11-12-08 The Ruins of Manos Rojas and Balamku

I rode the highway west stopping along the way at a roadsite ruin Manos Rojas. There are a few structures here, all badly ruined, but I just stepped off the highway and walked about 50 feet to a single Rio Bec style structure. Only a few incomplete masks left, but from the fallen stones, this building must have been very ornate with a monstermask doorway.

The best remaining mask, one of a stack of masks very much like ones seen far to the north at the Chenes site Xichmook.

This stone was most likey a huge nose the was over the central doorway which proabably had a monstermouth doorway.

The next stop was the ruins of Balamku. Balamku is a Peten style site with Rio Bec style appearing only at the very end. It seemed to me there was much Rio Bec influence in the early buildings, but rescent work has classified this as a Peten site because the ceramic material is consistent with Peten style sites, not with Rio Bec sites. Balamku is a moderate sized site, with three groups of monumental structures, two which are open to the public.

A Late Preclassic-Early Classic temple. In this structure was found the earliest monstermouth doorway, a hallmark of the Rio Bec-Chenes style. This building however is consitered pure Peten style. The remains of the mostermouth doorway are either rebuiried or gone.

The temple at the summit. Unlike Rio Bec architecture because of the rough, nearly unworked stones used and the simple design, no fancy moldings. This structure is well preserved because it was buired by a later construction, much of the later pyrimid is still in place as can be seen at the right. The cut though the center, as I understand is not because the structure collapsed, but becuase looters cut though it.

The inside of the temple showing the crude masory typical of early Peten structures, and very much unlike Rio Bec stuctures.

This is an increadible palace unlike others I have seen. The masonry is in the classic Rio Bec style, but the right and left wings of the palace are done in two different styles. One side is typical Rio Bec (with the false door and curved platform on the right), but the left side is plain, with a Puuc like molding on the platform (but the Puuc almost always used plain platforms with no moldings).

The Rio Bec wing of the palace with a the remains of a 'twin tower' style temple.

The famous frieze uncovered by looters and was found before it was removed. It is hard to believe, but a freize like this turned up in New York City on the black market. It originated from a ruin about 50km south of Xuphil. Looters were able to remove it, pack it and get it all the way to New York. A researcher was approach in an atempt to find a buy and an he turned them in. The freeze is now in the Mexico City museum. This is the upper part of the building, and a door can be seen below.

The masks uncovered at Ek Balam look very much like this, and is probably a good representation of Rio Bec style masks, however this example is probably from the late Early Classic, before the Rio Bec style was formalized. While the masks look mostly red, there is much fine details of paint still visable.

This type of imagry appeared on ceramics around 550AD.

The campsite, I rented the tent.

Distance rode: 73km

Total: 1544km

11-11-08 A Day Off

A mild cold I got was turning worse and I was exhusted when I woke up. I was planning to ride to the west to see some big ruins. It was going to be camping for a few days with a lot of hard rides, and Pablo was getting on my nerves so I decided to take the day off. I told Pablo that I would meet him at the campground tommorow. After an hour I looked out the window and Pablo was just sitting there. I asked him if he was going to make his bus, he said he was not. I told him I needed the day off and he needed to go or get another place. He asked me if I ment I needed a day AND a night off? I was very much not in a good mood. I rode to town to eat a bunch of food, got a bunch of beer, which I started drinking on the ride home and slept most the afternoon.

My shirt after the three day hike to La Muenca. Pretty grey. I had to take my cloths to town to have them professionally washed.

Rode:20km
Total: 1471km

11-10-08 Trying to Get to the Rio Bec Ruins Again

Tried to get the Rio Bec ruins again. What a waste of time, there were no guides around this time. I tried again to find some of the ruins just outside of the small town near the Rio Bec ruins agian with no luck, but the walk though the forest was very nice. These ruins are going to have to wait for next time.

Rode:74km
Total: 1451km

11-09-08 Return from La Muneca

I needed to see a tiny bit more of the ruins, so I took about 20 min to visit the tallest ruin at the site. A large section of masonry has been uncovered by a fallen tree (the roots of the tree removed a lot of soil exposing architecture). The blocks were about 2' wide by 1' tall, and were between 3-5' deep into the structure. Very much unlike any other wall I have seen, and I think very early.

