The Great Ball Court

One of the iconic sites at the ancient Maya ruins of Chichén Itzá, seen from its north end looking to the south:

The Great Ball Court

For some reason, this view doesn’t show up as often as does its opposite from the south end of the field.  Still, you can really get a feel for the ball court’s size — particularly since those are two people just to the right of this two-frame panorama’s center.

House of the Cenote, revisited

A straight-on frontal shot of the House of the Cenote, in the ancient Maya ruins of Tulum in Quintana Roo, Mexico:

House of the Cenote

No, it’s not the most artistic angle on this structure, but it does give you a good feeling for its size and design.  This photo was shot from roughly the southeast (from the point of view of the sea, basically) and shows the face of the original part of the structure.

Some years later, a small shrine was added to the back of this building, directly over a small cenote that gives the whole construction its modern nickname.

The Denver Panel

This is the Denver-resident half of a pair of panels, which together tell a story of the still-lost Maya kingdom of Sak Tz’i’ (White Dog). We know the name of the site from inscriptions on the panels, it was once one of a number of kingdoms that battled along today’s Guatemala – Mexico border. But while we know the site’s name, and the rough area in which it was located (since its name glyph appears throughout the area), no one knows the location of Sak Tz’i’.

Such is the ambivalent nature of many ancient artifacts you can see in museums today.  You get to see the artifacts, but many were ultimately purchased from looters (and by continuing such purchases, museums in the more-affluent parts of the world perpetuate the vicious cycle).  By removing the panels from their original site, looters destroyed evidence about the site’s history.

The Denver Panel

Seen at the Maya: Hidden Worlds Revealed exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

The two faces of El Castillo

The “marquis” structure at the ancient Maya ruins of Chichén Itzá, El Castillo (a.k.a. the Pyramid of Kukulkan):

The two faces of El Castillo

What most tourist brochure photos don’t show you, though, are its two faces.  The pyramid’s north and west sides have been fully restored (so, look as close to “new” as we can get), while the south and east sides have just been consolidated and stabilized (and so, look rougher).  In the shot above, north is to the right — the pyramid’s north face is what you’ll most often see on postcards and such.

Drama over Seven Dolls

With a bit of help from some HDR software (NIK HDR Efex Pro), here’s a scene of building storm clouds behind the Temple of the Seven Dolls at the ancient Maya ruins of Dzibilchaltún:

Drama over Seven Dolls

As I mentioned in a previous post, you can’t climb the steps of this structure any more.  Still, there’s plenty of cleared and accessible space available around it — so it’s not too tough to make a good photo of it.  Here, one of the structures called “Adjoining Rooms” blocks your view of the fencing around the Temple’s base.

I made this photo from just west of Structure 12 (which is also now fenced off).  On spring and autumn equinoxes, the Sun rises in the temple’s door, directly in line with the stela that frames the left side of this image.  As you might imagine, that means those dates are quite crowded ones at this (normally sparsely visited) site.

Temple of the Frescoes (revisited)

It’s the Temple of the Frescoes, in the ancient Maya ruins of Tulum, Mexico:

Temple of the Frescoes

Compare it to a photo from my previous visit, and you can see there’s been an unfortunate addition during the past few years — bracing in a couple of the doorways over on the photo’s left.  Apparently, the structure’s developing some structural issues — hopefully they can be addressed without too much change to the building.

Temple of the Seven Dolls

The star attraction at the ancient Maya ruins of Dzibilchaltún, Yucatán, Mexico:

Temple of the Seven Dolls

The Temple of the Seven Dolls was named for some small clay figurines found in an offering under its floor.  Sadly, a fence now keeps visitors from climbing its steps, much less looking inside the structure (likely due to vandalism seen at other well-visited sites).

Waiting for a break in the weather

Life’s been a bit busy for us lately, but we managed to run off into the mountains for a little R&R over the July 4th extended weekend.  One of our stops was the neat little ghost town of Ashcroft, near Aspen.  On our way through the sights, my daughter alerted me to this little hummingbird perched on an old bit of wood.

Waiting for a break in the weather

Fortunately for me, this little guy was very patient on his perch — alert and watchful, but never startling or making any apparent move to fly off.

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Out in front

Seen in the ancient Maya ruins of Calakmul, Mexico — five stelae at the foot of Structure II:

Out in front

Calakmul has no shortage of the vertical monuments called stelae, 117 at last count (the most of any site in the region).  Sadly, the local limestone is fairly soft, so most of them are eroded to the point where much of the once-rich detail has been lost to weathering.  But they can still make strong elements of a photographic composition if you’re careful with the lighting you’re working with.

Temple of the Cormorants

An angled shot of Building 2 (Temple of the Cormorants) at the ancient Maya ruins of Dzibanché in Quintana Roo, México:

Building 2 and steps

Dzibanché is an amazing little site to visit — it doesn’t get the press of the bigger sites (so there are never crowds), but it still has lots of interesting structures to see.

The Temple of the Cormorants is the site’s tallest structure, but sadly you can’t climb it.  Still, plenty to see from ground level.  This structure contains three burial chambers, one stacked atop the next in its core.  In the bottom one, archaeologists found the tomb of a member of the city’s elite, with a wealth of grave goods — including a polychrome vessel decorated with cormorants (giving the structure its modern name).

This shot’s taken from the northwest of the building — even from here you can see some of the structure’s many layers of construction, and you can just make out the stucco carvings under the sheltering roofs along the steps on its side.