Uxul is an ancient Maya settlement in the
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 ...
region of
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 ...
. It was at the pinnacle of its existence in the classical period (circa 250 to 900 A.D.), and was located in a densely populated area between the larger Maya cities of
El Mirador
El Mirador (which translates as "the lookout", "the viewpoint", or "the belvedere") is a large pre-Columbian Middle and Late Preclassic Maya, Preclassic (1000 BC – 250 AD) Maya civilization, Maya settlement, located in the north of the moder ...
to the south and
Calakmul
Calakmul (; also Kalakmul and other less frequent variants) is a Maya civilization, Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul w ...
to the northeast.
Uxul is a Mayan term meaning “at the end”, signifying its remoteness, however this was not the original name for the settlement, but a name coined by the two men who rediscovered it in 1934, Karl Ruppert and John H. Denison.
Historical Importance
Uxul had trade connections that stretched as far south as modern-day
Guatemala
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
and to the Central Mexican Plateau.
According to inscriptions, at approximately 630 A.D. Uxul was annexed under the rule of Calakmul, which was situated 26 kilometres away.
Archaeological Discoveries
Archaeological operations have been conducted on Uxul since 2009 and this is primarily being managed by the
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...
in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
and independent Mexican researchers.
Digging was first concentrated on uncovering and mapping the old walls of the city, which led to the discovery of two very large water reservoirs, known as aguadas. These aguadas were particularly remarkable in that the bottoms were sealed intricately with ceramics, which would have been an epic undertaking of work for those involved, given that the pools are each as large as ten Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The researchers at the site had expressed a worry that any tombs potentially located at the site might have been already raided by grave robbers searching for jewellery or ceramics.
These fears were alleviated during an extraordinary find in August 2012; excavating a palace in the ruined city, archaeologists uncovered the ancient tomb of a young prince, alongside a rare artefact.
A concealed entrance to a small burial chamber was found in the royal palace, leading to the remains of a 25-year-old man and nine ceramic objects.
On one of the cups found, it contained a simple message saying, “
his isthe cup of the young man/prince”.
Another of the cups bore a date thought to be 711 A.D., giving some indication of when the monarch was alive.
A mass grave of prisoners of war, or nobles from Uxul itself, decapitated and dismembered around 1,400 years ago, was discovered in an artificial cave in Uxul, reported in 2913.
See also
*
K'àak' Chi'
References
External links
Digital reconstruction of Uxul
{{Maya sites
Archaeological sites in Campeche