The Long and Winding Road:
Regional Maya Sacbe, Yucatán Peninsula, México

Survey and Mapping

Archaeological survey and mapping was conducted to the east and west of the known sections of sacbe at Kilometer 9, found in previous seasons. Mapping was conducted with a Silva compass and 50 m tape, by myself, and four other archaeologists from the Yalahau Project (Kathy Sorensen, Anna Hoover, Helen Neylan, and Dennis Taylor). Temporary stations were denoted with wooden stakes marked with flagging tape, and placed in a rock cairn. It became clear that a segment running to the east of Kilometer 9 continued all the way to the main highway at Puerto Morelos – a segment formerly thought to have been destroyed by modern construction. Workers from the village of Vallarta assisted us in clearing the heavy brush for approximately 900 meters to the east and west of the known segment at Kilometer 9.  Time constraints restricted us for clearing further in this area, however, we hope to continue clearing and mapping this segment during a longer season in the summer of 2000.

Additional survey was conducted with a guide several kilometers west, near Kilometer 13.  Our guide took us to a camino blanco (unpaved road), which led to what he said was an ancient sacbe. He noted that four years earlier the ancient roadbed that had been about two meters wide, had been paved with cobbles and sascab and broadened to four meters. He also indicated that before the construction of the modern road that runs from Puerto Morelos to Leona Vicario destroyed it, this segment of road linked up with the segment we were studying at Kilometer 9.  Although we attempted to pinpoint our exact location with a Magellan GPS unit, the unit would not function and a reading could not be obtained at that time. We hope to return during the summer of 2000 with a new GPS unit to confirm our exact location and determine if these two separate segments (Kilometer 9 and Kilometer 13) do in fact align.

Survey and mapping was conducted for approximately 1.75 kilometers west of the camino blanco with a compass and 50 meter tape. Mapping terminated when the cleared road intersected with heavy forest. Survey was continued west of this segment and a few poorly-preserved segments of sacbe that had not been paved over were located. Due to time constraints we were not able to map these segments, however, we plan to return to map these during the field season in the summer of 2000.

Approximately 400 meters west of the camino blanco, we came across what appeared to be two ancient termination structures on either side of the roadbed, directly across from each other. Structure 1 is located on the north side of the sacbe (Figure 4). It is a roughly rectangular structure with four visible courses of dressed stone, standing approximately one meter high, and measuring roughly 5.5 m x 3.5 meters across. The northwest corner of this structure appears to have been looted as there is a small looter’s trench. A large ramon tree is growing on top of both of the structures with an approximate circumference of 1.70 meters. While a tree of this size is not terribly old, it would pre-date the abandonment of the historic rail line, indicating that this structure is not a historic construction. Additionally, a relatively large amount of ancient ceramics were located around and on top of the structure.

Structure 2 is located on the southern side of the roadbed, and is more poorly preserved than Structure 1.  Three courses of stone are visible, measuring 70 cm at the highest point, and the structure is also roughly 5.5 meters x 3.5 meters across. A large ramon tree is located in the center of the structure with a circumference of about 1.20 meters, again indicating a prehistoric origin. Surface ceramics were also found on top of, and around the structure.

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