhabitants had an economy based on the exploitation of their varied environment (jungle, lagoons and sea). Likewise, taking advantage of the strategic geographic location that allowed them a quick communication with the Caribbean Sea through the lagoons and the channel that connects them, they established an incipient commercial exchange with distant places in the north of Belize .
During the period Classic (250- 800 / 1000 AD ), the site registers a demographic increase that begins with the construction of residential structures and religious civic, distributed over a larger area than that occupied by those of the previous period. Around the year [[600, commercial ties with Belize ceased and a new relationship was established with sites in the interior of the peninsula (a situation similar to that found in other settlements in the region, such as ( Coba and Séla ). part of the documented architectural remains date from the early Postclassic period and especially the late one ( 899/1000 – 1550), when Muyil, under the hegemony of Chichén Itzá first and Mazapán later, formed part of the coastal commercial network that took on an enormous boom in the peninsular area. In addition, due to its location in the Sian Ka’an reserve, Muyil is an especially attractive place for those interested in knowing and admiring the ecosystem of the central area of the peninsula, with its great wealth of flora and fauna. The regional environment is one of the best preserved in Quintana Roo. The architectural uniqueness of El Castillo and the arrangement of the surrounding buildings are relevant.
Description of the city
Of the more than twenty archaeological sites detected in Sian Ka’an, mainly in the coastal area, Muyil is the most important due to the quantity, size and complexity of its architectural remains.
Architecture
The pre-Hispanic settlement is made up of sectors A and B. The first occupies a considerable area and consists of several architectural groups, among which are pyramidal bases; civic-religious structures, platforms, foundations of houses, a sac-bé or internal white path, whose total length is 500 meters , and an intricate network of brickwork. Muyil B is made up of a few low platforms, a civic-religious building and several stone walls.
Main buildings
- The Castle is the most important construction, it has a height of 17 meters, and consists of a pyramidal base of five bodies, crowned by a temple. Two construction stages have been detected that present architectural features similar to those of structures in the Petén region . It is interesting to mention that in an altar or box located at the top of the staircase of the first phase, two offerings were found consisting of various objects (beads, earrings, ear flaps, vats and rings); of which 183 were made in jadeite and 79 in snail .
- Temple 8 consists of a pyramidal base of three bodies, whose main facade faces north; A small temple was built on its top, which was later covered by a similar but larger building. Like El Castillo, this temple has two construction stages, where the substructure preserves remains of mural painting. The architectural ensemble formed by this building and the adjacent structures is delimited by a low-rise wall or wall, which possibly contributed to accentuate the sacred character of this area.
