Río Bec
Río Bec is the name of a pre-Columbian Maya ruin site in the Mexican state of Campeche and at the same time the name of a local architectural style ( Rio Bec style ) that is typical in the area. The coordinates apply to the location Río Bec B.
Research history
As the first group from Río Bec, Río Bec A was visited and described by Karl Sapper in 1895 , albeit under the name Ixtinta. He reported to Teobert painter who was traveling in this region at the same time . In 1907, Count Maurice Perigny visited the region and described the same ruin in a publication which earned him the honor of discoverer. For his unpublished dissertation from 1913 at Harvard University , RE Merwin described this and other ruins of Río Bec, especially further east. It was through him that the well-preserved Río Bec B became famous, which, despite numerous attempts in the densely wooded, hilly terrain, could not be found again until 1972. During various expeditions, especially by Karl Ruppert and John H. Denison, other groups had meanwhile been discovered, although already known groups were not always recognized as such. This situation also led to the confusing names. First excavations (in the groups Río Bec A and B) and detailed recordings of the ruins were carried out by the French archaeological mission in Mesoamerica from around 2003 .
Mark
Río Bec was not a closed settlement, but a collection of relatively small groups of buildings scattered over more than 100 km², which were mostly located on higher ground around poorly defined courtyards. Most noteworthy are the palatial buildings that are surmounted by tall massive towers, to which false stairs lead up, which are inaccessible due to their steepness. Likewise, the small buildings at the top of these towers are only pseudo-buildings with no interior space, the entrance is rather just a shallow niche. The towers are tiered, with a slightly protruding cornice at the top of each tier. The corners of the towers are clearly rounded. For Río Bec B, the assumption was made that the towers were added to the already completed building a little later.
A special feature is the excellent stone processing. The small cladding stones are always the same height in one of the precisely maintained layers, they are so precisely worked that only a minimal joint remains between them.
The second characteristic are the central entrances to the palace, which are designed as a snake mouth, whereby one comes into the entrance represented as a throat via a wide platform, which represents the advanced lower jaw with upright teeth. Other entrances are laterally accompanied by somewhat recessed fields with a checkerboard pattern. Flat cascades of masks are also often found. Also typical are the narrow stairs inside many towers, but also in the lower buildings, which allowed access to the roof level or higher parts of the building that was difficult to see from the outside. In some cases, as in group B, an openwork roof ridge has been preserved.
Dating
Although a number of steles with inscriptions were found in the various groups of Río Bec, a reading is only possible in very rare cases due to the poor state of preservation:
| monument | Date (July calendar) | Long calculation |
|---|---|---|
| Río Bec Stela 3 | 14.5.476 | 9.2.0.0.0 |
| Río Bec Kajtún Dzibil stele 6 | 11.9.795 | 9.18.5.0.0 |
Access
The different groups of Río Bec are located in a nature reserve. They can either only be reached with an all-terrain vehicle or on foot and only ever with a guide. The starting point is the small town of Veinte de Noviembre (east of Xpujil south of the main road MEX 186).
Header
Individual evidence
- ↑ Maurice Perigny: Yucatan Inconnu , In: Journal de la Société des Américanistes de Paris , ns V, 1908, pp. 67–84.
- ^ Karl Ruppert, John H. Denison, Jr .: Archaeological reconaissance in Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Peten , Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington 1943.
- ↑ Dominique Michelet, Philippe Nondédéo, Marie-Charlotte Arnauld: Río Bec, ¿una excepción? In: Arqueología mexicana No. 75, 2005. ISSN 0188-8218 . Pp. 58-63.
- ↑ Prentice M.Thomas, Janice L. Campbell: Excavations at Rio Bec Group B, Structure 6N-1, Campeche, Mexico . In: Estudios de cultura maya 31 2008, pp. 123–148 ( online ( memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice .; PDF; 364 kB).
Coordinates: 18 ° 22 '24 " N , 89 ° 21' 32" W.