Day 596
Chicanná and Becán
Well how do you top a visit to Calakmul? More Mayan sites of course! First, we visited Chicanna, otherwise known as ‘House of the Mouth of the Serpent’. It is a small site, build around 100AD, believed to be a centre for the region’s elite. It is famous for a temple with a rather large doorway, framed by an even larger gaping mouth of a giant earth deity. It has 4 main structures, with ruined stairways, intricate stone mosaics, another entryway resembling a jaw, which you pass through to reach the rooms inside. We wandered around, rather relieved we didn’t have to climb quite as high as yesterday.
Recent aerial surveys have discovered many more Mayan structures buried deep within the forest and they have been able to estimate a rough guide to the Mayan population at its height of 7-11 million people, living in an area probably no bigger than Wales. This was similar population of the whole Europe. Yet the Mayans simply seemed to disappear, almost overnight. Tom and I are enjoying studying research into the latest ideas of what really happened. I still think the biting ants got them!
We then cycled to the nearby site of Becan, a modern name, meaning ravine or ditch. To me this appeared to different to the other sites. First it was surrounded by a moat, just like castles in England. Then there was a narrow covered passageway, again this made me feel as if I could be wandering around York, so close to where I live in the UK. I walked through it several times, I could almost hear the ghostly footsteps of those who had lived here 2,000 years ago. I guess it was the impression these two structures had on me, that really brought home that all these sites were once vibrant cities. There are 7 entrances over the moat, leading into a site covering 16 acres, and it contains one of the largest pyramids in the area. Originally settled in around 700 BC it grew into an important economic and political settlement. Its decline began after it was attacked around 440 to 450 AD. It was fascinating to wander around, the pyramid steps though were pretty narrow and very steep, fortunately the authorities had provided to rope to hang onto as we made our way up and down. A bit of abseiling certainly added some extra excitement!
Next, Belize!
