Kabah and the caves of Loltun

Kabah is a new site added for this trip.  It's very small, and in the region of the Yucatan called "Puuc," which is a rocky, hilly area (in an otherwise flat peninsula).  There are hundreds of Mayan sites in this area,  with most not totally excavated or open to the public.

Above: students with one of the ruins at Kabah in the background.  Below: Kabah

Above: Professor Wolynec instructing the guides, Edwin and Josue.   Mayan arches showing the narrowness of the rooms created by this style of architecture.

Above, top:  A figure at Kabah, about 10' tall, facing east (back of the site).  Above, below: a Mayan face.  These faces, called Chaac, covered an entire face of a building, numbering in the hundreds.  The face displays a hooked nose (middle), which the original explorers thought were elephant trunks.  Two eyes are on either side of the nose, with earplugs and earrings on the sides of the eyes.  At the bottom is the mouth.  Below: students sketching the Chaac faces.

We are bid farewell by one of the guardians of Kabah: