Before the End of the World: archaeological investigations about Maya Terminal Classic processes on the Middle Candelaria River, Campeche, Mexico
Before the End of the World: archaeological investigations about Maya Terminal Classic processes on the Middle Candelaria River, Campeche, Mexico

Summary/Abstract: After my undergraduate studies in the Faculty of History (Archaeology Section) of the “Babeş-Bolyai” University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, after my graduate studies in Mexico-City and my employment as full-time professor-researcher at the University of Zacatecas in northern Mexico, I continued my investigations about certain aspects of the history and social dynamics of the Maya society in one of its poorly-known regions: the southwest of the Yucatan Peninsula, in the southern part of the state of Campeche, along the Candelaria river and near to the Guatemalan border; a research commenced in 2003. Maya culture is, for sure, one of the most famous, spectacular and public manifestations among the ancient human societies. I intentionally avoid the word “civilization” because that one can be considered as an effect of the racist, Eurocentric and colonialist point of views. This amazing culture developed during at least two millennia in a fascinating natural environment full of difficulties and challenges. Despite the great amount of anthropological, archaeological, historical, ethnographic or linguistic research undertaken along more than a century in the jungles and savannas of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador or Honduras, there are still empty spots on the map of our relevant knowledge about this ancient society. Traditionally, archaeology focused more on spectacular settlements, on the sites full of monumental pyramids, plazas, platforms and elite residential centers, leaving aside the more humble settlements, the secondary centers and rural areas. Archaeologists’ attention oriented more toward the so-called “Classic” period (3rd to 9th centuries A.D.), when the architectural, sculptural and epigraphic climax gave birth to the most impressive monuments. I had at least three initial reasons to start this project in that remote area of the Candelaria River, in a zone characterized by wetlands, swamps and anthropic savannas. First, because I noticed the necessity for a multi-site regional investigations meant to fill a great regional and theoretic gap in the Lowlands Maya archaeology. Second, the need to study a less monumental, less spectacular zone, to understand more deeply second-range settlements and rural sites. Third, I looked for answers in a region that had previously captured my attention several years before. Starting from the settlement known as El Chechen, the surveys led to the discovery of four important archaeological sites apparently dated to the end of the Classic period. After a couple of seasons focused on the use of surface archaeology techniques (air photos, usual and digital cartography, GPS, GIS, surface material collecting), we started the detailed topographic survey of the sites and the elaboration of digital maps.

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