Xcaret

This article is about the Maya archaeological site. For the modern-day commercial theme park and tourist attraction, see Xcaret Park.

Xcaret is a Maya civilization archaeological site located on the Caribbean coastline of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the modern-day state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. The site was occupied by the pre-Columbian Maya and functioned as a port for navigation and an important Maya trading center. Some of the site's original structures are contained within a modern-day tourism development, the privately owned Xcaret Eco Park."While Xcaret [Eco Park] offers many tourist packages, ranging from about $75 and over, a visitor can request to visit the archaeological ruins only for about four dollars according to an agreement with the Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Historia (INAH). However, park officials report that only about one person every three months requests that opportunity."

Toponomy

Xcaret means "small inlet" in Mayan. Its name comes from its situation next to a small inlet that in the past served as a strategic location for navigation and commerce for the Maya. The original name of the site was p'ole', from the root p'ol that means "merchandise" or "deal of merchants", which gives an idea of the economical relevance of the site.

Site description

Xcaret has many reserves that are open to the public. According to the research by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH)[1], the first buildings of the site can be dated to 200 to 600 A.D., but the majority of them are from the period from 1200 to 1550 A.D. The constructions of the Late Post-Classical period are situated along the coast; some of them in strategic positions for surveillance. The site had a wall, but unlike the one in Tulum that was open towards the ocean, the wall at Xcaret defended the site from assaults coming from the sea. The wall may also have served to divide the solid ground of the interior from the swampy ground closer to the coast.

Xcaret was inhabited at the time of the first stage of the Spanish incursion of Alonso Dávila and Francisco de Montejo into the eastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula (1527 to 1529). In 1548, Juan Nunez was put in charge of Xcaret. At this time, a Spanish chapel was built. This implies that Xcaret remained an important settlement. The thatched roof of the chapel has disintegrated, but the walls remain standing. The INAH divides the architectural formations into several different groups.

Architectural Groups

Group A consists of ten structures located on high ground outside of the protection of the wall, to the south of the creek. Groups B and C are also located close to the sea. Group B consists of five structures, while Group C consists of four structures. Group D structures were built on high ground next to the wall. These structures include a temple, which likely aided with coastal navigation. Group E is one of the most impressive structural groups. These three structures are near the wall, two of which are the tallest structures in Xcaret. These structures were likely used for ceremonial purposes. Group F consists of three formidably-sized temples located northeast of Group E. One of these temples has decorative trim, and would have been painted in different colors. Group G includes the Spanish Chapel. Group H and K both have two temples.

Historical Significance

There are documents which suggest that Xcaret was one of the most active and economically significant Mayan ports on the east coast. These documents make mention of marriages between the P'ole rulers and the people of Cozumel. These marriages were likely for political advances; they imply that Xcaret was politically important.

Archaeological Finds

During archaeological explorations led by archaeologist María José, 135 human remains were found in the chapel. In another case, DNA found on site was analyzed, and results showed that "the distribution of mtDNA lineages in the Xcaret population contrasts sharply with that found in ancient Maya from Copán, which lack lineages A and B. On the other hand, our results resemble more closely the frequencies of mtDNA lineages found in contemporary Maya from the Yucatán Peninsula and in other Native American contemporary populations of Mesoamerican origin." These findings suggest that the people of Xcaret are more closely related to contemporary Mayan peoples than ancient peoples.