Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Archaeological rescues along the Mayan Train route are the most extensive in INAH history and its progress near complete. The rescues carried out by the Secretariat of Culture of the Government of Mexico through the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), are preparing to wrap up for good.
INAH General Director Diego Prieto Hernández reported that to date, work along Maya Train sections 1, 2, 3 , 4, 5 and 7 are 100 percent complete, while section 6 is 99 percent finished.
“The Mayan Train has given us the opportunity to carry out the most extensive archaeological salvage investigation in the history of our country, the product of which we will generate new knowledge about the civilizations and cultures that flourished in the Mexican southeast and articulated in their linguistic diversity, social, geographical and economic to the great pre-Hispanic Mayan nation,” he said.
The anthropologist recognized the work of the various specialists who collaborated hand-in-hand with the National Fund for Tourism Promotion (Fonatur), the Ministry of National Defense and the construction consortiums among others, in the recovery of archaeological heritage.
The work was done through the Program for the Improvement of Archaeological Zones (Promeza), which optimizes public visits, research and conservation of 26 of these sites near the train route.
As a result, Prieto Hernández said that as of June 22, over 53,500 real estate (basements, albarradas, leveling, foundations or housing units) have been registered and preserved along with 1,111,608 ceramic sherds, 1,844 furniture elements (metates, figurines and other ceramic pieces), 765 vessels, 597 human bones and 1,348 natural features (caves, cenotes, or flooded and semi-flooded caverns).
All of which, he says, have been identified in association with ancient human presence.
Prieto Hernández also presented the work being carried out in the Muyil Archaeological Zone in Quintana Roo, as part of the Promeza Project, which encompasses the investigation and conservation of archaeological structures, as well as the optimization of visitor services.
As part of these actions, he added, the signage of the site has been renewed, the parking lot expanded and a new tourist entry and reception unit built, while an introductory room is set up to provide a more comprehensive experience of this pre-Hispanic settlement.
This particular zone is located 20 kilometers from the ancient city of Tulum in the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve.
He said that Muyil is also known as Chunyaxché and dates back to the Late Preclassic period (300-50 BC), to the Late Postclassic (1200-1450 AD).
