© Mike Reed
Just across the highway and 10 miles to the north is the recently renovated ruins of Dzibanché, my personal favorite in the area. Its tall, well-preserved pyramid/temple complexes are very similar to those of Tikal and are unlike anything I have seen in Mexico. The road to Dzibanché passes through Morocoy, a non-Maya community of colonists from other parts of Mexico. There are many communities of Mexican colonists along Highway 185 due to a government program to encourage the colonization of empty land by landless peasants during the 1960’s and 70’s.
The road to Dzibanché is well-marked and splits off not far from Morocoy. The ruins become visible as an island of old forest in the ocean of cleared cattle ranchland as you approach the parking lot. Although the cattle pasture is a sure sign of the increasing deforestation of the tropical lowlands, an advantage to the ruin enthusiast is the visible presence of numerous ancient house mounds and small palace complexes surrounding the city.
The forest begins at the edge of the parking lot. It becomes immediately evident that Dzibanché is not at all typical of the various styles of Maya cities in the Yucatán. One gets the sudden impression of being in ruined cities of the Guatemalan “Peten” style, like Tikal.
The day my group visited in 1998, we
were the only visitors. Near the entrance is the huge Temple Six, an excellent
example of the hybrid Teotihuacán/Maya style early classic pyramids with
the talud/tablero exterior. Its lintel, carved with glyphs, gives the site its
name, "Written on Wood." Temple Six is big and boxy and reminds one of
the large “Teotihuacan” style pyramid within the Mundo Perdido complex at
Tikal.
The plaza of Xibalbá, surrounded by
palaces and two tall
pyramids is the heart of Dzibanché. The Pyramid of the Owl, named after the
beautiful ceramic plate with an owl image in the center towers over the plaza.
An interior stairway leading from the temple one hundred feet down to an
unopened tomb at the ground level has stirred great interest among
archaeologists and invites comparison to the tomb of Pacal at Palenque.
Unstable conditions inside the
pyramid have prevented the
opening of the tomb as of yet but the anticipation of another great tomb find is
of great interest in archaeological circles. The beautiful Temple of the
Cormorant sits upon an unrestored pyramid directly across the plaza. It too has
evidence of a hidden staircase to a royal tomb.
A few kilometer drive from Dzibanche proper is Kinichna. There, the enormous pyramid is too massive to be captured by camera up close and can be seen from many miles away. Kinichna must have been the compound of a very important noble lineage because it was obviously part of Dzibanché, even though it is several miles away. It is the most massive single platform and pyramid of Dzibanché.
The early classic Teotihuacán/Maya architecture at Dzibanché has stimulated discussion about the extent of the influence in the Maya area of the great Mexican city located just outside of Mexico City. While many books and articles have been written about Teotihuacán influence in the central Petén, little is known about the geographical extent of their influence. The temples at Dzibanché have extended that sphere farther to the north of the Petén.
Other speculation by archaeologists concerns the role of Dzibanché within the sphere of influence of the great Maya metropolis of Calakmul, not far to the northwest during the late classic. Written evidence points to this relationship. Dzibanché is one of the most recently restored ruins of Mexico and is well worth a visit, especially before it become a tourist center in the future.
Copyright by Mike Reed.