A large section of exposed wall, probably this section was once covered with a large mask made from stucco.

One of the larger looting tunnels. Very few details in these holes, only a few early floors could be seen in a few of the tunnels.

Not the largest, but a typical wall stone.

The walk home was exhusting and my head hurt from dehyration. The trail was open from yesterday, so the distance that took a full day we were able to do in about 4 hours. Our guide was an ace with his gun, and shot a few turkeys on the way home stuffing them into his backpack. He cleaned on bird when we took a break at our first camp, the coles were still buring from 2 nights ago and we relite the fire to keep the bugs away. After cleaning the turkey, he cleaned his knife and hands with a lime he brought. About 10km from his house his wife met us with horses to carry our bags and some increadible chilli rellenos. When we got back we had some eggs, beans and turkey before heading back to Zoh Laguna. I must have picked more then two dozen ticks off me.

11-08-08 The Ruins of La Muneca

If the trail was clear we could make it to the ruins by 10:30, and be home today. The first 3km or so was pretty good, but then what was until now 'a trail' was just forest, and we had to cut our way though, very time consuming. After an an hour or so, our guide climbed a tree to try and locate ourselves and the ruins.

The forest is full of this. It looks like melting snow in the spring, but it is melting limestone. I kept thinking how terrable it would be to fall onto it. While not super sharp, it was a lot like rusty metal and would cut you open very bad. Many stones from the ruins look like this. One of the reasons the ruins of this area are so poorly known, is because of the stone. Unlike in other regions, the stone here melts far more quickly with water and rain, so both buildings and carvings decay very quickly. Stellas, the large carved stones with writing are abundent here. At Calakmul they have found more then 120, more than any other site, but nearly all the texts have melted off.

Can you see the snake here? It is coiled and ready to jump. I have no idea how I saw it, I swear it was a 6th sense. Had I not seen it I would probably have to have been carried back some 15+km and have been very sick for weeks.

The same snake after a few wacks with a stick.

Our guide in a tree. Had to see him and he is only about half way up. I have never seen anyone climb a tree so well, and an adult at that!

In the end 10:30 passed and we did not get to the ruins until about 5pm, nearly dark. Our guide in the end climbed 6 trees, and was cutting though the forest the whole time. He is definatally the strongest person I have ever known, although by the end of the day he looked about 5 years older.

We were nearly out of water, and we had to leave first think in the morning. So after all the work, we would only be able to see a few buildings. Sucks, but the buildings were increadible, and very much worth the effort. The masonry is very much unlike other masonry in the area, it is huge, and only similar to Late Preclassic masorny from northern Guatamala.

The building with the true arch. Classic period buildings have walls made from concrete and rubble, faced with blocks. One of the few known Late Preclassic buildings dated to around 50BC has walls without concrete fill, and is make from very large slabs like this building here. The exeptional quality of construction is almost certainly why it is still standing. Above the walls of the room (that are well lit) is the true arch roof now collapsed. Above the arch is anothern wall that looks like the wall of the room, the remains of a roof comb. An execptional building, and unlike any other building in the Maya world.

Looking out from the massive trench/tunnel under the buliding with the true arch.

The view from the second tallest temple at the site. This temple is very tall, but the whole site is built on a very tall hill surounded by flat plains. When cleared of forest, these ruins will be very impressive.

We set up camp at the ruins and made a fire. It gets dark here before 6, and the sun does not rise until 6. With no lights, it is a long night to sleep.

11-07-08 To La Muneca

We took a cab south and headed headed out into the forest on foot. Much of the road was muddy, but we avoided by taking a complex maze of paths though the forest. The road had not been used in three years. It was originally made for logging. It is now part of the Calakmul Bioresearve, so logging is no longer permitted. It was last used for a puma and jaguar study. This study ended when an exceptionally large puma ran up a tree to avoid the researcher. Trying to escape it jumped trees and fell. They were able to tranquize it, but it never woke up. They got sued and the project was shut down. There was a puma on the road ahead of us, but I did not see it. The tracks were everywhere you looked, and the cats must have been huge. People have been known to be attacked by the cats here.

We had to carry all of our food, camping gear and water, which was very heavy. We were able to drop water along they way for our trip back though which slowly made our load lighter.

We set up camp and made a fire. The fire was to scare away cats, but was also a very effective insect repellent. Our guide still slept next to his gun.

