Uaymil is a

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

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 ...

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

located on the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

of northern

Campeche Campeche, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche, is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, make up the Administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the sta ...

. The settlement of Uaymil occupies a small

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

approximately 2.5 kilometers from the coast and 25 km north of

Jaina Jaina can refer to: * Jain/Jaina, a follower of Jainism, an ancient classical religion of India ** List of Jains, a list of various notable Jains ** Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA) * Jaina Island, an archaeological site ...

. The site has been

archaeologically Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology ...

investigated by Rafael Cobos, now of the

Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán The Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (''Autonomous University of Yucatan''), or UADY, is an autonomous public university in the state of Yucatán, Mexico, with its central campuses located in the state capital of Mérida. It is the largest te ...

(UADY), who documented 15 structures, 8 of which were situated around a plaza containing an

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

(Cobos 2001). A number of additional

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

s and

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

were also identified (Cobos et al. 2005). Ceramic data recovered during

archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

indicate that Uaymil was predominantly a

Late Late or LATE may refer to: Everyday usage * Tardy, or late, not being on time * Late (or the late) may refer to a person who is dead Music * ''Late'' (The 77s album), 2000 * Late (Alvin Batiste album), 1993 * Late!, a pseudonym used by Dave Groh ...

to Terminal Classic site.

Ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

, lithic, and

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

data suggest that Uaymil had economic ties with both

Uxmal Uxmal (Yucatec Maya: ''Óoxmáal'' ) is an ancient Maya civilization, Maya city of the classical period located in present-day Mexico. It is considered one of the most important archaeological sites of Maya culture, along with Palenque, Chichen ...

and Chichén Itzá (Inurreta and Cobos 2003), but largely functioned as a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

directly connected to, and dependent on, Uxmal (Cobos 2004).

References

*Cobos P., Rafael (2001
''Classic Maya Seaports: Uaymil, North Campeche Coast''. Report submitted to the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies (FAMSI).
*Cobos P., Rafael (2004) Entre la costa y el interior: Reconocimiento de una región del occidente de Yucatán. En ''XVII Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2003'', edited by J.P. Laporte, B. Arroyo, H. Escobedo and H. Mejía, pp. 61–66. Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala. *Cobos P., Rafael, Lilia Fernández Souza, and Nancy Peniche May (2005) Las columnatas de Uaymil: su función durante el Clásico Terminal." In ''Los Investigadores de la Cultura Maya 13'', Vol. I, pp. 245–252. Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, Campeche. *Inurreta Díaz, Armando, and Rafael Cobos (2003) El Intercambio Marítimo Durante el Clásico Terminal: Uaymil en la Costa Occidental de Yucatán. In ''XVI Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala'', Vol. 2, edited by Juan Pedro Laporte, Bárbara Arroyo, Héctor L. Escobedo and Héctor E. Mejía, pp. 1023–1029. Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Asociación Tikal. Ciudad de Guatemala. Maya sites in Campeche Former populated places in Mexico Mayan chiefdoms of the Yucatán Peninsula Islands of Campeche Flora and fauna protection areas of Mexico Protected areas of Campeche {{mesoamerica-stub