RARE MAYA CANOE FOUND IN MEXICO’S YUCATAN

Sat 30 October 2021:

A canoe dating from the Mayan period, the first to be discovered whole, was found in a cave at the bottom of a cenote in Yucatán (south-eastern Mexico), announced Friday the National Institute of Anthropology and D history (Inah) of Mexico.

The canoe believed to be over 1,000 years old has turned up in southern Mexico, officials said, part of archeological work accompanying the construction of a major new tourist train.

Until now, archaeologists in Mexico had only discovered fragments of Mayan boats. The one that has just been updated, dating back almost a thousand years, seems to have been preserved thanks to its location.

The workers who prospected the land for the construction of a new line of railroads the Yucatan peninsula, region of the Mayan civilization, indeed found it well hidden in a cave at the bottom of a cenote.

According to an INAH statement, the canoe, which was a little over 5 feet (1.6 meters) long and 2-1/2 feet (80 cm) broad, was perhaps used to transfer water from the cenote or place ceremonial offerings.

The unusual find was characterized by the institution as “the first complete boat of this type in the Maya area,” with scientists from Paris’ Sorbonne University assisting with an investigation of the well-preserved wood to determine its age and type.

New exams in November, with the help of the Sorbonne University in Paris, will seek to determine its age, as well as which tree the wood comes from, added the National Institute of Anthropology and History.

The canoe is estimated to date from 830 to 950 AD, near the conclusion of the Maya civilization’s classical era, when dozens of cities flourished across modern-day southern Mexico and Central America, accompanied by important human accomplishments in math, writing, and art.

It was found while workers building a tourist rail project championed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador were inspecting the area surrounding the cenote. (PHOTOS: INAH).

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