Puma prints were everywhere, and very big too.

This was over 10km into the forest, hard to imagin how it got here.

Camp on the old logging road.

11-06-08 More Becan

Becan was so increadible I wanted to go back for a few more photos and to make drawings of some of the newly uncovered complexes.

A large middle classic Rio Bec building. The pyrimid base has a network of halls and rooms with ceilings some 25ft tall. There is a small enterance in the rear, but it had been blocked off with stones so people like me will not go in.

Proabably the earliest uncovered monstermouth door at Becan. While most have carved stone covered with stucco for fine detail, this one was done entirly with stucco, only stone pegs remain on the wall to hold the stucco in place.

This room recently collapsed. when encased in earth, structures stay well preserved, once uncovered again, they begin to fall apart.

Rode: 36km
Trip Total: 1377km

11-05-08 The Ruins North of Xuphil

We moved rooms from Xuphil to a small town Zoh Laguna, once a logging town. A bit too late. I found that the cardboard room in Xuphil was not only home to bats, moths, and misquitos, but also a healty flee population. Taking a shower in our new place I counted 32 flee bites, and I´m sure there were more.

The area to the north of Xuphil, and below Dzibalchen is for the most part archeologically unknown. There is no doubt that there are many ruins, but the area is so large with so few inhabitents it is hard to know what may be there. This area is between the Rio Bec and the Chenes regions, two closely related cultures, so the area is almost certainly just like the north and south. There are at least 3 large ruins about 35km north of Xuphil, but I have not heard about anybody going there, but since there was a small faming community close to these ruins I wanted to ask around.

The road north of Xuphil


Knowbody knew about any ruins to the west of the town, the ones we were looking for. We were directed to an older man who had some large mound type ruins on his farmland and decided to go. He had hurt his toe. It was bandaged the then end of it was black, so we had to wait for his son to get back from school. After waiting an hour I decided we should just ride around for a bit. Riding north with a GPS we found a road that seemed to lead toward the ruins we were looking for. Down the path there was a turnoff just where the ruins should be, but a huge tree had been intentionally bulldozed blocking the path. For the most part you can step over trees, but not this one.

We went back to town and rode to the ruins. They were quite large, and I have never heard any mention of these before. No standing walls or buildings, but many stones that left no doubt there was late classic structures here. Fronting one of the two large pyrimids was the remains of a few stella and a most unusual stone that was unique but clearly related to ruins to the north. This ruin had another unusual feature that ruins in this area have, rounded, illregular plazas. The Maya nearly always built square, or otherwise geometric plazas, but here there are large curved and U shaped structures, very much like Roman ampithertres. We asked our guide about the ruins to the north and west of town again. He did not know, but we started talking about the road we went down, and said that indeed there the ruins there were big. The road had been intentionally blocked because too much hunting and logging had been happening, and that now there were was no way to go there. The property to the west was owned by a person out of state, and his family were the cartakers, and there was no way we could go. There are at least two significant ruins on this property. Shoot!

An unusual stella, plain but with a boarder like one seen in doorways of southern Puuc ruins.

A capitol which would have topped a doorway pier.

