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About the place and
its name: It is located in the South portion of
the old Island of Cancún, at the moment together
with mainland through two bridges: The original name
of the site is not known, and only very recently it
was baptized to him with the name of "el Rey"
because in the place the superior portion of a sculpture
was discovered that represents an ornamented human face
with touched elaborating, that surely a personage of
high rank portrays. Today, the head of "the King"
is protected and exposed in the Archaeological Museum
of Cancún.
Direction and routes
of access: Kms is located 10. to the south of the
convention center of Cancún, in front of the
Cesars hotel Park and closely together of the airport.
Brief history of
the site: The pre-Hispanic occupation of the Island
of Cancún and "El Rey" in individual,
seems to have initiated at a very early time (ca. 300
a.n.e.), when surely there was small establishments
with low platforms on which constructions of wood rested
and palm of which any evidence is not conserved. Later,
between 200 and 1200 d.n.e., seems to have conserved
like a reduced fire position area, possibly involved
in fishing activities and the salt commerce. It is not
but until the period known by the archaeological ones
like delayed posclásico, that the island zone
cobra greater demographic and architectonic importance.
The structures that today can be seen in "the King"
correspond to that time (1300 - 1550 d.n.e.) and they
are typical examples of the known architectonic style
like Eastern coast, to which also well-known sites belong
better, like "Tulum".
Like other coastal towns of the zone, "el rey"
must mainly have worked as the center of a small city
dedicated to the marine commerce and the fishing activities,
because he is located in a privileged position that
allows the access as much to the Caribbean Sea, as to
the Nichupté Lagoon, places in where traditionally
diverse eatable species have been obtained. This apparent
bonanza would have been destroyed to the arrival of
the Spaniards in century XVI, because it meant the disarticulation
of the routes that had stayed in the Caribbean during
several centuries, later at this moment and the fled
one from the inhabitants of "el Rey"
and other sites. Towards the interior of the peninsula,
the area was vacated and at the mercy of the pirates
who knocked down these seas throughout following the
three centuries
Main structures: At
the moment the buildings located around two seats and
one road oriented on a North axis can be visited - South,
that is a good example of the advances of mesoamericano
urbanism. Structure 2 is the more important piramidal
plinth, because he is the one of greater height and
the only one that presents/displays the classic adjustment
of the religious buildings finished off by a temple.
The observed being, the building shows diverse architectonic
stages, that document the great constructive activity
that characterized to the zone during centuries XIV
to XVI.
He is interesting to
indicate that in this building the burial of a personage
of certain importance was located, to say of the offering
which it accompanied to him, that consisted of ceramics
objects, receives, jade, shell and bone, that today
can be seen in the museum of Cancún.
Structures 1 and 4 correspond
to ample palaces conformed by great galleries to columns
that maintained a flat ceiling. Inside these elegant
spaces, surely meetings of political type were made
and administrative which they attended the noble personages
who governed the city, the servants of these were based
in the buildings smaller than they are aligned throughout
the surrounding spaces and of the road to which reference
has become above.
The main set complements
with the structure 3, that includes at least three buildings
type palace, that would seem to have worked like real
rooms, because here glifo has been identified ahaw,
that denotes the nobility and sovereignty of its inhabitants.
General performances:
The site of "the King" is forced visit for
that arrives at Cancún; he is one of the few
cultural spaces whereupon it counts the tourist area
and it is, at the same time, refuge of an important
amount of birds and reptiles that have found protection
within the limits of the site. The quota of $14,00 access
is of and the schedule of visit from 08:00 to 17:00
hours of Monday to Sunday.
Services that are
offered: The site counts on parking, toilets and
an area of ticket expedition. Some certified guides
offer their services during the hours of visit and the
archaeological museum of Cancún organizes visits
guided for scholastic groups and of people interested
in having greater information on the past pre-Hispanic
of the zone.
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