fun friday (finally went on ´field trip` for class)
Today we finally took our class fieldtrip that my teacher has been planning for two months. The original plan was to go to the archaeological ruins of Dzbichaltun and Xcambo. Plans got a little changed. On the way, we stopped at an abandoned Hacienda named Hacienda San Igancio, which has the only gothic church in Yucatan. Haciendas are a very interesting characteristic of Yucatan, and came into exsistance with the Spanish colonization and the discovery of the uses of the sisal plant (or henequen in spanish). They are composed of several archetectural components including a church, the large house of the hacienda owners, a factory or two with it´s characteristic chimney, and sometimes a jail for the workers who rebelled. Spainards and others in financial and political power established these Haciendas as factories for the production of rope made of sisal fibers. During this period (I think as early as the 1700s or 1800s until 1910ish), the henequen industry boomed in the Yucatan as it was one of the only places in the world with such rich fibers. During this boom, many of the Mayan indians were forced (basically enslaved) to work hard and long hours at these haciendas. Because of this, many of the villages (or pueblos) seen today in the Yucatan were constructed around the haciendas. The then state of Yucatan (which includes present day states of Yucatan, Campeche and Quintana Roo) was the richest part of Mexico. But around 1910, all of that changed. The advent of synthetic fibers arose and the henequen industry fell into dispair. As you can imagine, the economic strife that hit this area, especially since they invested nearly all of their money into this industry, was incredibly strong, and consequently threw the area into an economic depression. From what I understand, the maya people who were brought to work in the haciendas stayed in these areas after the henequen industry ended and constructed comunities outside of the original structures. I saw this when I went to the village of Tepich this past Tuesday to research on the Days of the Dead, which I will inform you about later. One last and interesting comment about haciendas, is that many people are purchasing the abandoned land from the government and refurbishing them into beautiful tourist destinations. If any of you ever come to visit me here, we could go take a look.
After we left the hacienda, we headed for the archaeological site of Xcambo. Xcambo is a site fairly close to Merida, but located very close to the coast. We drove in these tiny white old VW vans that the anthro college uses for excursions. These types of vehicles are so ugly they are cute. Luckily, today was a rather cool and cloudy day, so the lack of airconditioning was not an issue. In the vans, we passed through Progreso, the main port town of Yucatan and followed a road parallel with the coast. On the way, we stopped at an ecological view point to watch flamingos wading in the mangrove swamp. Awhile later, we stopped on the side of the road in an area that look like water parceled off into quadrants for some sort of aquaculture. I soon found out they were constructed prior to the hispanic invasion by an assmbly of rocks used by the maya. These quadrants were constructed here for the extraction of some of the finest salt resources in the world and were of high importance to the archaeological site of Xcambo. In fact, Xcambo was constructed around these salt deposits as a site of exchange. When we arrived at Xcambo, there were no other visiters besides us. The site was excavated only a few years ago, and very few tourists know about the site. One of the first things I saw was a church, and I thought to myself, ¨That´s odd, a church at a Maya site.¨ What happened is that with the introduction of Catholicism to the Yucatan, churches were often constructed on top of previous maya sites. The phenomenon of the combination of ancient maya and christian beliefs or syncretism is expressed at this chapel today, when the people of local villages come to worship for plentiful harvests. As we walked throughout the primary area of the site, it became evident in its importance as a business center. In almost every section were large holes constructed into rock for the storage of salt. An interesting fact about these holes, was that when the site went into dispair, remains of people at the site were buried in these holes, providing a great environment for the preservation of skeletal remains. This is particularly rare because very few human remains are found at sites because the maya buried the deceased below their homes as a form of preserving the spirit in the home. Likewise, cemeteries were not used in the maya civilization if they were putting individuals under or near homes.
Overall, the site was really small compared to others I have seen. Because it is still very much integrated into the surrounding environment, there are marshes and forests all around. Many wild animals, especially deer come to drink the water and feed on the vegetation. There was also an abundance of horse and cow poop in the surroundings, which indicates that these animals from nearby ranches are free to roam into this area.