Distance rode:60km

Trip Total: 1341km

11-04-08 The Ruins of Becan

Watching the election results online. Torture...not waiting for the votes though, the same song has been on repeate for an hour. What is not torture is Obama is cleaning up. Today I saw the ruins of Becan. Becan is traditionally the main city of the Rio Bec region. Famous for a its dry defensive moat, the most formitable defence system in the Maya world. There has been a good amount of research pubished on this site. The first people here arrived in the middle preclassic, about 600BC. Evidence suggests they were farmers who moved up from the south. During the late preclassic, epecially after 150AD large constructions, plazas and the defence system was built. A number of constructions that have been uncovered are typical late preclassic in style, however the early classic had a strong continuity in style. Furthermore, monumental constructuions are believed to have started about 150AD, with the begining of the early classic starting 250AD, but I suspect these were built before 350AD. These constructures have large round corners. Round corners are a trait of Rio Bec style, but here they are very much like late preclassic structures at Yaxha in Guatamala and Lamanai in Belize, but also early classic structures to the northeast at Coba and Yookop. The largest pyrimid at Becan has three small temples at its summit, an almost identical configuration is found at Lamanai. Little is known about the following early classic period. At the time that the liturature I have was published, it was suspected early classic constructions could be numerous, but none had been found. Much work as been done since then, and while I cannot be certain when much of these newly uncovered structures date, but they are nearly identical is style to structures at Uaxactun in Guatamala dating to the early classic (450AD). add link.These Peten style rooms were later buried in 'apron molding' (as mentioned in my Edzna post, a typical late preclassic and early classic style). So these rooms are beyond a resonalbe doubt early classic. It is very much interesting that these high rooms, with walls the slowly curve to a narrow flat roof are diagnositc of classic Rio Bec architecture. So Becan seems to be activly building in the early classic with classic Peten style. The shift to classic Rio Bec style is dated to around 600AD. So what was the shift like from the Peten style to Rio Bec style. As i have said some think the Rio Bec style was so new that it must have come from an outside culture. The early building seen at Chicanna, thought to be early classic are numerous at Becan. What is so interesting is they already have the fine masonry typeical of the Rio Bec style, but facades are much more like Peten buildings. Very much unlike buildings to the north. I am convince these are the link between the Peten style and the Rio Bec style. Based on the more pure Peten buildings here, these tranistional buildings must date to about 500-600AD. So interesting, this will be my first ruin I will have to go back for a second day. Tommorow I am going to the next town north, Zoh Laguna where I hope to see some ruins that are more Chenes in style. Not sure if I will have luck.

An Early Classic passage under a plaza above. This style of vault has been called 'coke bottle', and was believed to be the oldest vault form when seen at Uaxactun. Older vaults have been found that look different.

A finished vault in the same style that was uncovered under a Middle Classic construction.

The back of this Middle Classic Rio Bec structure has been removed to show earlier Peten style architecture and an early palace (with the doorways visable).

These tiny brinklike blocks are nearly perfect. Why such effort that went into making these small blocks is unclear, epecially since they were covered over in plaster.

The front face of an early temple at the summit of the tallest pyrimid at Becan. most of this temple has collapsed off the steep edge of the pyrimid. This configuation is nearly identical to an Late Preclassic one in Belize from about 150AD.

Distance rode:18km

11-03-08 To the South!

We took the bus south to a small town of Ley de Formento. The hills are big down there and covered with thick forest. The most beutiful place i have been in mexico. Hard to compare it to the States, but it is up there with the most beutiful places I have ever been.

I got some contacts for guides. Of course the best ruins were on muddy roads. We could take a few days to walk or go by horse (still at least 2 days). I dont ride horses and they say it is a 20min drive in April. One of these ruins is supposed to actually be haunted. The proof for this is cited as they are the only ruins in the area that are not looted, but this is not exactly true. They say the ruins were in fact looted, but after a day of digging, they would return only to find that the holes dug the day before had dissapeared. Also, people who live near the ruins have heard their voices screamed from within the forest. Is it true, I´m inclinded to believe it. Looters here are profesionals, and such vaulable items just left out in the open is hard to believe. Anyways, I´ll get to go in April if all goes well.

A second ruin is close to town. The owner of the land was acting hesitant about taking us. He took to a small shack where a few monuments from the site were stored. They did not seem like too much, but one of them lists 13 Maya cities from the Late Classic. The most any other single monument lists is 4, so the importance of this is consiterable.

The relation the Maya cities had with one another is debated frequently. This stone shows that the Maya were well aware of the prestige of cities from a wide area.

I found out about this ruin from a researcher who over the last 5-10 years reported about 60 new sites here in southern Campeche, many of them being major ruins. He specifically told the land owner not to take anyone there for fear they may be looters, a real consern. I had emailed this researcher and he kindly gave me contacts. It is important tourist begin to see these ruins, so people can make money from them other than looting. I had my email with me, and he finally said we could go. It was a great ride in the back of a pickup. The ruins were entierly overgrown except for a looters trench. The hole was huge.

Sooo nice here!

No archtectureal features could be seen, but there there were many worked stones, and a small section of a wall.

11-02-08 Mexican Day of the Dead

We where planning on taking a Combi (a private van that is run like a bus) to the far southern town where there are many large ruins that have just been reported in the past few years. We decided that tommorow, Monday would be better in case potential guides were taking the day with their familys.


