[Aztlan] 100 "White Roads" detected at Chichen Itza

[David Hixson]

Thanks for the link, Mike.  It is wonderful that INAH continues to explore the sacbe network at Chichen.  I just wanted to point out that this is building upon research that has been conducted over the last decade or two, including the work of Rafael Cobos.  His research report (dated 2000) on FAMSI's website contains a discussion of these peripheral elite groups (mentioned by Peter Schmidt in the article sent by Mike) that were linked via the sacbe network.

http://www.famsi.org/reports/96025/index.html

Note that nearly 100 sacbes had already been documented by Rafael and others prior to Schmidt's press release.  But the use of the network in relation to water control is a new aspect I had not read about previously.

Readers should be aware that the vast majority of these sacbeob are not the broad platform-like constructions such as the sacbe that runs to the great cenote at Chichen, nor the massive structures like portions of the Yaxuna-Coba causeway.  Instead, these are more like what in the U.S. we might term "sidewalk" sized avenues.  Cobos has a photo of one of the typical Chichen sacbeob on the FAMSI website:

http://www.famsi.org/reports/96025/images/fig174.jpg

When rebuilt, they would appear similar to those of Oxkintok (only wide enough that one, maybe two people could walk upon it).  Here's an image of a reconstructed sacbe at Oxkintok (notice an intersection with another sacbe in the center-right of the image).

http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/oxkintok/oxkintok-25.jpg

Again, I'm very happy INAH is taking up the study of this network.  I look forward to seeing further results.

-Dave

> INAH has the story here;
> http://dti.inah.gob.mx/index.php? 
> option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=39&Itemid=150
> 
> A tiny URL;
> http://tinyurl.com/5hnjp5
> 
> Mike Ruggeri