One of the most advanced indigenous cultures of the ancient Americas,
the Mayans began as hunter gatherers and migrated into the Yacatan around 2500BC.
During the pre-classic period (500BC - 250AD) they appeared in Quintana Roo - it was this area that we visited ruins at Tulum, Coba, Chichen Itza, Ek Balam
The shear size and architectural fete was nothing short of extraordinary!
Considering they felt the "wheel" was sacred, therefore was not used for any constructions whatsoever…
The following photos are from the four ruin sites we visited:
Tulum…
Coba...
Our accommodation where we stayed overnight
This is a "Ball Court" - the object was to get a Rubber ball through the small hoop at the top of the wall, using only the hip to hit it. This was not a game, however used for various decisions needing to be made, including political and sacrificial…
The "Watch Tower" at a cross road connecting various main cities...
Below was our "Mayan Limosine" a typical mode of transport...
Richard climbed to the top of this!
Iguanas come in various colours...
Chichen Itza
The ruins covered a huge area here. We visited in the morning before it got too hot…
This pyramid is actually a second layer on top of an existing pyramid from an earlier era…
In the evening, we returned for a light and sound show, that was projected onto the above pyramid…
The below photo depicts the fact that most of the Mayan Ruins were brightly coloured structures - they used Jade, Dyes from Vegetation etc to achieve this…
Ek Balam
This is Richard climbing to the top…
The view from the top showed the area that Ek Balam covered…
No comments:
Post a Comment