Back to the Rio Bec ruins. Of course there are ruins everwhere here so the second route went past more ruins. We road though the small town of 20 of November. The road was much better, but we got a late start and I decided it was best to turn back because we did not want to be out in the forest at dark. Pablo fell and we had to walk back to town. Rio Bec seems impossible to get to! We go some people to help us fix Pablos bike. They said since it was sunday they had a free ATV and could take us to the ruins in 20 min. Seemed good, we had to listen to a drunk man ramble for about half an hour while we waited. Of course i could not understand him other than he kept saying the ruins were very plesant. He also kept trying to communicate with hand jestures that made no sence. Pablo would not listen to his ramblings at all. Of couse we did not make it. We were told the roads were bad and to come back next week.

These beatles are huge. It seems people kind of keep them around almost as pets. They are so slow moving, but can fly too. These are called 'lobsters' here.

On the way back we looked for some other ruins near by. Did not find them, but the walk though the forest was great. Pablo is thinking he and it bike are not cut out for bike touring. I must say I spend a great deal of time planning my bike, which has been great.

Distance Rode:30km
Trip Total: 1263km

11-01-08 La Munica Guide Search

La Munica is a small Peten style ruin first reported in the 40s. It was never visited again until a few years ago. There are a few reasons why I wanted to go there. First, it is one of only a handfull of sites with standing Peten architecture in southern Mexico. Second, one of the structures has very large stones, an other unusual feature that indicate it may be very old, possibly one of the very oldest standing buildings (in the sence of rooms, not pyrimids). Last, and most intersting it has a true arch, as used by the romans. Get a text book and they will tell you the Maya never developed the true arch, and for it to appear on such an early building is against logic. The possible earliness of this building is supported by a second true arch found in the center of the largest pyrimid at Calakmul. This structure has been dated to 400BC. The building at La Munica could not possibly be this old, but it supports early builders used true arches.

I got a contact from the guy who relocated the ruin. The ruin a few years ago was an hour drive and an 3.5 hour walk by trail. The road is mud, and the trail is gone, but he was still willing to take us. It will be 3-4 days though the forest, and we leave friday. I cannot wait. Very few people have ever been there, and it seems very interesting to me.

It´s jalipenio season, and this truck brimming with them is just one of the dozens I saw (and I spend very little time next to the road).

Distance Rode: 86km
Trip Total: 1233km

10-31-08 Halloween and Some Haunted Ruins

Pablo and I started out for the Ruins of Rio Bec. The Rio Bec style is named after these ruins. These are ruinS because it is not a single site, but over 70 small clusters located over a good sized area. These ruins are infamous for the their difficulty to reach. Not only does the area flood frequently, but the thick vegitation has made it nearly impossible to relocate some of these groups after they have been found (before GPS).

Typically you need a 4w high clearance vechicle to reach the ruins, but this is expenisve and I like to ride the dirt roads on my bike. The ruins are out in the forest though a maze of dirt roads. I got some directions out of an old book and was willing to give it a try. The road was rough. Much of it was exposed bedrock which was wet and covered in a mossy slime rendering it very slippery. I actually fell, and the bedrock is very hard. This was all well and good, but then we hit the mud. My wheels locked up because the mud caked everywhere. Walking was hard too. We decided the bikes where useless and went on by foot. The mud was so thick and sticky we could hardly walk. The road kind river too when it rained. We quickly came upon a new substance that i believe was quicksand. It was only about 8 inches deep, but you sank right into it. Harder to walk though than 3 feet of snow. I had to Pull Pablo out of only about a foot of it. If it was much deeper it would be a nightmare. We had to turn back, I had to carry my bike, the wheels just did not turn. When I took the time to clean off the mud, it was about 20 feet before the wheels locked up again. That was that. I knew there was a second way to get there. If fact after talking with people knowbody had known about this route.

Mud sooo sticky!

This was just sludge, and it is hard to see, but the bottom was at least 4´deep. I cannot imagine a car passing though this.

We where close to more ruins of course since there are ruins everywhere here. Hormiguero just down the road was reported to be haunted by disembodied voices, but have no idea if there is any truth. I heard nothing. Structure 2 is the best preserved monstermouth doorway in the Rio Bec Region, really something to see.

Structure 2, a twin tower with a monster mouth doorway built on a grand scale. I look like I am 3´tall here.

