Xupa is an archaeological

Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

site located near the Chacamax river in the municipality of Palenque in

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Xupá was a Maya city and ceremonial center from the Classic period located on a strategic area over the Chancalá valley that was conquered as a province by the kingdom of

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamha ("big water" or "big waters"), was a Maya city-state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD ...

. The architecture and main temple of Xupá are refinedly decorated with great detail and show a remarkable influence with the

Temple of the Cross complex The Temple of the Cross Complex is a complex of temples at the Maya civilization, Maya site of Palenque in the state of Chiapas in Mexico. It is located in the south-east corner of the site and consists of three main structures: the Temple of th ...

located at Palenque.

History

The ruins of Xupa were first discovered and explored by Teobert Maler in 1898, giving an early conclusion that Xupa was a major site with the same level of importance as Palenque but later explorations found that the site didn't have an extensive area. Maler managed to enter the Temple of Xupa where he found a stone slab showing a highly detailed Palenque art style incised carving of a woman wearing a ceremonial dress with a deity statue on her back and holding and altar. Frans Blom made an expedition to Xupa in 1923 following the reports of stone mounds near an oil camp in the jungle, Blom tried to find the stone slab described by Maler years earlier but he reported it was already looted. The stone slab of Xupá was apparently looted during the early 20th century and it was found years later in San Francisco, California on a permanent exhibition of the

De Young Museum The de Young Museum, formally the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco, California, named for early San Francisco newspaperman M. H. de Young. Located on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of the ci ...

References

{{Maya sites Maya sites Maya sites in Chiapas Former populated places in Mexico Maya Classic Period Archaeological sites in Chiapas Palenque