Back on the main road, parallel to the coast, we started our journey back pretty easily and calm. Then, the other van broke down, so we had to be creative to find a way to push it a long. To start, the driver of our van pushed it along pushing the front bumper of our van into the back bumper of the other van. Surprisingly, this worked for awhile, but didn´t provide good direction. After awhile, they tried to jumpstart the battery of the other van, but that didn´t work. So our bus driver got really creative and found a suitcase behind his seat and removed the leather strap. He then tied the front bumper of the other van with the back bumper of our van. Suprisingly, it worked for about 25km until we arrive in Chicxulub puerto where we found a mechanic. I think out of the several trips I have taken in Mexico to this date, there are few that I have experienced without car trouble. I suppose that is part of the adventure here.
Well, I´m tired of writing now, so I will finish later. I hope you all are doing well.
As always, I will put this on my online journal.
Love,
June
After we left the hacienda, we headed for the archaeological site of Xcambo. Xcambo is a site fairly close to Merida, but located very close to the coast. We drove in these tiny white old VW vans that the anthro college uses for excursions. These types of vehicles are so ugly they are cute. Luckily, today was a rather cool and cloudy day, so the lack of airconditioning was not an issue. In the vans, we passed through Progreso, the main port town of Yucatan and followed a road parallel with the coast. On the way, we stopped at an ecological view point to watch flamingos wading in the mangrove swamp. Awhile later, we stopped on the side of the road in an area that look like water parceled off into quadrants for some sort of aquaculture. I soon found out they were constructed prior to the hispanic invasion by an assmbly of rocks used by the maya. These quadrants were constructed here for the extraction of some of the finest salt resources in the world and were of high importance to the archaeological site of Xcambo. In fact, Xcambo was constructed around these salt deposits as a site of exchange. When we arrived at Xcambo, there were no other visiters besides us. The site was excavated only a few years ago, and very few tourists know about the site. One of the first things I saw was a church, and I thought to myself, ¨That´s odd, a church at a Maya site.¨ What happened is that with the introduction of Catholicism to the Yucatan, churches were often constructed on top of previous maya sites. The phenomenon of the combination of ancient maya and christian beliefs or syncretism is expressed at this chapel today, when the people of local villages come to worship for plentiful harvests. As we walked throughout the primary area of the site, it became evident in its importance as a business center. In almost every section were large holes constructed into rock for the storage of salt. An interesting fact about these holes, was that when the site went into dispair, remains of people at the site were buried in these holes, providing a great environment for the preservation of skeletal remains. This is particularly rare because very few human remains are found at sites because the maya buried the deceased below their homes as a form of preserving the spirit in the home. Likewise, cemeteries were not used in the maya civilization if they were putting individuals under or near homes.
Overall, the site was really small compared to others I have seen. Because it is still very much integrated into the surrounding environment, there are marshes and forests all around. Many wild animals, especially deer come to drink the water and feed on the vegetation. There was also an abundance of horse and cow poop in the surroundings, which indicates that these animals from nearby ranches are free to roam into this area.
Back on the main road, parallel to the coast, we started our journey back pretty easily and calm. Then, the other van broke down, so we had to be creative to find a way to push it a long. To start, the driver of our van pushed it along pushing the front bumper of our van into the back bumper of the other van. Surprisingly, this worked for awhile, but didn´t provide good direction. After awhile, they tried to jumpstart the battery of the other van, but that didn´t work. So our bus driver got really creative and found a suitcase behind his seat and removed the leather strap. He then tied the front bumper of the other van with the back bumper of our van. Suprisingly, it worked for about 25km until we arrive in Chicxulub puerto where we found a mechanic. I think out of the several trips I have taken in Mexico to this date, there are few that I have experienced without car trouble. I suppose that is part of the adventure here.
Well, I´m tired of writing now, so I will finish later. I hope you all are doing well.
As always, I will put this on my online journal.
Love,
June