A well preserved mask panel on the wall.

Sealed rooms inside one of the towers that have been opened by looters. Pablo is in one of the openings.
A second twin tower with a monstermouth doorway. The mask panel has been uncovered by looters. Their is a tunnel looking for more chamber inside one of the towers.

Pablos wheel was falling apart like i have never seen. He was lucky to make it home. He got it rebuit in town with ultra heavy spokes.

Distance Rode: 53km
Total: 1147km

11-30-08 In Xuphil and the Rio Bec Region

Got to Xuphil at 3 in the morning. It gets cold here at night. Xuphil is a truckstop town, very much not an attractive place at all, but there are TONS of ruins here.

The hotel(?) we got is cheep which is good, and bike tourists dont need much in terms of comfort, but the walls are made of cardboard, painted pink. Smells like a gas station bathroom too, but all other hotels are more than twice as much. Had to share a bed with Pablo, boo.

The room with pink cardboard walls. I stayed here for about a week. When I left I counted 32 flee bites, just the ones I could see.

There are some nice ruins in town, the ruins of Xuphil. This is my first ruin of the Rio Bec region. The Rio Bec style is very much like the Chenes style. There are some small differences, but many people think they really are the same region with northern and southern influences. I am inclined to agree. One of the most significant differences to me is the in the stonework, I am focusing on the stonework so this may be bias. The Xuphil ruins are small but very nice. Since the materials with me have been published, many new features and buildings have been unearthed. Nothing too remakable though.

The main structure at Xuphil. This is a `twin tower`complex typical of the Rio Bec region, but this example has a third tower in the rear center.

The center tower is best preserved. Most twin tower complexs have false temples, like this. This temple is supposed to look like other temples, but it is minature, and solid. Whil hard to see, this has the typical mostster mouth doorway with stacks of masks on the corner.

Rio Bec and Chenes styles are unique for the decoration that occurs on the walls. Almost always on each side of a door, and in sets of three. These masks are Xuphil are of a unique style.

Rio Bec structures are known for their thrones, many with decorated legs like this. This pattern is thought to represent a cave opening, or a crack in the earths surface.

In the afternoon we rode down the road to the ruins of Chicanna. A bigger ruin with many increadable buildings. Very intersting were a number of buildings of a very early style. The Rio Bec style appears ´suddenly´about 600AD. It has been suggested that the Rio Bec people were migrated to this area and brought their style. I am not sure this is true. There are no other areas with the Rio Bec style. The chenes buildings seem to be somewhat later, and the ruins at Chicanna suggest that these were a transistion from the Peten style that was dominate in the early classic, to the Rio Bec style in the late classic. I must see some other late classic buildings in the Peten style (like at Calakmul which i will visit soon). Interstingly west of here at Balamku (which i will also see). They have uncovered an early type of monstermouth doorway, dated to the late early classic, so the earliest example. Very intresting is the ceramics at this site mark it of the Peten culture, not of the Rio Bec culture, suggesting that Rio Bec was in fact a divergent culture of Peten.

Structure 2, dated to about 700-800AD if I remember correctly.

Writing preserved under the eve of structure 2. It is remarkable this has remained exposed for over 1000 years consitering it is an organic paint. This is the only example of writing like this on the outside of a building, and it is hard to imagine what other things that will proabably never be known about these structures.

This is structure 2 again, there is a lot of decoation done with stucco and painted many colors.
Structure 20 at Chicanna, two sweet storys of monster doorways!

The second story of structure 20 showing the side of the temple. A terminal classic structure, one of the latest structure built in the region, sometime around 800AD or later.

One of the early stuctures at Chicanna. These were built before 600AD, and probably date to about 500-600AD. They use large roughly shaped blocks and have trapazoid shaped doors.

I got some flack for the ´Mexicans hate black people' comment. Of course this is a general statement, and i did not expect anybody to read it as every single mexican person hates black people. I maintain however more people have volenteered their negative attitude towards black people to me than i have ever experienced before. From my perspective I entirely see at least the Yucatan has having broadly negative attitiudes towards people of african decent, and i cannot see any justifcation or modivation for this. Maybe that is just my experience. I still think wa it is strange and i do think that add on the truck was racist and would not fly in the US. Also since i have written this more people have said racist things.


Distance rode: 22k
Total: 1094km