Kulubá Archaeological Project 2001 Field Season

Introduction

This report concerns the 2001 field season within the Kulubá region of Yucatán, México (Figure 1.1). The project was sponsored by the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI grant 00051) and carried out with permission from the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia in both México City and Mérida. The Maya site of Kulubá (also spelled Culubá) is located in the northeastern portion of the Yucatán peninsula at latitude N21º 6’ 53" and longitude W87º 50’ 48" (UTM coordinates: 16QN2335076, E412084). Kulubá is 32 km east of the city of Tizimín within the Yucatecan municipio of the same name. The study adds to the small list of projects carried out in northeastern Yucatán over the last few years, among these the Ek Balam Project of Bill Ringle and George Bey, the Chikinchel Project of Susan Kepecs, and the Yalahau Project of Scott Fedick and Jennifer Mathews.

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Unlike its large neighbors such as Ek Balam, San Fernando, and Naranjal, the site of Kulubá features a relative abundance of standing architecture (Plate 1.1, shown above). Moreover, architectural studies of these masonry structures have shown that Kulubá has stylistic ties to both the Puuc area and to Chichén Itzá. Since the heart of the Puuc region is over 200km from Kulubá and Chichén is nearly 90km away, this architecture is of considerable interest. It has been the focus of researchers who have visited the site, especially the Chichén-style buildings. The Kulubá Archaeological Project was initiated to better understand the relationship between Kulubá and Chichén Itzá. Most discussions of this relationship have centered on elite-level architectural similarities between the two sites. The 2001 field season approached the problem in a different way by focusing on the lower-order centers in the Kulubá region (Figure 1.2). Mapping and surface collections at five small sites near Kulubá have revealed a minimal Chichén presence. No Chichén Itzá-style architecture was found at any of the sites we mapped, suggesting that elite ties between the Kulubá and Chichén polities were limited to their respective capitals. The Kulubá Archaeological Project has both increased our knowledge of some heretofore unknown and unmapped sites and has also used this data to examine the Late/Terminal Classic political scene in Yucatán from a different perspective than has been used at Kulubá.

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