Kulubá Archaeological Project 2001 Field Season

Environment

The Kulubá region is found on the karst plains of northeastern Yucatán. The climate in this area of México can be characterized as subtropical monsoon. The annual precipitation is approximately 1000-1200 mm with most of this falling during the summer months. From a regional perspective, this area of Yucatán is devoid of any topographic features. Yet when one begins to look closely at a localized area, many different kinds of rises and depressions are present. The tallest rises are inevitably the mounds of ruined civic buildings. Natural rises in the bedrock are called altillos and these were often places where the ancient Maya chose to artificially rectify and level for purposes of creating a platform for their houses. Exposed bedrock, laja, can constitute half of the visible ground surface in some areas where the soil is especially thin. Most soils are the reddish chacluum or the richer boxluum varieties. Three different kinds of sinkholes are often distinguished in Yucatán. Cenotes are usually barrel-shaped and drop from the ground surface vertically to the water table. A dzadz features more sloping sides and has only seasonal water at the bottom of it. Rejolladas do not contain standing water but do have a relative abundance of deep, rich soil. Present day farmers often take advantage of this micro-environment and grow specialty crops such as bananas and papayas in rejolladas. Several researchers (Kepecs and Boucher 1996; Ringle and Bey 1995) have documented the presence of cacao at the bottom of rejolladas, no doubt relict plants from pre-Columbian plots.

There is relatively little forest left in the Kulubá region. The site is found in the ranch zone of Tizimín where extensive clearing of the indigenous vegetation has created a vast expanse of pasture only occasionally broken by vestiges of forest. Trees often form hedgerows between adjacent ranches. Among the trees found in the area include the ramón, chakah, ha’bin, and balche varieties. Some of the fauna we encountered in the Kulubá area included mammals such as armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus), deer (Mazama americana), rabbit (Sylvilagus sp.), and squirrel (Sciurus sp.). We were also surprised to spot a lone spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) at the site of Yokat.

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