The altar discovered a few weeks ago in Playa del Carmen belongs to a network of 150.
PLAYA DEL CARMEN Quintana Roo (Mexico Desconocido) – A few weeks ago, the news regarding the discovery of a Mayan altar in Playa de Carmen came as a surprise. However, according to the record made by the National Institute of Anthropology and History –INAH– the last altar found by the “Urban Cenotes” project is part of 150 archaeological sites found in the Riviera Maya.
In the words of inspection officer Enrique Terrones, and his colleague José Antonio Reyes, both representatives of the INAH in the state of Quintana Roo, the finding of altars in caves and cenotes is more common in the Yucatan Peninsula.
This is because the Mayans considered these sites sacred, where they thought the water divinities like Chaac and Ek Chuah lived. Much of the Playa del Carmen area has dry and semi-flooded caves, there are many discoveries ranging from complex altars to simple ceramic offerings.
Since 2019, the INAH Center in Quintana Roo started working together with the “Urban Cenotes of Playa del Carmen” project, initiating the inspection of the “Temple Cave”. According to the results, the cave was occupied as an altar between the years 1200 and 1500, dates that correspond with most of the altars found.
The Yucatan Times
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