Xel-Ha
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- For the game in which Xelha is a character, see Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean.
Xel-Ha (or Xel-Há in Spanish orthography) is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization from pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, located on the eastern coastline of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the present-day state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Xel-Ha is also the name of the surrounding National ecological park, which is defined about a lagoon (protected from Caribbean sharks by a shark fence), and the surrounding land and islands. The etymology of the site's name comes from Yukatek Maya, combining the roots xel ("spring") and ha' ("water").
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[edit] History
Xel-Ha was one of four ports for the large Maya city of Cobá. Tulum was the largest and the others were Tancah, located between Xel-Ha and Tulum, and Xcaret between Xel-Ha and Playa del Carmen. Playa del Carmen was probably a fifth port and there may have been others.
The evidence is inconclusive concerning a founding date for Xel-Ha, but it was occupied by the 1st Century and active during Classic and Postclassic times, with most of the buildings being rebuilt in the Late Postclassic. It was probably not fully abandoned until the 19th Century. A stela with an Early Classic date of 9.6.10.0.0 (AD 564) from Xel-Ha was discovered in 1841 by Stephens and Catherwood.
[edit] Maya site
The Xel-Ha ruins are mostly located on the inland side of the highway, although one island in the lagoon of park has remnants of a building. One temple, ten feet from the highway contains a painted wall mural of the god Tlaloc.
[edit] National Ecological Park
The park was founded about 1980. The main attraction is the large lagoon, which teems with tropical fish, and is fed by a river emerging from the jungle. Snorkeling equipment is available for rent. The limestone is eroded into a myriad of small caves, underground streams, and intimate grottos.
[edit] References
- Stephens, John Lloyd and Catherwood, Frederick (1843) Incidents of Travel in Yucatan Harper Bros., New York;
- Farriss, Nancy M.; Miller, Arthus G. and Chase, Arlen F. (1975) "Late Maya Mural Paintings from Quintana Roo, Mexico" Journal of Field Archaeology 2(1/2): pp. 5-10
- Fettweis, Martine (1988) Coba et Xelha: peintures murales mayas: une lecture de l'image dans le Quintana Roo postclasique (Mem. Institut d'Ethnologie #27), Institut d'Ethnologie, Paris;
- Miller, Arthur G. (1982) On the Edge of the Sea: Mural Painting at Tancah-Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, D.C.;
- Webster, David (Oct. 1976) "Lowland Maya Fortifications" Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 120(5 ): pp. 361-371;
- Chamberlain, Robert S. (1948) The Conquest and Colonization of Yucatan, 1517-1550 (Monograph #582) Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.
