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INAH announces reopening of Kohunlich Archaeological Zone

Othón P. Blanco, Q.R. — The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) says the Kohunlich Archaeological Zone has reopened to the public. The Kohunlich Archaeological Zone was reopened January 29 after renovations through the Archaeological Zones Improvement Program (Promeza).

The site has new infrastructure in its public service areas which include ticket offices, restrooms, parking, trails and informative signage.

Visitors will be able to appreciate the enhancement of various areas of this important settlement, whose origins date back to the Late Preclassic (300 BC-250 AD) and Early Classic (250-600 AD) periods of this Quintana Roo region.

Among them is one that houses the Temple of the Masks, a building that preserves six high relief sculptures arranged in the bodies adjacent to its main staircase.

Kohunlich reached its peak population between 600 and 900 AD, a period during which most of the monuments that can be seen today were erected.

The head of the INAH Quintana Roo Center, Margarito Molina Rendón, reports that this archaeological zone has a transformed image and functionality, so that visitors will have a more comfortable experience, with modern facilities, a better network of trails and new data and information about the context, derived from the archaeological research and restoration work undertaken in the architectural groups known as the Plaza de las Estelas, Pixa’an and the 27 steps.

The systematic study of this Mayan settlement began in the 1990s by a team of Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) specialists headed by Enrique Nalda Hernández.

The Kohunlich Archaeological Zone is located approximately25 kilometers east of the Rio Bec region, and about 65 kilometers west of the city of Chetumal.